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May 28, 2023

GE Cync Smart Neon Shape LED Light Strip: Expensive, but Lots of Creativity

Any shape you want—as long as it's a line. If you've ever thought to yourself—I wish I could make or own my own neon sign—you're in luck. The GE Cync Smart Neon Shape Lights are the newest addition to

Any shape you want—as long as it's a line.

If you've ever thought to yourself—I wish I could make or own my own neon sign—you're in luck. The GE Cync Smart Neon Shape Lights are the newest addition to a niche category of customizable smart art lighting.

While the Shape comes at a significantly higher price point compared to "regular" LED light strips, these aren't intended to create ambiance as they stay hidden away behind your TV, under cabinets, or in the background.

Instead, the Neon Shape light is meant to grab your attention and act as an art piece in many ways. By using a mix of bends or loops you can quickly create one of the several template art designs or create your very own... provided it isn't too complicated.

The GE Cync Smart Neon Shape offers a lot of flexibility to create your own custom design, with reliable app control and smart features within an existing Cync ecosystem. But they're pricier than other options on the market, so be sure to buy in a bundle or wait for a sale.

Unlike traditional LED light strips, which are usually paper thin with their LEDs visible, the Neon Shape is made of a thicker, snake-like plastic enclosure that effectively diffuses and smoothly blends its colors creating a more premium, almost magical look. It's available in either a 10ft or 16ft length.

With its included wall mounting clips, these lights are designed to bend and curve so that you can form unique designs, shapes, and even words, effectively transforming any wall into a stunning neon-like canvas of light.

There are a few limitations, especially with what you can practically design and mount. However, provided you have enough length (and enough patience), there's a lot of "flexibility" in what you can create.

As this is part of GE's Cync lighting ecosystem, you can expect lots of customization within its app, including setting automated schedules, music synchronization, and a great selection of scenes. No hub is required, making the setup hassle-free.

Creating your designs with the Cync Neon Shape Smart Light may require a bit of trial and error, as the instructions and hardware included can make things a little tricky at times.

However, through my experience making a few different designs, I discovered some effective steps which will make things easier for you.

First, you'll notice in all GE's marketing images, they effectively hide or block the power cable leading from the light strip to its controller. Understandably, the cables can't completely be hidden, but while creating my designs, I prioritized locating the tail of my light strip close to a corner of my wall so that it was close to an outlet and could also be hidden more easily rather than running straight down the middle.

To assist with the layout, the package includes a grid template, which is especially helpful if you want symmetrical or perfectly aligned sections. The instructions recommend that the template is first taped against your wall. The idea is to place the clips on the grid in their intended spots to outline your design.

I found it helpful to practice my designs before committing to installing them directly on my wall. To do this, I used a 4x4 piece of painted plywood as a practice surface.

This allowed me to familiarize myself with how angles and shapes could be created using the CYNC Neon Shape Smart Light. To mark the wall for clip placement, use the included nails to poke through the two holes of each clip, leaving small marks on the wall.

The clips have a removable 3M tape on their backs which will help them stay in place during the planning stage, but the adhesive can only be used once. While the instructions suggest saving to use the tape side during the last step when installing the clips directly to the wall, I think that's a bad idea.

I found it challenging to visualize my designs without first having the clips taped in place on the grid itself first. This is especially true when making your own designs as without doing so, I wouldn't be able to clearly see the clips' relation to one another. Also, while it may seem like a good idea to save the adhesion for the final step of installing on your wall, I would strongly recommend that you do not as this will almost certainly cause your paint to peel if you ever need or decide to move the clip later. While the idea of adding nail holes to your wall might seem more daunting, it's significantly easier to fill these small dots with putty later than to repaint your wall chips.

While I didn't mind using the small nails included in the package, as they do minimal harm to walls, I did encounter a minor challenge. Due to their short length and the fact that their width is similar to the hole of the clip, I found it difficult to get the nails started in the wall.

Dropping nails repeatedly became frustrating, despite the steps not being inherently complicated. To address this issue, I recommend lightly hammering the nail onto another surface, such as a scrap piece of wood, to get the point of the nail to stick out slightly, which should allow for easier tapping onto the wall without the nail constantly falling out in the process. Save your sanity and thank me later.

For our final, more intricate design, which involved half of it being random squiggles and the other half an EKG, we found that we had just enough clips included in the box, with only three extras remaining.

Tighter shapes, especially those with sharp angles require significantly more clips, whereas curves and loops, do not so much.

As I was making up my design on the spot, I preferred to snap the light strip in as I installed each clip to visualize my next shape.

With the light strips snapped securely into the clips and the adapter plugged in, your design comes to life.

While the installation process may require some patience and adjustment, and there was quite a bit of cursing while trying to hammer in those small nails, taking a step back to see end result was well worth the effort.

You'll use the Cync App to pair the lights. I have several Cync lights in my home from a product lineup review I did last year, so my home and all of its rooms was previously created.

From here, follow the step-by-step instructions in the app to add the new lights to your Wi-Fi, and then you can name the lights and specify which room they're in.

Within the app, you can toggle the lights on/off, set a static color, change brightness, and toggle one of its fun lighting effects dubbed Light Shows, most of which can also be available under the Music Show tab too, if you want your lights to react to sounds in your home using its built-in microphone.

Like a lot of LED lights, many of these effects might be cool to enable when you're playing around with them for the first time or showing them off to a friend, but for the most part, you'll probably be sticking to one of its more calm settings. If you're feeling especially creative, you can also fully customize your own effects and save them as presets.

You can pair your Cync Neon Shape Smart Light with Amazon Alexa or Google devices for voice control capabilities. With voice control, you can quickly command your lights to change colors, adjust brightness, and activate various lighting effects, though not all of your effects are available via voice.

When considering the price and value of the Cync Smart Neon Shape Lights, at $80 for the 10-foot option or $120 for the 16-foot variant, you might wonder what justifies the higher price. While these lights may not offer unique software features compared to GE's other smart lights, there's a premium associated with the unique form factor and the inclusion of mounting hardware.

In comparison, other similar wall-art light strips, such as the Govee RGBIC Neon Rope Light (reviewed here), retail at $100 for a 16.4-foot length. Although at its regular price, the Smart Neon Shape Lights are one of the priciest choices, they can regularly be found on sale or bundled with their other smart lights, which can help you save if you're starting out on your smart light journey.

While the Cync Smart Neon Shape Lights may be on the pricier side, it's important to remember that they are designed to be the focal point, adding an artistic touch to your surroundings. Considering the reliable performance, exceptional app functionality, and the intention to create a visually stunning display, the price is easier to swallow.

If you're seeking a premium and artful lighting solution to elevate your space, these lights offer an excellent choice that's worth the investment.

Paul is a seasoned tech writer with a focus on reviewing camera, audio recording, and smart home products. Since 2016, he has shared his love for practical yet innovative tech through his work, drawing on his experience as a professional videographer to provide a unique perspective on the latest gadgets.