THE EMPIRE
Full transparency – Because there are consumables to mount these via 3m strips this has been gifted to us.
So what is a Neon Flex Strip? – well its a rubberized strip that has diffused LED lights that can be bent around and mounted to create either cool patterns for a display or, mounted around an area to create mood lighting.
Key features
16 Million Colours
Bendable, suitable for interior decoration
Multi colour with gradient effect
Available in 3 meter for $179 and 5meter for $189 – Pricing via JB Hifi at the time of publishing.
This may seem unrelated but I’ll circle back to my point soon, I had a flatmate who was neuro-spicy and he was all about lights, from LED’s to outdoor lighting and I always thought it was a bit much. However the thing you can do with neons is set a mood for a room. You’ll have seen in the stories I have my little neon ” Fuck yeah” sign in my room that sits with my candles etc. between that and my side lamp it creates a chill atmosphere in my room when I’m sitting working or gaming that makes me feel calm and relaxed because I find the main lights in my room far too bright of an evening.
We set these lights up around Cam’s Desk, we did this because cam’s gaming set up is in one of the lounge spaces and is a space we often hang and chat, so we thought we’d make his space pop a bit. Initially we’d just draped it around which was what promted the question about the consumables to mount the thing properly cause we liked where we were going with it draped and the proper clean mounted look was going to be better, and it is.
This was the first set up before we mounted everything correctly.
The light itself comes in a box – the power strip is only connected at one end so you can do a fair run away from a power source without worrying about the other end coming back. There is a button for on/off at the wall plug but this is mostly controlled with the App – however there are bluetooth buttons that can be wall mounted and programmable for different room/ Mood settings sold separately ( we haven’t tried those) There’s also a remote control lookin thing too.
Installing is super easy, Provided are more than enough wedges that you get 3m stickers to mount on any surface you like. We went with the edge of Cam’s desk and along past his plant to the stoner chair. As mentioned it was laid out draped at first to get the idea so we were confident we knew what we wanted going in so it was just a matter of adding the stickers and mounts where we wanted and running the LED strip. There are printable templates if you want to create a wall feature or if you’re creative you can make whatever you like. They can be folded around tight corners for intricate shapes – we found 6-8 inch spacing was good for being held up around the edge of the desk without sagging. It’s a snug fit so you can add some tension to get nice straight lines for even colour dispersion if that’s what you’re doing. That’s what we did and you can see the results.
The wait for darkness was filled with anticipation, but also some fumbling through the app – The app is good but it’s geared towards having many items in the eco system in a room by room set up, if you only have 1 item as we do then its a lot of app and functionality to work through to just pick a colour and turn it on and off. but, because we now have this one we have had talks about adding other items into the eco system so that we can expand on this idea. It would be nice to have an option within the app that is more simplified for a single item. I have seen the desk lamp strips they do and I’d rather just a simple colour choice / on off feature within the app. Another thing that would be nice would be a transparent power cable like they do with Fancy TV’s that could also be a bit longer if its mounted up on a high wall or something so you’ve got a bit more freedom
I think what we achieved with 1 product completely changes the space, and its done such a good job we are planning to make that space even more of a vibe with possibly purchasing another light of the same ecosystem and keeping that chill hangout space for talks, smokes and hangs. My 2 cents was to throw my acoustic guitar on there for a strum when the mood strikes cause that doesn’t happen enough so I’ve ordered a smart looking stand for it and I’m thinking some kinda lighting behind that will help with the overall vibe of the room.
Pros:
Good Quality
Great amount of light
Easy to Install
Cons
Software if you only have 1 item
The cost isn’t either pro or con, I think its a fair price for what you get and what you can do with it. The only thing for me is much like many other tech products, its ecosystem locked ( from what I can tell) so if this were to tie into the Philips or other similar products and work the same that’d be a game changer and would instantly be more appealing.
I know WiZ have their own lightbulbs and strips and other lights which would cover the bases we want, but it always runs the problem of seeing a product you’d like in yourset up that now requires another app and wont shake hands with your existing set up.
If you wana see the range or maybe try something for yourself, here’s a link to the JB Hifi website with the range
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