Nanoleaf Lines Smart LED Wall Lights
design
Like a lot of Nanoleaf’s shapes and panels, Nanoleaf Lines come in a couple of pack sizes. It’s the standard Starter Pack I’ve been testing here, which includes nine lines, though you could dive straight in with 15 lines (£229.99) and even extend this further with Expansion Packs. The included power supply can handle up to 18 lines, though Nanoleaf does sell add-on power supplies separately so arguably there’s no limit to how many lines you can link together. The Nanoleaf Lines themselves are entirely white, though you’re offered the choice matte black or baby pink too via ‘skins’ which are actually additional plastic sheaths that clip over the top.
Each line is 26cm long, 2cm wide and connects a 4cm wide hexagonal linker that bucks Nanoleaf’s own trend of hiding these connections out of sight. Historically these linkers have been purely functional (and irritatingly fiddly) but on the Nanoleaf Lines the junction boxes actually form part of the design and do a great job of it too. One of these hexagon bricks acts as the power supply with a number of discreet buttons on the surface and a generous amount of power cable too. Each Nanoleaf Line will send out 20 lumens of coloured light from two colour zones.
Much like Nanoleaf Shapes, there’s an early decision to make with the Nanoleaf Lines – how are you going to lay them out on your wall? There’s a handy card in the box that includes plenty of design inspiration and I found nine lines offered enough flexibility to come up with something that looked complete, though I’d have welcomed the extra 6 lines of the larger starter pack. Each linking block can handle six connections in fixed, angled positions and you’ll need a linker at either end of a bar – even if it’s the end of a line. Installation is simple with pre-installed adhesive pads though I do worry what damage they might do to the paintwork when it comes time to remove them.
Perhaps more so than any other Nanoleaf product I’ve seen, Nanoleaf Lines are surprisingly pleasant to look at even when they’re turned off. I don’t want to get carried away but there’s a modern art vibe to them thanks largely to the gentle shadow lines caused by the fact the lines sit a centimeter or so off the wall. For me it makes the Nanoleaf Lines more viable as a living room option than other options like the Shapes or a classic LED strip. The only detractor here is the power cable which you’ll need to get clever with trying to hide. There’s also quite a large power brick at the wall and a small brick halfway up the cable that’ll need covering up too.
performance
After spending longer than I’d like to admit deliberating on what my Nanoleaf Lines layout would be, the actual mounting only took a few minutes. Nanoleaf recommends two people for this but I didn’t feel short of hands and the process of mounting a connector and then clipping in any attached lines was a simple one. Pairing the Lines with the Nanoleaf app was equally easy, my phone was quick to notice the new device and a few taps later I was set up and away.
As soon as they lit up, I was impressed by the Nanoleaf Lines – these are comfortably my favourite of the brands offerings. Unlike the Shapes or Multicolour Lightstrip, the Nanoleaf Lines actually throw their light backwards and onto the wall rather than directly out into the room. It’s a wonderful effect that spills out onto the wall and extends the area of impact considerably. They’re not super bright, you’re not going to be able to use Nanoleaf Lines as an actual room light, but as a mood lighting option in a bedroom they give off enough illumination to stop you stubbing your toe on the edge of the bed.
What the Nanoleaf Lines do offer in abundance however is deep, saturated colour. Again, I can’t help but feel it’s the backward firing LEDs that can take a lot of the credit here because every colour I selected in the app felt like it coated my wall in vibrant, electrical paint. In an otherwise dark room as a background on my Twitch facecam the Nanoleaf Lines filled the frame with edge to edge glow. I actually ended up dropping the brightness to around 60% here to bolster the saturation as I found with my camera settings it actually started to wash itself out at full power. Some colours also seemed to be more impactful than others, though I feel like this is more down to science than Nanoleaf.
In addition to solid colours, the Nanoleaf app offers a nice range of different pre-made scenes with a mixture of animated and reactive options. There’s a built-in rhythm module too so the Nanoleaf Lines are able to respond to music and in-room sounds which is a neat party trick to show off but not an option I found myself regularly turning to. Creating new scenes can take a little getting used to but I found the app was intuitive enough to follow along with. Even with just nine lines to play with, the dual lighting zones on each meant I was able to create some quite detailed scenes – if you can consider sliding between a couple of different colours detailed.
Because you can’t have an app or product without AI these days, there’s an AI-assisted scene generation mode here too. Like a lot of AI additions to apps however, it’s bang average. Nanoleaf calls this open ‘AI Magic Scene’ and it should allow you to offer a couple of words and it’ll design a scene to match. It simply doesn’t work however. Even offering what I felt were slam dunk prompts, I was greeted with frankly bizarre colour choices in return. Thankfully you can simply ignore the option, if you know what you want, just design it yourself – it won’t take long.
summed up
The Nanoleaf Lines are seriously impressive, they were quick to win me over when I first switched them on and a few weeks of having them on my wall later I’m completely sold. These are Nanoleaf’s best product if you’re looking for a striking way to add some colour and life to your livestream setup, gaming room or even a traditional living space.
You’ll pay for it though. There’s no getting around the fact these are not a cheap option, particularly if you opt for a larger amount of lines than the standard 9-pack but given how impressive they are I’m inclined to say they’re probably worth it. Particularly if you can find them on sale.
