The next tier-up from the Ultimate value-for-money light bar, Xiaomi Light Bar, is the Yeelight Light Bar Pro. Inheriting all of the Xiaomi Light bar features but with some incredible improvements. Coming in at 99USD, it may be the new value king light bar. On the official Yeelight US website, this light bar is known as the ”Yeelight Monitor Light Bar Pro (Flagship Edition).
It’s almost been a year since we dropped our first light bar review of the Xiaomi Light Bar. Since then, there have been incredible developments in the monitor light bar world, such as Benq’s Halo and Quntis’ Screen Linear Pro+. Xiaomi set the trend for having a minimalistic remote being the primary controller of light bars, and everyone LOVED it. Now Yeelight has bought us to the next stage, the smart monitor lamp. The Yeelight light bar pro comes wifi-enabled out of the box, with some incredible features we will explore in this article.
If you’re new to our light bar series or desk lighting in general, we have an entire article explaining why we love light bars and what benefits to productivity they provide.
Now let’s get started on the review.
First Impression
Coming from overseas, I expected the box to be more beat up, but our one arrived in almost perfect condition (WOW!). Upon opening the package, we were greeted with several familiar components:
1 x Light Bar
1 x Remote Control
1 x Monitor Mount
1 x Manual
but also, this time, it came with
1 x POWER ADAPTER!!
Yes, OMG, YES! I’ve complained for a while now that these should be standard with all light bars. Finally, power issues won’t be a problem. At the time of receiving this light bar, there wasn’t an Australian Edition, so ours came with the EU plug. That’s perfectly fine; I have a tremendous amount of travel adapters.
The remote was dark silver. It didn’t match the aesthetics of my desk setup, but it’s okay. I was planning to use the app with the light bar anyways.
Setting the Yeelight light bar Pro up on the app was super easy. It took me about a minute to do; all I needed was the Yeelight App. I love it.
How was the quality of the light?
Like the Xiaomi Light bar, it had an excellent adjustable temperature range between 2700-6700K. Being able to adjust the colour temperature using the dial as well as the app was pretty handy. Similar to other high-end light bars, it has a colour rending index of 95, meaning the colour of items that the light shines on is almost natural. If you want more information about this – check out this link.
Is the angle of light adjustable?
Like the Xiaomi Light Bar, the Yeelight Light Bar Pro has a magnetic attachment mechanism that allows the light bar to be magnetically attached to the mount and up to 25 Degrees of adjustment. Rotating the light bar whilst on the mechanism will cause the light to flicker. Also, after using it for about half a year, the metal contacts get dirty and result in flickering. So I would recommend cleaning the contacts once in a while to stop your light bar from flickering.
Still no auto-dimming function?
Unsurprisingly, the Yeelight light bar PRO does not come with an inbuilt light sensor which will allow it to automatically adjust the brightness of the light based on how bright the room is. It’s a feature that comes with the BenQ screen bars. We’ve reviewed a few of the BenQ lights, it’s a neat feature, but it doesn’t always work and results in flickering in sporadic cases. I think the Yeelight Light Bar Pro works perfectly without it, as the dial and Yeelight APP allow you to adjust the brightness quickly.
How’s the remote?
So one thing I noticed about this remote that is different to the Xiaomi Light Bar is that there is some latency between the remote and the light bar. I would say roughly 0.5 to 1 second by latency or lag, which is just enough to be noticeable but not enough to be annoying. Even with having the light bar connected to your router and turning on the light via the app, there is an ever-so-slight delay associated. I don’t mind it, especially since I have all my desk lights grouped, so it turns on my two side lamps (equipped with the Yeelight Smart Light W3 Light Bulbs) simultaneously.
How’s the backlight?
So yeah, an exciting new addition to the Yeelight Light bar PRO is the inclusion of the backlighting that syncs with overwolf and razer chroma to adjust its colours whilst gaming dynamically. I haven’t had an excellent opportunity to test those features as I rarely use over wolf or razer. As a later update, I will test out both of these features once I acquire some Razer gear.
The backlighting itself was reasonably impressive, but as stated above, I could not harness the feature’s full potential by using it with Razer Chroma and other lighting sync platforms. I note that the backlights felt a bit weak if the light bar was offset from the wall, and my monitor was roughly 40cm or 16inches from the wall.
A direct comparison between the Xiaomi Light Bar and the Yeelight Light Bar Pro.
The Length
The length of the light bars is a good starting point. The Xiaomi light bar is listed in the specifications as 448mm long, while the Yeelight light bar PRO is 486mm long. Yeelight’s slightly longer length proves a somewhat more extensive coverage of the desk itself. Not to mention that it looks better with monitors over 27 inches.
The Brightness
The Xiaomi light bar is 5W (80×0.2w/LED Modules), and the Yeelight Light Bar Pro is 10W (80×0.2/ LED Modules for the desk-facing lamp + 40×0.2w/LED Module for the backlight.
So the critical difference is that the Yeelight monitor lamp comes with its adapter, so it’s easier to consistently output 5Ws of power to the desk-facing module, making it a bit more consistent in brightness. The backlighting adds excellent ambient lighting but not brightness in our testing.
Are the smart capabilities of the Yeelight light bar any good?
Over the last six months, the light bar worked consistently without many problems when turning on and off from the Yeelight app and through Google Home. There was once or twice that the light bar disconnected from the wifi overnight because we had a power outage at the office, and in the morning, I had to hard-reset the light bar (by plugging and unplugging it five times in a row to reset it). Otherwise, I loved telling Google to ”turn on my office lights” and have the whole setup light up from my phone.
What are the controls for the dial for the Yeelight Smart Light Pro?
| Effect | Action |
|---|---|
| Turning it on | Press down and let go |
| Changing brightness | Rotate Dial Clockwise to increase Brightness |
| Changing colour temperature | Press Down and Rotate Dial Clockwise to get Cooler |
| Turning it off | Press Down and Let go β when the light is on. |
| Press down and hold | Turns on and off the Back Light |
What can you do on the Yeelight App?
There are a few things that were cool on the Yeelight app. Apart from being able to set up lighting groups, it can change the colour temperature and brightness of your entire setup. In addition, there is the added ability to make it work with Google Home and Amazon Alexa.
The final verdict
I rate the Yeelight light bar PRO a 4.5/5, with a few points lost for delays between the light bar and the remote. I also believe that currently, it is the best light bar under $100 if you’re looking for a ”smart product”. It shines when you have all the accompanying light strips and light bulbs that go with it. Yeelight has been pretty consistent with the firmware updates of the light bar and the surrounding smart lighting products. I’ve already talked about it on my other Instagram reels and youtube videos that the Yeelight light bulb w3 is the Phillip hue killer. They’ve done it again, delivering a premium product at an affordable price.
