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

Price when viewing

$699.99 for the 150' SKU reviewed here, the 100' SKU is priced at $539.99, and the 200' SKU is $859.99.

Today's Best Prices: Govee Constant Outdoor Prism Lighting

Govi is no stranger to continuous outdoor lighting, with three iterations of these products already on the market. These lights did the job reasonably well, but they were basic ones with a relatively limited feature set. Now Govee returns with a dramatic update in this category: the Govee Constant Outdoor Lighting Prism System is not just the most ambitious continuous lighting system to date, it may be the most advanced on the market as a whole.

Specifications

While the Govee Prism system works much like any other continuous smart lighting system, with LEDs distributed over thick, weatherproof wire, the big upgrade here is what's inside each of those LED modules. Instead of just one LED in each puck, Prism features three individually addressable LEDs, so each module can display three colors simultaneously. They are designed so that the two LEDs adjacent to the center LED are tilted inward by a few degrees, so when all three are lit, the colors blend together. Govi tiptoed towards this multi-color concept with Govi Triad spotlight last year, but Prism takes things to a whole new level.

Power users who want to show off their flair for the surroundings will want nothing less than the Govee Constant Outdoor Prism Light.

The Prism Collection is available in three SKUs based on total wire length: 100 feet, 150 feet and 200 feet. (Previous systems reached a maximum height of 150 feet.) The LEDs are designated RGBWWIC (meaning there are red, green, blue, white and warm white diodes), drawn from a palette of 16 million colors; plus, the color temperature of white ranges from a warm 2700 Kelvin to a cool 6500 Kelvin. The lights are rated IP68 for weather protection, with additional components (including the control unit) rated slightly lower than IP67.

These ratings mean that both components are protected from failure due to solid particles entering them, but the lightweight washers can be submerged in water up to three meters deep, while the supporting components can survive in water up to one meter deep. Be sure to read our IP Code Guide for more details on this topic. Govee promises 50,000 hours of use out of the kit, even in harsh weather conditions. The maximum power consumption with all segments connected is 82 W.

Each LED module provides a maximum brightness of 40 lumens. LED modules are supplied in strings of 6, which can be connected in series using weatherproof sockets. The full 200-foot system contains 72 fixtures with 32 inches of spacing between each LED module. (This is a significantly larger distance between LED modules than the 16″ spacing on Outdoor lighting 2which already seems meager.)

If you do the math and realize it only adds up to 144 feet, part of that is because the control box and wiring consume 17 feet before you get to the first light module. And that's okay, because most homes have electrical outlets closer to the foundation of the house than to the eaves. The box also includes extension cords that can be inserted between serial cables if you need to get around obstructions such as windows and chimneys.

As with other Govee products, the lights connect to the Govee Home app via a built-in 2.4GHz Wi-Fi adapter. Matter is supported, although it's not exactly useful for anything beyond the basics; you will need to use the Govee Home app for any settings. Power and scheduling can also be controlled via Alexa or Google Home.

Installation and configuration

Like other Govi Constant lightingThe physical installation is where you'll spend most of your time, including planning where the lights will turn on and off and how to run the power line to the outlet. Fortunately, each LED module is coated with ready-made adhesive; So, once you have a ladder and a plan in place, turning off the lights will go quickly. Screws are also included if you need a stronger connection for each fixture, and this is the method we recommend if you actually intend to install the fixtures permanently.

Once installed, the Govee app makes registration easy by automatically detecting light via Bluetooth. One press of the button on the control unit ends the connection.

Using the Govee Continuous Outdoor Lighting Prism

If you're at all familiar with Govee 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 incredible degree of control over your product, allowing you to choose from over 100 pre-loaded themes or create your own, with each of the three LEDs on each module individually addressed. For most users this may be overkill; but if you want to light up each module with your alma mater's colors to show off your school pride, this is the way to do it.

There are also additional modes here that Govee has introduced in recent years, including an AI mode that intuitively determines what lighting is appropriate based on a text prompt or an uploaded image, and a mode that allows you to take inspiration from other users who upload their Lighting projects through the application. You can import their settings directly into your settings with the click of a button.

There is also a dynamic music mode in which the control unit or telephone can be used as a microphone. Ultimately, if you can imagine something in strip tube form, Prism can probably approximate it for you—and I had no problems with either mode of operation, unlike previous encounters with some Govee gear.

The headlights look good. While 40 lumens isn't a lot, it should be enough for most accent lighting installations. However, the distance between LED modules is huge. Since each light module is separated by more than two feet, you may be faced with a chasm of naked darkness between successive bulbs. In some environments you can adjust this by looping the excess cable, but this is obviously not ideal for several reasons. Beyond this issue, Prism creates a striking holiday lighting ambiance.

Is it worth buying a Govee constant outdoor lighting prism?

The bad news is that the Prism system very much expensive. The $860 list price (on sale for $680 at the time of this writing, but was in stock at the time this article was edited) for the 200-foot version is staggeringly expensive, and even the $540 list price/$430 for the outdoor 100-foot version is more than double what you'll pay for the Govee Permanent Outdoor Lights 2.

If you're just looking to add a splash of color or simple white lights across your home's roofline, the older Govee Permanent Outdoor Lights 2 models are the way to go. However, power users who really want to show off their flair for the neighborhood won't want to consider anything less than the Prism.

This review is part of an in-depth TechHive review best smart lighting.