The Govee Lyra is a stunning freestanding accent light for any part of your home, capable of gorgeous dynamic multicolor displays that'll be sure to wow guests. However, voice control is limited and the app could do with some streamlining. If you just want some flashy lights, Govee RGBIC LED strips offer better value for money with the same feature set. 

Key Features
  • RGBIC LEDs
  • 58-inches tall
  • Aluminum profiling
  • Opaque silicon LED diffuser
Specifications
  • Brand: Govee
  • Integrations: Alexa, Google Home
  • Protocol: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
  • Hub Required: No
  • Music Reactive: Yes
  • Multicolor Capable: Yes
Pros
  • Dynamic, multicolor scenes are incredible
  • Music mode works well from the built-in microphone
  • Bluetooth app control as well as Wi-Fi means you can take it elsewhere for instant effect lighting
Cons
  • The app has a bewildering number of color options
  • Limited voice assistant control
  • Can't save scenes to the remote
  • Doesn't support Apple HomeKit
Buy This Product
Govee Lyra

Govee leads the way in affordable smart home lighting, but until now it's mostly been focussed on DIY options like LED strips. The Govee Lyra is its first freestanding floor lamp, and the sleek design means it wouldn't look out of place in any modern home. Is it time to upgrade your floor lamp?

Read on to find out more about the Govee Lyra floor lamp, how it compares to other smart lighting products, and whether it's right for your smart home.

To celebrate the launch, Govee is offering a Lyra floor lamp to one lucky reader: just enter your details in the giveaway widget at the end of this review to be in with a chance of winning. The competition closes one month later, and the winner will be notified by email.

What is "RGBIC"?

The Govee Lyra uses RGBIC technology, which is another term for Neopixels, or pixel LEDs. The "RGB" part refers to the LEDs being capable of color mixing with a full gamut of Red, Green, and Blue. "IC" is short for Integrated Circuit, referencing the fact that each LED has its own control circuit, hence each can display a different color.

govee lyra floor lamp music mode

Most RGB strips you'll find for sale can display only a single color at the same time. The Govee Lyra (and other Govee RGBIC products) can display multiple colors simultaneously, resulting in gorgeous rainbows and aurora patterns.

Govee Lyra Hardware

The Lyra arrives in a relatively compact box, which of course means there's a fair bit of construction before you can start using the lamp. Inside the box you'll find:

  • Heavy base with attached control box
  • Three milled aluminum profile sections
  • Connecting brackets and screws
  • Silicone-encased LED strips
  • Power cable
  • Remote control
  • Optional remote control holder

Fixing it all together is quite an involved process, but took me no longer than half an hour, and a screwdriver is included. However, you should follow the instructions closely, as one of the aluminum profile sections is not like the others, and has a different set of screw holes to attach to the base. Once the main tower has been constructed, you should plug in the LED strip, then carefully squeeze it into the profiling.

govee lyra floor lamp construction

The optional remote holder snaps onto the Lyra in any position you choose. The remote control itself is magnetic at the rear, so it can be attached and pulled off easily. It's optional though, so feel free to not use it if you feel it ruins the overall aesthetic.

Design

The Govee Lyra stands at 58-inches (147cm), though the LED strip is only 47-inches (120cm) of that. To ensure it stands upright, you'll find a heavy but slimline base, with the footprint of the Lyra only a 6-inch diameter, meaning it should fit neatly beside any bulky furniture.

That said, I'm not a fan of the white plastic around the base, and would have preferred a wider, flatter, brushed aluminum look to match the profiling sections. It also seems like a wasted opportunity that the power brick and electronics are not built into the base.

govee lyra floor lamp white base

Ultimately these are small complaints when the base and cable are likely to be hidden behind some furniture, but it does mean you may not want to put the Lyra in an empty corner of the living room. At 58-inches tall, I also found myself wanting a small table to put it on, rather than the actual floor. It feels just ever so slightly too short, and just one extra section would have made all the difference. To me, a floor lamp should stand about as tall as I am, or a little less.

The Govee Lyra looks best when placed about a foot back from and facing a wall, allowing a wide area of light to be reflected back.

govee lyra floor lamp facing the wall refelcting back

Of course, if you'd rather the harsher look of the striplight itself, there's no reason you can't do that, but you'll get a much less impressive reflection.

govee lyra floor lamp led strip view

Controlling the Govee Lyra

There's a number of ways you can interact with and control the Lyra:

  • Physical remote control
  • Govee Home app
  • Voice assistant

Remote Control

The remote has buttons for power, built-in music reactive modes, one color selection, brightness, and warm or cool light modes.

govee lyra floor lamp remote control

However, notably absent is the ability to select multicolor scenes that aren't music reactive. To initiate those–which are arguably one of the biggest differentiating points of the Govee Lyra–you'll need to use the app.

Govee Home App

Thankfully, getting set up with the Govee Home app is easy, and I was able to reliably add the device within minutes. Operating over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, just choose the Lyra from the indoor lighting tab, provide your network access details, and name the device. The device will automatically use Bluetooth if you're within range, but otherwise, it all works fine over Wi-Fi.

The app is relatively easy to use to select premade scenes or more music reactive modes, but creating your own custom animations can get more complex thanks to confusing color options. Having trouble deciding on some colors to use? The "Recommended color schemes" sounds like it would be an easy to choose list, but instead requires you to select no less than an initial style, a basic color, a scene, and a color matching method; none of which are really explained.

The "Effects Lab", which features at the top of the list, is particularly bizarre. It appears to be a vast selection of color palettes created from photographs, from which you can then choose a single color and apply it to the lamp, or save the color to your personal favorites. To me, an Effects Lab is somewhere you can go and choose, say a fireworks animation, or log fire. Instead, you'll find those sort of animations down in Mode -> Scene.

The app also includes the options to share your scenes, though it's not clear where to access others' creations.

In short, there's an awful lot of choice in the app, and the basics are easy to get a hang of, but there's just too much complexity when it comes to customization. Govee could do with taking a leaf out of the Nanoleaf playbook when it comes to custom scene creation and community sharing.

Voice Assistants

The last option is to use either Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa. Apple HomeKit and Siri are not supported. The voice assistant control is also limited to power, brightness, and color; you can't select multicolor scenes or music reactive modes.

In my testing, I found the remote control and app to be the most useful. Despite not being able to export animated scenes to the remote control or voice assistants, the Lyra does remember the last scene used, so you can at least resume your favorite (assuming you don't turn it off at the plug). The lack of HomeKit support might be a dealbreaker for you though.

govee lyra floor lamp in the living room

Which Smart Lighting to Choose?

Govee is our favorite when it comes to great value smart lighting, but it's not the only option. Let's take a look at some other ecosystems to compare.

Govee vs Hue

The Govee and Hue smart lighting ecosystems crossover in many places, yet differ immensely. Both sell smart color bulbs, LED strips, and standalone lighting fixtures. Govee even has its own version of the Ambilight technology, which uses a camera to "watch" your screen and dynamically adjust the lighting color.

The main difference is price: Philips Hue devices cost two to five times as much as their Govee equivalent. Consider the Govee smart LED strips, around $20 for five meters; vs the Hue equivalent Lightstrip at $60 for three meters! Philips even has a smart floor lamp, but it's twice the price, and only outputs a single color. There's just no competition here.

The Hue system requires its own smart hub, creating a separate Zigbee mesh network. This has the benefit of not cluttering up your Wi-Fi if you have lots of fixtures, and means you can install lighting in places your Wi-Fi might not be able to reach. On the other hand, it's a high added cost if you only have a few smart lights, and modern Wi-Fi routers should easily handle some smart lighting. On top of that, Zigbee transmits over the 2.4Ghz spectrum, the same as 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi. S you (or your neighbors) may find your Wi-Fi experience suffers.

Govee smart products use either Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. If you have good Wi-Fi coverage and a modern router, you should have no problem. Though rarely used outside of initial setup, Bluetooth is a welcome addition for me. If I'm running a small event somewhere, such as a haunted house, I can pick up some Govee LED strips and set them up as effect lighting or a custom music reactive mode using only my smartphone, without needing to worry about programming in new Wi-Fi access details.

govee lyra floor lamp general product shot

Govee vs Nanoleaf

Although the Nanoleaf smart lighting panels are a vastly different product (more akin to wall art installations), they are generally going to be considered for the same purpose as the Lyra: lighting up a wall or corner of your home.

Both Nanoleaf Panels and Govee Lyra share a lot of similarities:

  • Connect to Wi-Fi, and have voice assistant integration
  • Capable of displaying more than one color simultaneously
  • Offer music reactive modes
  • Offer dynamic scenes, such as a rainbow or aurora
  • Have a comprehensive mobile app with custom design modes
  • Have physical control buttons, either on a remote or on the device itself

So where do they differ? Nanoleaf panels are infinitely more customizable, and expandable. The app even helps you to design a shape to place them on your wall. Nanoleaf panels are also compatible with Apple HomeKit, and voice assistant integration is generally more developed, with individual scenes exported.

Of course, Nanoleaf panels are more expensive: two to three times as much as the Govee Lyra for a basic 9-panel music reactive starter kit. In my experience, the Wi-Fi control is lot less reliable too, and I frequently have to do a hard reset to get them responsive again.

Should You Buy the Govee Lyra?

If you want a stylish, minimalistic floor lamp, capable of stunning multicolor dynamic and music reactive displays, along with plenty of customizable options and app control, the Govee Lyra is well worth a look. It's certainly the fanciest floor lamp we've ever seen, perfect for everything from impromptu living room raves to subdued romantic nights in.

It'll blend into the background when not in use, and take center-stage when needed. It's gorgeous, customizable, and has a physical remote control. You'll need the app for the more exciting scenes though, and voice assistant integration is limited.

But while we think the Lyra is a great-looking smart floor lamp, it's let down only by the fact that other Govee products offer even better value. Much of the cost goes on the aluminum profiling, and there's only 47-inches worth of actual LEDs for the RRP of $150. For the same price, you could buy almost 100ft of Govee RGBIC LED strips, which would have the exact same features, and produce enough light to blind you. Clearly, a big chunk of the price is on the presentation—metal isn't cheap. If you just want some smart effect lighting, and don't mind sticking the LED strips to an existing bit of furniture, then some basic LED strips are a better choice.