Govee UpDown Wall Light Review

Design and installation

• Quite large
• Needs wiring into place

Let’s start with the obvious: this thing is big. At just over 10.5 inches tall, 5 inches wide, and about 4 inches deep, the UpDown Light has serious presence. It’s more “mini soundbar” than dainty garden sconce.

The front panel’s grooved design adds to the techy look, which might not appeal to everyone, but it makes sense once the light show begins. In daylight, it’s… fine. At night, it transforms.

The casing is made from UV-resistant polycarbonate rather than metal, and while that means it’s a bit more lightweight and weatherproof, it doesn’t exactly scream luxury. Still, it feels solid enough, and the engineering is thoughtful.

There’s a removable plastic section at the back to help route the wires, depending on your setup: either straight through the vertically wall or down the exterior surface.

In terms of the lights themselves, the top and bottom ones have lenses, reflectors, and a diffuser to create their effects and the sides have frosted lenses to help with colour-blending.

Installation is pretty simple. You just screw in the included metal bracket with the supplied screws and wall plugs, clip the light onto it, and secure it with a couple of side screws.

The live/hot (black) and neutral (white) wires are clearly marked, and Govee even includes a small card explaining the colour coding.

Obviously turn the power off before you do any wiring up.

Once it’s mounted, you could add a bit of silicone around the edges to keep it extra watertight but it is, as mentioned, IP66 waterproof, which should mean that it’s fully dust-tight and protected against powerful water jets from any direction.

Features

• Works with the Govee app
• Lots of scenes to choose from

When powered on, the UpDown bursts to life with a little startup light show, which is a taste of what’s to come.

Pairing is easy, with a few options on offer including just scanning the Matter QR code. I let the Govee app sync it up first though, using its Bluetooth-based discovery routine.

It’s 2.4GHz Wi-Fi only, so you may need to switch off your 5GHz band temporarily during setup, but once it’s connected, it’s rock solid. If you go natively to the app for the initial pairing then you can also add it to Apple Home, Alexa, SmartThings, or Homey directly via Matter after using the QR code on the backplate.

That said, as always with Govee, you’ll want to keep the app in the loop. It’s still the only way to access the full suite of customization features, and it’s come a long way in usability. It’s still very busy, yes, but it’s also packed with possibilities.

The app includes 64 preset scenes, 19 DIY modes, and the option to literally “finger paint” your own designs across the four lighting zones.

On that option, there are actually 17 addressable segments per side, plus the top and bottom beams, so you can get incredibly creative with gradients and animations; plus you can also add extra effects so it’s not just static colours.

Govee’s AI Lighting Bot is also on hand to whip up custom effects based on prompts, and while it can be a bit random, it’s a fun addition when you’re trying to match a mood or theme.

As with all Govee’s recent smart lights, you are also able to download designs made by the wider Govee community.

Performance

• Excellent colours
• Ambient lighting only

With RGBWW up top and bottom and RGBIC down the sides, the UpDown Wall Light produces an impressively rich and dynamic glow. It’s rated at up to 1200 lumens, and is bright enough to comfortably light a large patio or exterior wall without harsh glare.

The wall-washing design diffuses light beautifully, eliminating the usual hot spots you get from basic outdoor fixtures.

Each side can be tuned independently, so you can set warm whites on the beams and a cool blue on the sides, or go full neon rave mode if that’s your thing.

Unlike the Govee Uplighter Floor Lamp, which is designed to put on a light show, some of the effects feel a bit much on the UpDown. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. I found solid colours and gradual transitions made for a much better lighting experience than flickering, fast paced scenes.

The colour rendering is crisp, and transitions between gradients are smooth, especially compared to cheaper RGB outdoor lights that tend to flicker or jump between colours and, if you just whack it all to white, it’s perfectly bright enough to light up even a large patio.

That said, this is not a floodlight; it’s an ambient light. If you’re expecting to illuminate your entire garden or driveway, you’ll want something else.

But for mood lighting, architectural highlights, or making your patio look straight out of a design catalogue, it’s brilliant.

The Music mode is a bit of a mixed bag though. There’s no built-in mic, so it relies on your phone’s microphone, which is fine if you’re sitting nearby, but not ideal for permanent outdoor setups.

However, if you’ve got a Govee DreamView controller, you can sync everything together for full sound-reactive lighting across multiple devices, which works much better.

Should you buy it?