Govee RGBIC Lyra Floor Lamp review: An overpriced novelty for colorful decor
If you're looking to add a splash of LED color to your walls, there are far cheaper solutions available.
Govee makes some of my favorite smart lighting products, including their Permanent Outdoor Lights and nifty new Curtain Lights. So I was eager to try the company's RGBIC Lyra Floor Lamp, a decidedly modern accent designed to splash color on a wall.
It's a neat product, no question, with endless modes and settings to suit a variety of occasions. But I have one pretty major quibble, and it might be a dealbreaker for you as well. Here's my Govee RGBIC Lyra Floor Lamp review.
VERDICT: Govee's LED lamp can make colors dance in a corner, but it's seriously overpriced. A peel-and-stick LED strip could accomplish the same thing for a fraction of the price.
- Nifty colored-lighting effects for a wall or corner
- Easy to assemble
- Tons of custom controls and scheduling options
- Magnetic remote
- Expensive
- Remote has limited functions compared to the app
- Not bright enough to read by
The lamp consists of a base and several pieces of metal tube that you screw together. Then you press the flexible LED rope into the exposed side of that tube. Assembly isn't difficult or time-consuming; the included quick-start guide should have you up and running in just a few minutes.
The whole thing stands about 55 inches, with just under four feet actually producing light. It's too bad the base isn't also a Bluetooth speaker or something; it seems large enough to accommodate one, and the price of the lamp certainly suggests something a little more capable.
Most of the fun you'll have with this starts in the Govee Home app, which gives you just about every lighting option imaginable: solid colors, preprogrammed "scenes" and effects that respond to music.
You can modify brightness, color temperature, movement speed and lots more; there are so many options, in fact, the app actually gets a bit confusing in places — especially when you dive into custom settings for individual segments of the LED.
Thankfully, that's all optional; there are plenty of one-tap options to keep things interesting. You can also configure the app to work with Alexa for basic voice commands. And if you'd rather not mess with the app at all, a magnetic remote lets you cycle through a handful of solid colors and adjust both brightness and color temperature.
A word about brightness: Although there's a "reading" mode available in the app, the Lyra isn't bright enough — not when it's pointed at a wall. If you were to turn it around, there's arguably enough light to read by. But that's inconvenient at best and not really the intention behind this lamp.
What is? Colorful accent lighting. And it's great for that, no question. But I really struggle with the $150 price tag. You could create something very similar with a peel-and-stick LED light strip — including Govee's own 16-foot smart strip, which sells for about $25. Just attach it to, say, a basic floor lamp and enjoy nearly all the same lighting options.
So here's the upshot: The Govee RGBIC Lyra Floor Lamp is a cool product that's great for adding color to your space, but it's seriously overpriced. I'd consider buying it, but only if there's a deep discount.
