Govee Outdoor String Lights 2 review: Smart string lights for less

Best Prices Today: Govee Outdoor String Lights 2 (144 ft)

There are few easier ways to liven up a large, dark space than to drape string lights over it. There’s just something about balls of light hanging overhead–especially if they are in color–that sets a mood for good times. They’re also an effective way to bring lighting to places where it wouldn’t otherwise be practical, like the expanse of a yard. 

Like LIFX and Nanoleaf, its main competitors in the smart string-light market, Govee’s string lights are modular, and up to three strands, each 48 feet long, can be connected in a daisy-chained sequence.

Govee includes all three strands in the box that I reviewed (that’s 144 feet total). Lengths of 48 feet ($80) and 96 feet ($130) are also available (and at the time of this writing, all Govee Outdoor String Light 2 sets are discounted through the Govee website).  

The Govee Outdoor String Lights 2 look a bit cheap and less than vibrant, but the price is impossible to beat.

Design and installation

Efforts have clearly been made to keep costs under control here. The all-plastic bulbs are designed in a basic Edison style–each about 3.5 inches in height with a translucent white cover–and are attached to a chunky black base. The whole setup feels a little flimsy, though this plastic design keeps the string very lightweight.

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

The base of each bulb features a curving component that sticks out from the bottom and which can be used to hang the bulb directly from a hook or a zip tie. Alternately, clips are included that you can snap around the thin cord for another way to hang the string.

The clips also give you some extra flexibility: Snap the clip around both strands of wire on either side of the bulb, and the bulb can then dangle down a few inches. Or just snap the clip to a single strand of wire and you can keep the bulbs in a tighter line. Zip ties are also included in the box. 

With 15 bulbs per strand, there’s nearly 3 feet of cord between each bulb. I thought the 2 feet of space between LIFX’s String Light bulbs was a lot, but the Govee lights can feel especially naked. However, note that the distance between bulbs can be shortened considerably by using the clips as described above, which eats up a lot of the excess wiring. 

Each 48-foot strand includes a three-prong connector at each end. This connector includes a waterproof wire nut to secure the strands together. The entire kit carries an IP65 weatherproofing rating, meaning it’s dust-tight and resistant to powerful jets of water from any angle (you can read up about IP ratings here).

At the plug end of the chain is a small breakout box and an AC adapter. This adds another 10 feet of wiring to the mix that you’ll need to account for when stringing the lights. The breakout box features a single power button only; this button is also used to reset the lights to factory defaults if needed. 

Each bulb offers a maximum brightness of 100 lumens. Power draw is stated at a maximum of 54 watts; Govee doesn’t specify whether that figure is for the 48-foot stand or the full 144-foot system, but for what it’s worth, I got just 40.5 watts with all three segments connected at full power.

Wireless setup and Govee app

The Govee Outdoor String Lights 2 kit uses the same Govee Home app as all Govee products, and I found setup to be painless, as the lights were automatically discovered via Bluetooth without requiring additional prompting. A quick series of steps bridged the lights to my 2.4GHz Wi-Fi network, at which point they were up and running without even requiring a firmware update. 

Govee’s app gives you no shortage of things to do with the lights, whether you want to set a static white color temperature (temperature range is not specified), pick an individual color for each bulb, or choose from countless themes in the app. Many of these themes are dynamic and can be used to set any number of moods or holiday vibes, whether you want a seductive mood or a full-on rager.

A music mode lets the lights shift in brightness and color in tune with ambient music as detected either via the microphone on the breakout box or the mic on your phone–your choice. Alexa and Google Assistant are both also supported. 

Performance

There’s endless flexibility here, but I couldn’t help but feel that, even after significant testing time, the lights looked a bit cheap and less than vibrant. It doesn’t help that a number of Govee’s preloaded themes (especially the music mode) rely on blunt, primary colors, giving the lighting an elementary school auditorium feeling, which understandably may not be the vibe you’re going for.

There’s no shortage of tweakability, though–you can configure lighting for the entire strand at once or drill down to each bulb individually. 

Should you buy the Govee String Lights 2?

If you do end up choosing Govee’s lights, you’ll probably want to spend a significant amount of time massaging things in the color picker and dimmer settings to find the right mood. Even then, keep your expectations in check. 

At $120, though, the price is impossible to beat. Nanoleaf’s 147-foot Outdoor String Lights kit will cost you $280 today (we reviewed the 98-foot version of Nanoleaf’s string lights), and LIFX’s String Light tops out at 72 feet–and will cost you even more.

If you want to kit out your backyard with smart string lights without spending much more than you would with standard LED string lights, Govee’s solution is worth a look, provided you temper your expectations surrounding color quality. 

Updated July 23, 2024 with more details about power draw.

Best Prices Today: Govee Outdoor String Lights 2 (144 ft)