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The Govee Skyline Kit provides dreamy lighting – but it’s not a good fit for every room

Item: Govee Strip Light with Skyline Kit
Rating: 5
Author: Debora Pape

Debora Pape

15.10.2025

Translation: Katherine Martin

Pictures: Debora Pape

Govee has made a bold move with this LED strip. Rather than being concealed, it’s designed to be hung up in plain sight. As it turns out, the product ticks (almost) all of my boxes.

Smart lighting brand Govee has pulled another blinder – this time with its «Strip Light with Skyline Kit», or «Skyline» for short. As an LED strip designed to be stretched across a room to create magical lighting effects on both ceilings and walls, Skyline’s certainly a fitting name. Given how great the strip light looks in the manufacturer’s launch videos, I was more than happy to volunteer as reviewer when our editorial team was sent the product for testing purposes.

The Skyline might be a nice addition to the other smart lights I have at home. After all, I think large-scale lighting effects on walls are lovely. The problem is, you need space for so-called wall-washing effects – space that I don’t really have. But let’s save my final verdict until later.

What exactly is the Skyline Kit?

«Huh? An LED strip that hangs across the middle of the room?» my husband asks sceptically when I set the Skyline box down on the table at home. We usually tuck away our strip lights behind cable guards on ceilings or at the back of shelves. That way, they illuminate the wall while staying concealed. By contrast, the Skyline strip’s designed to be hung across the middle of the room. The advantage of this? With the lights being further from the wall, there’s a larger surface area for the colours to appear on.

The centrepiece of the product is the four-metre RGBWWIC LED strip. This comes with installation components that allow you to attach it to the wall and turn it into a «skyline». To boost stability, you’re provided with a steel ribbon that adheres to the strip light. Individual LEDs on a typical strip light usually face the wall, leaving you unable to see them. However, the ribbon can be turned over too, allowing you to direct the light sideways or downwards.

This not-very-catchy abbreviation means that the LEDs don’t just use coloured RGB diodes. They’re also equipped with two additional diodes – one for pure white and one for warm white (WW). As a result, you get prettier shades of white and better colour transitions. IC stands for «independent control», which, as you might expect, means you have control over individual elements of the strip. As a result, you can set the strip to display several colours at the same time, giving you the option to display gradients and moving effects.

Where should you put the Skyline?

Wall-washing effects require space. They look best on large, exposed, light-coloured surfaces. In the manufacturer’s promotional photos, for instance, you’ll find gorgeously illuminated walls and ceilings in sterile-looking flats. In my little home full of nooks and crannies, however, this is a tad ambitious. There are hardly any exposed surfaces. With windows, doors, shelves, cupboards and pictures all vying for position, there’s barely any free wall space. Although I do have that in the hallway, having such pretty lighting there would just be a waste.

After quite a bit of deliberation, I decide to install the Skylight in the sunroom above the dining table. Unfortunately, this is anything but ideal. Since the room has a low ceiling, I need to take extra care that the LED strip doesn’t block the door from opening. There are also beams running across the ceiling, slightly ruining the wall-washing effect. But I don’t have any other options.

I want the LED strip to run down the middle of the table. But with numerous windows, a low ceiling and transoms to contend with, it’s anything but an ideal spot.

On the plus side, I can easily hide the power cable behind a shelf. What’s more, the light goes beautifully with the Govee LED strips I have already. And since the Skyline can easily be turned downwards, I can also use it as extra table lighting. If I ever organise a pen-and-paper RPG night, it might help me set the right mood.

Installation: drilling, cutting, turning

When it comes to the box contents, you couldn’t ask Govee for much more. The strip light comes with all the screws and wall plugs you need. You also get some adhesive pads to help with cable routing and even a mini spirit level.

For installation, there’s a base socket with a rotation bar inserted into it on each side. There’s also a tube to be screwed into the bar to accommodate the metal strip. The really pleasant surprise? These six components are made of metal, and not plastic as I’d expected.

Here’s the rotation bar and mounting base for the wall. Once you’ve hung up the strip, it’s easy to tweak the position using the rotation bar.

Managing to hide the cable behind a cable guard, I run it over a shelf towards the plug socket. Although I don’t have to do the same on the opposite side, I do need to cut down the LED and metal strips by a few centimetres. I have some trouble with the instructions at this point, as it’s not entirely clear where I’m supposed to make the cut. The fact that there are cut markings on the strip itself makes things even more confusing. They imply that you should cut there and only there. Feeling sceptical, however, I take a more conservative approach and leave a piece jutting out.

Handy adhesive pads on the back of the wall mount mean it can be easily screwed on with one hand.

I then use the fixing bar to connect the rotation bars and adjust the looseness of the hanging strip. This aspect of the installation process – mounting and adjusting the strip via screws, then tweaking it with the fully rotatable bar – has been well thought out.

This is what the fully installed setup looks like. The fixing bar is used to tighten the metal strip.

Uncomplicated setup and cutting aids

As usual, setting up the strip light in the Govee app is straightforward. The app immediately detects the Skyline and asks whether I’ve cut the LED strip. Apparently, you can cut it at any point. After I hit «Yes», the app helps me calibrate the length so that the light effects show up correctly. A green light marker makes this really easy, as it gives me the confidence to snip the LED strip behind the specified mark and make it fit the mounting bar. Lo and behold, the light still shines after I make the cut.

Since the Skyline works with Matter, I don’t have any trouble integrating it into Home Assistant. On the flipside, I don’t have access to the scenes Govee’s implemented in its app. Still, at least I have the option to add the light to my automated processes and select music mode.

Background information
Now my smart home’s getting really smart: I’ve discovered Home Assistant
by Debora Pape

Clothesline charm meets colour explosion

I’m a little torn when it comes to the result. Held in place with the wall mounts at each side, the light strip stretching across the room looks like an indoor washing line. It’s certainly an acquired taste. Mind you, there’s not much Govee can do about that. Nor can it do much about the lack of distance between the strip light and the ceiling. Hanging it lower down would allow it to light up a larger surface area. So in my home, the Skyline’s pretty much the proverbial pearl cast before swine.

Let’s face it, the product really is a gem. As part of Govee’s newest generation of strip lights, it gives off punchy colours and creates buttery-smooth transitions during motion effects. Unfortunately, my photos and videos don’t fully do it justice, but they give you a sense of it.

The LED strip creates circles that look like stage spotlights on the ceiling.

The Skyline can be colourful and bright too.

According to the manufacturer, the strip reaches a brightness of 350 lumens per metre on walls – easily bright enough for a cosy gathering at home.

100 per cent brightness, on a light setting dominated by warm white

All this to say, Govee hasn’t simply churned out any old product. In fact, it’s a genuinely good one. The technical specs are similar to that of the LED Strip 2 Pro, which I also have at home. Both products are well ahead of Govee’s light bar with RGBWIC technology. When you compare them, the LED strips produce fuller colours and create smoother transitions between colours.

If it’s positioned correctly, the Skyline’s capable of making quite the impression. But it’s not completely wasted in my less than ideally positioned setup either. The light can be synchronised with my other Govee lights via Dream View in the Govee app. Working together, my three lights set a gorgeous mood. They go brilliantly together during both music synchronisation and standard moving light scenes.

In this photo, you can see all three of my synchronised lights: the Skyline on the right, the LED Strip 2 Pro on the top left and the light bar at the centre left.

The variety of settings means I can use the lighting effects to transport myself into dreamlike worlds, colourful forests or aquariums. When synchronised with music, the Skyline creates a spotlight effect on the ceiling in the middle of the room, making me feel like I’m at a concert. And my husband’s happy with it too.

In a nutshell

Get the placement right and you’ll be guaranteed dreamy lighting

The Skyline doesn’t look as good in my home as it does in the promo video. That said, I’m sure it could if I managed to get the placement right. I certainly think the «floating» wall-mounted installation’s innovative. It opens up additional lighting options that wouldn’t be available to you with LED strips, spotlights or other lamps alone. Even though I haven’t been able to exploit the Skyline Kit’s full potential, it fits very well into my existing setup and gives my home another lighting zone.

Pro

Excellent LED technology
Innovative placement options
Well thought-out installation
High-quality components for hanging the strip
Perfect for light synchronisation with other Govee products

Contra

Explanations in the instructions could be clearer
You can’t get the best out of it in every area

Govee Strip Light with Skyline Kit (Warm white, RGBIC, 400 cm, Indoor)

LED strips

CHF124.–

Govee Strip Light with Skyline Kit

Warm white, RGBIC, 400 cm, Indoor

Header image: Debora Pape

49 people like this article

Debora Pape

Editor

Debora.Pape@galaxus.de

Feels just as comfortable in front of a gaming PC as she does in a hammock in the garden. Likes the Roman Empire, container ships and science fiction books. Focuses mostly on unearthing news stories about IT and smart products.

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The Govee Skyline Kit provides dreamy lighting – but it’s not a good fit for every room

What exactly is the Skyline Kit?

Where should you put the Skyline?

Installation: drilling, cutting, turning

Uncomplicated setup and cutting aids

Now my smart home’s getting really smart: I’ve discovered Home Assistant

Clothesline charm meets colour explosion

In a nutshell

Get the placement right and you’ll be guaranteed dreamy lighting

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A little glue, Feller EDIZIOdue and let there be light

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Installation: drilling, cutting, turning

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Galaxus Deal of the day

The Govee Skyline Kit provides dreamy lighting – but it’s not a good fit for every room

What exactly is the Skyline Kit?

What does RGBWWIC mean?

Where should you put the Skyline?

Installation: drilling, cutting, turning

Uncomplicated setup and cutting aids

Now my smart home’s getting really smart: I’ve discovered Home Assistant

Clothesline charm meets colour explosion

In a nutshell

Get the placement right and you’ll be guaranteed dreamy lighting

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