Govee RGBIC LED Neon Rope Lights for Desks Review

Govee's latest RGBIC lighting solution aims to brighten up gaming desks. Discover if these Neon Rope lights live up to the hype.

For RGB fanatics, a celebration ensues each time a new LED light strip, bulb, or lamp hits the market. Govee, in particular, has become a popular source of lighting for gamers looking to turn their rigs from ordinary to extraordinary. The manufacturer's latest effort, the RGBIC LED Neon Rope Lights for Desks, is a light strip ideal for trimming the edges of the best gaming desks. Similar to Govee's other neon rope light solutions, this variation has a soft exterior that is especially resistant to the normal wear and tear expected when a gamer is close by.

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Like other Govee smart lighting products, the Neon Rope Lights for Desks functions well with Google Home and Amazon Alexa. Perhaps most exciting for gamers, is the rope light's ability to work with Govee's AI Dreamview Sync technology which captures video signals and converts them into stunning RGB lighting effects. Razer Synapse users will also appreciate how they can sync the light strip with their other RGB keyboards and mice, and further enhance intense gaming action.

Fortunate enough to try out the Neon Rope Lights for Desks for myself, let's find out if Govee's latest lights are a worthy addition to your gaming desk.

The Govee RGBIC LED Neon Rope Lights for Desks is the easiest way yet to add spectacular lighting to gaming desks. Featuring 42 customizable segments, the 84 RGBIC light beads produce a never-ending variety of patterns and colors. The 10-foot neon rope light strip has 12 cutting points allowing users to create a strip from 7 to 10 feet long. Constructed with a soft silicone material, the light strip resists inevitable bumps and bruises near a gaming desk. The neon rope lights are compatible with Google Home, Amazon Alexa, as well as Govee's AI Dreamview Sync, and Razer Synapse software.

If a gamer is familiar with other Govee LED lights, there are few surprises upon opening the box for the Neon Rope Desk Lights. The star of the show is the 9.8-foot rope light, which is tightly wound with some Govee-branded cable ties. Connected to the neon rope light is a control box for turning on and off the lights and toggling some preset color patterns. The jack on the end of the control box is ready for a connection to the included AC/DC power adapter.

Beyond the essentials, Govee includes alcohol wipes for cleaning the edges of desks before installation, a stick-on corner routing bracket, and an end cap if a user decides to cut part of the strip off. A helpful quick start guide and user manual are also present to avoid any potential issues.

Govee has made the installation of their Neon Rope Desk Lights as straightforward as possible. Generally, gamers should first decide what segments of their desks they want to adhere the light strip to and the best home for the control box and power adapter. To avoid wasted time, Govee recommends connecting the light strip to a power source first to make sure there are no malfunctions. Gamers can even add the neon rope lights to the Govee Home mobile app, and experiment with the many brilliant scenes and patterns possible with the light strip. Assuming everything is working properly, you can finally adhere the lights to your desk.

For most people, the target will usually be the edge of the desk that faces their sitting position. However, the nearly 10-foot strip is long enough to extend to one or both sides of most desks. In my setup, I have an L-shaped desk that consists of a standard rectangular-shaped section bordered by a conference table with rounded edges on one end.

Before applying the light strip, you will want to measure the intended area and determine if the 9.8-foot length of the lights is long enough to cover all the edges of the desk, or how much if any of the strip is extraneous. Fortunately, there are 12 cutting points on the lights, making the total length of neon rope light range from about 7 to 10 feet. Segments of the strips separated from each other can't operate independently, so gamers will want to use as long of a custom-sized strip as possible.

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Once the length and position of the light strip are determined, the next step is to clean the edges of the desk with the included alcohol wipes. Any stubborn dust or grime could interfere with the rope lights staying securely on desks, so thoroughly cleaning the installation area is essential. Then, it's just a matter of carefully peeling off the double-sided tape on the back of the strip and adhering the neon rope as evenly as possible on the edge of the desk. Having another person holding up the far end of a strip would certainly help, but most people can handle the setup process solo.

Since my desk is L-shaped, I took advantage of the angled routing bracket Govee supplied in the box. I found that the neon rope light was more than flexible enough to route along the rounded portions of the desk, which is no surprise considering the elaborate patterns users have managed to accomplish with previous Govee neon rope lights. Once the lights are in the proper position, you will want to apply firm pressure on various points on the strip for at least 10 seconds. Finally, either use the tape on the back of the control box to stick it onto a surface, or just leave it dangling below the desk as I did. Once the control box and power adapter are hooked up to an outlet, the real fun begins.

For most gamers, the rest of the setup will take place in the Govee Home mobile app. If you haven't already configured the Govee Neon Rope Lights before sticking them onto a desk, the Govee Home app will instruct users to connect the lights to a Wi-Fi network and a phone's Bluetooth connection. The Bluetooth connection is fine for communicating with the lights using the mobile app, but for any integrations with Google Home, Amazon Alexa, or Razer Chroma, Wi-Fi is extremely beneficial. The Neon Rope Lights for Desk only support 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi bands, so ensure you have the proper network configuration before purchasing the lights. If a user does snip off a part of the rope lights, the app has a function to calibrate a custom strip length, so that moving patterns of light look as intended.

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In the Govee Home app, users can browse a growing number of preset scenes and patterns which range from pulsating rainbows of light to static colors. Gamers can create their own scenes, customizing the lighting in each of the 42 segments of the neon rope light. Since I'm not the most creative type, I always enjoy sampling the scenes other Govee users have invented, and the app makes it easy to download and share them.

Software configuration becomes a bit more complicated if you have multiple smart home ecosystems and brands of lights in your gaming room as I do. Since I already had a Govee LED strip on a wall and connected to Google Home, the new neon rope light instantly appeared on the Google app, allowing me to use voice commands to turn it off and on. The options for color patterns are limited, so gamers will definitely want to use the Govee Home app or other software for more customization.

If you enjoy controlling everything in your setup from a desktop or laptop PC, the Govee Desktop software is an attractive option. At the moment, the desktop app is rather limited in scope and only is compatible with some Govee products like their neon rope lights. Without the Govee AI Sync Box, which connects to HDMI video outputs and creates lighting schemes based on games or movies, about all you can do in the desktop app is turn the neon rope lights on and off and adjust their brightness. However, the software is necessary to use the lights with the Razer Synapse software, which provides many exciting possibilities for syncing RGB lighting around a gaming rig.

Since I owned several Razer peripherals, the prospect of syncing the Govee Neon Rope Lights for Desks to my Razer RGB mouse, keyboard, and speakers had obvious appeal. Also, since I had already connected Nanoleaf Canvas lights and Philips Hue light bulbs to the Razer Synapse software, the rope lights were ready to integrate with the rest of my rig. Assuming the Govee Desktop software is running in the background, adding the new neon rope light to Synapse only requires installing a small plugin.

Keep in mind, you don't actually have to own a Razer peripheral to use the Synapse software to sync your gaming room lighting. There are additional compatible programs available like Razer Axon which uses animated desktop wallpaper to program RGB lighting effects, as seen above. The Synapse software itself also offers the ability to use music or images currently on a screen as inspiration for patterns on the neon rope light and other peripherals.

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Overall, I was impressed by how well Synapse coordinated the lighting of all my various smart home lights and gaming gear. When initially connecting the lights to the Govee Desktop app, I had some issues with the software finding the neon rope lights. Eventually, I resorted to using a spare Wi-Fi adapter to connect my desktop PC to the same network that I selected in the Govee Home app. Considering the desktop software is fairly new, it's likely Govee will improve its functionality and ease of use in the coming months.

During my testing, while I often find other LED lights distracting while working, I never grew tired of having the Govee Neon Rope Lights providing a warm glow below my keyboard and mouse. The connection stayed rock solid with the lights, whether I was trying to control them through Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. The 84 LED beads on the rope lights serve their purpose well, capable of displaying enough colors simultaneously to generate patterns that never quite look the same.

Gaming with the Govee Neon Rope Lights for Desks is also exceptional, especially if combining the light strip with other Razer Chroma RGB peripherals. I tested several titles including Overwatch 2 and Halo Infinite, and my desk became a massive alert center each time I died or had the rare pleasure of successfully killing an enemy.

Unlike other LED light strips and wall panel lights, it's likely that the Govee Neon Rope Lights for Desks will be in close contact with gamers sitting at their desks. These lights aren't meant for placement underneath tabletops for a lackluster under-glow effect. Thankfully, the rope lights are made with very soft silicone material and feel more pleasant to touch than a bare edge of a desk. Heat isn't much of an issue either, with the rope lights only getting faintly warm after hours of use.

The rope lights are visible during the daytime, but blend in as trim for a desk, and are more inconspicuous than bumpy LED strips with various components showing. Not to say that these lights aren't bright, but in order to avoid blinding gamers, Govee uses what they call inverted illuminating lighting technology to reduce glare. The end result is lights that blend in fairly seamlessly with any setup, whether they are turned on or not.

The Govee RGBIC LED Neon Rope Lights for Desks is the easiest way yet to add spectacular lighting to gaming desks. Featuring 42 customizable segments, the 84 RGBIC light beads produce a never-ending variety of patterns and colors. The 10-foot neon rope light strip has 12 cutting points allowing users to create a strip from 7 to 10 feet long. Constructed with a soft silicone material, the light strip resists inevitable bumps and bruises near a gaming desk. The neon rope lights are compatible with Google Home, Amazon Alexa, as well as Govee's AI Dreamview Sync, and Razer Synapse software.

It's safe to say that I enjoyed every aspect of working with the Govee Neon Rope Lights for Desks. Installation is difficult to get wrong and the basic setup with the Govee Home app is amazingly simple, only taking minutes. Integration with Google Home and Amazon Alexa is also fairly painless, but for gamers, Razer Synapse can effectively coordinate the neon rope light with a host of RGB peripherals and smart home lighting.

Despite its reasonable pricetag, the Govee Neon Rope Lights have a premium feel to them as something that can endure the usual abuse gear suffers near a gaming rig. Govee clearly considered how to improve on past LED and neon rope lights to ensure that these strips are perfect for placement on desk edges.

Govee continues to come up with affordable ways for buyers to add more flair to their gaming rooms. For anyone looking to instantly spruce up the look of their setup, it's hard to find many faults with the Govee Neon Rope Lights for Desks.

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Colored LED light bulbs can act as a primary source of lighting in a room and install in seconds using pre-existing light sockets. There are also a variety of RGB lamps and lighting fixtures that require minimal setup to enjoy.

Many gaming keyboards, mice, and headsets are RGB enabled with color-changing effects. To enhance the lighting from these peripherals, gamers often install RGB cooling fans and LED strips in PC cases. In recent years, other types of smart LED lighting like wall panel lights are common additions near PC desks.

Govee's RGBIC Neon Rope Lights for Desks are crafted specifically for installation on the edges of gaming desks. Other LED light strips look unpleasant and are susceptible to damage when near gaming chairs and other gear.

An avid gamer since childhood, Adam Corsetti became hooked on video games after using the original Nintendo console. During college, he created a site aggregating gaming review scores and wrote features about the industry. Adam has since witnessed the popularity of video games rise further and become part of mainstream culture. Adam's video game interests include simulation, strategy, and sports titles on PC and consoles, as well as peripherals and hardware. As a seasoned freelance writer, he recently joined the Game Rant team and is excited to share his experiences and insights with readers.