Govee Permanent Outdoor Lights Prism review: Call it a triple play

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Govee is no stranger to permanent outdoor lights, having three previous iterations of these products on the market. Those lights did the job well enough, but they were on the basic side, with a comparatively limited feature set. Now, Govee is back with a dramatic update to the category: Govee’s Permanent Outdoor Lights Prism system isn’t just its most ambitious permanent lighting system to date, it might be the most advanced on the market altogether.

Specifications

While the Govee Prism system works a lot like any other permanent smart lighting system, with LEDs spread along a thick, weatherproof wire, the big upgrade here is what’s inside each of those LED modules. Instead of a single LED in each puck, the Prism packs three separately addressable LEDs, so each module can display three colors simultaneously. These are designed so that the two LEDs abutting the central LED are angled inward a few degrees, so when all three are illuminated, the colors blend together just so. Govee tiptoed into this multi-color concept with the Govee Triad flood light last year, but the Prism takes things to a whole new level.

The Prism collection in available in three SKUs defined by the total length of the wiring: 100 feet, 150 feet, and 200 feet in length. (Prior systems topped out at 150 feet.) The LEDs are specified as RGBWWIC (meaning there are red, green, blue, white, and warm white diodes), drawing from a palette of 16 million colors; plus, a white color temperature range from a warm 2700 Kelvin to a cool 6500K. The lights are rated a hardy IP68 for protection from the elements, and the accessory components (including the control box) are rated just a slightly lower IP67.

Christopher Null/Foundry

Those ratings mean both components are immune from failure due to particulate matter getting inside them, but the light pucks can be immersed in up to three meters of water, where the accessory components can survive being in up to one meter of water. Be sure to read our IP code guide for more details on this topic. Govee promises 50,000 hours of operation from the kit, even in harsh weather conditions. Maximum power draw with all segments attached is specified at 82 watts.

Each LED module offers a maximum brightness of 40 lumens. LED modules come attached in strings of 6, which can be daisy chained together with weatherproof sockets. A full 200-foot system contains 72 lights, with 32 inches between each LED module. (That’s considerably further between LED modules than the 16-inch separation on the Outdoor Lights 2, which already feels sparse.)

Christopher Null/Foundry

If you’re doing the math and realizing that adds up to only 144 feet, it’s in part because the control box and the wiring lead consume 17 feet before you get to the first light module. And that’s fine, really, because most homes’ electrical outlets will be nearer to the home’s foundation than to its eaves. There are also extension cords in the box that can be inserted between successive cables if you need to work around obstacles like windows and chimneys.

As with other Govee products, the lights connect to the Govee Home app via an integrated 2.4GHz Wi-Fi adapter. Matter is supported although it’s not entirely useful for anything beyond the basics; you’ll need to use the Govee Home app for any configuration needs. Power and scheduling can also be controlled via Alexa or Google Home.

Installation and setup

Christopher Null/Foundry

Like Govee’s other Permanent Lights, physical installation is where you’ll need to spend the bulk of your time, including planning where the lights will start and stop and how you’ll run the power line to an outlet. Fortunately each LED module is backed by ready-to-stick adhesive; so once you have your ladder out and your plan in place, sticking lights down goes quickly. Screws are also included if you want a more permanent connection for each light, and that’s the method we recommend if you’ll indeed be installing the lights permanently.

Once in place, the Govee App makes onboarding easy by auto-discovering the lights via Bluetooth. A single button press on the control box completes the connection.

Using the Govee Permanent Outdoor Lights Prism

If you’re at all familiar with Govee’s smart lighting products, the app you’ll use to program and control these Prism lights won’t surprise you at all. The Govee Home interface gives you an insane degree of control over the product, letting you select from more than 100 preloaded themes, or you can design your own, with each of the three LEDs on each module individually addressable. That might be overkill for most users; but if you want to light up every module in your alma mater’s colors to show your school pride, this is the way to get it done.

Additional modes that Govee has rolled out in recent years are also here, including an AI mode that intuits what lighting is appropriate based on a text prompt or an uploaded image, as well as a mode that lets you get inspiration from other users who upload their lighting designs through the app. You can import their settings directly to your setup with a single button tap.

Christopher Null/Foundry

There’s also a dynamic music mode that can use the control box or your phone as a microphone. Ultimately, if there’s anything you can imagine in strip-light form, the Prism can probably approximate it for you–and I had no trouble with any of the operating modes, unlike previous encounters with some Govee hardware.

The lights look good. While 40 lumens isn’t a lot of oomph, it should be plenty for most accent lighting installations. The distance between LED modules is, however, enormous. With more than two feet separating each lighting module, you might experience a chasm of naked lightlessness between sequential bulbs. In some environments you might be able to adjust this by looping up the excess cable, but this obviously isn’t ideal for several reasons. That issue aside, Prism makes for some striking holiday lighting vibes.

Should you buy the Govee Permanent Outdoor Lights Prism?

Govee

The bad news is that the Prism system is extremely costly. The $860 list price (on sale for $680 at this writing, but showing out of stock as this story was being edited) for the 200-foot version is jaw-droppingly pricey, and even the $540 list/$430 street 100-foot version is more than double what you’ll pay for the Govee Permanent Outdoor Lights 2.

If you just want to add a splash of color—or simple white lights—running across your home’s roofline, the older Govee Permanent Outdoor Lights 2 are absolutely fine. Power users who really want to show off their flair for the neighborhood, however, won’t want to consider anything less than the Prism.

This review is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best smart lighting.

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