Connected lighting, while until recently still a novelty, is now a full-fledged consumer-level product. GE and Philips were quick to the market with wireless-enabled bulbs, and Belkin and Honeywell with things like WiFi light switches. And that’s not even getting into all the Z-Wave and ZigBee products and their related gateways.
San Diego’s Satechi, however, has reintroduced a bit of that novel whimsy with a new take on smart lighting, the LED IQ Strip. These flexible ribbons contain embedded LED bulbs and can be applied virtually anywhere thanks to an adhesive backing. Best of all, they’re controlled via Bluetooth 4.0, so setup couldn’t be easier.
Just mount the strip in the desired location, plug it in via the included AC adaptor, and pair with your smartphone using the free Satechi LED Spectrum app. From within the app you can control up to 10 IQ Strips at once or individually, manually adjusting the bulb colors and brightness or scheduling the lights to turn on and off at set times or when your Bluetooth device is in close proximity. There’s even a “Disco” mode that makes the lighting strips respond in time with music.
Perfect for backlighting your television, crafting elaborate indoor Christmas light scenes, or just serving as a nightlight to help younger kids make that long late-night journey to the bathroom, IQ Strips are easy to use and even easier to love–and, since they include LEDs, you get maximum mood lighting with very little power consumption or waste heat.
In fact, the only drawback (aside from a couple of in-app typos) is the fact that each strip requires its own power supply; sadly, there’s no way to daisy chain multiple IQ Strips together.
Satechi LED IQ Strips are available via Amazon for $39.99 per 5 foot strip. That’s not exactly chump change, but, if you’re looking to light an entertainment center or add movie theater-style lighted runners in a hallway, you’ll find these perfectly fit the bill.
Review materials provided by: Satechi
