Lifx Beam vs Nanoleaf – Who’s the best?!

This article will talk about the different features of the Lifx Beam and Nanoleaf. It will also talk about the prices of each and what is the main difference between the two.

Nowadays, people lean towards smart lighting systems because it can add color and make your home more exciting. With the different customization that you can do with smart lighting, a person can easily showcase their creativity in different color variations. However, choosing the best lighting for your home is important.

Lifx Beam Vs. Nanoleaf – Who’s the Best? Nanoleaf takes the win because it has competitive prices and flexibility in designs that a person can choose, from triangular panels to hexagon to squares. It is also interactive with the touch base scenes and has 16.7 million colors that a person can choose from.

That being said, there’s more to it than a simple “pick this brand over the other”. There are pro’s an cons to either brand.

Read this article and you will learn what those are and how best to pick for you…

Light Up Your World With Lifx Beam Kit

lifx.com

The LIFX Beam kit provides convenience, easy remote control and more fun and interactive than regular bulbs. It has different colors that you can set with just a press of a button on the app.

You can attach the Beam to walls to provide artistic lighting and build fancy light art installation.

It supports Alexa, Google Home, and Apple HomeKit. The light has 27 watts with bright and rich, vibrant colors. It has 1200 lumens when set to full brightness, and each bar is 12 inches long. Each pack comes with six bars with one corner. 

Installation

The installation is simple and easy, with a straightforward manual. LIFX Beam kit comes with a 3M sticky that is pre-attached at the back of each Beam, which will help you mount the beams on the wall.

It allows you to pull a beam off the wall without needing to remove any tabs.

Before installing the beams, you need to make sure that your walls are cleaned. It would be best to make sure that the layout you want is all planned out.

Setting up the app is simple as well. All you need to do is connect, install the app, and turn on the lights. 

Specifications

The LIFX Beam kit comes with six hard plastic strips, which are the beams. It measures 300 x 35 x 20mm, and it comes with a power connector on either end, plus a single corner unit.

It also comes with magnetic power connectors. With the connectors included, you can create T-shape or L-shape with the light beams.

With the LIFX Beam kit, you can control 16 million colors with 2500K in warm and 9000K in cold color temperature. Each kit can support up to eight beams and two corners.

Features, App, and Controls

lifx.com

Just like other LIFX products, the Beam uses 2.4GHz Wi-Fi in order to connect to your home network. All you need is a decent wireless signal where you want to place your Beam, and you’re good to go. You need to note that it may take a while to get connected to the home network.

Once you are connected, you can use the LIFX app to control the beams. On the home screen, you can find the dimming controls, turn the lights on and off, and change the color as well as the light temperature wheel. 

With a long press, you can set the turn on and off time, with the lights dimming or brightening at the period you set, which are 10 seconds to 30 minutes. The Beams are the perfect night light when you install it in a bedroom. You can also change the Beam’s colors on the app.

There are built-in themes that you can choose from, such as dream, warming, and powerful. When you want fun and more life on your lights, the Effects section is your best friend. It creates lighting that moves around the Beam.

If you want the light to gently push the range of selected colors around the Beam, the Move effect is the best for you. If you want a ghostly Spooky effect, Strobe is your best choice.

Music Visualizer

Another neat feature of the LIFX Beam is the music visualizer. The lights will move with the beat of the music. It uses your phone’s microphone to create a disco out of your lights. It changes color and intensity to match the music’s beat that you are playing on your phone.

If you find the set of lights you like, you can add it to your favorite setting and save the option as a Theme in the app. The themes feature can control multiple devices that you may have.

Day & Dusk Feature

The Day & Dusk feature was first introduced with LIFX Mini bulbs, where it adjusts the color temperature and brightness of the lights during the day. The Beam will match the cycle of the sun and has four periods, which are Wake Up, Day, Evening, and Night Light. You can turn on and off each one.

You can even set the start time for each period manually. This feature is best if you want to set the mood right during your day.

Compatibility

The LIFX Beam is compatible with all major voice assistants like Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple HomeKit. With these voice assistants, you can set color temperature, set dim level, and turn on and off the lights through voice.

You can even toggle any Scenes that you have created with a voice command. However, Themes or Effects are not supported by Google Assistant and Alexa.

Apple HomeKit – Exclusive Features

The Apple HomeKit is already included with the Beam. The HomeKit has a unique code where all you need to do is scan the code, and you will have the power to control all sections of the Beam through the HomeKit. However, each LIFX Beam needs to be added manually so that you can control them.

When it comes to the Apple app, it can control all the basics. You can turn the lights on and off, adjust the dim level and color. However, there is no option to change the color temperature on the app itself.

The Siri command control works, but it is not able to set color temperatures. You can only set hard colors such as green and blue when using the Siri command.

Give Your World Some Color With Nanoleaf

nanoleaf-light-panels

Nanoleaf also creates a buzz when it comes to smart lights. It is available in different shapes and can make any design that you want for your lights. Each panel has 100 lumens with 16.7 million colors. It has 25,000 hours of lifetime use per panel with a wide range of shades and hues. 

It has different features available, and one that stands out is it is compatible with Razer Chroma software to sync color changes with computer games as you play. Just like the LIFX Beam, it is compatible with Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, and IFTTT.

Installation

Each Nanoleaf product comes with a 3M sticky table to help mount them on the wall, just like the LIFX Beam. The tabs come in a separate envelope and have little chips that slot into the panels to connect each panel. This will ensure that the panels will sit in perfect alignment with one another.

Aside from that, the panels will sit completely flat against the wall. There are no wires on site because of the little chips that come with each panel.

There is a configuration tool with the app that will suggest the available shapes you can create with the Nanoleaf panels. They also come with a screwing mounting kit that comes with the panels if you want to place them on wood and brick.

Just like the LIFX Beam, planning is the key. Make sure that you have the design that you want before sticking the panels to your wall.

Specifications

Nanoleaf comes in different shapes, and with each shape, it has various features that you can enjoy.

Light Panels

The Nanoleaf Light Panels are triangular, and each kit comes with nine panels that include a power supply. If you want a panel extension kit, there would be an additional $60 cost per panel. You can connect up to 30 panels in one power source.

You can also get Mini Triangles that can add more design to your lights. These Mini Triangles are sold in a standalone set, and they can be used on their own or combined with the regular version of the Light Panels.

Hexagon Panels

The Hexagon Panels are released this year. They are 7.75 inches tall and nine inches wide, which are made from plastic. It has LED lights on the corners that connect each panel together. The colors are more saturated in the Hexagon Panels than the triangular and canvas shape.

The kit comes in seven Hexagon Panels with one power source. You can connect up to 21 panels in one power source. Since these panels are fairly new in the market, some people experience some light bleed at the corners when pale colors are selected, like pink. It causes white light to be visible on the edges. 

Nanoleaf Canvas

The Nanoleaf Canvas is square shaped, measuring six inches on all sides. There is a noticeable cross shape in each tile, where the cross-sections are a bit visible when the lights are turned on.

The kit comes with eight Canvas light squares and one control square. This needs to be centrally situated and accessible to touch for the Touch Scene type.

A small rectangular connector is used to connect each square. You can purchase expansion kits with additional four squares included. With the Nanoleaf Canvas, you can add up to 500 additional panels in one power source. However, that can burn a hole in someone’s pocket.

Features, App, and Control

With each panel, it can only accommodate one single color per panel. Unlike the LIFX Beam, each panel features 64 separate lighting zones. All three types of Nanoleaf panels can be controlled in the Nanoleaf app.

You can simply swipe between each product when you want to control the lights, such as dimming, changing colors, turning on and off, etc.

The app is a bit more complicated to use than the LIFX app because of the different features that it offers.

Scenes Types

There are four Scene Types available when it comes to the Nanoleaf panels. They are Basic, Color, Rhythm, and Touch. If you find a Scene that you like, you can save it, and it is easily accessed on the main view of the app. You can create a custom Scene and even add a playlist of Scenes. 

The Basic Scene is plain white and static, while Rhythm has different colors and emotions. The Rhythm Scene is like the Music Visualizer in the LIFX Beam, where it can sync the lights with the beat of your music. 

The Touch Scene is more interactive and fun. When you touch a panel, it will shift to a new color. You can even play games like whack-a-mole, memory, and game of life (not the board game).

You can activate the games by setting the game scene on the app. When that’s done, hold a hand on the canvas for a moment, and the game will begin.

HomeKit Integration

Nanoleaf is compatible with HomeKit through Siri voice commands. It can dim the lights, turn on and off, activate scenes, or change the panels into one uniform color. You can use commands like “Turn the Canvas on,” “Dim the Canvas to 20 percent,” “Turn the Canvas white,” or “Set the Northern Lights scene”. 

You can also combine your Nanoleaf panels with other HomeKit products through scenes and set up automation. When you have a HomeKit and the built-in touch-controlled scenes, there is no need to access your Nanoleaf App as much. 

Prices to Take Note Of

Features are always great to look at, but you also have to look at your smart lighting systems’ prices. The LIFX Beam comes in a six-pack kit at $239.99. The Nanoleaf Hexagon comes in seven packs at $200, Canvas with nine packs at $250, and Triangular with seven packs at $199.

With Nanoleaf, you can also purchase Mini Triangles that come in five packs at $119 and an expansion pack of Mini Triangles with ten packs at $119 as well.

Nanoleaf Takes the Win

For me, the Nanoleaf takes the win when it comes to smart lighting systems at home. It has flexibility in design, many colors available, and different design choices (Hexagon Panels, Triangular, and Square). With all the features available and a wide range of prices to choose from, it is a perfect fit for any budget. 

Features like Touch base and HomeKit integration is great. It also has more color available than the LIFX Beam.

This table shows the different comparisons of the features between the LIFX Beam and Nanoleaf.  

LIFX BeamNanoleaf
Price
Colors
Installation (App & Hardware)
Flexibility in Design
Choices
Music Visualizer
Touch Scenes
Day & Dusk Feature
Interactive Lights

Conclusion

Lights can really add funk and color to a room. Having a smart light system is the perfect way to achieve the lighting that you want for your home. With the LIFX Beam and Nanoleaf, you can have lights that will match your everyday mood.

It will beat the regular light bulbs that you have at home. It is essential to take a look at the features of your smart light system so that you will know which is the perfect fit for you. Light up your world with the LIFX Beam and Nanoleaf Panels!

Steve Foster

Suburbanite, tech geek, handy man, automation enthusiast who started blogging about the stuff I do around my home and found he had a knack for it.

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