Nanoleaf Lines review: What can the chic lighting do?

Some time ago the company Nanoleaf, known for its lighting, introduced the Lines. I found out for you what they have to offer and whether they are worth buying.

Nanoleaf is best known for its light panels that serve as decoration on the wall. The lines are no longer light panels, but strips that indirectly illuminate the wall. You can read below whether they convinced me review and whether they are worth it.

tl; dr

Overall, I really liked the Nanoleaf Lines. The design and workmanship are of a high standard. The assembly was well explained and not really complicated, which speaks in favor of buying them. The brightness of the LEDs is more than sufficient and is always adjusted automatically thanks to the ambient light sensor. Another reason for buying the Lines are the lighting effects and scenes that can be managed using the Nanoleaf app. This is generally well implemented, but I often had the problem that it froze and had to be restarted. The high price of around 160 to 180 euros for the set of 9 is probably the only criticism of the Lines. However, I can still highly recommend the Lines to anyone looking for really chic ambient lighting with lots of features and an extremely good smart home connection.

• Buy Nanoleaf Lines set of 9 on Amazon
• Buy Nanoleaf Lines set of 9 at Nanoleaf

Unboxing & scope of delivery

The Nanoleaf Lines come in simple, white packaging with a large picture of them. When you open the box, you immediately notice how little plastic was used in packaging. Almost everything is made of cardboard, which I quite liked. In addition to the lines themselves and the usual paperwork, several connections as well as a controller connection and a power supply are included. Depending on the set you purchase, there may be some differences, which mainly relate to the number of items included in the scope of delivery.

Picture: TechnikNews

Construction & furnishings

After unboxing the lines, you should first think about where you want to put them and how you will arrange them. Using the Nanoleaf app, the user can view many prefabricated arrangements to get inspiration or create their own. If the user then wants to create their own design, they can do this in the app and then view it at the selected location using their smartphone and its camera. Once the design is finalized, it is recommended to first assemble the lines the way they are supposed to be on the wall and only then stick them on.

The assembly is pretty simple. You just take a connector, first clip in the lines and then the cover. One connector serves as a controller and has to be connected to the power supply, so you should remember to install it in the right place. Finally, you just have to peel off the film from the adhesive pads and stick the lines to the wall. To ensure the best hold, Nanoleaf recommends that you briefly apply pressure to the connectors, which helps the adhesive to set better. It is also worth mentioning that the lines stuck to my textured roughcast wall without any problems. But if you want to be on the safe side, there is also the option of screwing the connectors to the wall if you have a textured wall. Once the lines are on the wall, you simply take the Nanoleaf app again and set them up using that.

Design, workmanship & optics

The design of the lines is quite futuristic and I really like it. They are made almost entirely of matt, white plastic and are therefore quite light. This has the big advantage that there is not too much weight hanging on the adhesives and therefore they hold really well on the wall. The unit for the physical control of the lines has been integrated quite neatly into the controller connector, which really benefits the design as it hardly differs visually from the others.

Each line has two lighting zones that can be controlled separately, which can create really cool effects. The built-in LEDs are nice and bright and can display an extremely large color space. I would describe the color reproduction as rich and vibrant, which suits the product. But if you just want to use the lines as a reading light or something similar, there are specific white LEDs that can display many shades of white, which I also really liked. I also thought it was pretty cool that the lines can automatically adjust their brightness thanks to the built-in ambient light sensor.

Operation, Nanoleaf app & Smart Home

There are several ways to operate the Nanoleaf Lines. One of them is operation via the controller on the plug connection. This has a button for switching on and off and six more for controlling the lighting effects and brightness. You can also switch through the scenes that you have saved.

Picture: TechnikNews

Another way to operate the Lines is the Nanoleaf app. This gives you full access to all of the Lines' functions. These include, for example, creating your own scenes, group scenes or schedules. The Lines can also be connected to Sync+ and a Nanoleaf 4D via the app to achieve a better color effect across the entire room when watching TV, for example. Overall, I liked the app, but I often had the problem that the app would freeze for a moment and you would have to restart it.

Of course, the Lines, like all other Nanoleaf products, are compatible with all major smart home systems, even with Apple HomeKit. Thanks to Thread support, control via my HomePod always worked proproblem-free. I think it's a shame that there is currently no support for the Matter standard, even though the lines have thread. It is questionable whether Nanoleaf will deliver this via an update.

Prices & Availability

The starter set I tested consists of 9 lines in white and has an RRP of 199,99 euros. Admittedly, this is a pretty steep price for ambient lighting, but you can often find the Lines on sale for 40 to 50 euros less. That's still a lot of money, but I think it's still worth buying because the overall package is just right. In addition to the set of 9, there is also a set with 15 lines, which costs around 80 euros more. An expansion kit with 3 lines is also available for around 50 euros if you want to expand your set. You can buy the lines at all common electronics stores such as Amazon, Cyberport or even Nanoleaf itself.

• Buy Nanoleaf Lines set of 9 on Amazon
• Buy Nanoleaf Lines set of 15 on Amazon
• Buy Nanoleaf Lines expansion kit on Amazon
• Buy Nanoleaf Lines set of 9 at Nanoleaf
• Buy Nanoleaf Lines set of 15 at Nanoleaf
• Buy Nanoleaf Lines extension kit from Nanoleaf

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