Govee Ambient RGBWW Portable Table Lamp: Specifications
Size: 6.1 x 6.1 x 3.7 inches
Weight: 1.65 EGP
Regulations: The application is controlled in addition to a single button on the base
Number of colors available: 16 million
Shipping time: 4 hours
Battery life: 4 hours
works with: Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa
Voltage : From 100 to 240 volts
Lumens: 350
a guarantee: ONE YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY
The Govee Ambient RGBWW Portable Table Lamp is a compact and versatile smart lamp with access to 16 million colors. It offers up to 350 lumens of brightness, which we found to be more than enough, and the app offers an abundance of features including timers and scenes for different moods.
We found the battery to be a bit lackluster, getting only four hours of light after a four-hour charge. However, given the low price and customization this lamp has to offer, it’s still a great deal and will keep kids entertained for hours.
Govee Ambient RGBWW Portable Table Lamp Review: Price and Availability
The Govee Ambient RGBWW Portable Table Lamp is available in two models – one with Bluetooth and one with both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Bluetooth model available from Amazon (Opens in a new tab) For $52.99, direct from governmental (Opens in a new tab) for $49.99. The Bluetooth and Wi-Fi model costs a bit more, and is available from Amazon (Opens in a new tab) for $65.99 and from governmental (Opens in a new tab) for $65.99.
Govee Ambient RGBWW Portable Table Lamp Review: Design
The Govee Ambient RGBWW Portable Table Light has a beautiful, streamlined bowl-shaped design, very similar to the Philips Hue Go Portable Table Light. It has a plastic finish, which makes it feel solid and durable, making it a safe choice around children. While it is made of plastic, the look is attractive enough that it could replace your bedside lamps. The design doesn’t draw attention to itself, but it looks smart, sophisticated and compact, measuring just 6.1 x 6.1 x 3.7 inches.
It’s lightweight, weighing just 1.65 pounds, and portable thanks to its cordless design. This makes it extremely versatile – you can sit next to your bed to read, or next to the TV to amplify the colors of your favorite movies. While you’ll mostly control it via the Govee Home app, there is a single power button on the lamp base. This can turn it on and off as well as cycle through the primary color options. There are also two feet on the base, so you can either angle the lamp or lay it flat while in use. The microphone can be found next to the charging port. The charging cable measures 71 inches, which is a good length.
Govee Ambient RGBWW Portable Table Lamp Review: Performance
You couldn’t ask for more color options, with 16 million to choose from. You can select the color you want using the color wheel in the app and it’s easy to adjust with this as well.
If you are in a hurry and just want a base color, you can also access it from the single button on the base. It’s also nice that you can save your favorite colors when you find them in the app, to quickly access them later. However, we felt that some colors could have more definition to them. Bold colors like red and orange can be stronger and we’ve noticed that the standard yellow has a hint of green as well. Other than that, the colors were vibrant and adequately matched to the description in the app.
Brightness is dimmable from 1-100%, which is very useful when evening is late, and at full brightness (350 lumens) it is very intense and you don’t need more. My partner actually asked me to hide it most of the time! Dimming is also used for the Sleeping Timer in the app as well as the Wake Up timer. With this, you can schedule when you want the lamp to turn on or off gradually to fit into your routine. We especially liked how precisely the wake timer was set, down to the days of the week, the duration of the wake (from 10 minutes to an hour) and the final percentage of brightness.
The only thing we were disappointed with was the battery life. A four-hour charge gives you four hours of light. Practically speaking, if you use this lamp every night, that means it will need to be plugged in most of the time. There’s more than enough cable length for convenience, but you can tell that the charger isn’t meant to be on display and doesn’t add to the aesthetics. On standby, we also noticed that the battery drained much faster than when it was turned off completely, so we’d spend about 10 seconds pressing the power button every morning to turn the power off. Govee recently introduced a Battery Saver mode to the app which is designed to extend the standby time by turning off the Wi-Fi connection until the lamp is connected again. This is a useful addition, but again indicates that the lamp really needs to be plugged in to get the most out of it.
The lamp responded quickly to the application, efficiently adjusting its color. We found the app sometimes struggling to find it when the flashlight is on. This was the case on more than a few occasions, so we ended up using the actual power button at times like this.
Govee Ambient RGBWW Portable Table Lamp Review: App
Govee app was easy to navigate and easy to use. Some of the available functions, such as DIY, can be better explained, but a little guidance is generally needed. It comes with four modes to choose from: Music, Color, Scene, and DIY. There is also an effects lab with 19 color categories. These can really vary, from emoticons, to fruits and animals, and there are colors available in each to suit different themes – a fun feature for kids to explore. From the homepage, you can also access the timer, battery saving mode, and brightness level.
With Music mode, you can change the color of the lamp based on the sound and rhythm heard through the phone’s microphone or through the lamp’s microphone. You can also adjust sensitivity and mood, from calm to dynamic and even party. Moreover, the lamp can adjust the color automatically, or you can do it yourself. We found this to be an interesting feature, but in practice it was a bit late. When we listened to music, it was rather slow to prove its efficacy, even in the case of full allergy. We also noticed that the Quiet mode was very fast in the tempo. Thus, we would not buy this lamp for this feature alone.
Color mode gives you the option to choose between eight primary colors as well as adjust the degree of whiteness, from cool white to warm white. You can also find the color wheel in this mode as well as access My Colors, where your favorites will be saved. Scene mode is particularly interesting because it provides a range of experiences to configure the scene. This includes settings such as festivals, candlelight, and fireworks. Adjusts color and tempo based on what you select – another great setting for kids. It comes with useful settings in addition to reading and working, which preset whiteness levels to suit the task.
With DIY mode, you can basically create your own lighting experience. You can name it, set the speed and effect and choose the colors you want to highlight. You can also use the Smart Color Picking feature which will use colors from your phone’s photo album. The app can’t offer much from the perspective of a smart bulb. Our only concern was that you cannot control more than one lamp at the same time.
The Govee Ambient RGBWW Portable Table Lamp with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi works with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa for easy control. This means that it is compatible with the major brands of voice assistants, but will not work with the Apple Homekit.
Govee Ambient RGBWW Portable Table Lamp Review: Verdict
In the end, the Govee Ambient RGBWW Portable Table Lamp is a nice and fun to use product, with a simple and effective design as a smart lamp. With so many features and options, the app offers everything and more than you’d hoped, meaning it will keep the kids entertained as a bonus too.
It’s quite versatile, but we would have liked the battery life to have been better. In comparison, the Philips Hue Go Smart Light can run for 18 hours in candle effect mode. So you may need to wire this Govee lamp more often than you expect. Having said that, the Govee lamp is half the price of the Hue Go, and it looks nice enough that it can fit into a bedside cabinet.