Govee Lite Smart Heater Keeps You Warm
Govee , a smart tech company that makes everything from lamps to rice cookers, often suffers from trying to be everything to everyone. Their apps are often cluttered and difficult to navigate, and in the past I found their hardware to be underwhelming, including a number of sensors and connectors that broke down quickly. But they’ve released a whole line of decent heaters at good prices, with enough connectivity to be called “smart”. GoveeLife Smart Space Heater Lite (on sale for $34.99, down from $49.99). While I have a few quibbles with the Max, it is still a solid heater and the Lite has proven to be worthy of a recommendation to anyone.
Powerful Thermal Power
Let’s start with the positives. Both units will effectively heat the space they are intended for.
The Max is designed for spaces of 300-500 square feet, and that’s where I used it – in my 320 square foot living room, where it performed as well as any 1500-watt heater. This is a tower heater, and given the winter conditions outside and the fact that I rely on the heater as my main source of heat, it stayed on all the time. Govi suggests it can heat a room that size in two seconds, and either I’m misunderstanding them or this unit can’t live up to its lofty promises. However, within minutes it heated the room by two degrees within ten feet, and did so consistently every time I turned it on for the next few hours, expertly maintaining the set temperature of 70 degrees. The Max offers the basic features you’d expect: you can turn the heater on low, medium, or high, or set the temperature to automatic if you prefer. The tower can oscillate and can be used as a fan rather than a heater. The Lite, which can heat 200 square feet of space, is the Max’s petite little brother, measuring just over nine inches. It includes all the same features minus the oscillation, and also does a great job of heating a small room (200 square feet is the size of my kitchen and maybe your bathroom or desk) much faster than the Max. .
How smart are they?
As I mentioned, Govee really likes to pack their apps with too many options and settings, but with Lite they’ve shown some restraint. In addition to the expected planning tools, Lite offers data on how long your heater lasts and how much money you’ve saved by using it. (Either I didn’t save anything or the feature doesn’t work very well; I’m still not sure how they figure it out.) The app lets you create schedules for turning the heater on and off throughout the day. and to lock the settings, turn off the display and, interestingly, connect the heater to a smart thermometer/hygrometer that can read temperature and humidity. (I wouldn’t recommend using Govee’s own thermo-hygrometer for this, because when I tried it, it completely failed after just a day of use.)
It’s worth noting that Govee products don’t always connect easily to me, and while the Max synced quickly, I struggled with the Lite for hours. Once set up, they connect via Bluetooth, so proximity is required to make settings changes, although the devices can at least be turned on and off using Wi-Fi automation. Despite initial setup issues, they have both been connecting consistently over the past few weeks.
Max app goes beyond
The app experience goes beyond the Max, which, unlike all other heaters in the range, features a “realistic 3D fireplace”. You might imagine one of those wall-mounted, softly glowing faux fireplaces, but Max’s feature is a small, enclosed glass sculpture at the bottom of the tower, about six inches by six inches. It’s not much like a fireplace or a fire. (A friend asked me, “Is that a flaming pile of poop?”) The app isn’t very aesthetically pleasing either, loaded with all sorts of fake fireplace options. You can animate the flames with a variety of different ambience modes, from “breathe” to “warm” and choose the brightness. You can also turn off the ambience mode altogether. All other models in the range have a more discreet design, no fireplace and the same power. so can’t help but wonder if I could realize the full power of the Max on a slightly smaller and less animated display?
Lots of integrations
In fact, the app does a little more than just act as a remote control for the heaters, but that’s okay because Govee has something many other smart brands don’t: integration. Govee works with Google Home, HomeKit, Alexa and IFTTT. You can create automations to turn on the heaters based on any logic, which is great because both heaters automatically turn off after 24 hours for safety. Installing automation can set them back and is recommended.
The Smart Heater Lite is a great buy, but skip the Max.
Smart heaters are relatively new to the market and only a few companies are present in this market. While the recently reviewed Dyson Hot+Cool purifier did a great job of spot heating and softly warming a room, it couldn’t be used as a main heater like the Govee Max. Despite my grumbles about some aspects of the app, overall I was impressed with how well both heaters performed, and the real winner was the Lite. Its small size but enormous power make it very effective in rooms where it is not possible to install a standing heater.
While I’d skip the Max on aesthetic grounds over another heater in the line like the GoveeLife Smart Electric Heater , the Lite deserves a lot of praise. This is a great inexpensive gift for others or for yourself – if you have the Watts, this will bring the heat.