Govee Curtain Lights Pro Review

Design and Installation

• The new bar makes the lights easier to install
• Can blend two or three sets together
• Indoor or outdoor

Although the Govee Curtain Lights Pro are similar in concept to the older Curtain Lights 2, there are some significant differences. While both are a net of hanging lights, giving a wall of colour, the Curtain Lights Pro are available in one size: 1.65 x 1.76m; the older sets of lights were available in different sizes.

That may seem as though the Curtain Lights Pro aren’t as flexible as the older lights, but they work in a slightly different way. First, the Curtain Lights Pro have more LEDs, with 960 lights each, compared to the 520 LEDs on the older 1.5 x 2m set of the smaller-sized original.

With closer spacing between the light strings, that means the Curtain Lights Pro give you more lights in an area, which leads to more detailed images (more of that later).

Secondly, the Curtain Lights Pro lets you add up to three sets of lights together and join them into one large canvas via software, so if you’ve got a bigger space to cover, you can just buy additional sets of lights. That said, a couple of different sizes would help, as the jump in width from 1.65m for one set to 3.3m for two sets is quite a lot. Having a bit more choice to fill different sized areas would be nice. Still, having the option in software to join multiple sets at least makes that job easy.

Installation of the new lights is easier for most. With the old lights, there were hanging clips that needed to be placed at correct distances, with the strings hanging down. That wasn’t too hard to do, but the Curtain Lights Pro make life even easier.

The lights all hang from a set of central bars, which have sticky pads on them. These bars have cut-outs for each vertical string of lights.

These help get the spacing right and mean that installation is simpler: stick the bars on, and you’re ready to go.

Then, at the bottom of the lights are hard plastic spacers that hold the strings the perfect distance apart and make sure that they don’t get tangled in the wind. They’re easy to fit and seem to work well.

That said, if you already have the old Curtain Lights 2, then you’ll have to take down the old hangers and use the new system, as the light spacing means that the new lights can’t simply be swapped in for the old ones.

Govee does provide a set of hooks with the Curtain Lights Pro, which are the same as the old ones. In theory, if you don’t like the way that the new bar looks, you can use the hooks, but Govee doesn’t provide the sticky fixings for them.

There’s also a control box (stick fixer provided), which gives you local on/off control. Once again, the lights can be installed inside or out. Given their size, outside is probably easier, but you can install inside if you’ve got a big enough window, set of doors or wall.

Features and Performance

• Matter compatible
• Wide choice of scenes
• Excellent images and bright bulbs

Connecting the lights to Wi-Fi and the Govee app is easy. I recommend connecting them to Wi-Fi before you start installation, so that you can test that they work, and you can then move them to the installation area and make sure that you get good wireless coverage before you stick them in place.

These lights are Matter compatible. You can’t access scenes from third-party controllers, but you can turn them on and off or integrate the lights into schedules and routines.

As the Govee app understands where all of the Curtain Light Pro’s LEDs are located, there’s no further setup. That makes these lights easier to use than the similar Twinkly Curtain lights, which require you to scan them with your phone’s camera for it to recognise their location.

Once in the app, the Curtain Lights Pro can be controlled much like any other set of smart lights, including setting the brightness, colour or colour temperature. That’s fine for a bit of ambience but it’s, well, a little boring.

Instead, the lights are best when used with scenes. At the most basic level, you can have colourful gradients, which can change dynamically, adding everything from a gentle ambience to a roar of colour. Govee makes some of the best lights, and the Curtain Lights Pro show that, with bright, rich colours across the spectrum.

It’s the dynamic scenes that really bring the Govee Curtain Lights Pro to life. There’s a huge choice of options, ranging from artwork, such as the Mona Lisa, to the more festive options, such as Santa jumping out of a chimney or a Christmas bell ringing.

More lights in a smaller area make the scenes work better than with the Curtain Lights 2, and the Govee Curtain Lights Pro look sharper and are just more fun.

Govee also has its AI designer. I wasn’t impressed with this last time I used it, getting a blob instead of the cat that I asked for. Now, the system has been improved and I get a much better cat this time around. And, other requests were handled as well. It’s a neat option, as it lets me do a bit more with the lights without having to delicately try and paint a scene with my finger, which is pretty much impossible to get right.

Should you buy it?