Customize your mood lighting with Govee's Hexa, a modular, wall-mounted RGBIC lighting fixture that could fit in practically anywhere in your home.
We understand that RGB LED lighting may not be for everyone. After all, light strips tend to be unsightly unless tucked behind a TV, bookcase, or headboard.
However, there's a chance you might not want to highlight your TV, bookcase, or your bed. Instead, you may want to add your lighting out in the open.
Govee's Hexa Glide light is an attractive, minimalist option that takes the in-view approach, allowing it to be used in any room, be it your living room or your man cave.
The setup
While the setup may feel a little daunting, Govee's app makes it surprisingly easy. For example, it only took one person to install Hexa onto a wall, though you'll probably want two if you're installing them somewhere that requires a stepladder.
Once you unbox everything and make sure all your lights work, Govee gives you the option to design your own light layout or use their preset designs. We chose to use an attractive double-honeycomb design that Govee had already planned out.
When it comes to getting the lights on the wall, you'll want to keep a table or chair next to you with the light tiles on it, so you can easily grab the tiles as you need them. Govee includes a bubble level and tile alignment tool to ensure that everything goes off without a hitch.
Following the guide in the app is easy, if not a little tedious. Essentially, you'll plug your power into the first tile, plug in a connector to the next tile, stick your tile to the wall, and attach the next tile.
Each tile has a power slot and five labeled areas to which you can connect an additional tile. The app will tell you exactly where to plug in each connector piece, so most of your effort will be lining up the tiles and pressing them against the wall for 30 seconds.
It only took us 24 minutes from the moment we unboxed our lights until we had them up and running. Unsurprisingly, we spent most of this time pressing the lights against the wall.
When you're finished, the app makes sure everything is calibrated correctly, ensuring that any animations you play with the light work correctly.
Aesthetics
Unlike many of Govee's other products, we feel like these lights could suit nearly any room, rather than being relegated to a teenager's bedroom, man cave, or home entertainment room.
They're relatively minimalistic, low profile, and thanks to the RGBIC lights, you can set them to any color that fits your mood — even if that's just a simple, warm white.
The matte diffusion plastic and stylish hexagon shape also help lend a more mature look. Even when they're not on, the lights look decent enough that we like having them hung on our wall.
Performance and the Govee app
We've spoken at length about the Govee app in the past. It's a reputable app, and we like it well enough. It lets you control all your Govee lights as a group or control individual lights.
It allows you to control brightness, color, individual lighting per panel, set timers, and more.
If you're not into creating your own schemes, you can pick from more than 30 presets within the app. There are even presets for things like a nightlight mode.
We like Hexa's pre-programmed animations better than those for the original Glide or the Lyra.
Important: Govee's products are not currently compatible with HomeKit. While there are quite a few smart home-oriented features, you just can't use them with Apple's platform.
Overall
We like Hexa. They're an excellent wall light that doesn't feel too aged down or in your face, and the diffused lighting is perfect for filling a room without being overwhelming.
Pros
- Offers RGBIC lighting effects
- Hexagon shape is sleek and stylish compared to light bars or RGB LED strips.
- Diffused lighting is easy on the eyes while still lighting a room adequately
- App offers plenty of customization options
- Setup is easy
Cons
- Not HomeKit compatible
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Where to buy
Those interested in snagging their own Govee Glide Hexa can head to amazon and pick up a 10-pack of lights for $199. For a limited time, Govee $30 off of purchases with a coupon on the Amazon product page.
