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My favorite new smart home accessory is unexpected and full of useful features
The Govee Floor Lamp Pro's base doubles as a Bluetooth speaker.
ZDNET's key takeaways
- Govee just launched the Govee Floor Lamp 2 for $150, while the Govee Floor Lamp Pro will be available on April 22 for $220.
- The Govee Floor Lamp 2 and Govee Floor Lamp Pro both have a wide range of smart capabilities as well as voice control, tons of light effects, and a sleek, modern look.
- However, both of these products are more expensive than standard floor lamps, and can be wobbly, which sometimes makes them look crooked.
Smart lights continue to get more and more sophisticated as makers look for ways to differentiate their products from competitors. Such is the case with the Nanoleaf Skylight, Govee's Neon Rope 2, and now, the Govee Floor Lamp 2 and Govee Floor Lamp Pro.
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This isn't the first Govee smart floor lamp; both of these lamps are successors of the Lyra, a smart floor lamp that is currently on sale for just $90. But both of Govee's newest floor lamps build on what the Lyra introduced, with upgraded features and an even sleeker design.
View at AmazonBoth floor lamp models have similar designs. They're tall, thin floor lamps (without a lampshade or bulb at the top obviously) and a wide illuminated base that holds the lamp's mechanism. The thin 60-inch metal post that forms the lamp's core holds the silicone strip light, which acts as the main light source. These lamps are best positioned in a corner so that the light creates an ambient glow.
Govee Floor Lamp 2
While the Govee Floor Lamp 2 doesn't have a speaker base, it can react to music.
The Govee Floor Lamp 2 is now available for $150. It's a black floor lamp similar to the Lyra model but features notable upgrades such as extra light beads and a brighter light output at 1725lm.
Govee is marketing this Floor Lamp 2 as a perfect option for apartment dwellers because it allows for a wide color palette and customizations, but it's been a pretty fantastic addition to our home office. This room in our home doesn't have overhead lighting, so we've made do with floor lamps and smart lights so far, but the Govee Floor Lamp 2 fits seamlessly in place of a dumb floor lamp.
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Its sleek black design matches our decor, and the base is attractive. It has a black glass finish at the top and clear on the bottom, with a gradient to make the base's light colors pop. With Matter support, the Govee Floor Lamp 2 connects easily with your existing smart home automation system, from Amazon Alexa to Apple HomeKit.
Govee Floor Lamp Pro
The Govee Floor Lamp Pro in a living room.
The new Govee Floor Lamp Pro is the company's high-end floor lamp model. It has a whopping 324 color and white light beads that truly deliver on the promise of putting out vibrant lighting with contrasting colors. The Pro lamp is silver with a multifunctional base and Bluetooth speaker, which works to sync light and sounds.
The speaker also has 28 white noise presets, which my family discovered one Saturday morning when looking for the origin of a strange sound that no one could identify. The white noise feature can be easily turned on or off in the Govee app, where you can choose the best sounds to suit your needs from three categories: sleep, life, and natural.
The speaker quality isn't going to win any contests, especially not when compared to the Sonos Era 300 right next to it. Still, it's good enough to play music casually, and it can get surprisingly loud. Music sync can be done with audio from your paired device, like your smartphone, or from the lamp itself, and there are ten different light transition presets to let you choose how you want the colors to change when reacting to sounds.
This turned out to be one of my favorite features since I don't like just having the light bounce from one color to the next with the beat - it made the lamp a feature on its own, as I find it relaxing to see the different ways the colors change.
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As a floor lamp, this device is very functional; it can go up to 2100 lumens in brightness, though it should always face a wall where the light can reflect. While the Govee Floor Lamp Pro doesn't support Matter at launch, it's slated to be available with Matter support later in 2024. The Govee Floor Lamp Pro goes on sale on April 22nd for $220.
ZDNET's buying advice
The new Govee Floor Lamp 2 and Govee Floor Lamp Pro are pretty solid smart floor lamps – both perform as expected and work smoothly with Alexa and the Govee app. Both lamps must face a wall for the light to reflect and illuminate a room effectively, so I find a corner is the best spot to put them in. Just note that these Govee floor lamps aren't meant to go over a reading chair as they won't work effectively.
If I could only choose one, I'd be more inclined to add the Govee Floor Lamp 2 to my cart over the Pro model. While the silver color matches more rooms in my home, the black Floor Lamp 2 is attractive on its own, and I'd rather pay less money than buy a floor lamp with a speaker I won't use that often.