Product Review: NanoLeaf System

NanoLeaf System: Review

Rating: 4.5/5

System Price: 1,50,000+

Our verdict: The Nanoleaf lighting panels are some of the most beautiful, aesthetically pleasing lighting solutions in the market. They provide unlimited flexibility for the user to bring out their own personality with their smart lights. However, the Nanoleaf lighting panels are on the more expensive side of the spectrum; although the unmatched functionalities offered justify the heavy price tag.

What is the Nanoleaf range of products?

Founded in 2012, Nanoleaf was established as a brand with an aim to shake up the smart lighting space and innovate to create and offer never before seen smart lighting features to consumers.

Nanoleaf prides itself on taking ordinary experiences and making them extraordinary; with the help of their creative, thoughtful product designs and technological intelligence.

The Nanoleaf lighting panels are a set of bold, beautiful and aesthetically differentiating lighting panels consisting of touch sensitive LED lighting panels. The most distinguishing feature of the Nanoleaf panels is not only their gorgeous shapes; but the fact that these are one of the very few lighting panels in the market that give you the flexibility to decide your own configuration and shape of the panels you decorate your walls with.

Let us take a deep dive into the different products offered by the Nanoleaf range and review the pros and cons of each product.

NanoLeaf: Product Range Review

NanoLeaf offers a wide variety of options for you to choose your favorite lighting solutions from including Elements, Shapes, Essentials and Canvas; each offering a different functionality. The NanoLeaf light panels are some of the most innovative and aesthetically pleasing lighting solutions we have seen in the market.

You can either control your NanoLeaf panels from your smartphone with the NanoLeaf app or simply through a controller. Customizations and personalization are the two overarching themes in the NanoLeaf lighting panels; so you have the liberty to control almost everything about the panels that are lighting up your home. You can turn your panels on and off, control brightness levels and also turn on the visualizer or flow feature of the NanoLeaf lighting panels to set the mood for every occasion.

You also have the option to program your panels as well as change to different Scenes using custom gestures. NanoLeaf lighting panels can even sync with your favourite music to light up your dance nights and celebrations.

Let’s review the different categories of lighting solutions that NanoLeaf product range has to offer.

NanoLeaf Elements

The NanoLeaf Elements are some uber cool looking wooden light panels designed to look like an elegant piece of home decor. This is a welcome new release from NanoLeaf, which needed a breath of fresh air in the form of a sophisticated, futuristic product if it was going to be a real player in the smart lighting game.

The NanoLeaf Elements are designed with laminate plastic but have a gorgeous wood grain finish that looks like laminate flooring. Thus, instead of a blank white wall lighting panel, your NanoLeaf Elements also doubles up as a beautiful piece of wall art; even when they are not lit up.

One drawback of the NanoLeaf Elements, however, is that it only offers ambient white light – there is no RGB color offering. You can only choose from a soft white glow to a vibrant, bright light (1500 to 4000 Kelvins).

But if you are not into RGB lighting for your home, the NanoLeaf Elements is a great pick for you. The NanoLeaf Elements gives you complete edge to edge lighting, without leaving any glaring blank spots around the edges, unlike the NanoLeaf Shapes. The backlit double lighting effect in the NanoLeaf Elements makes the entire panel glow including the corners and the edges, making for a truly charming experience.

Another unique feature of the NanoLeaf Elements is that by configuring the Elements to the NanoLeaf app, you can have the color and temperature of the lights match the natural sunlight throughout the day; thereby giving you natural, even lighting all through the day.

The NanoLeaf app is also preloaded with 11 different Scenes, creating different dramatic flows using the organic motion effect offered by the NanoLeaf Elements; which you can take advantage of to ‘paint’ across your Elements panels.

NanoLeaf Shapes

The NanoLeaf Shapes have something about them that is delightfully aspirational. The Shapes are able to transform dull walls into rather special works of art. Not only do the NanoLeaf Shapes light up your rooms; but the little quirky features and thrilling details are something that you will genuinely adore.

The NanoLeaf Shapes come in three shapes – Hexagon, Triangle and Mini Triangle. You can combine the three shapes in any pattern and combination that you approve of. Go for more sensible designs like snakes or end to end or unleash your creative side with more intricate designs by combining the different shapes; as all three NanoLeaf Shapes are compatible with each other and very easy to attach together.

As with the other NanoLeaf lighting panels, the NanoLeaf Shapes are interactive and touch sensitive and allow you to control your lights using hand gestures. But exploring the app is when you will truly realize the potential of the Shapes. You can go crazy with designs, integrations, glow patterns and so much more – the opportunities keep opening up the more you explore the app.

The Music Visualizer feature of the NanoLeaf Shapes makes the lights dance to the tune of any music you play through a speaker in the room (provided the volume isn’t too quiet); giving your room all the feels of a nightclub.

Unlike in the NanoLeaf Elements, the corners of the NanoLeaf Shapes are opaque, however, and may bother you if you were looking for an end to end glow coverage from your panels.

NanoLeaf Essentials

Consisting of the NanoLeaf Essentials Lightstrip and the NanoLeaf Essentials Bulb; the NanoLeaf Essentials Range uses the power of Thread to provide smart, more consistent lighting. If you have an Apple HomeKit run system installed in your house, then the NanoLeaf Essentials are a no-brainer addition for your home. The HomeKit automatically takes care of the setup and easy usage of the NanoLeaf Essentials range without requiring any manual need for installation.

The NanoLeaf Essentials LightBulb is a super bright bulb with multiple color temperatures from 2700 to 6500 K and a 110 lumens maximum brightness. You can either install the bulb with a screw or a bayonet fitting and the bulb is powered like a regular light bulb.

The NanoLeaf Essentials Lightstrip is a 2 metre long lightstrip that consists of 21 LED sets per meter, with 2 warm and 2 cool LEDs on each set, extendable up to 10 metres. The Lightstrip comes with a handy control switch that is not offered by rival lightstrips in the market. The controller features a power button, dimmer control and a button that helps you navigate through and recall different preset Scenes.

One limitation of the NanoLeaf Essentials is that if you are not using an Apple HomeKit system, you have to rely on Bluetooth connectivity to be able to control your Essentials through your smartphone (Wi-Fi connectivity is not supported unlike other NanoLeaf panels); which will limit the distance range from which you can control your Essentials through your phone.

Alexa support is also conspicuously absent from the list of assistants supported by the NanoLeaf Essentials.

NanoLeaf Canvas

The NanoLeaf Canvas is a set of 4, neatly designed mini panels on each individual square panel. The starter kit comes with 9 such individual panels and you can also purchase an expansion kit that contains 4 panels in order to create your own designs.   

The Interactive mode feature offered by the NanoLeaf Canvas is an exciting mode that lets you sync your light panels with the game you are playing on your consoles; making for a perfect backdrop to your epic game nights.

As in the other NanoLeaf lighting panels, the NanoLeaf Canvas also runs on the Rhythm mode, which makes your lights dance in tune with your music.

Overall, the NanoLeaf Canvas offers a steady performance, although not quite on par with the Philips Hue; which is still the frontrunner when it comes to square shaped, interactive lighting panels.

NanoLeaf – The App Experience

There is a lot you can do with your Nanoleaf light panels and the NanoLeaf is an accessory that adds to your experience. It is simple to navigate and does not have any noticeable lagging or delay issues.

Through the NanoLeaf app, you can set schedules and timers to tune your lights with your daily routine.  The NanoLeaf app introduces you to all the features & functionalities of the NanoLeaf lighting panels by offering some comprehensive tutorials to help you navigate through the more complex functionalities offered by the light panels.

Another delightful thing is that the NanoLeaf App can detect the arrangement and patterns you have created with the NanoLeaf panels and displays the arrangement perfectly on the app to help you create and visualize your glow combinations. The NanoLeaf app also helps you create the perfect Scenes that work just the right way for you, depending on the arrangement of the light panels.

The AR Layout Assistant available in the NanoLeaf app offers you several great design ideas to set up your NanoLeaf lighting solutions. You can even superimpose your design on your wall in order to see how it will look, before you go ahead with the actual installation.

Smart voice assistants integration

The NanoLeaf lighting panels offer compatibility with Google Assistant, which is great as it lets you control your lights through voice commands.

Integration with Apple HomeKit with your NanoLeaf lighting panels is also possible and is, in fact, more recommended out of the two smart assistant support offered by NanoLeaf as the feature support and connectivity is super easy and seamless with the HomeKit.

The NanoLeaf lighting panels do not, however, offer support for Amazon Alexa, which does limit the usage a little; especially if you are a smart home owner already having smart devices integrated with Alexa support.

NanoLeaf – Installation

Installation of the NanoLeaf panels is quite easy and can be performed within minutes.

As you attach your NanoLeaf Panels to the wall, take the foam fixing pads off as you go, holding the panel firm until it attaches securely to the wall. NanoLeaf recommends avoiding placing the panels on walls that are textured, wallpapered or have any other attachments that may prevent the effective adhesiveness of the panels.

If you want to go for a more reliable and permanent installation solution, you can opt to use a wall mountable kit instead of the foam pad stickers.

Each panel is connected to another with the help of a linker, in the shape and design of your choice. You can then proceed to add the controller and the power supply to one of the panels, depending on which panel is the closest to your power supply source.

Simply plug in the power supply and add the panels to your NanoLeaf App to have the panels light up. To know more about the installation, you can also check installation videos on YouTube here.

If, however, you wish to get the installation done by a professional. You can also look up an installation partner for NanoLeaf (only for India) to connect you to a handyman or an electrician in your locality who can visit your home and complete the installation in a jiffy.

NanoLeaf Product: Pricing & Cost Estimation

The Nanoleaf panels are unlike any other lightning solutions installed in smart homes. They are a sight to behold, but they come with a steep price tag. There is getting around the fact that Nanoleaf is an expensive affair. At the very least, one Nanoleaf panel costs on an average around Rs. 1,400.

The Starter pack of 9 panels retails at about Rs. 21,000. You can purchase an expansion kit consisting of 3 additional panels for around Rs. 5,000. The Nanoleaf Remote costs around Rs. 3,500 while there is also an upgraded Rhythm module available to purchase around Rs. 3,500.

Despite the high price tag, the Nanoleaf light panels are a novelty product that add a blend of personality and modernity to any space. So if you have a slightly higher budget to accessorize your smart home, you cannot go wrong with the Nanoleaf panels.

Conclusion

There is no denying the fact that the NanoLeaf Lighting panels are some of the most creative, unique and aesthetically appealing lighting solutions available in the market. The range of customization and personalization that the NanoLeaf panels offer is also quite admirable; and you will especially appreciate it if you are the artistic or creative type.

The price range, however, is a sticky issue as most of the NanoLeaf panels, except the Essentials Bulb and the Essentials Lightstrip, are priced higher than their counterparts. While the premium features and the aesthetics that the NanoLeaf panels provide justify the premium pricing to an extent; it can be an issue if you are looking to light up a larger area or are working with budget constraints.

So here is our take:

We recommend buying the NanoLeaf lighting panels if you are looking to upgrade your living spaces as the panels instantly make your room look pleasing. If you are looking to move beyond lightbulbs and light strips and want to indulge in some panels that not only provide better functionality but also an immersive sensory experience; then the NanoLeaf panels are definitely the way to go for you.

If, however, you are on the lookout for something that is entirely hands off and does its job without requiring any time from you; then you probably won’t get the best out of the NanoLeaf panels and should skip them. Additionally, if you are on a budget, then the Nanoleaf panels are not the right pick for you and you might want to explore other options.

Check out our in-depth product review of Wipro Smart Bulb here.