Novostella Flood Light Review

The smart home revolution is not confined to interior spaces anymore. With smart outdoor cameras and doorbells, the next step may be to decorate your yard, pathway, or garage with beautiful lights.

If you’re in the market for intelligent outdoor lighting products, Novostella could be the perfect match for you. Read on for a detailed review of this versatile, innovative floodlight system. We’ll have a look at the key features and elements such as design, installation, connectivity and control, lighting, third-party integrations, and more.

So without further ado, let’s dive right in.

Introduction to Novostella

If you’re new to the intelligent lighting world, you may be unfamiliar with the brand Novostella. Registered in January 2017, they have built a reputation for patenting new products and offering high-end services at an affordable price. The company primarily specializes in smart LED floodlights, LED bulbs, strip lights, ceiling lights, and night lights.

The Novostella Floodlights come in four different types:

1. Novostella Blink Smart Flood Light 25W
2. RGBCW Wi-Fi Flood Lights
3. 60W RGBW 500k Smart Flood Light
4. 100W RGBW Smart Flood Light

In this review, we’ll have a close look at one of their best-selling products – the Novostella RGBCW Wi-Fi Flood Lights.

Design

The Novostella RGBCW Flood Lights come with a very basic design. They feature a black housing box made from die-cast aluminum, known for being sturdy and durable.

Note: Just hours after unwrapping, our Novostella Flood Light had its first dropdown test, and it scored just perfectly – there was no damage to the device whatsoever.

The floodlight surface of the device is quite glossy, and it’s easy to remove fingermarks or dirt. The box features a huge window at the front, where the LED lights are situated.

You may notice the housing is much bigger than the lights, but that’s because the internal electronics need more room. We found the lighting itself to be relatively small compared to other alternatives, and it’s built of both white and RGB LED arrays.

There are no buttons featured on the box, not even the switch for turning the device on. Most of the controls are activated from the app or other smart home integrations – as we’ll discuss below.

When you purchase the Novostella Floodlights, you’ll notice they come in pairs. However, you are free to use them separately, as they are self-contained. You can use only one or both or purchase a set of four lights – it makes no difference.

Design-wise, an important feature is the waterproof lights. They come with an IP 66 rating, which means they will also be protected from dust and can even withstand snow.

When you flip the device over, you’ll notice a stand that pivots towards the top or bottom, featuring screw holes. These are meant to secure your floodlight to the side of the home. Also, there’s an optional screw-on antenna terminal at the top of the device. The antenna serves to increase the wireless range. Consider setting it up in case you can’t pick up a Wi-Fi signal outside the house.

There’s also a 3.28-foot (1.5-meter) power cord at the bottom, which may be too short for some yards and require an extension cord. However, beware that finding an extension cord for 240V that’s also waterproof can be quite tricky. Alternatively, you can get outdoor waterproof cases from your local hardware store and protect the cables with them.

We also found the lack of the on and off switch on the device itself slightly inconvenient. To turn the lights on and off, you solely depend on your smartphone, unless you want to unplug the device every time after using it.

Installation

Installing Novostella doesn’t take much time and effort, but it will require a couple of tools – a power drill and some wood screws. Note that these don’t come in the box, so you should get them separately. The whole procedure is relatively straightforward, as all you have to do is attach the device with the screws and a steel bracket.

But if you plan to rest the floodlight on the ground, the antenna and the wire make the process a bit more challenging. If the cord came from the side of the light, things would be much more manageable.

Ideally, you want to install the lights on a firm place up high, where they will be secure.

Connectivity and Control

These intelligent lights fully depend on Wi-Fi connectivity (2.4GHz exclusively). You can connect them directly to your home connection, and there’s no need for separate hubs or subscription fees.

As previously mentioned, all Novostella lights are self-contained. Before connecting your smart light to the phone, you want to attach the antenna to the device. Then, download the Smart Home app. If you’ve already used this app before, setting up the lights will be a piece of cake. For first-time users, the app is available for iOS and Android.

Here’s how to connect the Novostella lights to your phone:

1. Download the Smart Life app.
2. Register an account and sign in.
3. Once inside the main dashboard, click on the plus sign in the upper left-hand of the screen.
4. Tap on “Lighting.”
5. Select “Lighting (Wi-Fi.)
6. Follow the instructions on the screen

Compared to competitor products, we found the Novostella setup to be a bit more complicated. However, once you figure out how to connect the first light, the other ones will be much easier. You want to repeat steps 3 – 6 for each consecutive Novostella floodlight.

Additionally, if you use more than one Novostella floodlight, you can set up group controls. This means you can connect more lights and customize them as a group.

Lighting

For smart light newbies, the RGBCW from the product name stands for RGB (Color), C (Cool), W (Warm) light.

Put simply, there are three different modes in which you can enjoy the lights: White, Color, and Scene.

The White section lets you play with different shades of white, ranging from warmer (2700K) to cooler (6500K) tones. This way, you can adjust the light to fit your décor. Also, you can match the street light temperature or the lights from inside your home.

With the “Color” mode, you can choose from a range of 16 million RGB colors. Plus, you can experiment with saturation and brightness. Is Valentine’s Day coming up? Color everything red. St. Patty’s on the way? No problem – you can get greens across the board in a second.

Finally, the “Scene” section is where you can find pre-defined scenes according to which the light will cast. For example, you can create the following scenarios:

• Working – bright white to light up your working space such as garage or shop
• Leisure – soft white, less bright
• Reading – soft and bright lighting, library-style
• Night – warm white to go against the house
• Soft – soft variant of your color of choice
• Colorful – a beautiful primary color sequence
• Dazzling – same as Colorful, but sped up
• Gorgeous – same as Colorful, but each color is phased in and out

The brightness for all modes can go up to 2000 lumens, which is powerful enough to keep burglars and animals away.

And if you’re not familiar with the measures, lumen is a standard light measurement. You can consider one lumen to come close to the amount of light put out by a single candle.

If we tell you that 1000 lumens are just enough to project a good picture when watching a movie on a projector, you’ll have a good idea of the effectiveness of 2000 lumens. But chances are, you won’t need to use the light at such intense brightness.

As for some additional features, the Smart Home app lets you set a timer for the lights, so they go on and off when needed. You can turn on the lights during the weekends, repeat the schedule, or get phone notifications every time they switch on.

Another nice feature is that when you turn the lights off, the device remembers its previous state and will continue working in that mode the next time you switch the lights on.

As lighting is what this product is all about, we checked how Novostella stands against one of its biggest rivals: Philips Hue Lily. We found that Novostella not only is more cost-effective but provides way better performance. We concluded that Novostella offers brighter and more vivid colors than Lily. Also, if we compare Lily’s 600 lumens to the Novostella’s 2000, the difference is more than evident.

Third-Party App Integrations

Great news for all Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant enthusiasts – you can connect your Novostella lights to any of these and send voice commands.

If you’re using Google Home, follow the steps below:

1. Launch the Google Home app on your phone and head over to “Assistant Settings.”
2. Scroll down to “Home Control.”
3. Click on the plus icon, and you’ll see a list of the linked services.
4. If you have previously used the Smart Life app to link other devices, just tap on the app showing on the list. If not, tap on “Add New” and look for the Smart Life app.

When you go back to your home page, you’ll see Novostella linked to your Google Assistant. You can then use the “On” and “Off” shortcuts to control the lights or customize the brightness or colors by clicking on the device name.

Voice commands work flawlessly, and you can ask Google to change all these settings for you as well.

To connect Novostella to your Alexa, follow the steps below:

1. Launch Amazon Alexa on your phone.
2. Head over to the “Skills and Games” section.
3. Search for “Smart Life” and tap “Enable skill.”
4. Follow the instructions on the screen.
5. Go to your Devices, and you’ll see Novostella on the list.

You can perform all sorts of adjustments via the app, just like with Google Home. For example, you can tell Alexa to change the color to blue, adjust the brightness to 50%, and much more.

Additionally, you can connect Novostella to SmartThings, Google Fit, and IFTTT.

Shipping

When purchasing Novostella Flood Lights from the official website, you can have the product shipped to the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union. Depending on the country of choice, you’ll also get matching plugs, so you won’t have to worry about purchasing the adaptors as well.

Pros:

• Attractive LED lights
• Sturdy design
• Easy to set up
• Alexa and Google Assistant Compatible
• IP66 Waterproof

Cons:

• Finicky app control at times
• Short cable (around 1.5m or 4.9ft)
• Could use more mounting options

What’s in the Box?

• Two Novostella LED Flood Lights, 20W
• Two remote controllers
• User Guide

Specs:

Weight: 21.3 ounces

Dimensions: 6 x 1.25 x 4 inches

Material: Aluminum

Power: 240V

Operating Temperature: from -25C (-13F) to 40C (104F)

Output: 20W

Brightness: 2000 lumens

Color Range: 2700K – 6500K, plus RGB

Multiple colors: Yes

Wi-Fi: 2.4GHz

Compatibility: Android, iOS

Waterproof: Yes, IP66-certified

Cost at Time of Review:

At the time of writing, the two-piece 20W set costs $111.44. However, with your first Novostella Flood Light purchase, you can apply a $20.90 voucher for an additional discount.

Our Verdict

As outdoor lights continue to make a huge impact on the home décor industry, Novostella has made it to the top of the list. This light set has everything one could need for a beautifully lit outdoor space with an incredible range of colors, easy customization options, and smart-app integrations. Its power cord is on the short side, but it’s nothing an extension cord won’t solve. Overall, for the price, hardly any competitor can come close to Novostella Smart LED Flood Lights. Without doubt, it’s among the most cost-effective products of its kind on the market.

Also Consider

Even though Novostella is an excellent flood light solution, there are some alternatives worth considering, such as Covoart. COVOART Color Changing LED Landscape Lights come in a four-pack and are an excellent option for gardens, pathways, or even tree decorations. Plus, they come with a much longer power cord. This means you won’t have to purchase additional extension cords to connect the lights. However, the main disadvantage compared to Novostella is that you can’t set Covoart’s lights to different colors simultaneously.

Another serious competitor to Novostella is Melpo’s LED Flood Light, with just as many colors, customization options, and scheduling functions. These lights come in a two-pack, but they don’t work with Alexa or Google Home. If you’re not all that concerned about smart home app integrations, but could use a powerful outside lighting system, Melpo’s lights will do the job just fine.

A third alternative is the aforementioned Philips Hue Lily. Overall, it’s a pretty decent light that produces 600 lumens, comes with smart-app integrations (Alexa, Google Assistance voice commands), and has a great collection of companion products. If you already have Philips’ lighting items, you’d be better off sticking with the brand. Otherwise, we find Lily slightly on the pricey side, especially since Novostella has higher color quality.

Shine Bright Like a Diamond

Thanks to Novostella, your backyard, pathway, or house can shine bright. Even though the product comes with a couple of drawbacks, Novostella is still one of the most powerful, compact, and feature-packed floodlights around.

Do you have any questions about the Novostella Smart Flood Light set? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.