Nanoleaf Blocks Review: Is the modular light display worth it?
New tech has hit the market with the potential to transform your home — and I was one of the first in the world to try it out.
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KEKW, pog and copium. For the uninitiated, these respectively mean: laughing, play of the game, and a mythical drink that helps you overcome the sadness of defeat.
What I’m trying to convey is that gaming culture has its own vocabulary, culture and style.
Although I’m only a dabbling gamer, I was keen to be one of the first globally to test out the new Nanoleaf Blocks, which are customisable RGB smartlight blocks that can completely change the vibe of a room.
You can use them to jazz up any room with colourful lights, but I think they’re perfect to generate mood-lighting for a streamer or to help create a cosy gaming room.
WHAT ARE THE NANOLEAF BLOCKS
Nanoleaf Blocks are a series of large and small square light cubes that can be joined together into patterns and placed on a wall.
The modular blocks can controlled via the app or a built-in control panel, giving you almost limitless choices of colours and patterns. (It’s also compatible with Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, Google Home and other smart home systems).
The colours can shift across the illuminated display in a timed sequence, or in response to sound — meaning they change when you play a song.
You can also set up the blocks on the wall in a variety of different ways and use them to hang headphones, a gaming controller or a house plant.
SETTING UP
The Nanoleaf Blocks came in a small cardboard box, with both Squares and Small Squares light panels. Also in the starter kit was a light pegboard, hooks and a shelf.
The instructions are fairly easy to follow, but I decided to mostly wing it as it’s fairly self-explanatory.
The pegboard needs to be screwed in, but the rest attaches to the wall using double-sided glue tape.
Each square has two linker slots per side (at the back), meaning you can connect them straight, or offset. You can, for example, create abstract layouts and use the blocks to frame something like a PC.
There are also textured squares and shelves available, which means the blocks can double as storage space.
There one was challenging issue for me as I live in a rental property.
Not wanting to bother with requests to the landlord for permission, nor wanting to cause any permanent damage to a wall, I settled on creating my own stand for the blocks.
This involved heading to Bunnings for some chipboard and some drilling and screwing. But most people won’t need to take this step.
After I made my wall, I simply screwed in the pegboard and glued in the squares, settling on right-angled triangle design.
MILLIONS OF LIGHT OPTIONS TO CHOOSE FROM
I downloaded the app and this is where the Nanoleaf Blocks really shines.
There are thousands of dynamic lighting scenes available.
You can also customise your own scene, with more than 16 million colour options to choose from.
I had fun playing around with the AI feature, where you type a word or phrase, for example ‘winter’, and the AI Magic Scene creates a blue light design.
You can change the light scene depending on your mood, using pink and orange when you’re relaxed and switching to fluorescent red when you want to get hyped.
The music visualisation, which changes the display as sound is detected, is a fun feature and excellent for parties.
You can find out more about prices, availability and pre-order options at nanoleaf.me/en-AU.
I had heaps of fun playing around with the light blocks and they were a big hit with my daughters too.
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