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I'm a sucker for outdoor lights. I've tried many over the years, from solar spotlights, to step lights, to smart string lights. One brand that usually comes out on top for most categories is Govee. I've had their Govee Smart Outdoor String Lights 2 for some months and can recommend it to anyone looking for quality waterproof smart outdoor string lights. At the moment, you can get the 144-foot length for $100.29 (originally $169.99) after using the 41% on-page discount, the lowest price it has been according to price tracking tools. If that's too many string lights for you, the 96 and 48-foot options are also discounted.
Before I started using smart string lights, I would have to manually plug and unplug my lights anytime I wanted to use them. I would also need to change them out for the holidays, which was a pain. Smart lights can turn on with a set routine (like programming it to turn on and off at sunset and sunrise), can be controlled remotely with voice assistants through your smart speaker, and some can change colors to fit different moods or holidays. I've been able to do all of this (and more) with the Govee Outdoor String Lights 2.
Govee's app is well-made and what sets it apart from competitors. It provides all kinds of color options to choose for ambient light, as well as themes. You can set up red and green Christmas light patterns or spooky blinking Halloween lights. One feature that I've used plenty of times is the music mode, which is essentially a party mode that syncs with your music through the Govee app to pulsate to the beat. The string lights are waterproof and are estimated to provide 25,000 hours of light (which is almost three years).
If this sounds like fun to you, make sure to measure the distance you need properly; getting extra lights is expensive, and you'll need to figure out where to put the extra bulbs.
