X
Home & Office
Why you can trust ZDNET : ZDNET independently tests and researches products to bring you our best recommendations and advice. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Our process

'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.

Close

GE Cync is bringing the smarts to neon lights

The company is launching new smart lights with a twist - literally.
Written by Maria Diaz, Staff Writer
GE Cync Neon Shape Smart Lights
GE Cync

Remember back when having a neon sign in your home was peak coolness? It appears Cync by GE Lighting, a Savant company, remembers. The smart lighting company is officially launching its new Neon-Shape smart lights that, yes, look just like neon lights. The kicker? The lights can be shaped into almost any design you can think of, as long as they're long enough.

The new GE Cync Neon-Shape smart lights, originally announced at CES this year, come in two sizes, 10- or 16-foot long, and each includes a control box, set of mounting clips, screws, nails, and layout templates.

Also: This smart light strip is cheaper than Philips Hue but just as magical

The lights can be shaped to fit your original design, or if you're not feeling too creative, you can use one of the included templates to set your pattern. After the design is set, you can trim the light strip, apply the included end cap, and mount it if needed. 

Thanks to the included clips and hardware, the Neon-Shape smart lights are easy to install. With many smart products touting easy, DIY installation, I tested them in my home -- and the results were great.

After customizing the shapes, setting them up, and playing with different effects on the app, I must admit the hardest part was choosing what design to make with them. 

The brains in the smart lights

Custom-shaped neon lights aside, these GE Cync lights are Wi-Fi enabled. They can be set up with the Cync app, powered by Savant, to control the brightness and set custom light shows. The app has over 16 million colors to choose from, and many pre-sets available with your lights. 

Also: The best smart home devices (and how they can make your life easier)

The Neon-Shape lights also include one of my favorite features in a smart light -- on-device music syncing. They can sync to your favorite music for an immersive experience, but instead of syncing to a music app on your phone, they do it with a built-in microphone. 

GE Cync Neon Shape Smart Lights
GE Cync

The mic on the strip light makes the lights react to the sounds nearby to work with your gaming setup or movie audio, not just the music from your phone. 

Also: Govee's new smart lights use AI to match your monitor's colors in real time

Cync smart lights are compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, including these Neon-Shape smart lights. That being said, these latest neon lights won't yet support Matter, which is an open-source connectivity standard for smart home technology. It's unclear if an update for Matter support will roll out in the future. 

If you're looking for something customizable, eye-catching, and innovative, these GE Cync Neon-Shape smart lights can be a great addition. The seamless color-changing features on the lights and the intuitive Cync app make for an easy and fun experience, but the level of customization is the icing on the cake. 

Editorial standards