Govee’s Sync Box 2 delivers spectacular TV lighting with fewer trade-offs

We’ve written previously about Govee’s smart TV lights, which mimic the colors from your screen and splash them behind the TV. They’re a great and somewhat affordable way to make watching movies or playing games more fun and immersive.

If there’s a main downside to most of its models, it’s that they require you to have a camera on top of your TV, which the system uses to interpret what colors the lightstrips should be to best match the video. From a usability standpoint, the camera’s limited viewing range means that it can’t see every inch of your TV clearly, and it’s also susceptible to picking up other light sources that reflect off the TV’s screen, serving up inaccurate lighting.

The model that I’ve spent over a week with nixes these issues — and the camera — with a box that reads the light source via HDMI instead. It’s called the AI Sync Box 2, and it starts at $239.99 for a kit designed for TVs between 55 and 65 inches. Govee also makes two variants: one with longer light strips for 75-to-85-inch TVs for $259.99 and a pricier option for PC gaming monitors between 27 and 34 inches for $279.99, which includes two additional stand-up lights that flank your monitor.

The AI Sync Box 2 performs dramatically better than the camera-based Govee setup that I purchased in 2022, and I imagine you’ll have an even more shocking first impression if you’ve never used smart TV lights before. After a relatively simple setup that involved sticking the included four rows of light strips around the back side of my TV, then plugging all of my gaming gear into the AI Sync Box 2, I was ready to go.

You read that last bit right; this is an HDMI hub, so all of your devices go through the AI Sync Box 2 instead of plugging directly into your TV. My sound bar connects directly to my TV via an optical audio cable, but if you typically connect your sound bar via HDMI, you can slot it into one of the AI Sync Box 2’s four HDMI inputs. I wish that it could automatically switch HDMI inputs, but unfortunately you’ll need to either toggle inputs through a hardware button on its side or via Govee’s app. When it comes to video and audio passthrough, I have no complaints. Its four HDMI 2.1 ports support 4K resolution at up to 144 Hz refresh rate with HDR support, so anything from a PS5 to a gaming PC will look great.

I spent most of my time using the AI Sync Box 2 while watching The Simpsons and playing Metaphor: ReFantazio. The game’s expressive character sprites extended beyond the borders of my TV in ways that I appreciated, and its absolutely wild menus put the lights through the proper paces (though occasionally the lights would misfire random colors as it struggled to keep up). Meanwhile, the colorful, decidedly less detailed world and characters of The Simpsons were more precisely portrayed by the lights. 

The AI Sync Box 2 is a delight to use with games that have bright environments and splashy effects. Each Astro Bot level made it feel like a party was happening behind the TV. However, I wish it were as good of a companion for dark and moody games that rely more on contrast. The light strips showed the limits of their color range in particular with Alan Wake 2. Looking at the photo below, the box is correctly interpreting the colors in the scene but only on the most basic level: We’ve got Saga Anderson’s FBI outfit, which is blue, and there are a bunch of trees that are green, but neither color comes through with the depth present in the game, making the backlights more of a distraction than a fun-boosting addition. I reached out to Govee to ask if there’s a way that the AI Sync Box 2’s settings can be adjusted to make it a better fit for darker titles and will update this post if I hear anything.

As for the “AI” in the Sync Box 2’s name, Govee says the Sync Box is able to detect moments in certain compatible games (like beating a boss, dying, or finding a new map piece, to give a few examples), then display a corresponding light show when it happens. It’s limited to a dozen or so games for now, though it includes many of today’s most popular titles, such as Fortnite, League of Legends, Valorant, and PUBG. It also supports Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. And the list of supported games has continued to actively expand, even during my time with the review unit.

The execution doesn’t deliver on the promises of this feature, however. I tested it out with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, where it worked only a portion of the time it was supposed to. Through the app, I set custom light events to happen at the beginning of each match when the word “Go” appears on screen (this one worked), and for each time a player is kicked out of the stage (this one didn’t). To each their own, but even if it had worked 100% of the time, I’d rather it just display the vibrant game worlds and menus instead of getting a disjointed light show. 

People who might consider buying the AI Sync Box 2 may also have their eyes on the Philips Hue Sync Box 8K, which costs $349.99. Both boxes are similar in concept, but are different in some key ways. They can both connect to larger networks of smart lights in their respective ecosystems, and as far as connectivity goes, they both have four HDMI 2.1 inputs (as well as one HDMI 2.1 output to go to your TV), support HDR passthrough at up to 8K (the Govee supports 8K/30 Hz and 4K/144 Hz, while the latest Philips Hue model touts 8K/60 Hz but tops out at 4K/120 Hz). The most important thing to note is that the Philips Hue model includes zero lights — it anticipates that you’re fully bought in on the Hue ecosystem already — while Govee’s is a better out-of-the-box value since it includes light strips that go around your TV.

You don’t need to spend what the Govee AI Sync Box 2 costs to get good smart TV lights. Many of Govee’s less pricey products are a great place to start, as long as if you’re OK with a camera mounted to the top of your TV. But if you want a clean setup that’s more accurate and responsive, this is a great purchase that’ll scale with your high-end gaming and entertainment gear.