RGB lighting has been the brilliant beacon of the PC gaming gaming world—illuminating every little thing from our PCs, keyboards, mice, even headsets. It is simple to identify that gamer aesthetic from that shiny and vibrant aurora. However one of many points with that is it will possibly turn out to be a little bit of a large number with a myriad of units all pulsing alongside to their very own hue.
A very good desk lighting arrange ought to ideally have just a few sturdy focal factors exterior of the equipment to create a uniformed and light-weight blanketed feeling. However good high quality RGB lighting options may be fairly costly, and it is onerous to understand how a lot you want.
One of many extra well-known manufacturers out there may be Nanoleaf, which has not too long ago launched its Smarter Necessities vary of globes and lightstrips. These are staples of the RGB lighting world and are nice versatile selections. Globes are round $20 USD and might go in lamps you have already got making them less expensive than standalone mild equipment. Whereas the strips are additionally pretty affordable, presently going for $50 USD. However how a lot can these easy choices actually enhance a PC gaming desk.
The reply is a stunning quantity. I already talked concerning the nice versatility of globes typically as a colored mild answer, and these Nanoleaf bulbs appear like an amazing selection. They’re actually shiny and vibrant and paired with a cool polygon design helps swimsuit a gaming set as much as a tee. Plus it being a traditional lamp I can transfer it round fairly freely to alter my look. For instance, setting one up behind my PC gave me an immediate backsplash of color.
Bulb specs
Dimension: 2.4 in x 4.4 in | 6.1 cm x 11.1 cm
Max brightness: 1100 lumens
Colors: 2700 – 6500K
Connections: Bluetooth, Thread
Value: $20 (opens in new tab)
If I had a thread router I may even set it to imitate the colors of my display screen by the Nanoleaf desktop app. I do not, however this might be a good way to create that immersive feeling of bringing the sport display screen throughout you to color your partitions with mild.
The desk lighting strip is equally a lot better than I anticipated in the case of brightness and color. It does have clear LED factors shining by, so it appears to be like finest used when you may’t see the strip straight. Below a desk it offers a wonderful quantity of beneath glow which provides an eerily cool really feel to your workstation, and makes it a lot simpler to see the outdated stains in your carpet.
On account of it being a strip, it’s kind of tougher to arrange. This one has an adhesive to stay to surfaces which to this point works nice, however it’s simply difficult in the event you do not need to follow straight strains. To go across the corners of my desk I’ve awkwardly bent the lightstrip. You possibly can’t see it from above so it appears to be like high quality, however it was difficult to do and I am unsure how nicely I belief it. Joiners and equipment can be found to make this simpler, however it’s value protecting in thoughts in the event you’re after an analogous use case. Nonetheless, the 2M strip was greater than sufficient to cowl the entrance and elements of the perimeters of my desk, which provides a surprisingly full look, particularly together with a globe that may actually set the scene.
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There may be additionally the choice of a 1M extension for the strip if you’d like a bit extra size. Including this I discovered it went all the way in which round my desk properly giving me a pleasant again glow onto the wall behind. Sadly my wall behind is curtains so it will get a bit misplaced. I would not say it is necessary as my desk was lit up pretty nicely with the only strip, however in the event you really need the all encompassing strips or have a big desk, it is fairly simple to realize with one in all these added on.
A second globe however is a little more of a sport changer. Having two of those lets me set them up and transfer them about simply, creating totally different focus factors and appears on my desk. That is particularly useful for streaming setups. Or I can go away them behind to backlight my curtained wall higher for that immersive monitor really feel—however once more that might require a bit further with the Nanoleaf software program which might be my largest bugbear.
Strip specs
Dimension: 80 in | 2 m Starter Equipment / 40 in | 1 m Growth
Max brightness: 2200 lumens
Colors: 2700 – 6500K
Connections: Bluetooth, Thread
Value: $50 (opens in new tab)
I’ve arrange most of this on my telephone, on condition that I haven’t got a thread router or appropriate system to do it another manner. It is not a frustration free expertise, and took a number of goes so as to add them and likewise get the firmware up to date. It may be very gradual to begin up and hook up with units too, however as soon as operating every little thing appears to be okay. I’ve just a few older Nanoleaf units just like the Hexagon Shapes that may permit me thread management however they’ve had their very own points with the app and falling off the system since day one. Fortunately I have never discovered that but with this important line, but, however I’m nonetheless restricted to utilizing this software program and solely on my telephone quite than my PC.
Including just a few different touches like your RGB lit mouse, keyboard, speaker or no matter else helps you add focal factors to the desk itself. This appears to be like cool and is useful for taking part in at the hours of darkness, but additionally provides you little accent factors you need to use together with your lighting setup. Have all of it match or style the rainbow for that remaining spark.
So far as good RGB lighting setups go, the Nanoleaf Necessities bulbs and lightstrips are nice selections in quite a lot of respects. They provide shiny, stunning colors that ought to match as much as every mild alongside the gathering for a really conclusive really feel. The {hardware} for the bulbs and strips are each tremendous simple to put in, even in the event you do wind up with some curves in your strips, although it is let down by the software program element of the expertise. Nonetheless, these are very reasonable costs for model title merchandise that basically do look mint in a room and add quite a lot of versatile RGB mild choices.
