Govee is no stranger to solid smart lights, and its latest DreamView G1 Pro doesn’t disappoint. It’s essentially an improved version of the company’s Flow Pro Light Bar, with brighter output, more accurate color reproduction, better build materials, and an overall more premium and less “splashy” look.
It follows the same concept as the Flow Pro Light Bar, where there are two light bars that run on each side of your computer monitor, paired with a fisheye camera that sits on top of your monitor. The camera scans for colors on your screen and tries to reproduce them from the light bars.
In addition, with the G1 Pro you also get a tube-like LED light bar that attaches to the back of your monitor, which also reproduces the colors on your screen.
Like most Govee products, initial setup is fairly simple. Generally, Govee products have a control box that acts as the brain of the operation, and all the cables from the lights and camera connect directly to the control box. This time around, Govee got rid of a separate control box and added its functionality to the fisheye camera, a welcome change that allows for a less cluttered look on your desk.
The tube-like LED strip runs behind your monitor. Note: while the Flow Pro Light Bar can be used with either a TV or a monitor, the G1 Pro is specifically made for small screen sizes, so it will only work optimally when used on a monitor. Additionally, Govee makes it very clear that the light bar will only fit perfectly on flat-back monitors. I have three monitors and none of them have a flat back panel, so I decided to use it with my LG Ultragear monitor. The setup looks a bit frayed at the back, but it works nonetheless.
The package includes four corner mounting clips that stick to the back of your monitor at each corner, and the light tube runs through each of them, holding it in place.
Once connected, you take those little orange foam blocks that are provided and place them around the corners of the monitor and let the Govee Home app do its job. Once calibrated, these are the points the camera will look at to analyze the color on your screen and reproduce them via the light bars and rear-attached light pipe. Analyzed blocks also help the camera register the edges of your monitor so it doesn’t scan beyond those points.
The camera has a capacitive touch on/off button on the top, but for all other controls you’ll use the Govee Home app. Govee has been consistently pushing out solid smart lights for a while now, and I’d imagine that for a light that’s made exclusively for PCs, they’d have a PC app, but they don’t. Although the Govee phone app is intuitive and the user interface is very user-friendly, especially since I’ve used the company’s lights in the past, I’d still like to see a desktop app that I can use to control the lights like the Nanoleaf and the Philips Hue PC applications.
App issues aside, the G1 Pro puts on a very impressive light show. The light bars are elegant, but their light output is very bright and strong, and the same goes for the rear-mounted light tube. Their brightness can be adjusted from the Govee Home app, and I doubt you’ll ever turn them up to a hundred. The app also lets you control the lights you want to use.
Video mode (camera mode) also lets you set some light presets depending on the activity you’re doing, including Game and Movie. Under Game, you’ll find presets like Story, Action, Shooter, and Racing, all offering different light vibrancy and speed. While with Movie mode, you can specify whether you want the bars to show the same colors, different colors, show the same color throughout the bar, or have different segments of the bar show different colors.
The app also gives you the option to turn off one or both bars while keeping the tube light on or vice versa.
In my experience, the video mode can be a bit choppy at times.
Although it reproduces the primary colors accurately, it confuses the tones. For example, if the scene on my computer screen is showing light green grassy scenery, the light will usually bring out green mixed with some kind of yellow to give a light green effect. Similarly, blues are often mixed with violets and reds with orange.
The mode is distracting in certain scenarios, such as when your attention needs to be focused on the screen, but in more casual use, the lights can add a sense of immersion, such as while watching a cartoon or playing casual games like Fall Guys or Warner Bros. Multiverse.
The other modes in the app are the same ones I’ve come to love with other Govee products, like a Music mode that changes the color of the light based on audio signals, a Color mode that lets you independently choose colors for the strips and tube light, and Scene mode with several presets.
It’s worth noting that unlike the Flow Pro lightbars, the G1 Pro only works with the camera, as the camera doubles as a control box, so if you’re not someone who’s uncomfortable with the camera being pointed to your screen all day, you should skip the G1 Pro. Privacy aside, the camera also takes up the space normally reserved for your webcam.
In general, the lights create a very fascinating effect. While color reproduction can be a little off at times when it comes to tones, it generally reproduces colors accurately and adds life to an otherwise mundane desk. The solid lights are bright enough to independently illuminate your entire room, and their compatibility with Google and Alexa voice assistants is a plus. The app itself is easy to use and offers multiple modes and customization to give you control. However, the lack of compatibility with large-screen TVs or monitors with non-flat back panels may put some off, so if you’re going to buy the G1 Pro, make sure you have a compatible monitor, or make do with a chafed back tube setup like mine .
The Govee DreamView G1 Pro Gaming Light appears to be out of stock on Govee’s Canadian web store right now, but is available in the US store for $129.99 (approx. $166 CAD).
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