Govee Table Lamp 2 Pro x Sound by JBL Review

Govee and JBL have partnered to bring the world the Govee Table Lamp 2 Pro x Sound by JBL. This brings the power of intricate lighting from Govee and the well-regarded sound from JBL into one ultimate party speaker, sure to turn heads. With two major names at the helm, the speaker/lamp costs $179.99 USD, but if I am honest, for all you get, it is a pretty fair price.

I have been obsessed with cool lighting since long before smart lights were a thing. I had a room filled with lava lamps and wall lighting all throughout my teens. Cut to being an adult, and now keyboards, mice and desktops are all pink, teal and rainbows. One of my earliest reviews at CGM was actually the JBL Pulse 4 speaker, which combined lights and music into a stunning portable display.

The Govee Table Lamp 2 Pro x Sound by JBL goes a step further by bringing that JBL sound to an even more robust lighting system. I actually own the Govee Table Lamp already, and it lives in my daughter’s room. Though it is flashy and fun, I always felt like it was missing something. The Govee Table Lamp 2 Pro feels like a fully realized product, bringing everything you could need together in one, rather than needing to power (and likely have apps for) several different devices.

“The Govee Table Lamp 2 Pro feels like a fully realized product, bringing everything you could need together in one.”

Out of the box, you are met with the Govee Table Lamp 2 Pro, a single cable and some paperwork—no charging brick. I think, at this price, a brick should definitely be included, rather than relying on buyers to purchase their own or to have one from another device that did bother to include one. The cable provided must be used with the lamp, as they placed the charging port on the bottom, so a standard USB-C cable wouldn’t be flat enough to fit. Again, an oversight that could affect the device’s longevity if the cable breaks. Had it been on the side, you’d be set.

That cable will be important, too, since the Govee Table Lamp 2 Pro x Sound by JBL is rechargeable. I honestly hadn’t even considered that to be an option, given the sound and the amount of light it puts off. I assumed it would be dead in under an hour. In testing, it actually lasted between four and five hours unplugged, even at full brightness while playing music, which was very impressive. The best place for a light show isn’t always near an outlet, so I loved this little touch that made the device portable.

However, since we are marrying the best of both worlds, some sacrifices had to be made to bring the cost to something affordable. The Pulse 5 is currently $199, so to come in under that, it is natural to expect sound that isn’t quite as high level. In turn, we get lighting that is far more intricate.

With that, though the Govee Table Lamp 2 Pro x Sound by JBL puts off a full sound, it does start to buckle at higher levels. I noticed the sound isn’t as rich as you might find with higher-end speakers, but for a party speaker, the Govee Table Lamp 2 Pro certainly hits the mark and will meet the needs of anyone who isn’t strictly an audiophile.

You can pair via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, but music is only playable via Bluetooth, whereas something like a Sonos speaker will play via Wi-Fi. That means if you are connected with your phone and jump into TikTok, etc., it will play through the speaker. If you like your music loud, this will scare the crap out of you, trust me. I wish there were a way to connect and avoid this, especially for something that is meant to entertain.

You also need to stay oddly close to the device for it to work. Again, if you are using it as a party speaker, you have to avoid using your device (see TikTok comment above) and leave your phone nearby. I live in a fairly small apartment, so seeing the speaker’s sound start to waver when I walk around the corner is a bit concerning. Also, it says you need to be within five meters for the lighting to be music-reactive, which again, I think is pretty unreasonable. This is fine for a teen to keep in their room, but it doesn’t make for an entertainment piece for adults.

Lucky for me, I am basically just a really old teen, and I don’t entertain. I just like my music to go throughout the house and, as I said, love a good light show. The light can also work as just a normal lamp, which my husband has been taking advantage of while plugged in on his desk. The light can get pretty bright, but only shoots horizontally, so it can both blind you and not necessarily light the vertical area you need, like your monitor.

The Govee Home App is where you control your lighting and connection for the Govee Table Lamp 2 Pro x Sound by JBL. There are some pretty cool preset options for lighting, including basic solid colours, scenes like Ocean, Wave, Falling Petals and Cherry Blossoms. The colours on each can be changed as well. The AI lighting is hit-and-miss. When given a prompt for “Spooky Halloween Lighting,” it was mostly pink and orange. “A Bright Summer Day,” however, made a pretty gorgeous sunset effect.

“For a lamp sub-$200, the Govee Table Lamp 2 Pro x Sound by JBL is a great speaker and lightshow for casual users in smaller spaces.”

There are various tones for normal lighting as well, with Relaxing, Reading, Working and a space to choose what you’d like, switching between colour temperatures. You can get the Govee Table Lamp 2 Pro to react to sound in the room or noise detected on your device. There is also a DIY and Finger Sketch area where you can draw the pattern you want. You can then upload those to a Share Space, so other people can use them, or, alternatively, you can use other people’s designs as well.

However, using the app is my personal nightmare. Half the time, when I turned on the lamp, it would ask me to reset the light with the QR code; the other half of the time, I would need to hit reconnect. When I open the app, I can see the lamp, and it has an on/off button, but I can’t use it. It will go to a “reconnecting” screen and then never reconnect, so I need to turn the light on, skip past the QR code screen and then I can connect. 

I also have to reconnect to the lamp every time my phone goes to sleep. Music and lights don’t stop, but if I want to change the lighting, I have to get close and go through the reconnection again. These are pretty minor issues, but for nearly $200 USD, I shouldn’t have to know how to get around the app’s quirks to use the lamp.

It feels like everything on the Govee Table Lamp 2 Pro x Sound by JBL comes with a caveat, but unfortunately, to keep a lamp/speaker like this under the $200 USD mark ($250 CAD), there have to be some sacrifices. Many of these quirks are things you can work around, like using a different smartphone to play music if you want to be on your phone, but not everyone has that option. Govee and JBL absolutely have the potential to create the ultimate party speaker, but it will definitely need to hit a premium price point to get everything just right.

For a lamp sub-$200, the Govee Table Lamp 2 Pro x Sound by JBL is a great speaker and lightshow for casual users in smaller spaces. It would be great for teens, small apartments and in my case, a mom who needs to blare some music with flair. If you are okay with the caveats above, the Govee Table Lamp 2 Pro x Sound by JBL will definitely be a device you use regularly, making it worth the cost.