When Nanoleaf Canvas came out, I was so hooked that after I reviewed them, I immediately went out and got an expansion pack…and a short time later another. I was addicted and visitors to my home always marvel at them. Earlier this year Nanoleaf announced their Elements series, and I loved the look of them. I had two places I immediately could see them fitting in. Needless to say, I was anxious to get the chance to review them and I wasn’t disappointed. They truly look like sheer wood, despite them being high impact plastic and the light glowing behind them gives a warm and calm atmosphere. I put them in my bedroom, but I also seriously considered my bathroom so more people could see them.Installation was even easier than with the Canvas series; there is a power ... MoreWhen Nanoleaf Canvas came out, I was so hooked that after I reviewed them, I immediately went out and got an expansion pack…and a short time later another. I was addicted and visitors to my home always marvel at them. Earlier this year Nanoleaf announced their Elements series, and I loved the look of them. I had two places I immediately could see them fitting in. Needless to say, I was anxious to get the chance to review them and I wasn’t disappointed. They truly look like sheer wood, despite them being high impact plastic and the light glowing behind them gives a warm and calm atmosphere. I put them in my bedroom, but I also seriously considered my bathroom so more people could see them.Installation was even easier than with the Canvas series; there is a power connector on every side of the hexagonal panels, and this really opens you up to get creative with the placement of the panels, the power connector, and the control panel. I used a long string and attached a string level to it to give me a guide as well as marking the center point between the two walls with some painter’s tape. It really helps you to get the first panel in place. Once you connect another panel in place, the structure immediately becomes stable so you can just go from there. In fact, I just purchased an expansion pack (what a surprise, huh?) and added it in. When I went to show a neighbor the new set up, I realized that I hadn’t even used the mounting pads, yet they were solidly in place.The mounting system is innovative as well; it has good contact with whatever you’re mounting it to, and it allows you to spin the hexagon on its center so you can vary which direction the ‘wood grain’ is running after it’s in place. But what really blew me away was that you can pop the panel off the mount entirely to either rotate it or attach one of the connections. It shows that Nanoleaf put some thought into improving the products and that they listen to their customers.Setting them up in the app is easy, though the Nanoleaf app could still use a little work. It took me a awhile to figure out how to assign my new Elements to a room that I created. There’s no outward indication that you should drag and drop the device into the room, but that’s how you do it. That’s a place they could put some of that thought into, but to their credit they have been updating the app so one can hope! The app isn’t all that bad lately; like I said it just needs a little love.They look great, especially if you have a décor that they work in. They fit perfectly in my home, which is Asian/Modern in general, but they may not fit in all styles. And as far as effects they are limited to on/off and different values of white. Positive side though, you can use RGB styles you might have already downloaded or created for other Nanoleaf lighting, and it will simply convert them to white levels – YMMV though and this won’t work well for every RGB effect.I guess my biggest problem is the pricing, really. While Nanoleaf lights in general aren’t cheap, it seems like they could have offered the Elements at a lower price point. They are white light only and are mostly injection molded plastic and some white LEDS. Even the expansion pack only included 3 additional panels for about the same price I paid for 4 of the Canvas Panels and those are full RGBW lights. Nanoleaf could be a breakout hit if they re-evaluated their pricing policies. They have more to offer than Phillips Hue, in impact and creativity if not in numbers. And they have a GREAT open API and connect with Google Assistant and Alexa extremely well. But with a product that’s more of a luxury purchase than a need, I think that they could expand their range if they lowered the prices a little. I really think there’s room there, having made some LED strips controlled by single board computers myself. But if you can justify the expense, I can confidently say that you won’t be disappointed with any Nanoleaf lighting set up that you purchase.

As a current Nanoleaf Shapes owner I was intrigued when Nanoleaf released their Elements line. I was immediately attracted to the woodgrain finish, which is a bit more appealing when the LEDs are not lit, and which I thought would coordinate well with the woods in my living room.Unboxing and setup is simple, with clear instructions and all necessary hardware included. The adhesive tabs even come pre-attached to the hexagons. One tip: make sure to orient the tabs so the short piece of adhesive hanging over points toward the floor. This way you can press down on the mounting tabs and slowly pull the adhesive (like with 3M's Command Strips) to remove it from your wall without damage.Honestly, the hardest part about setup is deciding what shape you want to make with ... MoreAs a current Nanoleaf Shapes owner I was intrigued when Nanoleaf released their Elements line. I was immediately attracted to the woodgrain finish, which is a bit more appealing when the LEDs are not lit, and which I thought would coordinate well with the woods in my living room.Unboxing and setup is simple, with clear instructions and all necessary hardware included. The adhesive tabs even come pre-attached to the hexagons. One tip: make sure to orient the tabs so the short piece of adhesive hanging over points toward the floor. This way you can press down on the mounting tabs and slowly pull the adhesive (like with 3M's Command Strips) to remove it from your wall without damage.Honestly, the hardest part about setup is deciding what shape you want to make with your Elements panels. Nanoleaf includes a helpful card with a variety of ideas on it, and the Nanoleaf app lets you make a digital layout and use AR to see it on your wall using your cell phone. While this is pretty cool, I opted to make my layout on the floor and take a picture to use as reference. Another tip: don't forget to add the connector tabs to the back of each shape as you stick them to the wall and build your design.With the panels mounted and the power cord plugged in, simply open the Nanoleaf app and scan the HomeKit code (included on a card and printed on the power adapter) to complete setup. With an existing Nanoleaf Shapes setup in my home already adding the Elements took only a few seconds, and they immediately appeared in the Apple Home app as well as my Google Home app. Nice!After adding the Elements I found a number of Nanoleaf Scenes for them had already appeared in the app. The Elements panels don't show colors like Shapes; rather, they show a spectrum of whites, in keeping with their softer, more relaxing vibe. I was unexpectedly pleased that the woodgrain remains visible even when the lights are on, and although it's not real wood, the panels are pretty convincing in both grain and texture. Even cooler, the Elements' LEDs can move the light around on each panel, rather than illuminating the entire panel at one brightness like the Shapes. This makes for some neat animations that look a bit like glimmering lights or dancing flames.As with Nanoleaf's Shapes, the Elements include a built-in microphone to react to music. They're sensitive enough to pick up moderate volumes or even talking in the background, which definitely makes for a neat party trick or movie-watching effect. In addition to the pre-added scenes the Nanoleaf app includes access to literally thousands of user-submitted scenes -- you, too, can create and upload your own -- that add a whole new level of flexibility to Nanoleaf lights. Be prepared to spend hours trying out new scenes and fiddling with all the options available in the Nanoleaf app.The Elements respond quickly to the app as well as to voice control; I have both Siri and the Google Assistant connected and they work reliably. The Elements, as with Nanoleaf's Shapes, include a small control bar that connects to one of the panels and enables basic controls; the panels themselves are touch-sensitive as well, allowing you to set various commands in the app.The reliable performance, flexible installation and sheer variety of scenes and options offered by Nanoleaf's products continue to impress me. Every one who sees my two installations think they're incredibly cool, and I find myself using them at every opportunity. The Elements in particular lend a warm, calming glow to my living room. They don't get nearly as bright as the Shapes, which I actually consider a good thing, because they provide a more balanced ambiance, especially when watching the TV I have them mounted next to. And whether on or off, they blend nicely into my décor, whereas the all-white Shapes are a bit stark when off (though still neat-looking).Overall, I'm very pleased with this latest offering from Nanoleaf. The Elements line will turn heads but in a subtle way, and will look neat no matter where they're mounted or what pattern they're placed in. Whether they're worth the price of admission is ultimately up to you: but know you'll be buying a high-quality product that simply blows more basic LED lights out of the water. They're a marriage of art and lighting and I look forward to enjoying them for many years to come.

The Nanoleaf Elements is my first foray into LED-lit modular wall art, and it was pretty easy to set up. The smarter kit comes with 7 light panels, a controller, 8 linkers, and a power supply with 8-foot long braided fabric power cord. You’ll also receive a card with a dozen different arrangement inspirations, though it is by no means a comprehensive list of every configuration possible using the 7 panels. The Layout Assistant feature in the accompanying Nanoleaf Smarter Series app lets you plan your design virtually, and if you have an iOS device you can preview it in augmented reality before trying it out in your space (AR preview not available in the Android app). Placing your design in AR is hit or miss though, and it didn’t always render at the correct angle ... MoreThe Nanoleaf Elements is my first foray into LED-lit modular wall art, and it was pretty easy to set up. The smarter kit comes with 7 light panels, a controller, 8 linkers, and a power supply with 8-foot long braided fabric power cord. You’ll also receive a card with a dozen different arrangement inspirations, though it is by no means a comprehensive list of every configuration possible using the 7 panels. The Layout Assistant feature in the accompanying Nanoleaf Smarter Series app lets you plan your design virtually, and if you have an iOS device you can preview it in augmented reality before trying it out in your space (AR preview not available in the Android app). Placing your design in AR is hit or miss though, and it didn’t always render at the correct angle for visualization on a flat wall.The panels have a realistic wood grain pattern and finish on the front and sides, while the back reveals that the units are constructed from a lightweight semi-translucent plastic that allows the LEDs inside to shine through it. Each panel is pre-fitted with a 360° rotatable mount and a double-sided adhesive pad for wall mounting. These pads are the damage-free type where you can pull on them and they stretch in order to release from your walls cleanly without damaging the paint on the wall; however, they are one-time use only, so if you move the panels you’ll need to purchase a new sets of pads for mounting, as only one additional adhesive pad is included in the kit as a spare. You also have the option to permanently attach the mounts to the wall with screws (the panels unsnap from the mounts), though screws are not included with the kit. The included power supply has a hot-swappable tip for exchanging plug styles for different regions and installs vertically into US style outlets.I liked that the wood grain pattern on each panel is unique and there are no repeating patterns. Since the panels are rotatable you can align the wood grains or offset them for some visual interest. With the hexagonal shape, you can link up any two sides of a pair of panels and connect them using the snap-on linkers. Just remember that each panel only needs to be linked once, so it’s best to build out your design one panel at a time, and link each new panel back to the previously installed pieces. The controller and power supply can also be attached to any available linker slot.With the physical controller you can toggle the power, increase/decrease the brightness, and select color, rhythm, or random scenes. The panels are touch-sensitive too, and will brighten or change color when touched. Each controller supports up to 80 hexagons linked in series. If you have more panels in your installation than is supported, you can add additional controllers and power supplies as needed anywhere in the system. This light system is WiFi capable and can also be controlled via the Nanoleaf App. Once your Nanoleaf has been connected to your WiFi network, you can adjust brightness, color temperature from deep orange through bright white (1500-4000K), or activate a scene/playlist for a custom lightshow animation from the mobile app.There are two types of animations: color, which cycles through colors in a palette, and rhythm, which creates light shows that react to different elements of music like volume and pitch. I wish the Android app would update in real-time which scene the system is playing after changing to a new scene via manual/gesture controls, the way the iOS app does, but I found that you have to manually refresh the device in Android to see the new settings. Creating new scenes is also complex without clear instructions or descriptions of how to build them. There is also a social element where you can share your custom scenes or download ones that others have created with Nanoleaf Discover. I love that that the Nanoleaf is essentially a piece of customizable artwork that can be used both as functional lighting and dynamic ambience, and it looks great on your wall whether the light panels are on or off.Another cool way to control the panels is with touch gestures, programmable in the app, for swiping up, down, left, or right. For example, you can set the swipe up/down actions to increase and decrease brightness, so all you need to do is walk up to the Nanoleaf and move your hand up or down across the panels and the brightness will adjust accordingly. You don’t even really have to touch the panels to swipe as it can recognize the gesture when your hand is hovering about an inch away from them, though I found that it didn’t always correctly register my swipes.If manual adjustments aren’t your thing, you can enable Auto-Brightness which will increase or decrease the brightness based on the ambient light in the environment either to match (ambiance) or compensate for (functional) the relative amount of light in the room. You can also set up schedules for when the light should turn on/off along with brightness and mode.One feature that I really wanted to try out is the Thread network support which is supposed to built-in to the controller, however, despite connecting the Nanoleaf to my Thread border router (eero 6), it would indicate “No Network Found” when I tried to enable this setting and attempting to link my eero account with Cloud Sync in the iOS app resulted in a “page not found” message. Hopefully this will be fixed in a future update.While the smarter kit only includes 7 panels, each power supply can support up to 42 Watts (21 hexagons, 2W per panel) and 3-panel expansion packs are available separately. Overall, I found the lights to be a really cool lighting and art feature for my wall as it provides a bit of light, a calming ambience, and visual interest. The app can be finicky at times though and navigating it isn’t super intuitive with random differences between iOS and Android versions; I also wasn’t able to get the Thread feature to work.