meross Smart LED Strip Lights Works with Apple HomeKit, 16.4ft WiFi RGB Strip, Compatible with Siri, Alexa&Google and SmartThings, App Control, Color Changing Led Strips for Bedroom, TV

Pleasantly Surprised
I bought this for about $50 to give to my brother for Christmas, and I have been pleasantly surprised.I have owned a cheap remote-controlled LED strip that cost like $15 which I put on the back of my bedroom TV, and haven’t been too happy with it. The remote didn’t work very well (have to go walk to point the remote behind the TV for it to register) and it was very short (5′ maybe?). On top of that, it would reset the color/mode every time it turned off since it was plugged into the TV. So, it basically stays unplugged until I think about it really want to turn it on.I wanted to get one for my brother’s gaming PC (or he could use behind TV like me), so I decided to step it up a bit and get a smart wifi-connected one. The difference is night and day. Here are some of the notes/highlights:* Compared to other smart LED strips in the price range (especially Apple Homekit ones), this one is the longest and best bang-for-you-buck* This is 30+ feet, but is actually two separate LED strips (each 16′ I think) that are connected to one controller with one power cord.* My brother has an Android phone, and setting it up was fast* The controls in the app are easy. You can tap the icon just like a smart-plug/light to turn it on/off, and it will remember what color/brightness you last set it to. Click the pencil to get the more detailed view. From here, the power button in the center turns it on/off. You can change the color by rotating the color wheel around the power button, and change the brightness by rotating the outer wheel.* The individual LED’s are not individually addressable (understandable at this price for the length). Same goes for each strip. The app has one control and configures both to the same color/brightness (see my suggestion/improvement section below)* You can set timed routines within the app, or connect it to Alexa/Google/Apple for voice control, automation, etc. Worked with my brother to setup a routine that turned the color to a purple at night and a light blue during the day* I got this so he could use in the PC or behind TV/monitor, but with his desk setup everything is close by, and since it comes with two strips he can use it for bothAll-in-all I think it’s much better than the remote-controlled strip, and even though it’s $50, it’s better-priced than others out there for the features/length. I am quite happy with it.I do have a few notes/recommendations for future support that would make it even better:* Although it has two LED strips there is only one control option in the app. This means that they are both controlled together and cannot be set to different colors or brightness individually. It’s possible this could be as simple as an update to the app to allow each LED strip to be controlled independently. If it’s a change needed at the microcontroller level, it’s wifi-connected and could be future firmware update that could fix this. Either way, I think this would be a prime target for adding a feature that would take little effort and increase the value of what people are getting. In my brother’s example, this would allow him to have a different color set for his PC and the TV bias lighting.* There are currently no modes to select like pulse/strobe/etc. Not a killer for me, but what I find funny is that the LED strips auto-rotate colors during setup, meaning it already has at least that functionality programmed in, just only for the setup process. This could be another low-effort addon to the app settings since it’s already there.

Good with a Big Flaw!
I have both the old 32ft version and the new 16ft one, and they both have a major flaw! If you live in an area that power outages are common, these need a hard reset after power is back! It means you have to disconnect them from the wall, wait a few seconds, and plug them back in. Probably because they only try to connect to your Wi-Fi router a few times and then they give up/time out. Of course after power is back on the router takes 20-30 seconds to reboot, and these lights will never join the network! Major flaw and hopefully they will fix it in a firmware update, so they try to connect to the network every few minutes when if it fails.The new version doesn’t have the protective plastic on top of the lights, and I was worried touching the bare circuit with my hands, but the produced colors are prettier. It’s also more flexible because it doesn’t have the rigid coating, and seems to have better adhesive tape than this model. The adaptor also has one output for one strip while this 32ft old version has two outputs where you can attach two separate strips. They both connect to HomeKit the same way, and Siri works great if they succeed in connecting to the WiFi.Overall, these are useful good devices, but please solve the bugs. Thanks for reading, and YMMV.Update January 2022:I see that these lights get to the network after a power loss. So that’s not an issue anymore, but they still turn ON even if they were off before the power loss when power resumes.Also if you get an error message like “failed with osstatus code 5 (EIO)“ during HomeKit setup, try separating your 2.4GHz Wi-Fi to use a different name than the 5GHz, and change the channel manually to 1, 6, or 11. Only one of them worked for me: 11. But one of these channels should resolve that error. Hope this helps some time and frustration for some people.

Terrible quality and connectivity
I rarely bother leaving reviews for bad Amazon dice rolls, but these lights are junk and have been since the day I got them. The lights flicker if set to above 40% brightness, most colors, or even just at random if you account for those two limits. After changing my router, trying to re-pair the lights to Homekit under the new network connection fails and will not set up correctly. For the premium paid on these for the Homekit certification compared to other junk LED strip lights, they are not worth it and under deliver in every way. Wish I could return, but seller also has an obtuse return policy for bad units.

DO NOT BUY this as it is very fickle and a glitchy device!!!Apple HomeKit & Meross app pairing fails no matter what workaround you try & to be fair I have successfully paired around 40 HomeKit devices knowing my way around them**Meross has a dedicated QR coded article only for issue troubleshooting so you can imagine the number of issues.

I will keep this Review short and to the point having bought countless LED Strips for our Home to put around the Bar, TVs , Cabinets etc and this Beauty stands out in a World of its own.All the other LED strips have lost their tactility or stickiness and fall off in less than a week. This one still hugging strong to the back of the tv and the quality is damn good.1) 5 Minute Easy Installation. This included sticking the LED strip to the TV (82”) and also setup with the Meross Smart App2) Original 3M Sticky Tape on the LED strip which holds up the weight of the entire LED strip around the item you are sticking it too3) LED bulbs are super bright and colour accuracy is 10/104) Box packaging and contents have everything and easy to follow instructions and the little clips etc they provide it is amazing to have so much detail for this product5) Power Cord and smart connector box is so tiny and cute and you can connect multiple led strips by just plug and play6) Meross Smart App for Apple or Android OS is easy to navigate and also control the millions of lighting colours and brightness and also led light environments.All in all these LED light strips from Meross are exceptionally good value and bang for your buck.10/10 for Quality10/10 for ease of use and installation10/10 for contents and value10/10 Good looking LED lightsI will be adding another 2 sets to my setup so I can get the Vinyl DJ booth Kitted up and time to Partayyyy.This is the second Meross product I have bought and very very impressed with their quality and also customer service. The other product being the Smart Garage Door opener.Looking forward to them making more beautiful Smart Products.