Once you’ve got it figured out, you can start playing around with colors! As with most smart lights, there are plenty of options for different shades of white and bright colors, and tons of colorful themes that take advantage of the massive row of lights. Lifx’s app comes with tons of pre-made themes, ranging from those inspired by music and artists (I love Bijutsukai and Matisse with my living room colors) to holidays and even sports teams. There’s no camera or similar tool to match what’s on the TV screen, so I typically just pick a theme or color scheme to match the mood of the show.
Photography: Nena Farrell
You can use the app’s Paint tool to create custom light arrangements if none of the included designs catch your eye. You can paint everything at once (it’ll let you pick three colors and arrange it for you) or manually control it by zone. My six bars and one corner piece have 61 zones—that’s 10 zones per bar plus an extra one for that little corner. You can highlight and change multiple zones at once to get your perfect design, but it takes time.
Buying time
The Lifx Beam light strip isn’t anything particularly new, but I love how easy it is to stick it on a wall without having to worry about whether a section will come off, and to add more segments or rearrange the shape whenever I want. It looks more like a piece of art on my wall than a regular light strip.
My only complaint is that I wish it were a little cheaper—it’s $60 for four pieces, or $150 for six. And Lifx doesn’t sell corner pieces separately, which limits the fun you can have with the designs. After all these years on the market, it may be too late to wait for more extensions. I’m still in love with mine, though, single corner and all.