Overall these lights are fantastic. Bright, vivid, and adjustable in every way possible. The morph effect is the best of them all. However, the only drawback is the set up. All of my lights worked immediately when plugging in, but getting the wires to seat properly when placing on the wall was difficult. A future model should use small clasps to keep the connecting cords seated, as these fall out with the slightest tug. But once they’re up, these lights are totally worth it!
The setup for this was admittedly a headache for me, and took me about 4.5 hours of planning, sticking, and troubleshooting. However, the results are SO COOL, it was totally worth it (I don't usually feel like this w most smart devices that cause me this much hassle). Right now, i have my tiles (pattern designed my my 14yo) going through the "colors" area at the lowest lighting setting, using the "morph" effect, at a low speed, which is completely relaxing at night. My attached video shows the result of pressing just the morph button under the "effects" area, at it's quicker, brighter pre-set. The program also has a new "paint" feature in the "create" area, where you can actually paint the colors you want on the tiles, and the colors show up as you're painting, so you can see your progress- how awesome is that? You can see my 2 last pics of a quick painting i did, in the app and on the tiles.
If you are a lover of mood lighting like i am, i think you'll be thrilled w this set once u get it up and running. I also love that the tiles are about an inch thick, and that the sides also display/ move in color as well, creating a 3-D piece of liquid light art.
btw, each of the tiles is stuck to the wall w 4 Command strips w velcro by 3M- the same type of adhesive strips that are used for temporary hooks, and things like that. They are not permanent (1 use), but will easily hold the weights of these tiles (not very heavy) and thank goodness LIFX thought to use the velcro addition. I placed these super carefully w a level the first time, then had to take them up and down several times, switching them around and trying to figure out that cable problem i had. The Command strips unfortunately stick so well, that one of the tabs actually pulled the paint right off my wall vs. detatch at the velcro part....alas. well, when i finally remove these tiles, i'll just need to repaint that spot. The 3 remaining tabs hold the tile fine, but it's also easy to purchase refill Command strips if need be from Amazon.
Update: i had written lifx support an email re: the pulsing red tiles problem before I found the solution randomly online, and they got back to me within 6 hours, suggesting the same answer. Good customer support.
Perfect addition to my LIFX setup.
This is a really interesting, colorful piece of electronic artwork.
The squares go up in whatever configuration you want, though they have to be connected in the back by the included usb cables. The cables fought back when I put mine up, and I found it fairly difficult to get my squares completely flat. I used a laser level to get them straight, which made that part easy.
They have to be upright, which you can tell by the labels on the back. Also, the one with the green dot is the "master" panel, and that's the one that should get power and has the code for Homekit. Don't try and use a different panel for power or the code. I tried that, and I'm lucky I got it to work again.
The patterns morph across the panels after you have the squares configured correctly in the app. This took a few tries for me - I'm not sure why. I definitely recommend updating the firmware for the panels before trying to stick anything on the wall.
The downside is that the logic for doing the patterns isn't in the panels at all. Instead, it is controlled by the app. That means it will always be running on your phone or pad. If you leave with the phone, the patterns stop. They do connect to wifi on their own, so that part is good.
I also found they are very interesting to cats while placed on the floor. Perhaps my cat just longs for the days of disco. I'm not sure. Either way, cats are not included.
Our home is full of LIFX products. I love that their lights connect to our WiFi, our phones and Alexa - all without requiring a separate hub.
These particular light panels are cool in that they have different color zones and can be arranged creatively on a wall to create light-based artwork that is ever-changing. They are plastic and may not fit in well in every home. But if you like a super-modern look, then these are a very cool option for you.
One downside of LIFX devices is that they seem to occasionally lose sync and I need to re-add them to our network (with over 50 LIFX devices in our house, this becomes a bit of a hassle). If you only need a few smart bulbs, LIFX is a great option even if you're not super technically savvy. But if you want a home full of smart lighting, then LIFX may require some extra patience with the technology. Having played with other smart lighting options, I don't think LIFX is necessary any different from the other options in this area.
Feature Product
- Easy set up. Tiles fit together or apart wherever you like in your home decor. Included command strips allow you to place them exactly where you want
- Built in Wi-Fi & LIFX cloud. Offers full Lighting control via Wi-Fi and cloud through our LIFX iOS, Android and windows 10 apps. Access your tiles from anywhere, anytime via the cloud
- Adjustable and dimmable. Connected Lighting and scenes for your space, time of day, and mood. Choose from 16 million colors with flexibility to dim
- Place anywhere. LIFX tiles can be customized in any layout to ensure the best fit for your home
- Custom zones. Let your imagination run wild with 64 individually Addressable colorful mixed soft zones in every tile. Create patterns, images and custom waveforms to express your creativity
Description
LIFX tile kit is a Wi-Fi enabled modular light surface with millions of beautiful colors and images that can be painted on the surface - no hub required.
I’ve been a customer of LIFX for many years and I have many of their light bulbs including the A19 and the Beam. I love their products over any other smart light products and their Customer Service is top notch, but this Tile was a doozy.
It is beautiful once it’s installed; it’s the installation that will anger you. If you have the Beam, you know that they are magnetized so that you can connect one to the other. With the Tile, they are connected by thin white cables. There are grooves on the backs of the tiles so that you can push in the cable, making sure they are flush and won’t stick out from the wall. At first I really wished these were magnetized but now I realize that it wouldn’t be logical. The Beam only works when one is stuck on the end of another, and with the Tile you have the freedom spacing them apart to create different little works of art. The white cable will show if you have them spaced out.
Connecting to WiFi
Connecting to wi-fi was frustrating. Turning on the app and adding a device displayed four new LIFX lights. I was wondering what happened to the fifth light… anyway the first light connected fine, but when I went to search for the second light to connect, only two lights showed up in the list. I connected the second Tile and then when I searched for the third Tile to connect, nothing was showing up in the list (see photo, red lights are connected). The photo I have of “preparing your light,” was on that screen for 12 minutes before I gave up.
I decided to try what worked with the Beam, and that was getting up at 4:00am (when all is quiet) to finish the connection. It took over 40 minutes of trying to connect the third Tile, suddenly all Tiles were connected and the first tile was showing up as inactive (see photo). So finally they were connected.
Installation
You must decide on your arrangement before placing them on the wall. Connect the Tiles with the cables and then one by one, place the Tiles on the wall. We decided on a different pattern than our original idea but that was no issue. The problem was that the cables kept popping out of the grooves and worse, the 3M Command strips were not sticking properly (we cleaned the painted wall first). I actually think that the not-sticking issue was my husband’s fault, since he didn’t know that you’re supposed to stick and HOLD for 30-60 seconds (he was just pressing on it for a few seconds). We had to run out for more Command strips because of that.
Overall
The frustration was well worth it. I painted a tiny segment of the white cord red to see if it would blend in, so I’ll finish that today. The most beautiful scene that LIFX has for these TILES (IMHO) is the “Morph”, it looks like liquid light blending across the tiles. I tried to take a photo of that but it didn’t work out well. I can’t wait to have company and show it off.
These modular light tiles are pretty cool! I found the set up pretty easy and had no real problems. Deciding on the pattern to mount them on the wall was the hard part because there are so many different ways you can place these. It's really awesome because you can have multiple colors and they are dimmable. They really add an ambiance to my den. It really feels like an art installation in your house! Super cool!
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