Govee Outdoor Triad Flood Light review: Quirky 3-way lighting

Best Prices Today: Govee Outdoor Triad Flood Light

Do you need light outside? I mean, a lot of light? Govee’s new Triad Outdoor Flood Light may provide a compelling–if decidedly quirky–solution. 

Govee’s Outdoor Triad Flood Light is actually a set of three connected LED panels mounted on top of a single base. Each panel measures about 6 inches wide by 4 inches tall, and the entire device weighs a hefty 3.6 pounds.

The flexibility of the Govee Triad Outdoor Flood Light has been especially appealing, allowing me to cast much-needed light on my darkened patio.

Design

The two side panels are hinged on their interior side, attaching to the central panel, which is connected to the base. This allows them to be individually positioned at an angle ranging from 0 to 90 degrees in relation to the central panel. Imagine a wrap-around makeup vanity and you’re on the right track.

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

Note that all adjustments require the use of an included hex wrench, which adds a little hassle (and means keeping track of one more component) but improves stability greatly. 

The device plugs in to a standard electrical outlet via a 6-foot cord. If you’re hoping to integrate this into a low-voltage lighting system, that’s unfortunately not an option, and, naturally, that may limit where you can place the unit, as it will have to be within striking distance of a power outlet.

The good news is that you won’t need to worry about exposing the Triad to the elements. The unit has a robust weatherproof rating of IP66, meaning it’s dust-tight and resistant to powerful jets of water sprayed from any direction. (Read our comprehensive guide to IP ratings.)

There’s a small breakout box on the cable, but it does not carry any physical controls. Turning the light on and off must be done exclusively through the app (or another connected smart home system). 

The metal base of the unit merits special discussion. When folded backwards, it serves as a sturdy pedestal and allows the Triad to sit flush on a flat surface.

When turned 90 degrees downward, the base is transformed to allow you to connect two ground spikes (included) to the base, so the unit can be placed in the yard or other soft landscape. Holes in the base also allow you to mount it on a wall or on hardscape, though hardware is not included if you want to go this route. Note that the aforementioned hex wrench is also required to rotate the base. 

The three light panels are huge – and powerful. Each panel pumps out a max of 1500 lumens, for a total of 4500 lumens of light. Govee says that a single Triad can illuminate at least 430 square feet of space, and that’s not an exaggeration. Fire up the Triad and you can easily blind your neighbors if you crank it up to full brightness and aim the panels the right way. Maximum power draw is a hearty 48 watts. 

Setup

As is common with Govee products, app setup is simple. The Govee Home app uses Bluetooth to discover any nearby Govee products and quickly bridges it to your 2.4GHz Wi-Fi network. After a quick firmware update I was able to begin working with the product in a matter of minutes, using the same interface as other Govee lighting products.

Connections to Alexa were automatically created, complete with voice shortcuts, during the setup process. Google Assistant is also supported, as are Apple Home and Samsung SmartThings, all thanks to the Triad’s Matter support. 

Operation and performance

Each panel can be individually addressed and managed, with both white light and color options available. White color temperatures range from a warm, cozy 2700K to a cooler and more utilitarian 6500K.

If you want to get jazzier, a full-color wheel allows you to pick and choose your three-color palette, or you can opt to let Govee handle color management for you, courtesy of dozens of color-shifting scenes. There are also multiple music modes that let the lights shift in color in time with ambient sound, as captured either on the Triad’s breakout box microphone or the microphone on your phone. 

The lights look good but short of great, in large part because although there’s a translucent screen over each panel, you can visibly see the 16 bright LEDs underneath. The effect is particularly strange because the alignment of the LEDs makes the panel look a bit like a digital LCD display–each panel a numeral “8” turned on its side. You can easily be forgiven for expecting the Triad to be able to display the time.

On the plus side, colors are reasonably rich and vibrant, though I’ve encountered better and more seductive hues in recent months. 

I did encounter one bug when working with the light: When I selected two panels in the Govee Home app and then attempted to change their color, the third (deselected) panel also changed color when it wasn’t supposed to. This was not a particularly persistent nor troubling problem and was easily fixed, but it’s worth noting that further firmware and/or application updates are probably going to be needed down the road. 

Should you buy the Govee Outdoor Triad Light?

At a street price of roughly $120 (the MSRP is $149.99), the Govee Triad isn’t outrageously expensive, though it’s certainly pricier than purchasing a standard plug-in spotlight or even a mountable smart spotlight that connects permanently to household wiring.

The flexibility of this device has been especially appealing in my own testing, allowing me to cast some extra, much-needed light on the darkened patio where my barbecue grill is, without requiring anything more than a nearby power socket to get the job done. 

Best Prices Today: Govee Outdoor Triad Flood Light