Nanoleaf Shapes Ultra Black Hexagons review

As LED lighting expertise has improved, turn into extra environment friendly, and extra clever with app connectivity, its value has decreased. There’s an enormous vary of LED lighting choices to jazz up your gaming house or dwelling, whether or not you stick the perfect LED strip lights round a monitor or desk, or adorn your partitions with LED panels just like the Nanoleaf Shapes sequence.

I’ve typically discovered lighting for players to be on the plastic and cheesy aspect – as in the event you can’t get pleasure from gaming and good design concurrently. However Nanoleaf does issues in a different way, creating lights and decor that really feel proper in a contemporary dwelling, or a gaming setup. If you wish to add colourful accents to your partitions, and also you need to have the ability to hyperlink them as much as your sensible units for whole management and customization, you might need been Nanoleaf’s Shapes assortment.

The Shapes Restricted Version Extremely Black Hexagons Starter Package consists of 9 panels, which you’ll prepare in a lot of other ways in your wall with sticky adhesive pads. You too can add to your setup later if you would like a much bigger panel. On this overview, I’ll share my sincere experiences of organising the Extremely Black Hexagons panels, what they’re like to make use of, and importantly, what they seem like in actual life when the sunshine is on and off.

Specs

Nanoleaf Shapes Hexagons Starter Package specs:

Options

What makes the Extremely Black Shapes completely different from their commonplace white counterparts is that they’re a restricted version set. They provide all the similar options as the usual Shapes Hexagons in white. They’re ultra-thin, slot collectively, and stick on the wall to create a sample of your selecting. As soon as fastened in place and plugged in, they are often managed in a myriad of various methods. There’s a easy Nanoleaf smartphone app that works over WiFi (2.4 GHz solely), Music Sync mode that reacts to sounds and sick tunes, and Display screen Mirror to match what’s in your gaming monitor or TV.

What’s nice about shopping for right into a well-established ecosystem just like the Nanoleaf Shapes is you could customise your setup and make it larger additional down the road. For instance, the Starter Package I examined had 9 panels, however enlargement packs (three hexagons every) will let you make it larger additional down the road. The white model of Nanoleaf’s Hexagons must also work with the Extremely Black variations, though aesthetically I battle to see how they’d gel with their smooth, darker counterparts. That may simply be my style, although.

Set up

You don’t want any instruments to put in the Extremely Black Hexagons on a wall. Sticky strips are offered within the field, and these are sturdy sufficient to carry every panel securely. You’ll wish to plan what sample you’re going with first, because it’s tougher to take away a panel when you’ve caught it down firmly. You additionally have to determine the place to place the controller (this may assist as much as 500 panels) and energy cable (this may energy as much as 21).

One technique for planning your format is to make use of a tape measure and lay the triangles flat in entrance of you, however Nanoleaf additionally has a format assistant in the event you’re caught for house. I discovered this pretty cooperative, and it made it simple to discover a format I used to be proud of. There are additionally preset designs you possibly can copy. I made a decision to pop the facility cable on the far proper of my design in order that I might tuck it behind a bookcase out of sight.

Design

As soon as the panels are mounted, you may discover just a few fingerprints have made their means onto the floor. That’s as a result of the matte black end is of course extra of a fingerprint magnet than the white, however this isn’t a serious downside until you’re urgent down on them extremely onerous with the touch-reactive characteristic.

Being so skinny at 0.24 inches (0.6 cm) means the panels sit flush to the wall and don’t protrude far out when seen from the aspect. And at 9 inches (23 cm) throughout, I used to be surprisingly happy with simply how a lot wall my starter equipment lined. Out of curiosity, the Shapes Triangles cowl simply as a lot floor, however I desire the look of the blocky hexagons.

Provided that I’m reviewing the restricted version Extremely Black model of Nanoleaf’s Shapes, it’s value saying that this colorway comes with plus and minus factors. The black matte coating covers the entire panel, and the mounting plates, controller, and wire are jet black too. You don’t get any stray bits of white paint across the again or edges, and it doesn’t appear seemingly that this coating will peel or flake off both. In brief, the panels really feel well-made and strong, but gentle sufficient that I didn’t fear about them falling off the wall.

Efficiency

The Nanoleaf Extremely Black Shapes set a brand new commonplace of what wall hangings ought to seem like when the lights go darkish, however they’re not excellent. Whereas the all-black aesthetic could be very refined, I discovered this considerably hinders the LED protection throughout the entire panel. There’s some inconsistency throughout the panel, and whereas this doesn’t break the impact, it’s extra noticeable than I’d have favored.

The unique Nanoleaf Shapes are a few of the brightest RGB LEDs I’ve used, however white is of course higher at reflecting gentle. I used to be involved the Extremely Black mannequin wouldn’t be capable to match its predecessor, they usually’re a little bit dimmer than the white model. Meaning lighter colours like pure white, yellow, and peach can seem barely muddier than the white panels up shut. I wasn’t disillusioned with the vibrancy of daring colours like shiny blue and pink.

There are a lot of methods to management the Form’s lighting, that are all fast and straightforward. First, there’s the built-in controller snapped onto the aspect of your panels. This works properly for fast modifications and faucets on and off, however you possibly can’t customise your scenes utilizing it and it requires you to get out of your chair. Then there are the desktop apps for Home windows and Mac, and the cellular apps for Android and iOS, the latter being the choice I used most continuously. On the Fundamental tab, you possibly can select a shade temperature (1200K – 6500K) or strong hue from an RGBw palette, however I cherished with the ability to flick between presets on the Scenes tab immediately. The Shapes are additionally appropriate with Apple Dwelling, Google Dwelling, Alexa, and – to the enjoyment of Razer players, Razer Chroma. I used Apple Dwelling alongside the Nanoleaf app and located the management extra restricted however dependable.

Sensible lighting panels aren’t designed to light up a complete room, so don’t count on the Extremely Black shapes to do that both, even at full brightness (100 lumens per panel). There are some daring choices on there, however Daylight and Studying Mild have been my most-used Scenes for setting a little bit of ambiance. It’s additional proof that the Extremely Black Shapes aren’t only for players, however a product that sits completely within the Sensible Lighting house for normal inside decorators.

Do you have to purchase?

I’d suggest the Nanoleaf Extremely Black Shapes if:

• You’ve obtained darkish partitions: I mounted the Hexagons Starter Package on a darkish navy matte wall (Hague Blue in the event you have been questioning). The matte black of the panels blends in fantastically, as does the facility wire, however I feel they’d look oppressive on a lightweight wall.
• You’re a gamer: The Nanoleaf Shapes work significantly properly with the Razer Chroma RGB ecosystem, in addition to each different sensible dwelling system on the market.
• You need ambient gentle: The Extremely Black shapes aren’t shiny sufficient to gentle up a big room on their very own. However they’re value it for creatives who need one thing extra daring than white panels.

Options

When you’re uncertain whether or not Nanoleaf’s Extremely Black Shapes are best for you, try these alternate options.