Cync Dynamic Effects Smart Lights Review (2023): Neon Shapes

Every single person who has walked into my home has commented on my desk setup—or rather, the colorful strip of lights behind my desk. Rather than a true light strip that would attach on the back of my PC, Cync’s smart lights form a long rope of customizable lights that I positioned on the wall in a fun squiggle that catches everyone’s eye.

Thanks to the bendable design and included mounts, you can essentially create any shape you want on the wall with these 16 inches of lights (there’s also a 10-inch version). The power strip includes a control box with a microphone so your created shape can react to any music or gaming sounds it picks up. Unlike other setups, you don’t need a hub or software—and at $120, it’s a little cheaper than other light strips we like.

No Sharp Corners

Photograph: Cync

A friend of mine once lovingly described me as “seems crafty, but isn’t.” I test tabletop electronic breast pumps for a reason; anything with a complicated setup or building process tends to go haywire in my hands.

But setting up the Cync lights was painless, even for a craft-challenged individual like myself. The lights come with a large installation map that you can use to map out Cync’s preplanned designs, like a moon and star or a martini glass, plus 20 mounting clips to hold up either Cync’s design or your own. The mounting clips come with 3M sticky tape on them, and holes for the included screws if you want your design to be permanent. Cync also makes recommendations for using the tape or screws based on your wall material.

Originally, I chose the sun and moon design. I ripped holes in the installation map to guide the placement of mounting clips using the tape. Looking back, it might have been easier to use screws with the map. But after completing the installation, I wasn’t in love with the shape. The rope lights couldn’t form crisp corners for the moon or stars, and when I texted friends photos of the setup, they thought the lights were cool but didn’t realize they were looking at a moon.

So I took the design down and reapplied the lights in a freeform swirl behind my desk. That was much easier than trying to perfectly follow the map design, and it looks better as a fun squiggle that fills in empty wall space behind my desk monitor.

If you’re buying these lights to recreate a specific neon shape, the lack of clean corners and edges could be disappointing. But if you’re open to playing with rounded edges, this is a fun design element to add to your wall.

Not Game Lights

Photograph: Cync

The smart light aspect makes it easy to play with hues. You can use these lights the way you’d use a smart light bulb: customizing the colors within the app, choosing various rainbow shades or variations of white, and pairing it with an Amazon Echo or Google Nest speaker to request colors by voice. The Cync app also lets you control the light strip by modifying its 24 individual segments if you want super granular control over the light and color combinations.

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