It's the year 2018 and RGB lighting has completely taken over the PC hardware space. And it’s all pretty easy and non-invasive too. Thank you for signing up to PC Gamer. Akin to the similarly named Phillips Hue lighting system, HUE 2 products communicate with each other seamlessly. NZXT has been at the forefront of this movement for over six years now following the release of its original HUE lighting sytstem. If you need more RGB in your life, you need to check it out. ". NY 10036. And nobody likes a good set of RGB LEDs like a PC gamer, amirite? Thanks to sticky backing on all of the RGB strips, installing them to the back of the monitor is a breeze. You just set up the ambient mode in CAM and almost no matter where the image on screen is coming from it can spread the colours out behind your screen. Once the CAM software is downloaded and installed you’re then able to take full control over the lighting, and decide whether you want it to remain fixed or whether you want to go ambient. The updated version of the HUE 2 RGB Ambient Kit brings product improvements that make installation easier and help ensures that the included LED strips will be … We were most impressed with the HUE 2 Ambient. "NZXT adds another excellent device to its HUE 2 ecosystem. While the LED strips aren't too different from their HUE+ predecessors, the HUE 2 Cable Comb is a completely new addition. Fast forward to present day and NZXT has heard the complaints, taken the criticism to heart, and sent over version two of the much-beloved HUE 2 Ambient lighting kit. ... You needn't worry about power consumption, either, the LEDs are efficient and the entire HUE kit only added 2-3 Watts to our system-wide power draw. By Michael Sexton. There's already an excess of RGB going on with the HUE 2, but we would've liked to see a bigger improvement in the LED strips. NZXT Controller for HUE 2 Ambient. Read honest and unbiased product reviews … In my testing not every game seemed capable of hooking into the API the HUE 2 tech works from. But as an immersive ambient gaming system the HUE 2 kit is a far cry from Philips' slick Ambilight tech. So it’s a bit buggy, a little laggy, and at $110 (£90) it’s a rather expensive novelty. PCG 1 NZXT HUE 2 review. New York, As an extension to the RGB illumination of your desktop it's an effective, but expensive, novelty. With 18 individually addressable LEDS to configure, the Cable Comb already produces enough light to brighten up your build quite a bit. And there are other bugs too – leaving my monitor to go into standby, or simply turning the screen off while the PC stayed on, meant the HUE 2 lights defaulted to white and won’t change again until the whole system was rebooted. NZXT HUE 2 Underglow Accessory - Two 300mm RGB LED Strips - 15 By nzxt 8.5 View Product ... 6,348 reviews scanned The 10 Best Dell Desktop Computer Cases 7,657 reviews scanned I’ve been using NZXT’s Hue V2 Ambient Lighting Kit; this is my review. The HUE+ strips already had 10-LEDs each, so we were expecting higher LED density strips to produce smoother and brighter lighting animations with the HUE 2. In late 2015, the company released the HUE+, an industry first for smart addressable RGB lighting controlled by its CAM software. Overall, the NZXT Hue 2 RGB Lighting Kit impressed me with the level of bright, visual flair it adds to the PC case. November 30, 2020 ... as well as up to four HUE 2 LED strips. Rich Edmonds Welcome to PCG1 | PC Gaming News, Reviews & Hardware. Once you add the regular HUE 2 strips and the HUE 2 underglow to the equation, that's when the real party starts. They may not be as flashy as Lian Li's fully RGB PSU cable, but the HUE 2 cable combs add a beautiful accent to your sleeved PSU cables or extensions. As close as you can get to a DIY Philips Ambilight monitor... but not quite close enough. Out of the box, the HUE 2 lighting kit comes with four LED strips for a total of 40 individually addressable LEDs. NZXT has updated its HUE lighting controller and while the HUE+ name may sound familiar the system has undergone a radical overhaul. I will admit it has definitely lent a certain soothing aesthetic charm to my Football Manager obsession, but it needs turning off when I jump back into Metro Exodus. All it takes is a couple of minutes to calibrate the software with your LED placement behind the monitor and you never have to mess with it again. Well, not necessarily ‘card-carrying’ as you can get away without actually creating a profile and logging in as a guest, but you will need to have the software booting up with Windows and running around in the background of your PC. When combined with the 18 LEDs from the Cable Comb accessory and 30 LEDs from the HUE 2 Underglow, the HUE 2 ecosystem produces a staggering amount of RGB lighting. By placing light strips on the back side of your monitor, then lighting them up to reflect the colours on-screen, the action seems to bleed out of the monitor and infect your entire room – as long as your lightbulbs are extinguished, … By Terrence Mai 14 April 2019 Comments The HUE 2 ecosystem is comprised of the main HUE 2 RGB lighting unit, the HUE 2 Ambient, HUE 2 Underglow, HUE 2 LED strips, HUE 2 Cable Comb and several other yet-to-be announced products. NZXT, a leading developer of software-powered hardware solutions for PC gaming, today announces the HUE 2 Ambient RGB Lighting Kit V2, powered by CAM. The structured lighting effects are pretty traditional, allowing you to create effects or static glows to light up your room, but via CAM you can switch to ambient mode. Lightpack has been doing this for a few years now, but we found NZXT's solution to be much more robust and cost effective for larger monitors. The RGB strips themselves are magnetic, too, but also come with a pre-applied sticky pad for non-metallic surfaces. The idea here is intriguing . 4.0. NZXT has made it easy to jump into HUE 2 by offering HUE 2 RGB Lighting Kits priced at $74.99 and Aer RGB 2 Start Kits priced at $109.99. Streamlined installation and intuitive software makes the HUE 2 a versatile powerhouse of RGB. Visit our corporate site. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our … NZXT HUE 2 Cable Comb Accessory - Two 24-Pin and Five 8-Pin By nzxt 9.9 View Product 9.9 2: ... 9,445 reviews scanned The 10 Best Pc Accessories 2,414 reviews … We analyze in depth the LED lighting control, NZXT HUE +, which allows us to illuminate our computer tower and customize it as we want Friday, January 1 … Something slower paced – such as Total War, Civilization, or Football Manager – can deliver an effective ambient experience, and can do it with little input from you too. Wait… the CAM software? Excellent. Outside of high-speed gaming, though, it does work admirably. Here’s everything you need to know about NZXT’s new HUE 2 RGB lighting ecosystem: HUE 2 RGB Lighting Controller. I Really Love the NZXT Hue 2 had the Hue + bought Hue 2 underglow and Hue 2 cable combs and realised I needed to replace the Hue+ : ( but once everything arrived and got it set up I couldn't be happier with … Sorry, yes, if you want the full immersive ambient lighting kit to react to whatever is being broadcast on your screen then I’m afraid you’re going to have to be a card-carrying member of the CAM crew. The whole installation process took me barely twenty minutes and it all lit up as soon as I started booting up my PC. To stay up to date with the latest PC gaming guides, news, and reviews, follow PCGamesN on Twitter and Steam News Hub. The system consists of a 2-channel hub that can connect via a motherboard USB 2 header using an included cable, or externally using a standard micro–USB cable, and it’s powered by a single Molex … Now the company has unveiled its HUE 2 lighting ecosystem and we couldn't be more impressed. Style: RGB Lighting Kit Verified Purchase. Thankfully I’ve not encountered any conflicts as yet with my existing Corsair iCUE/Logitech software combo, but it does mean your PC’s boot-time software bloat will increase. Screen time: These are the best gaming monitors around today, And because it, like practically all homebrew PC lighting, is a proprietary thing you’ll still need the lighting controllers for your case, motherboard, keyboard, mouse, surface, headphone stand, bow tie, and RGB gimp mask. The HUE 2 RGB lighting controller is the direct successor to HUE+ and improves upon the … 5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Best Lighting System Out There. I’m out…. Smart fans and smart cable routing: Hard to resist in a big ATX chassis. Sorry… my mistake… it’s actually NZXT who’s yoinked Philips’ lighting brand name and created a DIY version of the company’s TV tech to strap onto the back of your gaming monitor and make with the immersive pretties. Buy NZXT AER RGB 2 - 140mm - RGB LED - Fluid Dynamic Bearing - PWM Fan for Hue 2 - Single with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. There’s no PC surgery required to have your games spilling out from the traditional boundaries of your monitor’s bezels, just some double-sided tape, a little RGB controller box, and a quick installation of the NZXT CAM software. Review: NZXT HUE RGB LED Controller. Please refresh the page and try again. NZXT HUE 2 Review: A Full Lighting Solution. On the surface, it doesn't look too different from the HUE+ but the HUE 2 lighting unit features a few hardware improvements that make it compatible with the Gen 2 LED strips and accessories. The LED strips all have sticky backing to them – which makes them easy to attach to the rear of your panel – and plug directly into one another so you can spread them around whatever size of monitor you have up to a 35-inch ultrawide display. With four separate channels, individually addressable RGB LEDs, and a variety of compatible accessories, the HUE 2 RGB lighting kit takes PC lighting to the next level. No Comments on NZXT HUE 2 RGB Lighting Kit and AER RGB 2 Fans Review Final Thoughts & Conclusion This was the first time I have used NZXT’s HUE system and I must say, I’m thoroughly impressed. For more information, click here. Dave has been personally and professionally breaking PC hardware since, oh, before you were born. Nowadays, it's hard to find yourself a component that doesn't come with an RGB variant. NZXT Hue 2 RGB LED Strips Extension Kit - 2x 300mm RGB LED Strip reviews verified by reevoo 1 review Sort by: My language first Most recent Most helpful Lowest score Highest score NZXT HUE 2 Ambient Lighting Kit As an extension to the RGB illumination of your desktop it's an effective, but expensive, novelty. NZXT HUE 2 RGB Ambient Lighting Kit V2 Review: Feel the Glow NZXT released version 2 of their HUE 2 Ambient RGB Lighting Kit back in March, with this new The HUE 2 is powered by CAM, so it’s easy to change modes, sync lighting effects, and express your creativity with the perfect lighting for your build. That's a lie, he still thinks networking is some dark art that requires ritual sacrifices and dislikes most humans. NZXT H710i Review. We've spent some time with all of the currently released products and its clear the company has made significant improvements since the HUE+. It's essentially a much more effective version of Logitech's G560 speakers, sampling colors from the edges of your monitor and creating a soft glow that extends the lighting outward. The HUE 2, however, has the opposite effect to the desired immersion. Whenever we ask for technical assistance in the office his stock response is "go stick your head in a pig. NZXT HUE 2 Ambient review: Add some smart color to your monitor setup NZXT's Ambient Lighting Kit is a handy package for adding some glow to your computing. Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for NZXT AER RGB 2 - HF-2812C-T1 - 3-Pack of 120mm RGB PWM Fans with Hue 2 Lighting Controller - Advanced Lighting Customization - LED RGB PWM Fans - Winglet Tips - Fluid Dynamic Bearing - PC Case Fan, Black at Amazon.com. PCG 1 NZXT HUE 2 review. And that’s because as effective as bleeding your screen’s colour palette across the wall behind the monitor can be, it gets mighty distracting when you’re actually playing most games. Philips has been doing some genuinely impressive things over the years with its Ambilight TV tech, even going beyond RGB LEDs and jamming pico projectors into the back of its expensive teles to beam out a defined visual halo. Contribute to Cheerpipe/NZXTHUEAmbient development by creating an account on GitHub. It pulls you out of the game, making it all rather jarring where it should allow you to almost forget about the bezels of your monitor. NZXT's CAM software has come a very long way since the company's first "smart" products, and the breadth of easy to use lighting configurations and presets that effortlessly spill across the products proves this. The easy-to-install HUE 2 Underglow accessory incorporates a diffuser to provide a softer, more even glow under your case, and is compatible with all HUE 2 lighting modes. PC Gamer is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Whether you're a diehard RGB fan or someone that prefers a subtle touch of accent lighting, NZXT's HUE 2 ecosystem has something for everyone. And sometimes it refuses to turn off even after the PC and monitor have been shut down, leaving me to yank out the power cable from the back of the HUE 2 control box lest the LED glow from my mini home office disrupt my or my cats’ sleep. Available in two models, one for ATX and EATX cases and the other for mATX and mini-ITX cases. NZXT HUE 2 is nearly perfect for easily adding smart colorful light to your PC. 23 November 2018. Nowadays, it's hard to find yourself a component that doesn't come with an RGB variant. They are all easily controlled through CAM, which is important as you're definitely going to need to tone things down a bit to prevent too many distractions while gaming. NZXT actually wasn't the first company to come up with this idea. But the ‘almost’ there is the operative word. It expands your peripheral view beyond the panel in front of you, helping to really immerse yourself in a way a limited, flat image generally can’t. Though if you’re into twitch gaming we maybe wouldn’t recommend you go full ambient. NZXT HUE 2 review NZXT's latest lighting ecosystem declares no such thing as too much RGB. But the kit is at least a doddle to set up. NZXT HUE 2 Ambient RGB Lighting Kit Review ... NZXT provide extensive installation instructions, with screen size recommendations for both 16:9 and 21:9 monitors. You’ll need to follow the instructions to know which of the many addressable RGB strips to put where, depending on the size and aspect ratio of the monitor in question. Sign up to get the best content of the week, and great gaming deals, as picked by the editors. Robert Baddeley Posted: Sep 17, 2018 1:00 PM Category: Hardware Reviews 0. Dirt Rally wouldn’t play ball, and a couple of other titles in my library shut the rear-firing LEDs down too. There was a problem. For those that prefer custom or NZXT's preset lighting effects over the screen sampling, you can easily swap between traditional HUE 2 lighting and Ambient Mode in CAM. The great thing about the HUE 2 Ambient is that it's a standalone product which doesn't require the original HUE 2 Lighting unit to work. Even if CAM is only wafer thin…. © Get involved in the conversation by heading over to our Facebook and Instagram pages. At the heart of this ecosystem is the NZXT HUE 2 RGB Controller, which you can connect up to 160 LEDs worth of HUE 2 accessories across 4 different channels. Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for NZXT AER RGB 2-3-Pack of 120mm RGB PWM Fans with Hue 2 Lighting Controller - Advanced Lighting Customization - LED RGB PWM Fans - Winglet Tips - Fluid Dynamic Bearing - PC Case Fan at Amazon.com. Really? Please deactivate your ad blocker in order to see our subscription offer, Best external SSD for gaming on PC and next-gen consoles, Gigabyte Radeon RX 6800 XT Gaming OC Review, LED strips not improved much from the Hue+. You will receive a verification email shortly. Newegg … Specifications MSRP: $109.99 NZXT HUE 2 Ambient V2 RGB Lighting Kit Review We spend time checking out NZXT's HUE 2 Ambient V2 RGB Lighting Kit. Like it or not, disco party battlestations are here to stay. Future US, Inc. 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, Perhaps this is something NZXT already plans to address with one of the unannounced products. HUE 2 Ambient supports monitors ranging from 21-35 inches in size and is very easily configured through the CAM software. It's definitely on the pricier side of things when you compare DIY options, but unless you're an expert on Arduino, we believe the HUE 2 is the quickest and easiest way to completely flood your battlestation with RGB goodness. So thank the maker it’s produced the HUE 2 tech so you can DIY your own gaming monitor to match. Product on Review: NZXT HUE 2 Ambient RGB Lighting Kit Manufacturer: NZXT Street Price: GBP £89.99 / USD $99.99 Back in November, NZXT invited us to take a look at their HUE 2 RGB Lighting Kit, this could be used to give new life to old cases or add even more RGB to your already-RGB-laden chassis.Today we examine the HUE 2 … The problem is there is a tangible lag to the switching of colours, which means that in any fast-paced game the screen’s going to be displaying something else once the HUE 2 lighting system has tried to catch up. He loves kittehs, GPUs, and long evenings spent battling other people's networking problems. Except it’s only immersive up to a point… Still, the HUE 2 RGB Ambient Lighting Kit comes with everything you need to make your gaming monitor lit, whether your rocking a 21-inch panel, or one that goes all the way up to 35-inches. Then plug in the power and USB data cables and you’re good to go. However, NZXT reckons it has the answer with an update to its HUE programmable lighting system, called the HUE+. The controller is a wired dual-channel affair, so you just need to stick one L-shaped bundle of LED strips to the top left corner and another to the bottom right. Reactive ambient lighting has long been the realm of only the most hardcore tinkerers, but now anyone can enjoy the experience and the benefits with about 2 … I’ve played games on the old Philips AmbiLux set, the TV with the pico projectors in the rear, and that delivers an incredible, and super-slick, gaming experience. We sometimes include relevant affiliate links in articles from which we earn a small commission. It's the year 2019 and RGB lighting has completely taken over the PC hardware space. It's a topic that's debated over and over again, but the sales numbers don't lie. Strips and the other for mATX and mini-ITX cases rear-firing LEDs down too content! 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