The Tapo L930-5 is a great addition to any smart lighting setup. The full-color gradientLED strip has everything you could want in a lighting strip for less than $50. It is the first lighting product from TP-Link to work with Apple Home and it also works with other smart home devices.
If you're into that kind of thing, smart light strips are an easy, plug-and-play way to shed some light on a dark spot in your home or add some cool lighting effects under your cabinets, countertops, or even around your bed.
The Tapo L930-5 has up to 16 million colors and can be used with both white and red lights. The white LEDs give it a brighter and higher-quality light. The IC part uses an integrated chip so it can display different colors along its 50 different lighting zones. Only a small number of light strips have both white and addressable lighting and they are more expensive than the Tapo L930-5.
The Tapo feels like it should cost more than it does, even if you don't need Apple Home support.
I used the blue light to highlight the blue cabinets in my kitchen breakfast bar, or I could use the white light to illuminate my dark living room.
There is a controller with an on/off button on the 16.4-foot (5-meter) strip. I stuck the strip to the counter using 3M tape. Finding a spot with an outlet nearby was the biggest challenge, and I had trouble fitting around a tight corner. The strips are trimmable, but can't be re- connected.
The process took less than 5 minutes to complete. When my teens came home from school, they were very hard to impress.
The tapo light strip has a controller
TP-Link Tapo L970-5 specifications.
Size: 16.4 ft (non-extendable) Brightness: 1,000 lumens Color temperature: 2500k to 6500k Dimming: 1% to 100% Intellectual Property rating: water- resistant PU coating Protocol: wi-fi 2.4 GHz Power source: AC adapter
TheTapo app is better than most. The real power of smart lighting comes from the fact that it can be connected to a smart home platform such as Apple Home, Google Home, or AmazonAlexa.
I have smart light switches and bulbs in my kitchen. I connected the Tapo light strip to a Scene with all the other lights and had them turn on when someone walked into the kitchen. This can be accomplished with the set up of an Alexa routine. The other two also support voice control, but the other one doesn't.
The new smart home standard will be supported by the Tapo line. As Tapo products use wi-fi there is a clear upgrade path for existing devices. A new version of the Tapo app will allow for integration of all Matter-supported devices within a single platform.
The Tapo app is easy to use and has a lot of features. Set the lights on a schedule, create preset light scenes, choose from 17 effects, and sync with music. A timer that will turn the lights on or off after a set period is one of the features of the app.
The light strip contains fifty individually addressable lighting zones. The Aurora for a more soothing light show was my favorite. I tried to create some of my own effects in the app but the preset looked better than anything I came up with. I will be using the Bubbling Cauldron and haunted mansion options this year.
The Tapo has an auto white mode, which sets the light to white and automatically adjusts the brightness based on available light, though I am not sure how it works. You don't end up with a bright light shining at you when you dim other lights in your house thanks to this feature. It stayed at one color temperature even though the app said it should warm up. The light strip did not work with Apple Home. Both features have been reached out to by me.
The Tapo light strip was able to sync to music or ambient sound, which it did relatively well, if a bit more robotic and less smoothly than the music sync feature of thePhilips Hue. It doesn't have a built-in microphone, but it uses a microphone on your phone or tablets. It was annoying as you have to keep the app open on your phone for it to work and it kept disconnected. If you don't like the idea of having a microphone on your light strips, that's fine.
If you have more than one Tapo product, you can use the Tapo app to link them. Scenes that let you control multiple devices at once by tapping a tile in the app or Automations that can run based on time of day are called Scenes. TP-Link has two smart home lines, one of which is the Tapo app. TP-Link announced an Apple Home compatible power strip, dimmer switch, and color bulbs for the Tapo line earlier this year.
The Tapo L930-5 is the cheapest light strip that works with Apple Home. If you really want the adaptive lighting feature, you have other options to consider, but they still cost a lot more.
The L930-5 only comes in one length, which is 16.4 feet. Most smart light strips start at six feet or two meters, but many can be extended up to 32 feet or even more. TP-Link doesn't sell extension kits for the L930, but it does sell a 32-foot version.
They are very hard to impress.
The cost of a single-color light strip is $100 for six feet, and the cost of a single-color light strip is $170 for six feet. Apple Home has an adaptive lighting system. The cost of extending and limited to one color at a time is what makes the Eve Light Strip a good choice for adaptive lighting.
The L930-5 is compelling even if you don't like Apple Home support. White light can't be produced by most light strips in this price range because they don't have white LEDs. If you want to save money, you should get the Tapo L920-5, Govee, orKasa smart light strips.
This is the most affordable addressable light strip option right now, unless you want to hold out for a light strip that will work with Matter and Thread.
The photos were taken by Tuohy.
Every smart device has a set of terms and conditions that you have to agree to before you can use it. It is not possible for us to read and analyze all of them. We started counting the number of times you have to agree to use devices when we review them since these are agreements most people can't negotiate.
The Apple Home app can be used to set up the Tapo L-930-5 on an iPhone. You can get the Tapo app, create an account, and agree to the following.
You can join the program if you so choose. Two mandatory agreements and one optional agreement.
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