I got this light on a prime day deal. Full price is definitely more than I would spend on a light and even the deal price was really pushing it. There's no denying that this light is expensive and there are cheaper options with different levels of functionality and customisation. I would say the main thing that separates this light from any other one is the Govee app and the customisation options that brings. The start of my review is going to be focused on this light specifically. Then I'll add a more generalised review of Govee since a lot of the experience comes down to the app rather than the lights themselves and that's mostly the same for each type of light (with some variation). AURA TABLE LAMP So far my only disappointment with the Aura is that 1% brightness is still pretty damn bright. So a lot of the different customisations aren't really an option for darker situations and even with only one or two LEDs activated it's still brighter than I would want for a nightlight. I have other LEDs that go much darker and are a lot better for a subtle glow in an otherwise dark room. With the Aura if it's lit it's lit. You're not going to get a subtle glow in a dark room. It's unfortunate, but I still like it enough overall to still keep it, but the brightness not being able to go actually low does limit its use. Worth noting that there is a newer version. Maybe worth seeing if they're fixed the brightness issue with that one. The lamp looks and feels nice. It's clearly plastic which I don't know if might be a turn off for some people. But to me it looks good. It's not too imposing. It's just generally decent. The top of the light has buttons for basic controls. I believe those are power, brightness, activating music mode and changing between some solid colours. The inside of the lamp is surrounded by individual LEDs with a layer of some sort of frosted plastic around them. The outer layer strikes a good balance between diffusing the light and still keeping each light distinct enough for interesting patterns. You are able to customise each LED using the DIY mode. DIY mode includes a few different pattern and movement options to choose from which you can customise with your own colour selection. You are also able to turn off individual LEDs. This means that if you want a more dim light than is usually possible you are able to activate just the LEDs at the back. That gives just some backlighting off whatever surface is behind it as well as a faint glow through the outer layer of the lamp. Honesty though even with only a couple of LEDs active at the back the light is still brighter than I would like for some situations. GENERAL I was able to snag a couple of different Govee lights on a prime day deal. Honesty without that discount I don't think I'd be buying these just cos they're out of my price range no matter how good they are. With that said they are the best smart lights I have tried and I would absolutely suggest them to anybody who is willing and able to spend this much. FUNCTIONALITY Previous lights I've used have either had good customisation but not worked with smart devices or have worked with smart devices but not had good customisation. These Govee lights have both... plus more! I don't think there's anything else I could think to ask of these lights. QUALITY All of the light I got have come in nice packaging, included instructions and power supplies and appeared to be good quality. They all look and feel nice. I haven't had them for long enough to say if they last well. I'll hopefully remember to some back and update when I have more experience. CUSTOMISATION DIY The customisation options are far better than others I've tried. Both with the variety of ready to use options and the DIY tool which allows you to do a lot to change colour, movement type etc. The exact options depend on the type of light but it's a lot. It includes being able to select different pattern options, change the colour of each individual LED and being able to turn off individual LEDs. You can control the brightness separately while with previous lights I believe the brightness has been saved with the DIY so can't be changed without editing the DIY. You can add names and photos to the DIY so it's easy to tell which is which. You can also sort DIYs into different groups, choose which ones appear as shortcuts etc. And you're able to edit both the DIY and it's name and picture easily. SCENES Scenes are their pre-set options. Again it depends on the type of light but each light I have has a big variety of options that cover a good range of moods/ vibes. COMMUNITY DIY This is another thing that I've only seen with Govee lights. Savy (free membership) users are able to share their DIYs. You can find community DIYs and apply them to your lights or favourite them to find easily. This essentially adds a whole lot more scenes to choose from. MUSIC MODE This is actually the first time I've liked the music mode on any lights. Depending on the light you have different effect options. The minimum I've seen so far is 3. You can change the sensitivity and colours for each of these options. You can also choose where it gets the music from- your phone or the light's built in mic. CONTROLS REMOTE Each of the lights I have has some sort of controls built in. This usually includes on/off, activate music mode, brightness and swapping between some modes. They do not have a separate remote and that's great for me cos it also means my TV remote doesn't randomly change the lights when I'm trying to adjust the volume. I also never user the remotes that come with lights anyway so it saves me having even more to add to the pile of mystery remotes. APP The app is great. It looks nice and is easy to navigate. From there you can set up light groups, set timed actions, adjust various functions etc. So far everything I've tried has been really easy and user friendly. Including being able to differentiate and organise DIYs well with names, pictures and groups. The past lights I've used that have had a good DIY mode haven't had much option to differentiate or organise those DIYs. GOOGLE/ ALEXA They have basic functionality through Google just like any other lights I've tried. On and off, brightness, colour. They also allow you to set custom "snapshots" in the Govee app. These snapshots save the current lighting set up you're on and allow Google or Alexa to activate it. This is the first time I've seen this option for smart lights and it's going to be really helpful. I will say it's a bit fussy and doesn't always work, but that could easily be my Google device rather than the lights. It wouldn't be the first time it's decided it doesn't understand something that it definitely should.