Loading... The best smart lights for covering your walls in color

The best smart lights for covering your walls in color

This article explores the evolving landscape of smart lighting beyond traditional smart bulbs, focusing on all-in-one fixtures designed to project color onto walls and serve as decorative technological art. The pieces discussed generally offer a "geek-chic aesthetic" and are compatible with popular smart home platforms such as IFTTT, Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple HomeKit's Siri voice controls. Key products highlighted include the Nanoleaf LED Light Panels, previously known as Nanoleaf Aurora panels. These triangular, color-changing panels come in a $230 starter kit with nine panels, allowing for customizable arrangements and the creation of custom scenes and animated effects. An accessory, the Nanoleaf Rhythm module, features a built-in microphone to synchronize light displays with music or other media. Another Nanoleaf accessory is the $50 dodecahedron-shaped Nanoleaf Remote, which can trigger pre-set lighting scenes by rotating specific sides to the top. The article also mentions the upcoming Nanoleaf Canvas, a square-shaped panel with touch-sensitive capabilities and an integrated Rhythm accessory, allowing for larger installations. Lifx, another major player, is presented as an alternative to Nanoleaf, offering products like the Lifx Tiles. The $250 starter kit for Lifx Tiles includes five panels, each capable of emitting multiple colors across 64 independent zones, a key differentiator from Nanoleaf in terms of complexity and intricacy of scenes. While not touch-sensitive, they allow for unique visual effects within the Lifx app. The Lifx Z Multi-Color Light Strip is also discussed, praised for its ability to display multiple colors simultaneously and its Wi-Fi connectivity, eliminating the need for an additional hub. While retailing at $90, its aesthetic appeal for backlighting TVs or cabinets is noted. The Sylvania Smart Plus Bluetooth Light Strip is introduced as a more budget-friendly option at $60, offering Apple HomeKit compatibility and Siri controls, although it requires a dedicated HomeKit relay device like an Apple TV, HomePod, or an always-on iPad for full functionality beyond Bluetooth range. The DreamScreen 4K starter kit, priced at $250, provides an immersive TV backlighting experience by syncing a color-changing light strip with the content displayed on the screen via an HDMI pass-through box, making it potentially suitable for gaming rooms. Philips Hue also contributes to this segment with its Hue Play fixtures, designed for casting color-changing light on walls and available for direct mounting on the back of TVs or placed on floors. The Philips Hue Signe, a vertical wand with built-in LEDs, offers a similar color-casting effect. Both Philips products integrate with Hue Entertainment, a system that synchronizes lights with on-screen content, although it currently only mirrors PC and Mac screens, necessitating a computer connection to the TV. The article concludes by noting that this effect also extends to existing Hue light strips and fixtures like Hue Go lamps.

85 months ago

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