Smart Home

Meross Smart RGB Strip: An inexpensive introduction to Apple HomeKit

Review: Meross Smart RGB Strip is A good product with small weaknesses. Viewed in its entirety, we really liked the LED strip from Meross.

Review: Meross Smart RGB Strip – Smart home is an exciting topic, especially in the darker months of the year. That is why we recently published our SOMA Smart Shades 2 test, which deals with an intelligent roller blind set. Today we continue in the area of Smart Home Gadgets , because we have taken a close look at three interesting Meross products with HomeKit interfaces. You can read in this test whether the products for the affordable entry into Apple’s HomeKit are convincing.

Intelligent socket, bulbs and LED strips in the test

Merros, the company from the Far East, was not really known to us before our test. Nevertheless, the manufacturer offers a wide range of smart home products. Starting with classic LED stripes, light bulbs and thermostats up to garage openers, humidifiers or outdoor locks . This test is about an LED strip, an RGB light source and a switchable socket. All three products can be controlled via the in-house Meross app, Alexa, Google Home or Apple’s HomeKit .

Equipping a smart home with ambient lighting

The LED-Stripe from Meross is delivered in a colorful box with many small parts . The HomeKit capability can be seen directly on the outside of the packaging. You will find the following products in the scope of delivery :

  • 2x LED strips of 5 meters each
  • 1x power supply
  • 1x Connect Box
  • 11x small adhesive pads
  • 2x angle
  • 1x large adhesive pads

No matter where you want to attach the strip, there are enough accessories for the assembly with it. In addition, the entire back of the strip is provided with a 3M adhesive tape , which expands the mounting options. We tried the LED strip in several places and finally decided on a position on the desk at home. The processing is neat and even if the strip is covered by a rubber coating, according to the manufacturer it should only be used indoors . It is therefore not watertight.

The two 5 meter long strips are each connected separately to the supplied box, which is powered by a power supply unit. The setup and assembly is pleasantly simple thanks to HomeKit . To do this, the Meross Smart RGB Strip is simply connected to the power and then the HomeKit code is scanned using the smartphone. Now all you have to do is decide on a name and the space for the LED strip , that’s it! From then on, the ambient light can be controlled by voice, in the HomeKit app itself or by automation .

In Apple’s HomeKit app, a total of six favorite colors can be stored for the LED strip. In addition, the brightness can be variably controlled in percent or using a slider. In our test, both worked reliably, both via automation and via voice. Only the selection of the six favorite colors could work a little better , here the setting often does not work the first time. However, if you only want to control your lighting via Siri or automation anyway, you have no disadvantage here.

If you want, you can also control the Meross LED strip via Alexa or Google Home . The lighting can also be adjusted via the Meross Home App. The in-house application is set up in a similar process. In order to integrate the LED strip into the home WiFi , the smartphone must first be connected to the WiFi of the strip. You can then control the Merros RGB Stripe in the app as usual,  even remotely .

Meross Smart RGB Strip – Conclusion

Viewed in its entirety, we really liked the LED strip from Meross. The integration in HomeKit works quickly and the control is reliable. The different colors and brightness can also be controlled with Siri without any problems. Only the favorite colors created in the HomeKit app cause problems from time to time, Meross should improve this with a software update . If you are interested in power consumption: Depending on the brightness setting, we measured values ​​between 30 and 40 watts. The price of the 10 meter long smart LED strip is currently 46.99 euros . There are also the named accessories and a two-year guarantee from the manufacturer.