Festive Holiday Decor Usable All Year

Govee’s Christmas String Lights may masquerade as a holiday item, only suitable for a tree in December, but make no mistake these Wi-Fi-connected lights can be used throughout the year. In fact, if the company hadn’t used Christmas in the name, I might not have even thought to put them on my tree.

Govee Christmas String Lights

Govee Christmas String Lights modify your space into a stunning festive scene. This set of lights has adjustable colors and brightness levels to create the most cheerful ambiance for any occasion.

Hub Required

No

Music Reactive

Yes

Multicolor Capable

Yes

Color Range

16 million colors

Wattage

15W

Connectivity

Wi-Fi, Bluetooth

Working Temperature

Down to 20

Length

33-foot

Outdoor

IP65

Control Methods

App and voice

Pros

• Thin and flexible string lighting
• Plenty of color scenes, and customization options
• IP65 water and dust rated, suitable for outdoors

Cons

• Nothing too unique about these compared to other Govee string lights
• Hard to wrap around a tree

String Lights For a Christmas Tree Are a Pain

The Govee Christmas String Lights come in two lengths, 33-foot length (10m) and 66-foot (20m) options. I tried the smaller of the two which the company says is suitable for a 3 to 4-foot tree. I threw caution to the wind and wrapped them around a 9-foot slim artificial tree.

While there was a little more space that I would have liked between each row, I thought it still worked on my tall tree. When the lights were flashing and there were lots of ornaments, the gaps were less noticeable. Govee is probably being a little conservative and the 33-foot version could probably work for a living tree in the 5 or 6-foot range. A slim, artificial tree up to 7 feet might also be suitable.

Unlike Philips’ Hue Festiva lights, which dangle about, Govee’s are in-line on the string and come wrapped in an easy-to-wind spool. I found the plastic spool to be a pleasant way of unrolling them around the tree. Putting any lights on a tree is still a pain compared to getting a pre-light tree, however. Two sets of hands always make lighting a tree better than trying to do it solo.

The Govee Christmas String Lights are nice and thin, which makes them easy to fit in the branches. The string doesn’t quite have the same amount of blended glow that some other strip lights do, but these would still be fine for along a windowsill, on the top of a fence, or at the top of cabinets. Again, the naming here implies that these lights are exclusively for trees, but they’re IP65-rated and resistant to cold temperatures as low as -20 degrees Celsius. Feel free to use them wherever.

This string is meant to be controlled with the Govee app, but I liked that there is a button on the end where the plug is so that anyone can achieve over and turn it on or off, which my kids did occasionally.

Govee’s App Is a Hub For All Its Products

The Christmas String Lights get set up and controlled through the Govee Home app, which is available for iPhone and Android. Although there is some clutter in the app in the form of promotions to buy other products, the app functions fine to use these lights.

I have a strip of outdoor patio lights from Govee that I’ve used for the last year or two, and these new ones work exactly the same way in the app as those do. The company is smart to repurpose the same mechanics for its other products. I found the barrier to learning how to control these Christmas lights was low.

While you may not have existing Govee products at the moment, it bodes well for future products that will probably work the same way, too.

Bright Lights Everywhere

There are lots of effects and schemes that these lights can perform, but the two primary methods of use are selecting from dozens of pre-made themes or configuring each segment of the string manually.

While there are literally 50-plus theme choices across categories admire nature, holidays, and emotions, there are closer to 15 really unique, stand-out scenes and then a lot of slight variations of those. I was able to find plenty that made my tree really pop that I liked.

But if none of those options really hit the spot, you can always customize the brightness and color of the 10 segments—present on the 33-foot version.

For a while, I had the light string wrapped around my stair railing. The lights at the top of the stairs were too bright for my kids at bedtime, so I was able to turn the first four segments off and keep the remaining ones on. It’s a special case, but I found the string light to be versatile for various needs. That’s why, come January, I’ll be repurposing this light string somewhere else.

Between the option to have these lights react to music, being able to add effects to the manual custom colors, and all the other various timers and brightness controls, the personalization options are truly endless. Frankly, it may be too many for most people. Thankfully, you can disregard any settings and light customizations you don’t care about.

Price and Availability

The 33-foot version of the Christmas String Lights retails for $59.99, while the 66-foot version goes for $89.99. Govee also offers promotions if you bundle these string lights with curtain lights or other types of connected string lighting.

Should You Buy the Govee Christmas String Lights?

The Govee Christmas String Lights worked well both on my tree and around the house. But because they have access to the same lighting scenes as pretty much every other multi-color string light from Govee, their attractiveness really hinges on their thin construction and price point. If you need a string light that’s thin and flexible, this is a solid option. If one of Govee’s other string lights goes on sale, that might be a better choice.

The product itself is a fine way to add Wi-Fi-connected lights to a Christmas tree, though adding any string lights to a tree is an exercise in frustration.

Govee Christmas String Lights

Govee Christmas String Lights modify your space into a stunning festive scene. This set of lights has adjustable colors and brightness levels to create the most cheerful ambiance for any occasion.