'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?
ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.
When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.
ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form.
CES 2023: GE Lighting adds new Cync hexagon panels, bulbs, and customizable neon lights
Special Feature
GE has been a leader in the lighting world for decades, and it's not one to balk at the smart home world, with its own innovative solutions by Cync.
Also: CES 2023 tech you can actually buy now
The smart lighting company is introducing a full Dynamic Effects entertainment line to the market Tuesday ahead of CES 2023, with features designed to make lighting by Cync part of a truly immersive experience.
The Cync Dynamic Effect line features new neon rope lighting that permits custom shapes, hexagonal wall panels, and some new A19 and BR30 light bulbs that can display up to four different colors at once. These all offer up to 16 million colors to choose from, pre-set and custom-created light shows, music syncing using integrated microphones, automations, and integrations with Alexa and Google Assistant -- with no hub required.
Also: CES 2023 preview: 4 big questions that will shape the week
The new Cync Dynamic Effects lineup has everything you need for a fully customizable experience.
Kara Perdue, vice president of Product Management at GE Lighting, said of the launch, "We're looking forward to launching additional Cync Dynamic Effects products that expand our immersive, innovative smart home ecosystem to bring even more personalization and fun for the home."
And fun it is. I personally love telling Alexa that "I'm going to make a video" and have my Cync lighting in the background switch to a ZDNET green, or that "I'm in a meeting" and have it change to a volcanic red effect to alert others who may enter my home office.
Also: CES 2023: Samsung Display to show off display that folds and slides
But the fun doesn't stop at custom effects and automations: One of the new additions, the Cync Dynamic Effects Smart Neon-Shape Lights, aka Neon Rope Lights, can be trimmed to size and shaped however you'd like to create custom light fixtures on your walls, complete with app controls and effects.
The new Neon Rope Lights can be used to create custom shapes.
Continuing the entertainment and creativity theme, GE Lighting's new Cync Dynamic Effects Smart Hexagon Panels are RGBW hexagons reminiscent of the Nanoleaf Hexagons, though they will be cheaper, at $169.99 for a seven-pack and $199.99 for a 10-pack.
The first additions to the new lineup of products are set to launch beginning in March and into the second quarter of the year, and range in prices from $19.99 and $26.99 for the A19 bulb and BR30 bulbs respectively, which are cheaper than the Philips Hue equivalent that go for $50 each. The Neon lights will be priced from $79.99 to $119.99.
Also: CES 2023 tech to watch: Metaverse, ER of the future, food tech, NFTs
These new entertainment-focused smart lights join the Cync Dynamic Effects indoor/outdoor light strips launched in late 2022, one of the few outdoor light strip options on the market. These strip lights are controlled with the Cync app, powered by Savant, which features different dynamic color effects to choose from, as well as the option to create your own and sync it with music.
Built to last, these strips feature a flexible coating to achieve an IP65 dust and moisture resistance rating, and are available in 8-, 16- and 32-foot lengths.
In addition to these updates, GE Lighting announced a new integration with Schlage of its Cync app, powered by Savant. This will allow Schlage Encode Smart WiFi Deadbolt and Encode Plus users to set routines and automations with their lock using the Cync app, like turning on an entryway light when the front door is unlocked, for example.
Also: The best strip lights
As far as Matter support, GE Lighting is committed to bringing the new smart home connectivity standard to its users, but only for future product launches. According to Casey Klock, director of Product Launch, there will be no retroactive upgrades to the Cync line. This means that the new Dynamic Effects line, which runs on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), won't be Matter-compatible, but future launches should be.
Though this puts Cync a bit behind the competition like Nanoleaf, Philips Hue, and, more recently, Govee, the more affordable prices could encourage users to opt for the GE Lighting lineup. And, with the Cync app offering a decent user interface and more Cync smart home products down the line, a smart home Cync ecosystem doesn't sound like a far-fetched concept.