Nanoleaf Essentials Lightstrip review 2024: great smart light strip

Smart LED light strips that are well made and don’t cost too much are hard to find, which is why we’re excited about the Nanoleaf Essentials Lightstrip, at least a little bit. This bright, 80-inch light strip works with Apple HomeKit and Google Assistant and is easy to set up with Nanoleaf’s sleek mobile app. And at just $50, it’s a lot cheaper than the Philips Hue Lightstrip Plus, which is its main competitor. But like Nanoleaf’s other Essentials product, a 120-sided A19 smart light bulb, the Essentials Lightstrip has some important and possibly deal-breaking caveats.

First of all, the Lightstrip’s most advanced features rely on Thread, an IP-based wireless protocol that is supported by tech giants like Apple, Google, and Samsung. Thread is appealing for a number of reasons, such as its low delay, low power use, and, most importantly, its improved security. Thread needs a “border” router, and the only one available for consumers right now is the HomePod Mini from Apple, which costs $99. If you don’t already have one, that adds a big fee to the cost of getting into the Lightstrip.

Nanoleaf Essentials Lightstrip Specifications

The review of the Nanoleaf Essentials Lightstrip is important because it tells you important things about the light strip’s features, how well it works, and how much it’s worth.

Nanoleaf Essentials Lightstrip: Design

The Nanoleaf Essentials Lightstrip is not much different from the vast majority of other light strips that are already on the market. The starting kit consists of a 2 meter (80 inch) strip that is slightly wider than a half an inch and has 21 LEDs per meter organized into groups of five. There are expansions that are a meter long (40 inches) and they can be attached to the Lightstrip in groups of up to eight for a total length of 10 meters (400 inches).

If you add any more, the brightness will be negatively impacted. The Essentials Lightstrip, much like the Nanoleaf light panels, has an adhesive coating on the back that can be peeled off and reapplied. It also comes with a power line that is attached to a small controller (which also has its own sticky pads) at one end and a fairly bulky AC converter at the other end.

The strip itself is connected to the controller by means of teeny pins through the use of yet another small cable. The controller is capable of performing all of the fundamental functions, including turning the light on and off, cycling through individual colors, and adjusting the level of brightness. However, it is not able to modify Scenes; in order to do that, you will need to use the Nanoleaf app.

Nanoleaf Essentials Lightstrip review: Features and functionality

Unfortunately, several of the Nanoleaf Essentials Lightstrip’s most desirable features have not yet been made available to the general public. For instance, Nanoleaf asserts that the Lightstrip will, at some time in the foreseeable future, be capable of reflecting the colors that are displayed on your Mac or Windows monitor.

If the Lightstrip were to be positioned on the back of your computer screen in the capacity of a bias light, this could provide some interesting visual effects. A variety of additional cutting-edge capabilities are also finding their way around the airport, including the capability to synchronize with music as well as the capability to synchronize with the colors that are displayed on Nanoleaf’s Shapes panels. Both of these capabilities are in the process of being developed right now.

Nanoleaf Essentials Lightstrip: Setup

The Nanoleaf Lightstrip is not much different from other light strips when it comes to how to set it up. You have to measure the area where you want the lights to go, then cut the lights to the right length and stick them on. You can’t cut anywhere, of course. Nanoleaf has marked the right places to cut with a scissors icon every 13 inches. This means that your end strip might be a little shorter or longer than you need, which is a problem with any light strip.

Once you’ve put the strip where you want it, you can stick the controller to a nearby wall or shelf to make it look like a switchboard. Then plug the AC adapter into a wall outlet, turn it on, and use either Apple’s Home app or the Nanoleaf companion app to read the QR code on the box. Even if you use the second method and have an iPhone or iPad, the light will be added to the Home app immediately. If you use Android, you can set it up with the Google Home app.

As we’ve already said, the Lightstrip is Thread-enabled, which means there’s another way to join if you have a “border” router for Thread. Even though Google and Amazon have made several products with Thread radios that could be used as routers, none of them have been “turned on” yet. The only ones that have are the Apple HomePod mini and, more recently, the latest Apple TV 4K.

Nanoleaf Essentials Lightstrip: Performance

The lifespan of the light strip is rated at 25,000 hours, and the color temperature of the white light it emits can range anywhere from 2,700 to 6,500 Kelvin. Additionally, there is support for sixteen million colors; however, only one color can be displayed at a time. It’s really bad, because the effects of color zones have the potential to be very intriguing.

When compared to other light strips, The Essentials has a strong brightness. The Nanoleaf can achieve a maximum brightness of 2,200 lumens and has an average brightness of 2,000 lumens, in contrast to the Philips Hue V4 White and Color Ambiance, which can only achieve a maximum brightness of 1,600 lumens. A room can be adequately illuminated by a white or yellow light that has been cranked all the way up to its maximum intensity.

If you have previously purchased an Apple HomePod mini or Apple TV 4K and have linked the Lightstrip to it via the Thread protocol, the lights will respond immediately to any command that you issue. Even if you are in close proximity to the lights, it can take anywhere from two to four seconds for them to respond if they are connected to your device using Bluetooth rather than a HomePod mini.

Nanoleaf Essentials Lightstrip: Competition

The Nanoleaf Essentials Lightstrip competes against brands like Philips Hue and LIFX in a field that is notoriously cutthroat. Philips Hue provides a more extensive selection of products, a more sophisticated app control, and interaction with a number of other smart platforms. In the meanwhile, LIFX offers a wide color gamut, communication via Wi-Fi, and backwards compatibility with the most popular smart home systems.

While the Essentials Lightstrip offers affordable and fundamental functionality, its competitors offer more comprehensive ecosystems and feature sets. Which one of these three options for your LED strip lighting solution is best for you will depend on whether you place a higher value on ease of use and affordability, a complete and immersive smart home experience, or bright color possibilities.

Final Words

While smart light bulbs are now widely available, light strips have not yet reached the same level of popularity. However, when you have one that is as inexpensive as the Nanoleaf Essentials Lightstrip, it is simple to choose to use that one instead. In addition, the use of the Lightstrip does not necessitate the purchase of an Apple HomePod mini.

When it is connected by Bluetooth, the response time is indeed quite poor; however, this is an issue with the wireless protocol and not the smart lights themselves. When additional devices with Thread connectivity are made accessible, the requirement for using Bluetooth to establish a connection may become obsolete. Up until then, there are only a number of Apple devices that are capable of using the Essentials Lightstrip to its full potential.

Nanoleaf Essentials Lightstrip review: The good and The bad

The Essentials Lightstrip has a high level of brightness, creates stunning color effects, and is simple to install. It is future-proof because to the inbuilt connectivity provided by Thread.