Twinkly Line overview: enjoyable and reasonably priced good lights to jazz up small areas
Twinkly Line: two-minute overview
The Twinkly Line is a self-adhesive LED strip gentle, which you’ll function utilizing a bodily controller constructed into the ability lead, the Twinkly cell app, or any of the most important good residence techniques (together with Amazon Alexa, Google House, and Apple HomeKit). I examined the Twinkly Line for a number of weeks in a house workplace setup, and related it to Google House to manage it by way of voice instructions.
Contained in the field, you may discover the Line itself (which may be black, proven right here, or white to mix together with your decor), the ability lead, a set of stickers, and two small adhesive pads, in case you wish to connect the controller to a wall. There is not any separate Wi-Fi hub mandatory.
Setup is simple. First, resolve the place you need your Twinkly Line, and stick it in place. Like all LED gentle strips, the Line should not be bent at sharp angles; the instruction handbook explains the easiest way to deal with corners when setting it up.
The Line I examined right here was 1.5m lengthy, which fitted properly across the entrance of my desk. It is comparatively quick for an LED gentle strip (most rivals are at the least 2m), however there are extensions obtainable when you want extra size. Some strips from different manufacturers may be minimize at positions marked alongside their size, however Twinkly says that manipulating the Line this manner is “strongly discouraged”.
The strip was straightforward to use, however generally the 3M adhesive caught to the backing paper. Peeling off the paper slowly yielded one of the best outcomes, so take your time and do not rush throughout this a part of the set up course of. I’ve had the Line put in for a number of weeks now, and the glue continues to be holding it firmly in place on the graceful laminate floor of my desk, with no signal of peeling.
As soon as the Line is in place, clip the ability wire onto the tip of the strip (the connectors slide into place), plug it into the socket, and also you’re able to hyperlink it to the cell app.
The Twinkly app is straightforward to make use of – merely create an account utilizing your e mail tackle, grant the mandatory permissions (together with location monitoring when utilizing the app), and it’ll find the Twinkly Line by way of Bluetooth so you’ll be able to join it to your house Wi-Fi community. I had no points with this course of, and the app positioned the system first time, earlier than prompting me to map out the place of the lights with my telephone’s digital camera. This additionally labored seamlessly, despite the fact that the lights had been curved across the fringe of my desk.
With that carried out, you are prepared to start out taking part in with the lights themselves. You possibly can select a stable shade for the Twinkly Line lights, take your choose from a collection of preset animations, or create your individual design through the use of Twinkly’s enhancing device or importing a GIF. A few of these choices work finest when you’re utilizing a number of strips or one thing just like the Twinkly Curtain, which provides you a big “canvas” to work with. However, there are additionally numerous scrolling results which might be appropriate for a single strip. Throughout testing, I discovered the Waves and Unicorn Solar presets notably interesting.
A few of the animations may be synced to sound as properly, which is a enjoyable contact for home events. The Line makes use of your telephone to seize sound for this objective, or you should purchase a separate Twinkly Music Dongle when you’re a frequent partier. The Line does not have its personal microphone.
Linking the lights to Google House is simple, too. Simply seek for “Twinkly” inside the Google House app, then log into your Twinkly account when prompted. The app will then discover your Line and mean you can assign it to a room. Throughout my exams, the Line confirmed as offline at first, however grew to become obtainable after I briefly unplugged the strip after which plugged it again in.
When that is carried out, you should utilize voice instructions to manage the Twinkly Line like some other good gentle, together with adjusting the brightness, altering the colour, and setting a schedule.
The lights themselves are brilliant, with good shade copy. My solely actual criticism is the standard of the adhesive and its tendency to stay to the backing paper; however you would apply your individual mounting tape, if mandatory. The strip is magnetic, too, so when you’re planning to connect it to a ferromagnetic floor comparable to your fridge or a steel door body, there is no want to make use of the adhesive in any respect.
Twinkly Line: value and availability
The Twinkly Line starter set, which incorporates the LED strip and energy cable, retails at $49.99 / £59.99 (about AU$75), however can typically be discovered at a reduction from third-party retailers comparable to Amazon. The 1.5m extension package, which does not comprise the ability wire, is $19.99 / £19.99 (about AU$30). You should utilize one extension line per starter package.
The Philips Hue Lightstrip Plus is longer (2m), however the base package is significantly costlier at $99.99 / £79.99 / AU$149.95. It additionally requires a Philips Hue Hub to unlock its full performance, which is an additional expense for many who do not already personal one. A 1m extension strip prices $39.99 / £24.99 / AU$49.95, and a single Lightstrip Plus may be prolonged as much as a most of 10m.
The Govee LED Strip Light M1 is a extra reasonably priced possibility when you want an extended strip, costing $99.99 / £119.99 (about AU$150) for a 5m starter pack.
Twinkly Line: specs
| Value | $49.99 / £59.99 (about AU$75) |
| Strip size | 1.5m |
| LED shade | RGB |
| Works with | Alexa, Google House, Apple Homekit, Razer Chroma, Homey |
| Extendable | Sure |
| Cuttable | No |
Do you have to purchase the Twinkly Line?
Purchase it if
Do not buy it if
Additionally think about
| Header Cell – Column 0 | Twinkly Line | Philips Hue Lightstrip Plus | Govee LED Strip Mild M1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Value | $49.99 / £59.99 (about AU$75) | $99.99 / £79.99 / AU$149.95, | $99.99 / £119.99 (about AU$150) |
| Strip size | 1.5m | 2m | 5m |
| LED shade | RGB | RGB | RGBICW |
| Cuttable | No | Sure | Sure |
| Extendable | Sure | Sure | Sure |
Nonetheless not bought on the Twinkly Line? Listed here are two different choices you would possibly wish to think about.
How I examined the Twinkly Line
To check the Twinkly Line good gentle strip, I put in it on the sting of my desk the place I used it for 2 weeks to see how it will work when turned across the fringe of a bit of furnishings, and hooked up to a easy floor that will show difficult for the glue.
I related the Line to the Twinkly app, the place I experimented with the assorted customization choices, and to Google House, the place I used to be capable of see the way it built-in into a bigger good residence ecosystem.
Learn extra about how we test.
First reviewed August 2024
Supply: www.techradar.com
