One-minute review
Govee may not be a name you’re familiar with when it comes to smart lighting, as the brand is a relative newcomer to the smart-home world. However, it is taking aim at rivals such as Philips Hue and LIFX with a range of smart bulbs, LED light strips, and other smart lighting accessories, all at very competitive prices.
The Govee Wi-Fi LED Bulb works just as you would expect, connecting to Wi-Fi and controlled via a smartphone app. While the app itself isn’t the best we have seen, owing to an occasionally clunky design with some grammatical shortfalls, the bulbs also work perfectly with Alexa and Google Assistant.
Connecting the Govee to a Wi-Fi network is easy, and means the bulbs work without needing a hub. This makes the system even better value for money compared to Philips Hue and Hive, which both require hubs to function.
Brightness isn’t quite what it should be when displaying colours other than white and yellow, but that is really our only major complaint. In the US, the bulb is available with a screw fitting in the US but in the UK, Govee only offers a version with a bayonet fitting - anyone wanting a Wi-Fi system with screw-mount lamps will have to buy adapters.
But for the price, with full-color bulbs starting at just $14 / £14 (and sometimes discounted even further), it is hard to argue against the Govee for long.
Govee Wi-Fi LED Bulb price and availability
- List price: $23.99 / £23.39
The big selling point of Govee smart lighting is the price. We tested a twin-pack of that has a retail price of just $23.99 / £23.39, which is available direct from Govee or through Amazon. However, individual bulbs are also available for $14 / £14.
These full-color bulbs are seriously good value for money and around a quarter the price of alternatives from Hive, LIFX, and Philips Hue. The Govee bulbs become even better value when you realize they connect directly to your Wi-Fi network, so don’t require a hub to be controlled from your smartphone or other smart home devices. This also means they can be controlled while away from home, also without a hub.
Design
- Not all fittings offered in all territories
- Looks and feels just like a regular bulb
- Might protrude from lamps in an adapter is needed
The twin-set reviewed here includes a pair of B22 bulbs with bayonet-style fixings and Wi-Fi connectivity. The bulbs have a domed top (as opposed to the flat tops of Philips Hue bulbs) and attach to any lamps and other bulb fixings you might have in a regular way.
We don’t own any bayonet-style lamps, so had to use a £2 (around $2.70) adaptor, which works absolutely fine. However, this adds length to the bulb so might not be suitable in shorter lamps, as the bulb might protrude from behind the shade.
Govee mostly specializes in LED light strips and other, bespoke smart lighting accessories. If you want GU10 ceiling spotlights, teardrop bulbs, or edison-style bulbs, then you’ll have to look at a different smart lighting system (and likely spend more money).
Performance
- Setup is quick and easy
- Wi-Fi connection is speedy and reliable
- 800 lumens
Setting up Govee bulbs is simple enough, with the smartphone app making it easy to add them to your Wi-Fi network. However, for the app to see the bulb you’ve to turn the bulb on and off several times, which feels more convoluted than is strictly necessary, given other bulbs don’t need this, except when being factory-reset.
Once that’s done, the bulb is very quick to respond to your commands within the app, and impressively we didn’t notice a difference in response time whether our phone was connected to the Wi-Fi network or not.
Connecting to Alexa and Google Assistant is also painless. Once set up through their respective apps, the voice assistants can be used to turn the Govee bulb on or off, and adjust the colour, temperature and brightness.
Speaking of brightness, however, we found the bulb wasn’t as bright when displaying a colour than when set to white or yellow. Despite its brightness rating of 800 lumens being on par with other, more expensive smart bulbs, the Govee seemed a little dim when displaying bold colours.
App
- Lots of features
- Slightly cluttered layout
- Responsive
Govee lights are set up and controlled using the company’s free smartphone app. After the slightly frustrating on-off-on-off setup process mentioned earlier, the app serves as a useful way to control the bulb, adjust its brightness, temperature, and color, and set up schedules.
It’s also possible to organize multiple bulbs into groups, such as rooms of your home, to control them all at once. The app offers a selection of pre-set lighting conditions, but these aren’t particularly imaginative. For example, a preset called Romantic turns the bulb a bright shade of pink/purple.
Although the app has plenty of features, and bulbs respond very quickly when controlled through it, most buyers will likely prefer to control the Govee bulb by speaking to Alexa or Google Assistant. For us, the app serves only as a way to initially set the bulbs up. After that, we prefer to connect them to our Alexa or Google Assistant systems and control them that way instead.
Should I buy the Govee Wi-Fi LED Bulb?
Buy it if...
Don't buy it if...
First reviewed: February 2022
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