Govee DreamView G1 Pro Gaming Light (Hardware)
Official GBAtemp Review
Product Information:
Govee just launched its new smart lighting kit dedicated for the gaming audience: the Govee DreamView G1 Pro. Compatible with 24-30 inch monitors, it comes with an RGB LED strip that wraps at the back of your monitor and two side RGB bars to be placed on either side of the screen. But it does not end there as this lighting kit comes with a “gaming camera” that syncs the LEDs’ colours to that of on-screen ones, in real-time.
Priced at $180, you will get the following items out of the box:
- Light bars x2
- Neon strip light
- 1080p gaming camera
- Power adapter
- Headphone linking cable
- Calibration foam stickers
- Straight mounting clips x5
- Corner mounting clips x4
- Cable clip x2
- Positioning card x2
- User manual
As with Govee’s other products, the DreamView G1 Pro bears the build quality that accompanies the price. The two lighting stands bear a sleek, minimal look and have a rubberised base for better grip as well as to not scratch/damage your desk. They are also noticeably light as is the LED strip.
As for the LEDs themselves, they are safely encased in a flexible silicon tubing in the light strip and a rigid plastic casing in the light bars. In both cases, the casing has a matte finish to shield the lighting effect so that it is not blinding and feels more gentle to the eye.
While at first glance the set up process might appear easy, in practice it can be finicky or even daunting. You’ll have to attach the adhesive mounting clips to the back of your monitor and the included positioning card will help you with that. The LED strip then needs to be clipped on in an anti-clockwise manner, so you’ll need to bear this in mind while setting the kit up. Thankfully, Govee has a video to help you with the process:
That’s for the finicky part. The daunting part comes with calibrating the camera. You’ll have to use the included calibration foam to correctly match the camera’s fish-eye lens with the position points. This is done through the Govee Home app which allows you to see what the camera sees. What’s daunting about it is that you have to stick the camera with the included double-sided tape to the back of your monitor. If you’ve misplaced it, you might not get the desired effect and need to start over. Best be to only affix the camera (or apply the tape to the back of your monitor) after the calibration has been done.
Once calibrated, you can plug in the LED strip and light bars to the camera (which you’ll also have to connect to the power adapter) and you’ll be ready to use the Govee DreamView G1 Pro.
Through the Govee Home app, the lighting effects can be adjusted whether it’s to get the LEDs tuned to the audio playing or stay fixed. Audio can be synched through your speakers or even the headphone jack (included in the kit, which also bears a headphone port for your own audio piece to plug into). You can also customise the LEDs in either the flexible strip or light bars in segments which allows for a greater level of personalisation.
The colours displayed are vibrant and accurate to what you’ve synched it to. With the companion app, you’ll have a range of customisation options from brightness level to a colour wheel to really personalise your setup.
So far, these features are also what are present in Govee’s other products like the Neon Rope Lights or Glide Wall Lights. What sets the DreamView G1 Pro apart is the integration of the camera that detects on-screen colours to sync the LEDs to. There are 4 modes that the kit can adopt (story, action, shoot, and racing), each with a different behaviour. It’s quite impressive when it works and can help add a degree of immersiveness to your gaming experience; or at the very least, it does add a layer of fun to your setup.
Aside from the gaming modes, there’s also a movie mode that adopts softer colours that aren’t too distracting when syncing colours in real-time. This helps make the kit more versatile and suitable for your living room, if you so wish.
If the colour sync seems off, you can adjust it via the Govee Home app. But in some cases, you’ll need to perform some manual adjustments in cases of a reflective desk or external lighting sources. These add to the finicky set up process but are needed if you want to achieve the best colour-syncing effect. To assist you in this task, the company has a handy video to adjust colour accuracy:
Unfortunately for the purposes of this test, I did not have access to a widescreen monitor but only to my gaming laptop. I could still rig the kit in a way for it to work but this made me wish that Govee made an option for smaller screens/laptops. I also highlighted the need for a modular approach when I tested the Govee Glide Wall Lights and it holds true for the DreamView G1 Pro as well. In this case, the LED strip could come in different sizes based on your screen’s size. Maybe the company will consider making a non-pro version for smaller monitors.
Of note, on top of the finicky set up process, the camera, LED strip, light stands and power adapter package inevitably lead to a wirefest that is already present in our tech lives. Maybe a way to integrate some of the components together, like the camera, power adapter and LED strip, could make for a less tangled situation.
Moreover, the adhesive clips mean that the setup will be quasi-permanent on your monitor. Maybe having the clips themselves clip onto the monitor’s edges could have done the trick and might be something for Govee to look into. And if you have a camera that is usually positioned in the middle of the top edge, it’ll have to make way for the gaming camera. There doesn’t seem to be a workaround for this, so bear that in mind.
When it comes down to it, the Govee DreamView G1 Pro, like any smart LED lighting strips, is purely for aesthetic purposes. You don’t need it to game and is meant only if you want to add a touch of personalisation or distinctiveness to your gaming setup. And at that, this gaming lighting kit delivers. The real-time colour sync tech is rather impressive and, along with the range of customisation that the companion app offers, makes it a fair package.
Update
Govee has recently upgraded the DreamView G1 Pro following community feedback. As there were some complaints regarding the neon light strip falling off from the clip after a certain time, Govee responded by issuing new mounting clips for a more sturdy setup.
As you can see in the above images, the new clips have an extra supporting structure to ensure that the LED strips are held firmly in place. While I haven't come across this issue of the light strip falling off, it is encouraging to see that the company is heeding to its customer's feedback.
In addition, the upgraded DreamView G1 Pro can now fit screens of up to 32 inches.
Official Store Links
Fancy adding the Govee Dreamview G1 Pro to your set up? You can purchase it via the following official online stores:
Govee Store
Amazon
Verdict
- Impressive on-screen colour sync feature
- Govee Home app allows for customisation
- Product quality
- Set up can be finicky
- Wirefest
- No small screen option
