you know a lot of times you'll see rgb light strips advertised with a ton of colors rippling
through the ribbon like a rainbow only to discover with reviews or perhaps not even until
you receive the product in hand that this isn't exactly something that they're capable of doing
well that is definitely not the case for the govi and nova stella
rgb ic music light strips because a true rainbow effect can be achieved with either of the two
and it makes the music syncing feature that much more compelling and intrinsic
i've owned the gobi music lights for a while now but now that i have a very comparable brand in
hand i thought it'd be a good idea to put out a video showing how each of them stack up coming up
before we kick things off i'd like to give a huge thanks to nova stella for sending this product
over for me to test and provide my honest thoughts and opinions now for the purpose of keeping things
streamlined we'll be focusing in on the govi's 32 foot light strips which has a current list
price of 47.99 and the 40 foot nova stella light strips which has a current list price of 49.99
because these are the most comparable where price and length is concerned
although you are getting an additional six feet roughly with nova stella and just a heads up
if you use the coupon code mr tech on the nova stella website you'll receive an additional 10
off all right here are the pros kicking things off first with the govi music syncing light strips now
these light strips as well as the nova stella music syncing light strips both feature the ic
chip technology this allows the light strips to create a single multi-color line of lights
simultaneously and thus creating a true rainbow effect these light strips can also color chase
and create next level dynamic sceneries that traditional rgb light strips simply cannot the
next pro for the gobi light strips specifically is that they feature wi-fi and voice control support
so you'll be able to operate the light strips remotely and you'll be able to ask your voice
assistant to perform some basic functions which i'll go in more details on a little later now the
gobi light strips also feature a microphone engineered into the wide remote controller
this is what allows the lights to capture the audio around it in order to sync the music
additionally the govi lights are also supported by an interactive app that uses a combination
of bluetooth and wifi and there is a good deal of tools and customization levers inside
you can customize the light segments switch back and forth between four music modes and it also has
a predetermined scenic modes to choose from as well as a timer switching gears to nova stella
here are the pros now while the nova stella light strips are currently without wi-fi or app support
i absolutely do love the physical remote a because it is not wired to the light strips itself
as with the govi and b because it comes with irf technology which provides a 360 degree range
from a distance of 40 to 50 feet now with this rf technology you won't have to physically aim your
remote directly at a traditional ir receiver such as the nexlux wi-fi controller which i actually
just touched on in my previous video these light strips also feature a microphone for audio
monitoring as well but it's actually engineered into the led signal receiver taking a closer look
you can see that there are actually six different microphone holes as compared to the single hole
for the govi now i'm not sure if it's safe to say that these nova stella light strips actually have
six microphones or if these six holes are simply acting as additional ports to let more sound in
but from my experience the mic definitely is more sensitive than the govi just the other day the
mic actually picked up my neighbor's dog barking inside of my studio with all of my windows and my
doors closed i was actually using the music mode a little while earlier and forgot to shut it off dog
starts barking and the lights just start flashing like crazy but the way that i see it it's actually
a good thing because this means that you won't have to crank your music up too loud in order for
the mic to capture the audio we'll look more into this in a little while so hang tight another huge
pro for these light strips is that unlike govi you can actually cut them down along the markings
to customize the fit for your installation this came as a bit of a surprise to me because i had
yet to see a rgb ic life strip that can be trimmed down without actually damaging its performance now
depending on who you are you may really see this next truth as a real pro you get a bit of peace
of mind knowing that these light strips are not accessible via the internet because not everyone
wants wi-fi connected microphones in their home and finally as we wrap up the pros for nova stella
it's worth pointing out that these light strips have the identical eight scenic modes as govi
and they too have timer settings all of which must be performed via the rf remote okay let's switch
gears quickly and talk a little bit about some of the cons for each of these light strips and then
we'll do a head-to-head comparison with some of the music and the scenic modes we'll kick things
off with govi as before now as i mentioned earlier the gobi lights come equipped with an attached
physical remote this means that you'll have to be right next to where the light strips are
installed in order to use it or you can open up the govi app or ask your voice assistant for help
as for the latter it's important to note that the voice assistant can only perform basic functions
such as turning the device on and off or changing to another single color so for example if you'd
like to change your scene to sunset or if you want to activate a music mode alexa unfortunately
cannot help you and while the govi app is certainly a leg up over nova stella sometimes
you just want to pick up a physical remote and get the task done quickly versus having to hunt down
your phone and then waiting on an app to load up and lastly as touched on a little bit earlier the
final con for the gobi light strips is that they cannot be cut down to size for your unique needs
so you might end up with some extra dangling cord that you'll be forced to tuck and hide somewhere
and who knows this might end up throwing off your symmetry depending on your individual setup moving
along to the cons to noble stella now as drawbacks go the most glaring is obviously the fact that
these lights do not have wi-fi or app support which i do believe in time will be rectified
but for now this means that you won't be able to control the light strips remotely
or ask your voice assistant to turn them on and off this is definitely a bummer but it's certainly
not a deal breaker especially once you wire them up and see what they're really capable of
and that's actually a really good segue into the head-to-head demo that i promised you guys
a little earlier now you'll want to pay close attention because the govi lights are installed
behind my monitor and the novo stella lights are installed above the monitor and below my desk
so
okay guys time to wrap things up and summarize my thoughts which of these two rgb ic light strips
should you consider honestly would you really be disappointed by picking up either of these
two amazing light strips obviously not but there are pros and cons with each and it's up to you to
decide which is most important to you personally i think the govi and nova stella music light strips
make the perfect marriage because even though from a macro standpoint they're able to perform many of
the same tasks from the scenic modes to the music modes to diy customizations they're each bringing
something different to the table in their own way personally i think the microphone performs
better on the nova stella unit and i think that the music modes are a bit more dynamic in terms
of the light patterns and how they move out of all the music modes govi and nova stella considered my
favorite is the nova stella music mode 4 when the lights just go berserk all over the light strip
i love having an app and wi-fi connectivity with govi but i really wish that the remote
wasn't attached to the light strips themselves and i wish that alexa could actually do more with
the various functions time will tell but the nova stella lights feel thicker and a bit more durable
i've owned the gobi lights for about four or five months now and the rubber coating
is already starting to split in various areas with regards to price obviously they're very comparable
but you are getting several additional feet with the nova stella light strips
what i'd like to know before i end this video is if you own either of these two music light
strips or plan on picking any of them up and why well that about wraps things up for this one
if you found any part of this video to be helpful make sure to give a quick thumbs up and
to subscribe for more content like this i'll see you guys in the next video but until then peace
you