Govee RGBIC LED Neon Rope Lights Impressions

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Looking to add the g a m e r aesthetic to your gaming lair? Look no further than the RGBIC LED Neon Rope Lights from Govee which will illuminate your setup with that extra RGB flair. The company kindly provided us with a sample of this new LED strip model and we’ll take a closer look at it in this article.

Currently retailing for $70 on the official Govee webstore, the 3m-long RGBIC LED Neon Rope Lights comes with the following items:

LED Neon Rope Lights
Adapter
Buckles
Screws
User Manual
Service Card

The quality of the strip is more than decent across its 3m length. The 252 LED beads are protected in a translucent silicone tubing that shines a gentle glow rather than a blinding one and the LEDs are supported by a thicker silicone lining at the back. This sturdy build makes it suitable to fit indoors as well as outdoors, especially given that it is rated IPS67 for waterproof. The back section clips neatly onto the buckles included in the package. The latter are also fitted with an adhesive strip and also feature an opening for screws (optional and included in the package) if you’d prefer those to mount the buckles. I found the tape to work well when I stuck them on the underside of my desk but for sticking them to a wall, for example, adding screws for extra support is handy.

Setting up the Govee RGBIC Rope Light is as easy as it gets: clip the buckles along the rope’s length and stick them in a location and shape of your choice. Indeed the strip is quite bendable, allowing you to get quite creative with curvy and bendy shapes. I’ve fitted it to the underside of my work/gaming desk, contouring the edges for an underglow effect and it is just on point.

With the control box, you can switch the lights on/off, cycle through colours, brightness level as well as enter music mode. The latter will sync the lights to audio that is playing and you’ll have to place the control box close to the music source for the best effect. It’s a nice-to-have feature that brings a personalised touch to your setup.

More personalisation is available via the Govee Home app (iOS and Android). Once downloaded, you can pair your phone with the RGBIC LED Neon Rope Lights via Bluetooth and control it over 2.4GHz Wi-Fi. Through it, you can further customise the light settings from brightness through colour schemes to pulsing effects. You can even create DIY effects with coloured segments; a feature not available on other LED strips like the Daybetter that we previously reviewed. You can also use your phone’s microphone to sync the lighting effect to audio your phone captures. However, the phone has to be quite close to the device for it to function. Even moving a couple of metres away will impede this effect.

Another means to control the RGBIC is through voice control (Alexa or Google Assistant). The setup for this purpose is done through the Govee app and is a bit finicky but it does work if you fancy such a feature.

While the app is definitely handy and really showcases what the RGBIC LED Neon Rope is capable of, it requires you to create an account to use it. It’s not bad per se but it’s yet another log in in the pile of others that have been accumulated. A standalone app that works without a log in would have been much more welcome.

Another minor hiccup is with the number of buckles included. There are 10 that come in the package and should be enough for most users. But the more the better, especially if you want to be more creative with the LED strip and move it around your room (or another) from time to time.

For $70, it might be a bit on the higher end of such cosmetic accessories; and whether you should buy such a device will ultimately depend on you. It’s purely an aesthetic add-on that looks nice and does cool tricks. You can still find other cheaper alternatives but what Govee offers with its latest LED lights is a quality and feature-rich LED strip that shines when paired with the companion app.