Govee RGBIC LED Neon Rope Light Review: Tough, Flexible, and Fun

Fancy a pop-up light show? Able to be attached to a wall or simply placed on top of furniture, the Govee RGBIC 10ft Flexible LED Neon Rope Light is a fun and eye-catching alternative to LED strip lights or string lights.

The Wi-Fi enabled Rope Light can glow up to 15 different colors at once, and features an incredible variety of animated color scenes, along with over a dozen music sync modes. You can also schedule the light, group it with other Govee lights, and control it with Alexa and Google Assistant voice commands. The durable string light can even be used outside, though unlike an LED string light, it can’t be cut to fit.

At $70, the Govee RGBIC LED Neon Rope Light isn’t cheap, but its solid build quality and rich feature set make it well worth the expense.

Setting

The Govee RGBIC LED Neon Rope Light is quite unlike any typical LED light strip you’ve tried before. Rather than a thin, delicate-looking strip with (roughly speaking) a peel-and-stick design, the Govee string light is thick, sturdy, and flexible. The “rope” itself is more of a tube that is embedded in an opaque base with a flat back, with about half of the glowing tube peeking out.

As for the actual lighting, the rope comes equipped with 252 LED “beads” in 15 addressable segments that can shine in up to 16 million colors. The “IC” in the string’s “RGBIC” billing stands for “Independent Control”, which is Govee’s way of saying that the light string can glow multiple colors at the same time.

Govee hasn’t detailed the brightness of the rope light in terms of lumens, but from my real-world experience, it doesn’t get bright enough to light up a room or workspace; We’re really just talking about ambient lighting here, so keep that in mind.

This review is part of TechHive’s coverage of the best smart lighting products, where you’ll find reviews of competing offerings, plus a buyer’s guide to features to consider when buying this type of product.

Attached to one end of the 10-foot rope light is a short cord that connects to an in-line controller, which in turn connects to a longer cord with a large, thick-walled wart. Together, the combined controller and power adapter cable are about eight feet long, giving you quite a bit of wiggle room in terms of plugging the rope light into a power outlet.

Ben Patterson/IDG

Govee says the LED Neon Rope Light meets IP67 standards for complete protection against dust and immersion in water up to one meter; That said, Govee warns against submerging the string light in a bathtub. Instead, Govee simply notes that the light “can be used outdoors.” You can read all about IP codes at the link above.

Installation and configuration

Govee RGBIC LED String Light gives you many options when it comes to installation. For example, you can simply hang it from a hook or drape it over anything you have handy—great for adding a neon look to a pop-up party or concert.

If you’re looking for a more permanent installation, you can use the included metal brackets to attach the Govee LED rope light to a wall or other flat surface. The brackets fit snugly around the base of the rope light (in fact, it takes quite a bit of tweaking to slide them in) and offer two mounting options: peel-and-stick or screw-in, with Govee supplying screws and wall anchors in the box.

If you choose to peel and stick, you can use the included alcohol wipes to clean the mounting surface before sticking the mount.

Ben Patterson/IDG

It is worth noting that unlike many traditional LED string lights, Govee LED string lights cannot be cut to size; doing so would permanently damage the string light. You also can’t connect two of the light strings together, though you can group them together using the Govee Home app (as I’ll detail shortly).

Once you have the rope light where you want it, you can use the Govee app to connect it to Wi-Fi. Once you’ve logged into your Govee account (you’ll need to create one with your email address if you haven’t already), you’ll need to search for the correct product within the app (it’s a shame the app can’t just detect nearby Govee products that are in pairing mode); Once connected via Blueooth, the app guides you through the process of adding the rope light to your home Wi-Fi network.

Like most Wi-Fi smart lights, the Govee LED Rope Light only connects to 2.4GHz wireless networks, so if you have a dual-band router (which you almost certainly do), you may need to Temporarily disable your 5GHz band to successfully connect the light.

Features and functionality

Elaborately designed and somewhat busy, the Govee app boasts a dizzying number of options and settings; in fact, with all the nested tabs, buttons, and sliders, it took me a while to get my bearings.

On a basic level, the app allows you to add your various Govee smart lights and devices to different rooms in your home, and you can also create groups of devices. Cleverly, Govee supports different types of groups that vary in functionality; for example, “Same Model” groups give you deeper control over identical types of Govee lights, such as a pair of Govee Rope lights, while “Schemes” allow you to group any Govee light or switch together for more general types of Govee controls. illumination.

Ben Patterson/IDG

Govee Rope Light’s four modes include Music, which makes the RGB lights blink and flicker in time with nearby music (the rope light’s controller has a built-in microphone, or you can use your phone’s built-in microphone); Color, which lets you choose solid or gradient colors (a color wheel and swatches are available); Scene, featuring dozens of multi-color, animated lighting scenes; and DIY, which allows you to create your own animations. There’s even an “Effects Lab” with experimental features like animated light modes (including “Flow of Water” and “Roar of Thunder”) that have sound effects that play through the app. In general, animated lighting effects are elegant and impressive.

The rope light can be put on a timer (including wake/sleep timers) or on a daily or weekly schedule from the Command tab. Schedules within the Govee app can trigger any custom color scenes or DIY modes you’ve created, but while you can put the Rope Light on a daily schedule, there are no sunrise/sunset or holiday modes.

Govee LED Rope Light works with Alexa and Google Assistant, allowing you to control the light with voice commands or add it to Alexa or Assistant routines. Both voice assistants can control the light’s preset and animated color scenes and music modes, but they can’t activate any of your DIY or custom color modes. That said, you can create sunset/sunrise routines for the rope light, filling one of the functionality gaps in the Govee app. And while HomeKit isn’t supported, you can create Siri Shortcuts for limited Siri voice control.

Bottom line

The Govee RGBIC LED Neon Rope Light isn’t the most utilitarian smart light we’ve tested, but it’s potentially the most fun. It’s easy to install — you don’t even have to bother with mounting brackets if you don’t want to — and it’s packed with cool lighting features, including animated color scenes and music sync, and you can set or schedule it. control it with voice assistants. Were sold.