Cync sensible gentle strips: Dynamic impact dud

GE Lighting has been steadily increasing its assortment of sensible house merchandise over the previous few years, and its newest launch is the brand new Cync Dynamic Results gentle strips (out there at Greatest Purchase for $89.99) . The model says these LED gentle strips will permit you to carry thousands and thousands of colours and white tones, gradient results, and multicolored gentle reveals into your house, they usually’re out there in each indoor and out of doors variations, as well.

I’ve beforehand examined and loved Cync merchandise, so I used to be excited to expertise the model’s latest launch for myself. I examined the brand new Dynamic Results gentle strips over the course of some weeks, and I’m unhappy to report that they didn’t dwell as much as my excessive expectations for the model—right here’s why.

What we appreciated

The lighting results are cool

Each the indoor and out of doors gentle strips will be managed via the Cync app, and there are fairly just a few lighting results that you may mess around with.

If you’d like the lights to be a stable colour, the app affords a colour wheel the place you may select the precise hue you need, and you’ll simply regulate the brightness degree and save the colour to rapidly use once more.

The app additionally affords enjoyable lighting results. There are 9 preset choices with common colour schemes, akin to purple and inexperienced for the vacations and a rainbow choice, however you may as well create your individual results, as nicely.

The app permits you to select an impact sample and customized colour palette, and you’ll preview what it can appear like earlier than you reserve it.

You possibly can even sync the lights as much as pulse alongside to music—a enjoyable function to your house gymnasium or whereas entertaining—although I didn’t use this function a lot, as I examined the indoor lights in our lavatory.

The strips have a lovely look

I personally don’t like when LED gentle strips have the sunshine nodes uncovered—it was certainly one of my larger woes concerning the Kasa Good Mild Strip—so I used to be comfortable to seek out that each units of the Cync lights embody a translucent protecting that makes them extra enticing when the lights are off.

I undoubtedly would favor this type of LED strip if I used to be placing the lights in an uncovered space. Plus, the protecting additionally helps to diffuse the sunshine extra, so it appears to be like like the entire strip is lit up, not simply every particular person bulb.

You possibly can prolong them

The Cync Dynamic Results Indoor LED Strip is 16 toes lengthy, and the Outside LED Strip is available in 16- or 32-foot choices. When you’re considering to your self, “I want an extended strip of lights,” you’ll be comfortable to listen to that each merchandise can truly be prolonged.

The indoor strip will be prolonged to a complete of 32 toes, and each out of doors choices will be doubled in size—so in case you have the 16-foot out of doors strip, it may be prolonged to a complete of 32 toes, and in case you have the 32-foot mannequin, it may be elevated as much as 64 toes.

The model affords particular 8-foot extension kits for this goal, that are (barely) cheaper than shopping for one other complete unit.

What we didn’t like

The sticky tape was terrible

The Cync Dynamic Results Indoor Strip has an adhesive backing that you should use to stay it up—in concept, anyway.

I made a decision to put in the lights beneath a ledge that runs across the fringe of my lavatory, and my associate and I adopted the set up directions rigorously, cleansing the floor earlier than peeling off the adhesive backing and urgent the strip the place we wished it.

It took us 20 minutes or so to finish the set up, and I used to be actually thrilled with the way it got here out.

Nonetheless, once I got here again an hour later, one space of the sunshine strip had began to fall off the wall. I pressed the part again in place, making use of lots of stress to stay it on there good—no massive deal, proper?

Sadly, the following morning, about half of the sunshine strip was hanging. I strengthened it with further double-sided tape, however it nonetheless wasn’t sufficient to help the strip. Inside a day, the entire gentle strip had fully fallen off the wall, and no quantity of sticking was going to make it keep the place I wished.

Because of this, I’d suggest putting in these lights utilizing the help brackets that come within the field. It’s undoubtedly extra work that method, as it’s a must to nail them in place, and I feel it’s unlucky that the adhesive offered isn’t truly sturdy sufficient to carry up the sunshine strips.

Straight strains solely!

One other space the place these lights fell flat was their flexibility—or lack thereof, on this case. Each the indoor and out of doors lights have a translucent cowl over the LED nodes, which helps to diffuse the sunshine and make the strip extra enticing when it’s seen.

Nonetheless, the flipside of the coin is the protecting makes the sunshine strips difficult to bend round corners.

Once we put in the indoor gentle strip in my lavatory, it was purported to run alongside the sting of two partitions, making a 90-degree flip within the nook. The instructions say you may bend the strip between the LED nodes, however it was actually difficult to do, as the fabric isn’t that versatile.

We additionally ended up bending too near one of many lights, because the LEDs in that nook have been typically inexperienced as an alternative of the colour they have been purported to be.

The out of doors gentle strip is greater than twice as thick because the indoor choice, so we didn’t even attempt to bend it. There’s no method it could work, which is fairly irritating—who actually needs LEDs that may solely be run in a single straight line?

There’s a high-pitched buzzing sound

As if our set up woes weren’t irritating sufficient, we additionally bumped into a wierd concern with the indoor gentle strip. Any time we put the lights to a plain white colour, the little management field mounted to the wall gave off a high-pitched buzzing noise.

It wasn’t tremendous loud, however it was undoubtedly audible—and worsening—when the room was quiet. To keep away from it, we ended up sticking to colours and lightweight patterns solely.

Must you purchase the Cync Dynamic Results LED Strips?

No, there are higher choices on the market.

There are some good issues concerning the Cync Dynamic Results LED Strips, together with their cool gentle patterns and enticing design, however finally, they did not wow us by way of efficiency. Set up was irritating, at finest, as we had hassle with the lights falling off the wall and being actually onerous to bend round corners.

These points, coupled with the pretty excessive worth level of the lights—the indoor model is $90 and the out of doors is a cool $180—prevents us from with the ability to wholeheartedly suggest the product. When you’re going to spend that a lot on sensible gentle strips, there are undoubtedly higher choices out there—together with out of doors and extendable choices which are straightforward to put in and may simply be bent into any form your coronary heart needs.

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Costs have been correct on the time this text was revealed however might change over time.