NOVOSTELLA Smart RGB Flood Lights Outdoor 60W Tunable White, Color Changing Landscape Halloween Floodlights, IP66 Waterproof, Group Control Uplights, 2700K-6500K Strobe Lights for House Event 3PCS

My application for these Novostella floodlights was to provide outdoor illumination of the front of my house, including up-firing illumination of several trees and tall shrubs, which I find particularly visually appealing. I had a bad experience with Wi-Fi smart floodlights from a different manufacturer, so this was a replacement/upgrade project. As an example of what the Novostella floodlights can do, see the photo of our Halloween display using RGB mode… yes, the colors are that vivid at night. Of course, for most of the year, we have them set to a traditional warm white.My initial impression is that the floodlights work as advertised. They are well-constructed and seem to be rugged, and the glass bezel covering the LED array itself is frosted and acts as a diffuser. The rotatable brackets, which are included as pictured in the product description, can easily be tightened with pliers if required. Unfortunately, the power cord emerges from the bottom of the unit, which makes using the built-in bracket as a stand slightly awkward. There are holes on the brackets to attach lawn spikes, which are not included but can be purchased on Amazon.Tunable white brightness is excellent. RGB mode yields rich, saturated colors, although somewhat less bright, but this is true of almost all full-color LED lighting. Bluetooth mesh networking appears to be stable, and response time to Alexa-initiated commands is good. I cannot yet comment on how water resistant they are, but this was a major issue with the floodlights I was replacing, so only time will tell.The floodlights are well-packaged, and feature a full-color box which would be suitable for gifting… even if the recipient of the gift is yourself! A user manual is included.The hub module is small and includes a short USB-A to MicroUSB cable in the package, but you’ll need to supply your own power adapter. In initial testing, connectivity distance is outstanding: I can locate the hub indoors at the rear of my house, and the floodlights which are over 50 feet away in the front of the house can still be reliably controlled. So, for the vast majority of installations, you’ll need only one hub for Alexa control of your entire floodlight system. This is a definite benefit of the self-organizing Bluetooth mesh network technology which these floodlights use (see below for more on this).Installation is relatively easy. Since I wanted Alexa integration, I purchased the Bluetooth Mesh Hub, which I configured first in the Smart Life app. As I was using these floodlights outdoors, I configured and tested them indoors first, then deployed them at the outside locations I selected… they retain their settings when unplugged.One of the main reasons I selected Novostella floodlights over others is that that unlike floodlights using Wi-Fi connectivity, these floodlights use Bluetooth mesh networking, i.e., the floodlights communicate with each other over Bluetooth, forming their own network. What this means in practical terms is that so long as the Bluetooth Mesh Hub (or your controlling device with Bluetooth if you’re not using the hub) can reach one of the floodlights, it can reach all the floodlights. This network is self-organizing, that is, mesh connections between floodlights and the hub form automatically, without any user intervention required.Since home Wi-Fi typically isn’t set up for good outdoor signal strength, particularly at any distance from the house, a Bluetooth mesh network circumvents that problem. Just place the hub indoors at a reasonable distance from one of the outdoor floodlights, and you’re good-to-go. Additionally, the floodlights aren’t directly adding to home Wi-Fi network traffic, since they’re on their own Bluetooth network.Alexa control of these floodlights works as expected, but you need to enable the Smart Life skill in Alexa first and link it to your free Smart Life account. You can turn the floodlights on and off, as well as change their brightness and color. You can create Alexa routines to automate this for you as well, for example, turning the floodlights on at sunset and turning them off at bedtime. You can also use the Smart Life app itself to do this, as well as access advanced color-changing light show effects, but be aware that if you do not have a hub in your system, your smart phone needs to be in range of the floodlights. In my opinion, having a hub to control the system is a much better solution, because you then have true remote control, even if you’re away from your house.After experimenting with both the 25 and 50 watt models, my suggestion is that if you’re illuminating a larger area from around 10+ feet away, get the 50 watt model, especially if you’re going to be using RGB mode. On the other hand, 25 watt units can be used satisfactorily for accent lighting, including up-firing tree illumination. Ultimately I wound up using a mix of both, which of course work together seamlessly.In summary, I’d definitely recommend these Novostella floodlights for your lighting projects. In the future, I’ll update this review as to durability, particularly how water-resistant the floodlights are, and longer-term network stability.

Works great!!! Priced perfect!!

These lights have quickly become one of my favorite additions to our home! Whether it’s for holiday decorating or showing support for our favorite sports team, they’ve proven to be both versatile and fun.Pros:Perfect for Holiday Decorating: These lights are ideal for adding festive cheer to our home. Whether it’s Christmas, Halloween, or any other occasion, the ability to change colors with the app makes decorating a breeze. We’ve been able to quickly transform our porch and yard with the perfect lighting to match the season!Great for Football Season: Recently, we’ve been using these flood lights to light up our house in green for football season. GO BIRDS! The color-changing feature lets us easily show our team spirit, and the lights are bright and vibrant, creating an awesome atmosphere for game days.Smart Features: The app-controlled features make these lights incredibly easy to use. You can adjust the brightness, set schedules, and choose from a range of colors to create the perfect ambiance. Integration with Alexa and Google Assistant is a huge bonus for hands-free control.Durable and Weatherproof: We’ve used them outside in all kinds of weather, and they hold up great! They’re designed to be tough and weather-resistant, so no need to worry about them when it rains or gets windy.Cons:Shorter Cord Length: Depending on where you plan to place the lights, the power cord may not be long enough to reach from your outlet to the desired location, which could require extension cords for some setups.Overall, these NOVOSTELLA Smart RGB Flood Lights are an absolute game-changer. I can’t recommend them enough, especially if you love changing up your home’s look with ease! GO BIRDS!

Summary: They’re a bit more complex than just “plug n play” but once you get them set up they are bright and function reliably.Two things to know before buying: 1) they do not include a remote or any physical buttons, so you HAVE to control them through an app. 2) If you want to use these as “smart” lights I.e. using Alexa, you must buy a gateway in addition to these lights.The instructions are printed super tiny and are (like a lot of these smart products) incomplete and poorly translated, but if you’ve set up similar devices that use the SmartLife app it’s the same process. SmartLife recognized the lights as new devices so that was good. At this point if you are happy with controlling the lights via Bluetooth through the SmartLife app, you’re done. If you want to control them via WiFi/Alexa that’s where the gateway comes in. The gateway requires initially putting it in pairing mode and took me a few tries but eventually it was added successfully in the SmartLife app.One the lights are set up in SmartLife and the Gateway is set up in SmartLife you then need to go into the settings for the gateway in the SmartLife app and add the lights to the gateway. This step is NOT IN THE INSTRUCTIONS, and is a must for everything to work correctly.Only after doing all of the above should you go into your Alexa app and add the lights there. At that point you can be done with the SmartLife app if you want and use Alexa to control/schedule the lights from now on.My only real gripes with these lights are A) I don’t think that it’s clear enough that another piece of equipment is required to use the lights with Alexa which basically raises the price by 20 bucks. And B) I would really like there to be at least an on/off physical button so I can turn them on/off if I’m having trouble with internet.

Easy to install and connect I recommend it