Govee Curtain Lights 2

Introduction

If there’s one thing that holiday lights should be, it’s fun. That’s something that the Govee Curtain Lights 2 understand, delivering a wall of colour or moving patterns that are brilliant for Halloween and Christmas (and you could even leave the lights up all year).

Far easier to install than you might think, and easy to control, these lights get almost everything right, although the AI-powered DIY mode doesn’t do a great job.

Design and Installation

• Pre-configured net of lights
• Indoor or outdoor

There are several versions of the Govee Curtain Lights 2, each with a different size option. All versions operate in the same manner and have similar installation options.

All of the lights come pre-configured, with strings of bulbs hanging down from a central core that runs the width of the lights. That makes installation easy, as it’s clear which way the lights should go.

Govee provides a set of hangers in the box, which affix to a surface with the sticky backs. These should be placed at regular intervals, with the lights clipped into place.

There’s then a power adaptor, which should be plugged in inside or in a waterproof socket. The power cable then trails out into a control unit, which has a power button on it, so that the lights can be turned on and off without having to use the app.

The lights and controller are IP65 rated, so they can be placed outside if you prefer, although you can hang them inside if you’d rather get the lighting effect indoors.

Once powered on, the Govee Curtain Lights 2 need to be connected to your Wi-Fi network and the Govee app.

Features and Performance

• Matter compatible
• Integrated moving scenes
• A bright wall of colour

Connecting the lights to the app needs a bit of setup to make sure that the app knows which way the lights were installed (cable running left to right or right to left). That’s about it, and the Govee app understands the location of all the individual bulbs, which gives it an advantage over the Twinkly Curtain, which requires mapping using your phone’s camera. In practice, Govee’s lights are far easier to get running and less confusing to set up.

Once connected to the app, the lights can be controlled like any other set of smart lights, with a choice of static colours, colour temperatures and brightness to choose from. That can be nice if you want to add a bit of ambience to an outdoor space, but the real joy of these lights comes from using them with scenes.

Simple scenes can add a gradient of colour across the lights, which is dynamically more fun. Govee’s RGB lights are bright and colourful and certainly create a wall of colour.

Better than flat lights are the dynamic scenes, with special animations built for Halloween and Christmas, ranging from a spider crawling up a web to Santa dashing past on a sleigh. Although the number of lights means that the image created is relatively low resolution, there’s enough detail in the picture, particularly when viewed at a distance.

With a motion animation on display, the Govee Curtain Lights 2 really spring to life, enhancing any space. The range of animations and details is far superior to the effects on the Twinkly Curtain.

Effects also stretch to other events, such as birthdays. I’m not sure that I’d bother keeping these lights up all year, and they feel very much like they’re part of the holiday season only.

If you don’t like the pre-built effects, then there’s a tool to create your own designs, which you can do by painting your own pattern. It’s fiddly to get right, so I was interested in testing the AI mode. This isn’t particularly impressive.

Asking the AI to draw a cat, I got a blob. Even standing way back and squinting, the blob of colour didn’t look anything like a cat to me.

In addition to using the Govee app, the Govee Curtain Lights 2 are Matter compatible, allowing them to be connected to any compatible system, such as Apple HomeKit and Amazon Alexa. This is handy for automating tasks, such as turning the lights on and off with a voice command or on a schedule. However, you lose the ability to select specific scenes, so you will need the Govee app nearby.

Should you buy it?

FAQs