“In the following I am going to describe my own version of the light panels that, in my view, eliminate all the disadvantages of the commercial products while keeping all the advantages. I am aware that others have made similar light panels. I am making and publishing my own version, because although I have seen many that had very nice features, but I haven’t seen one that combined all of the features important to me in one product.
As many others, I also like the concept of the Nanoleaf light panels. They have features that, in general, I appreciate and strive for in my own development efforts as well.
The major advantages are:
Modular design – You can combine as few or as many (basic building blocks) as you want.
Wireless remote control – You can select and fine tune the behavior of the light panels from your computer or phone.
* Aesthetically pleasing – I am happy to put it in any room in my house.
However, there are a number of issues associated with them that prevent me from actually putting some of them there.
These include:
Nanoleaf light panels are compatible with Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant (and many more), which is simply a fancy way of saying: “in order to use our products, you have to give up your privacy”.
Closed source – Apart from the privacy nightmare already mentioned, it also prevents one from examining the code for issues, or for learning purposes and making changes, adding/modifying features.
* Price – The cheapest kit you can get is (at the time of researching for this article) €189.99. This is waaay too expensive for the average people for a mood light.”