The most surprising thing about Govee’s colorful smart lamp with a speaker built-in is that we didn’t get something like this sooner. We’ve had color-changing smart home lights that sync to music via an app, and we’ve had Bluetooth speakers with RGB lights — putting the two together feels like the natural next step.
The Govee Table Lamp 2 Pro X Sound by JBL ($179.99) combines snazzy lighting effects and decent sound into one fun, portable package. Unlike most RGB Bluetooth party speakers, it’s a functional lamp, and it also syncs with your smart home. And while it doesn’t pack enough power to rock a real rager, it’s the perfect size to add a little punch to your next gathering. It’s a smart light with party speaker aspirations.
The speaker / smart lamp combo isn’t totally new; Ikea’s (now discontinued) Symfonisk Lamp had a Sonos speaker built in (though you had to put a smart bulb in it to have a smart lamp). Govee also has a floor lamp with a Bluetooth speaker. But its new table lamp is more practical, more portable (thanks to a 5,200mAh battery), and a lot more fun. Individually controllable RGB and tunable white LEDs offer both fabulous party effects and practical task lighting when needed.
The Govee Table Lamp does a nice job with tunable white light alongside fun, RGB effects.
An upgrade to Govee’s smart Table Lamp 2, the Pro was first announced at CES earlier this year and is now available to buy. It sits 10 inches tall, with a 360-degree LED array sitting on top of a 10W full-range 2.5-inch JBL speaker. The Pro’s big additions over the Lamp 2 are the speaker and the battery. It also has a larger base, a wider lamp, and a top speaker grille with buttons for power, volume, playback, and cycling through preset scenes.
The lamp features 210 LED beads that can display full color as well as tunable white light up to 600 lumens, bright enough for a reading lamp. The base includes RGB lights that sync with the main display.
The Lamp Pro 2 uses a standard barrel plug, but can also be powered by its internal battery. The plug connects underneath, and there’s a cable channel. It also has squidgy “feet,” making it easy to set down on most surfaces. The power button is a physical button; the rest are touch capacitive. Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge It weighs just over 5 pounds and I could carry it comfortably in one hand. Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge
The lighting effects, of which there are over 100 presets as well as 16 that sync with music, are controlled in the Govee app, over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. There are a number of built-in sound and light scenes. My favorites include Forest, with tweety bird sounds and luminescent greens and yellows; Wave, with its ocean acoustics and wobbly blue lights; and Sprinkle, which sounds like a gentle rainstorm with a lovely aquamarine light soup.
Of course, you can also stream any music you like to the speaker via a Bluetooth connection to your phone. Sadly, there’s no option to stream over Wi-Fi or AirPlay 2 support. Unlike some party speakers, only one phone at a time can connect to its Bluetooth radio. You can have it listen for music from your phone’s speaker, but that feels rather pointless.
Specs: Govee Table Lamp 2 Pro X Sound by JBL Price: $179.99
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