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amazon TP-Link Kasa Smart Multicolor Light Strip reviews
The TP-Link Kasa Smart Multi-Color Light Strip lets you easily highlight your home with striking lighting that you can control with your phone, voice, and other smart devices.
Joining TP-Link’s family of smart home devices, the Kasa Smart Multi-Color Light Strip ($69.99) offers an easy way to add a splash of color to any area of your home. This thin, flexible plastic strip contains LEDs that emit white and colored light that you can control with your Kasa mobile phone and Alexa and Google voice commands. It also offers some neat lighting effects, works with third-party smart devices, and can tell you how much power it’s using.
Design and Features
The Kasa Light Strip is a 0.5 inch wide, 6.6 foot long flexible plastic strip with 96 LED light assemblies. Each cluster has one multicolor LED and one white LED, and there are 6 clusters per 5-inch section and a total of 16 individual color zones. The strip has a typical output of 1,400 lumens, can display millions of colors, and has a white temperature range of 2,500K to 9,000K. It is rated to last up to 25,000 hours based on 3 hours of usage per day.
You can stick the strip to walls, bookcases, and other surfaces using the pre-installed double-sided tape on the back of the strip. You can cut the strip at any point out of 5 inches to make it fits into tight spaces, but once you cut it, you can’t reconnect the unused segment or use the extension bands mentioned below.
This strip comes with an 80-inch wired controller connecting to a male plug on one end of the strip and the included power adapter. The controller has a button that lets you turn the band on and off and lets you cycle through different presets, and it contains a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi radio that connects the band to your home network, which means it doesn’t require hubs like Philips Hue LightStrip Plus.
The other end of the strip is a female connector used to connect to the KL430E Expansion Strip. Each 3.3-foot Extension Band will cost $24.99, and you can add up to 8 of them for a total strip length of 33 feet, but you’ll be looking at the $269 light strip when all are both said and completed.
The strip can be controlled with your phone via the Kasa mobile app (Android and iOS). It doesn’t support Apple’s HomeKit platform like the Eve Light Strip, but it does work with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice commands, and it supports IFTTT apps allowing it to work with other smart devices.
Once installed, the strip will have its tab on the Devices screen within the app. The tab shows the band’s name, color, and current brightness level, and it has a power button that glows green when the strip is on and gray when it’s off. Tap the tab to open a screen with a large On/Off button. Here you’ll find five buttons that you can use to create your own presets with specific colors and brightness levels. After you create the preset, the button will have the color characteristics you specified. Below the On/Off control are buttons for setting brightness, white temperature, and color. Tapping the Power button brings you back to the On/Off button.
At the bottom of the screen are the Effects, Schedule, and Use buttons. When you tap the Effects button, you’ll open a screen that shows custom effect buttons and 15 color buttons to choose from different shades of red, green, blue, and white. There are also 14 effect presets, including Christmas, Flicker, Hanukkah, Valentines, Lightning, etc. Tap on any of the presets for the strip to show the desired effect. Schedule button to turn the strip on and off and at specific times on specific days of the week. Use the Use button to track daily energy usage and total band time and savings estimated daily and annual costs (compared to running a standard 100 watt light bulb).
where can you get a TP-Link Kasa Smart Multicolor Light Strip online
Kasa Smart LED Light Strip KL430, 16 Color Zones RGBIC, 6.6ft Wi-Fi LED Lights Work with Alexa, Google Home &IFTTT, No Hub Required: Buy it now
TP-Link Kasa Smart LED Strip Lights Multicolor WiFi & Kasa Smart Light Switch, Single Pole, Needs Neutral Wire, 2.4Ghz WiFi Light Switch Compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant, 1-Pack, White: Buy it now
TP-Link Kasa Smart LED Strip Lights Multicolor WiFi & Kasa Smart Dimmer Switch, Single Pole, Needs Neutral Wire,WiFi Light Switch for LED Lights, Works with Alexa and Google Assistant, 1-Pack(HS220): Buy it now
Settings and Performance
The installation of the light strip is very easy. I already have a Kasa account, but you’ll have to download the app and create an account if this is your first Kasa device. I tap the plus icon in the Devices screen, select Smart Lights, and then Smart Light Strip and power on the strip. After a few seconds, it started flashing green and orange, so I pressed Next and used my phone’s Wi-Fi settings to connect to the band. After five seconds, I was directed to choose my home Wi-Fi SSID and enter my password; after a few seconds, the strip turned white and was connected to my network. It was also automatically added to my Alexa device list. I’ve named the strip, updated the firmware, and the installation is complete.
While not bright enough to illuminate an entire room, the Kasa strip works great as an accent light around my living room entertainment centerpiece. It responds instantly to app commands and controls to turn it on, off, and change colors. The Alexa integration also worked without a hitch: I could turn the strip on and off, change colors, and trigger scenes with voice commands. Excellent color quality, showing the full range of whites from warm yellow to cool blue.
My IFTTT apps also work perfectly. I made an applet to turn on the light strip with a red light at 75 percent brightness when the Arlo Pro 3 camera detects motion, and it works every time. I also created an Alexa routine to turn on the band with blue light at 50 percent brightness when the ADT Blue Outdoor Camera detects motion, and this also works perfectly.
Conclusion
If you’re looking to add color to a bookshelf, brighten a bare wall, or create the perfect movie night mood lighting effect, consider the TP-Link Kasa Smart Multicolor Light Strip. It is easy to install and can be cut to fit your specific needs, and it delivers bright, colorful light and a wide variety of skin tones. The Kasa app offers over a dozen neat preset lighting effects and lets you create scenes to control multiple Kasa devices at once, and you can use IFTTT apps to let third-party devices size up active strips.
Advantages
Easy to install
Alexa and Google Voice Control
Works with third-party devices
It can be extended up to 33 feet
Amazing light effect
Energy usage report
Defect
Expensive extension strips
Lack of HomeKit support