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Govee Permanent Outdoor Lights review: Make your neighbors insanely jealous

Raise your hand if you've had enough of the annual put-holiday-lights-up/take-holiday-lights-down tradition. It's tedious, potentially dangerous work, as there's almost always a ladder involved, to say nothing of eaves that require tippy-toe reaches. What if you could put up lights that stay put year-round, suitable for not only Christmas but also Halloween, July 4 and other occasions? That's the idea behind Govee's Permanent Outdoor Light kit, which is available in 50- and 100-foot configurations (for $200 and $300, respectively). I recently installed one of the latter on my house, just ahead of Halloween. The end result: pretty great, though getting there took some doing.

Govee

Govee Permanent Outdoor LED Lights (50 FT)

One last time up the ladder: Govee's wonderful weatherproof LEDs stay put once installed and bathe your house in festive lighting. The challenge right now is actually buying them; the kits have been out of stock for weeks.

$200 at Amazon

Govee

Govee Permanent Outdoor LED Lights (100 FT)

$300 at Amazon

(A quick note before I go on: Both versions of the product have been out of stock for weeks, and may continue to be for a while. According to a company rep, Govee wasn't prepared for the demand; each new shipment sells out almost instantly. The unfortunate reality is you probably won't be able to get these in time for Christmas 2022. But wait a bit and you can get a jump-start on 2023 holidays!)

The kit comes with three or six light strings, each one measuring 16 feet, that get joined together for whatever overall length is needed. Unfortunately, you can't shorten one of them if it's too long, so you might need to get creative with installation. I ended up using five of the six, which proved just about perfect for going from one end of my house to the other.

I did hate leaving that the last string unused, but adding it to the setup would have created a weird mid-eave termination. It would be nice if Govee sold individual extra strings, including a half-length one, to give you more options. Alas, for the moment, no dice.

Govee's permanent lights as they look installed on a large home. — No more risking your neck on a ladder every year. These lights are designed to stay up permanently. And they're bright and beautiful. (Photo: Govee)

The kit comes with a useful quick-start setup card along with a pretty basic instruction manual; unfortunately there's no mention of a more detailed online version (though I did find this helpful video). My installation began with the very tall eave over my garage. I ended up hiring a handyman for that part, as I wasn't comfortable going up a 20-foot ladder. Each LED in the string has a strong peel-and-stick adhesive, but I also opted to screw in some included plastic clips along the way, the better to keep everything in place.

I did run into one problem. Although I tested all six light strings indoors before venturing outdoors, the third one I put up refused to work. I tried swapping it for one of the other strings; same result. An email to Govee customer support returned a frustrating, fractured-English response that didn't really address the issue.

Thankfully, I discovered that by unplugging the control box, then plugging it back in after the additional lengths were connected, everything worked properly again.

That control box connects to your home Wi-Fi network, thus allowing you to control the lights via Govee's mobile app and, if you have one, an Alexa or Google voice assistant (sorry, Siri users). Depending on where and how you install the lights, that control box might end up inside your house or just outside; mine landed in the far corner of my garage, and luckily I had no trouble connecting to it. If you end up with a similar setup, you may need a Wi-Fi extender to get a signal out there.

Three different areas of the Govee app that's used to control the lights. — The Govee app offers some easy-to-use scene modes, but a lot of the customization options are confusing. (Screenshots: Rick Broida/Yahoo)

Once the lights were up, I turned to the Govee app. I'll be honest: It's pretty confusing in places. For example, there's a feature called Effects Lab, but no explanation of what it is or how to use it. And while it's fairly easy to set up timers that automate lights on and lights off, I found myself baffled by the Auto-Play option.

Meanwhile, each of the four available modes — Music, Color, Scene and DIY — reveals a different set of sub-tools to figure out. Scene is the easiest, as it's where a single tap will activate various presets — though even these are a bit muddled, because they're divided into tabs labeled Natural, Festival, Life and Emotion.

On the day before a big Michigan State Spartans football game, I wanted to program what seemed like a simple setup: alternating green and white lights (the team's colors). It took me quite a while to figure out how to do this, and it turned out to be a painstaking manual process.

But here's the good news: The app is complicated, but the lights themselves are fantastic. They're very bright, and when installed properly they sort of bathe the surface beneath them, making the overall effect seem bigger. It's fun to mess around with all the different scenes; some glow, some blink, some animate the lights in different directions.

True story: On Halloween, a lot of neighborhood parents came to the door with compliments — and not just because we were giving out full bars. Many of them said, "I want these! Where can we get them?" (Again, the lights, not the candy.)

I will say $300 feels steep for a strip of LEDs, bright and weatherproof and "smart" though they may be. On the other hand, many other permanent light kits cost even more, so in that respect this feels like a bargain. I also appreciate Govee's 3-year warranty, which makes me feel better about the investment.

And let me put it another way: One trip to the ER after toppling off a ladder? Way more expensive. Forgive the gallows humor, but it's true. My Govee lights are up and they're staying up. I've risked my holiday-decorating neck for the last time.

Govee