These smart lights are surprisingly fun and sturdy.
The big holiday lighting trend of the last year wasn't holiday lights, but "permanent" lights designed to be left up year round, the intention being that you can change the color and motion to suit the time of year. When I reviewed the Govee Permanent Outdoor Lights in December, I wasn't convinced I would like them, but it turns out, they're a hell of a lot of fun. Amazon has them on sale for Prime Day, so if you've been in the market for a good set of outdoor lights, these are worth a look.
First, let's talk about the permanence part: these lights use 3m sticky pads (and ship with tons of them) that stayed up through snow, sleet, rain and the worst ice storm Portland has seen in 20 years. When I wanted to remove them, they came off my gutters without much issue.
These are not shaped like usual house lights, but are downlights—strong ones—so they bounce light and color off the house from an eave. On my house, they looked a little chaotic, which I have embraced for the holidays, particularly St. Patrick's Day and Pride. While I have always found the Govee app messy, it certainly offers an unlimited amount of customization, including music syncing. A lot of companies are getting into permanent lights, but Govee's were the ones I tested, and I was happy with them.
