Alexa and Google Home compatible smart lights put to the test
Govee offers an absolute plethora of smart lighting devices, in a range of form factors, at absolute bargain prices. The build quality is decent, the native app isn't difficult to use - if you ignore certain bits - and there is Google Assistant and Alexa compatibility with a number of the products, plus Matter is on offer now too. Whether you're looking at bulbs, string lights or lightstrips, Govee is a great brand to consider for kitting out your connected abode.
Pros
- Great prices
- Good build quality
- Huge range of smart lights
- Alexa and GA on board (some)
- Matter certified
Cons
- App can get confusing
- No HomeKit (without Matter)
- No SmartThings (without Matter)
Govee, founded in 2017 and part of the Shenzhen Intellirocks Tech umbrella, has been making a big push in the past few years to get its connected tech into the hands of consumers in the Western World.
The Govee stores on both UK and US Amazon are overflowing with a range of connected devices – predominantly smart lights – and the Govee Store itself is also pretty easy to use as well, with free express shipping service offered in the UK and the US.
See also: Govee Glide Hexagon Light Panels Ultra review
Govee, as with rival Chinese startups such as Meross and Sonoff, is a brand that offers ‘affordable’ smart lights and devices.
For example, a Wi-Fi-enabled, color, smart light bulb from Govee costs less than $10 / £10 when bought as part of a multi-pack; a comparable model from market-leader Philips Hue costs nearly 5x that at $49.99 / £49.99
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This review is actually an update on the one I first published a couple of years ago. Govee has massively evolved in that time and has become one of the go-to brands for people looking outside the Hue bubble for their connected lights.
So I’ve spent the past few years living with a range of Govee smart lights in my house; read on to find out what’s good, what’s not and whether this is a brand you can rely on when building your smart home.
Govee smart lights: The range

(Image credit: The Ambient)
Govee’s smart light line-up is huge… so huge. It has so, so many different types of lights on offer – to use indoors and outdoors.
Initially it was lightstrips that the company specialized in – Govee claims to have an 80% market share on Amazon for lightstrips and who are we to argue with that eh?
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The big thing with Govee’s lightstrips is that a lot of the models offer RGBIC+ lighting. Unlike traditional RGB lightstrips, which have all the LEDs set to the same color, Govee’s RGBIC+ strip lights are equipped with smart IC chips and can display multiple colors simultaneously; opening up a lot more lighting scenes for you to use in your home.
Take the Matter-enabled Govee LED Strip Light M1, for example. It has an industry-leading 60 light beads per meter, resulting in the highest luminosity of any 2m lightstrip on the market and you are able to control up to 20 different segments of light, with 64 different light modes on offer.

(Image credit: The Ambient)
Govee also uses this RGBIC tech in some of its lamps too, meaning you can create cool effects whereby different parts of the lamps use different colors, such as this ‘fish tank’ setting on the Govee Aura Table Lamp:
Not all the lights have this option though, so make sure you check whether the description of the light you are considering when shopping for Govee stuff states whether it’s RGB or RGBIC+. (Govee also stocks RGBWW lights, which adds a white option to the regular RGB option.)
Also, make sure that you check whether the lights are Wi-Fi enabled, or are simply Bluetooth devices. If it’s the former, then you’ll get Amazon and Google Assistant integrations, the latter will mean you’ll need your phone to control them – the boxes and descriptions will also have the Works with Alexa / Google Assistant badges too, so don’t be too worried about choosing the wrong one.
In the past year or so, Govee has pretty much used Wi-Fi across the board with all of its new launches, so it’s not as much of an issue as it once was.
Govee has a huge range of lightstrips on offer, ranging from 2m, right up to 30m in length. The latest models all have Wi-Fi as standard and, as mentioned, Govee also has Matter-compatible smart lights on sale too.

(Image credit: The Ambient)
A nice touch with the lightstrips is that they come with a physical controller – like the Nanoleaf Essentials model. This allows you to power on and control the lights without getting out your phone, or bothering your digital assistant.
Slightly more advanced than the lightstrips is the Govee RGBIC Neon Rope Light.

(Image credit: The Ambient)
Thanks to the soft, bendable exterior, this light strip can be bent in tight angles, letting you create pretty much any shape that you want. It’s far more flexible than light panels are.
That’s not to say that Govee doesn’t do light panels. It’s actually more prolific than the OG in that space – Nanoleaf – now, with the latest entrant being the awesome looking Glide Hexagon Light Panels Ultra (which we’ve yet to test but will be reviewing soon):

(Image credit: Govee)
As well as these slick looking multicolor hexagon panels, Govee also has an array of lines, triangles and other shaped wall panels on offer.
For outdoor lights, Govee has really upped its game in the past couple of years.
There are a plethora of string lights, including the flagship Govee Outdoor String Lights H1, which have RGBIC+ tech on board and the RGBIC Warm White Wi-Fi & Bluetooth Smart Outdoor String Lights, which work out at less than a buck per foot of length – up to 96 feet.

(Image credit: The Ambient)
Also with your yard in mind, there are lightstrips that are intended for permanent installation and can cover your entire house, RGBIC floodlights, lights that push into your grass and driveway pathway lights too.
Back inside, and there are a number of nice table lamps on sale – our favorite being the Aura Table Lamp, which is in that video above and the excellent Govee Lyra Floor Lamp, which we reviewed here.
Govee: TV and gaming lights
As well as the vast array of smart lighting options for your home mentioned above, Govee also lets you beef up movie or gaming nights with a range of smart lighting options that sync with the visuals on your display.
The current flagship, the Govee DreamView T1 Pro TV Backlight comes with a lightstrip and two ‘flow’ bars and are the Chinese brand’s alternative to Hue’s Sync platform.
But, as you probably guessed, at a much lower price point – the system costs around half of what you’d pay for Hue’s offering.
And that’s the top dog, there are also cheaper options too, starting from just $45.
Whereas rival, more expensive TV lighting systems, use HDMI passthrough box to analyze a picture and display appropriate lighting effects, Govee’s systems uses a small camera that you have to attach to the top of your TV or monitor.
In my testing I actually found this pretty annoying. I wasn’t able to stop looking at it.

(Image credit: The Ambient)
To get the best results you’ll also need to calibrate that camera in the Govee app. This means sticking seven orange squares to your screen and then using the app to align the camera’s sight with them.
Sometimes, the camera can’t process the images on screen fast enough to keep up with the action. So, while you will get some nice lighting effects behind your TV, it won’t be as ‘real-time’ and awesome as you get with Hue Sync and its Gradient Lightstrip.
But, for much less money, it is a bit of fun and will add some color and life to a gaming setup.
Govee smart lights: The app experience and voice assistants

When using these emerging smart home brands from China there’s always a risk that the app will be the big sticking point.
Even established Chinese brands such as Xiaomi, Huawei and Roborock have suffered in the past with their apps being a bit confusing for western users.
The good news is that Govee app is good. Sure, you might come across the odd confusing term (and we’ve no idea at all how the ‘Smarts’ section works) and some of the descriptions are unintentionally hilarious (‘Girl Power Lighting Effects’) but, on the whole, it’s easy to get your lights up and running.
Usually, we’d say that because of Alexa and Google Assistant integrations, you can ditch the native app and use those platforms instead (or skip them entirely if you’re living in a Matter smart house).
And while that’s definitely true for setting up automations, routines, scenes and the like (and, of course, voice controls) you will be missing out on quite a lot if you totally dismiss Govee’s app.
There are super niche options in there for your lights, as well as brilliant features like music syncing (video above), which is a great option for creating a party scene in your house with minimal effort.
You might see Siri listed amongst the available voice assistants but, beware, this doesn’t mean HomeKit compatibility. It simply means that, on an iPhone, you might be able to set up some Siri shortcuts for your Govee lights.
Is Govee safe and secure?
As mentioned, some of Govee’s smart lights work after connecting to your home’s Wi-Fi network; they don’t use local mesh networks such as Zigbee, Z-Wave or Thread to talk to a hub – although some use Bluetooth to connect directly with your phone.
As with any devices that you add to your home Wi-Fi network, there are security implications. Govee is keen to stress that, with its range: “Our products are FCC, CCC, CE, GS, KC, PSE, SAA, & ETL certified. We developed a comprehensive certification and quality management system.”
Obviously you can eliminate any major risk or concerns you have by just using Bluetooth (you don’t actually have to pair to your Wi-Fi) but you will miss out on a bunch of features, and you obviously won’t then be able to use either Google Assistant or Alexa.