The Govee DreamView G1 Professional will make an actual distinction to your gaming expertise.
That will sound like a lofty boast given that you simply’re basically strapping a bunch of LEDs to your monitor (and sticking a pair subsequent to it), however it’s the execution that makes this lighting package value your money and time. As an alternative of simply blinding anybody who seems to be at your setup, the Govee DreamView G1 Professional lights up your gaming nook in ever-changing colors to match what’s displayed in your display screen.
The field that the package arrives in is surprisingly small. Manuals apart, the packaging consists of two vertical LED bars, a versatile LED strip, clips to suit the strip to the again of your monitor, a fish-eye lens that perches on high of it, and what seems to be like a pad of orange post-it notes.
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Set-up is comparatively painless – it took me round half-hour in complete. That stated, ideally you’ll want a flatscreen monitor {that a}) is between 24 and 30 inches and b) has a flat again. I wasn’t conscious of the latter requirement forward of time (Govee has stated this’ll be on the product web page when the lights launch) however there was sufficient give that I might match the LED strip over my monitor’s rear audio system.
The remainder is comparatively simple; pop the vertical LED bars on both facet of the monitor (the handbook recommends 30cm away), perch the fish-eye lens the place you’d usually put a webcam, then plug the wires collectively. The ultimate step is calibrating the machine through the Android or iOS cell app; you pop the post-it note-shaped foam pads on, then take away then when completed. Then, you’re good to go.
Truly, “good” may be an understatement. In the appropriate scenario, the G1 Professional may be mind-blowing. The explanation the bundle features a fancy webcam is in order that it will possibly “look” at your display screen and replicate the colors it detects.
For those who’re enjoying Grand Theft Auto V, simply driving round Los Santos, the G1 Professional will subtly shift colors, which is a cool, enjoyable impact. In truth, when there’s not an terrible lot occurring on display screen, the Dreamview simply compliments the coolness. For those who’re enjoying Skyrim and wandering round Whiterun, the wall behind your display screen will flip gentle inexperienced. Gaze right into a tavern’s fireplace and and it shifts to gentle orange.
However the Govee DreamView G1 Professional actually comes into its personal when there are main shifts in scene or a whole lot of mayhem unfolding. I fired up Dying Gentle: The Following and launched myself from a cliff into the lake under which, in itself, was a dramatic second. What actually elevated that have was that the second I hit the water, the entire wall behind my display screen turned blue.
The extra I put the G1 Professional by its paces, the extra I puzzled how I’d ever completed with out it. Effectively, besides after I foolishly fired up 5 Nights with Freddy’s simply to see how the G1 Professional would deal with its jumpscares. That… was not a wise transfer.
To be honest, it’s not simply the lights themselves that make the Govee Dreamview such a game-enhancing expertise. The accompanying Govee app is simply as glorious; you may customise how the lights reply, create your individual gentle patterns and so forth. You should use it with music too however that just about looks as if a waste.
Take DOOM, for instance. Utilizing the app I instructed the Govee DreamView G1 Professional to react to audio, set it to shoot-em-up mode, and fired up iD’s 2016 demon-slaughtering semi-sequel. DOOM is designed to maintain the motion flowing and your adrenaline pumping, extra so than the unique.
The lights, nonetheless, dialled issues as much as 11. After I stepped exterior onto the floor of Mars, my PC nook was bathed in orange gentle. Then the demons turned up, the soundtrack kicked up and it turned the firefight into a lightweight present. I knew it was my cue to settle down when the show on my wall lastly settled.
That’s to not say the Govee DreamView G1 Professional is only for video games the place you wield a shotgun or swing a sword. Admittedly, I can’t see the lights being massively impactful with sports activities video games however I additionally examined out a number of horror titles, Amnesia: The Darkish Descent included, and it made them simply that little extra bit chilling. In that case it proved extra mood-enhancing to disable the G1 Professional audio mode.
The lights are meant for use with a PC, however there’s nothing to cease you hooking up a console to your monitor’s HDMI port. I used a HDMI to HDMI and audio field to feed within the sound from my Xbox Collection X and it labored a deal with with the lights. You can too sync up a Google House or Amazon Echo if you wish to, although I haven’t tried this out.
The G1 Professional is a formidable little bit of package, however is it excellent? No. For a begin, if you wish to the lights to react to in-game audio, you’ll must plug a stereo audio lead out of your PC to the sunshine. So in case you’re utilizing a USB headset, you’ll want to change to a non-USB one. There could be a method of outputting audio to USB and a speaker jack on the identical time, however I had no pleasure.
And when you can take away the lights out of your monitor – which you may must do in case you exchange it, for instance – you’ll must take care, easing the clips away with a screwdriver. Ideally, I’d have appreciated to see Govee embrace one thing like a command strip whereby you may gently pull on a part of the adhesive to launch them. I do know that if I do transfer these to a different monitor in some unspecified time in the future I’ll be sticking them again down with command strips.
After which there’s the value. As impressed as I’ve been by the Govee Dreamview G1 Professional, its RRP of $179 is steep. That’s simply in need of a the value of a good gaming monitor. My overview unit was free, however would I pay that a lot for it? Having frolicked with it, I can safely say that sure, I’d, however solely after I’d souped up the remainder of my PC setup first.
Govee boasts that this package affords “pro-level gaming immersion”, and I’m inclined to agree. It’s a robust and (because of the app) vastly versatile addition to your gaming setup. It’s not low cost, however it does make your video games extra immersive than ever. So, in case you’re on the lookout for the icing in your gaming cake, the Govee DreamView G1 Professional matches the invoice completely.
Govee DreamView G1 Professional is on the market now from Amazon and Govee.
Because of Govee for offering us with a overview unit.
