Govee Lantern Floor Lamp review: A fun and stylish smart lamp that doesn't look like a smart lamp

If you're looking to zhuzh up your decor with one of the best smart lights, stick around – I think you may find what you're looking for in this Govee Lantern Floor Lamp review.

While it's far from the first smart RGB lamp I've tested, I was eagerly awaiting its arrival for quite a while – and it's all thanks to its rather unusual, squishy silicone shade.

After spending the last few weeks with it at home, I'm happy to report that it not only nails the essentials, but also makes everything simply more... fun... in the process. I can't speak for everyone, of course, but I'm pretty sure most of us could do with a little more of that in our lives. If only to pause from the scrolling for a while.

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Having said that, there's certainly no shortage of competition, and they're not shy about battling it our in the price wars either. So, with all that said, is a fun, squishy lampshade enough to warrant the cost?

Spoiler alert: it is.

Price and availability

The Govee Lantern Floor Lamp is available now for £139.99, although discounts are sometimes available through selected retailers.

For the money, you're getting far more than a traditional floor lamp. In addition to adjustable white lighting, the Lantern Floor Lamp supports RGBICWW lighting effects, voice control, Matter compatibility, music synchronisation, and more than 100 preset scenes through the Govee app. Phew.

Unboxing and set up

Inside the box you'll find a reassuringly weighty circular base, four metal poles that form the stem of the lamp, and the light itself. Assembly couldn't be much simpler – the poles screw together, one end attaches to the base, the other connects to the lamp head, and you're done.

In fact, from opening the box to having the lamp standing in my lounge, the whole process took less than five minutes. Thanks to that sturdy base, there's never any sense that it might wobble or tip over, either.

Getting everything connected through the Govee app proved equally straightforward. From there I added it to my existing Alexa setup, and assigned it to my lounge lighting group. Once configured, I could control brightness, colours, and power using voice commands along with the rest of my downstairs lighting.

Design and features

This is where Govee’s offering really stands out. Most smart floor lamps prioritise tech over aesthetics (you know the type – slim light bars designed to disappear into a corner and bathe the wall behind them in coloured light). They do the job well enough, but many look more at home in a gaming den than a living room.

The Lantern Floor Lamp takes a different approach, and it’s mostly thanks to that wonderful silicone lamp head – resembling a gargantuan marshmallow, it's soft, delightfully squishy, and wonderfully tactile, bringing a smile to anyone’s face when they squish it.

In fact, even when switched off, the lamp strikes a balance that's surprisingly difficult to achieve. It feels playful and modern, and would slot in perfectly in a child's bedroom. At the same time, though, it feels just as at home in a grown-up living room. Many RGB lamps lean too heavily towards novelty, while this one feels like a proper piece of furniture.

As for the controls, they’re located on the top of the lamp, but most owners will likely spend their time in the Govee app. Here you'll find access to far more colour controls, scheduling, automation features, music sync modes, scene presets, brightness adjustments, and smart-home integrations. It’s quick to set up, easy to use, and is crammed with features.

Support for the Matter smart home standard also means that it can slot into a wider smart-home setup without too much hassle, while compatibility with Alexa, Google Home, and other major ecosystems makes integration relatively painless.

One thing worth noting is that the silicone diffuser's soft-touch finish does attract dust fairly easily. It's not a major issue, but you'll occasionally find yourself giving it a quick wipe to keep it looking its best.

Performance

While the design initially grabs attention, the performance is what ultimately justifies the Lantern Floor Lamp's place in your home – the transformation when the lamp switches on is remarkable.

When off, soft-touch silicone material looks sleek, clean, and modern. Turn it on, and the transformation is striking. The entire shade suddenly takes on an almost glass-like appearance, and once lit up, it looks far more premium than its materials would suggest.

Some of my favourite results come from simple colour combinations rather than the more distracting extravagant effects. Soft pinks blending into oranges create a warm glow that looks superb in the evenings, while cooler shades give the room a completely different character. The excellent diffusion also helps colours blend together beautifully, avoiding the harsh hotspots that can sometimes affect lesser RGB lighting products.

White-light performance is equally impressive. With adjustable colour temperatures ranging from warm, cosy evening lighting through to cooler settings better suited for reading, the Lantern Floor Lamp proved far more versatile than many decorative smart lights.

Brightness is strong enough to make an impact on a room as well, but the diffused output ensures it never feels too aggressive. It also produces up to 1400 lumens of brightness and offers an adjustable colour temperature range spanning 1000K through to 10,000K.

The Govee app also offers a huge amount of customisation, from scene presets and schedules through to music-reactive modes and colour creation tools. If you enjoy tweaking and experimenting with lighting, there's enough here to keep you busy for quite some time. Throughout testing, Alexa integration also worked reliably, letting me control the lamp along with the rest of my smart lighting setup using simple voice commands.

Verdict

Most smart floor lamps I've tested are functional enough, but they always feel like tech products first, and decorative pieces second. The Govee Lantern Floor Lamp, however, is one of the first ones that I'd happily keep out on full display in my lounge, rather than banished to the corner of my PC office setup.

The smart features are excellent, too. Alexa integration works flawlessly, Matter support helps future-proof things, and the huge range of colours and scenes makes it easy to tailor the atmosphere to suit any taste.

In short, if you've been put off by the gamer aesthetic of many RGB floor lamps, the Govee Lantern Floor Lamp offers something different – a smart lamp that feels properly at home in a grown-up living space.

Alternative to consider

If you prefer a more traditional minimalist and modern aesthetic, the Philips Hue Signe Floor Lamp remains one of the strongest premium alternatives. It offers excellent smart home integration and impressive lighting effects, although its upright light-bar design lacks the decorative charm and furniture-like presence of the Lantern Floor Lamp.

The Govee Floor Lamp Pro is a close competitor to the Hue Signe, offering similar smart lighting features alongside a built-in Bluetooth speaker. However, it also doesn't feel quite as warm or visually distinctive as the Lantern Floor Lamp.