I’m a sucker for fun lights, and a monitor light has been on my mind for some time. While Yeelight wasn’t playing a ball with their expensive YLTD003 with Razer Chroma support, Banggood has sent me the next best thing: BlitzWolf BW-CML4 Monitor Light. Have you ever wondered if these lights are actually as great as pictures indicate?
BlitzWolf BW-CML4
When it comes to nicely photoshopped pictures, I always hesitate, wondering if the product in question is as good as immaculate product shots. BlitzWolf BW-CML4 looked way too cool, and the only thing left to worry about was if I will like the BlitzWolf BW-CML4 as a source of light. After all, chances of being dazzled rather than removing the strain from your eyes were 50:50 at this point.
BlitzWolf BW-CML4 is essentially a tube with a monitor clip and USB-C connector to power it on. While the manual suggests a power brick, I had been using a port from my computer just fine. I don’t know if that’s just my screen, but the spring-loaded clip doesn’t work well with a slanted back of my monitor and the whole thing is prone to nosediving into my keyboard each time I try to adjust the monitor. Your experience may vary, but a strategically-placed strip of 3M tape – fixed that for me. The stand has a small tilt adjustment as well to make sure you and your monitor are glare-free.
The BlitzWolf BW-CML4 comes with 5 button controls responsible for power toggles, brightness and colour modes of the LEDs in both strips. It makes sense, as even though the BlitzWolf BW-CML4 is connected to the internet, I can’t see myself using the app much knowing that the bar is inches away from my fingertips.
In use
Despite having a keyboard with light-up keys and pretty decent touch typing skills, I often need more light, it might sound strange, considering the beam of pixels streaming from a 4K 32″ monitor from BenQ just inches away from my face. But in reality, my desk is always littered with something else than the mouse and the keyboard.
Front Light
The light gives enough illumination to find obscure keys on your keyboard or to read a book. It’s perfect for my work, and I only wished I got something like this much sooner.
Apart from dimming, the light comes with full CT controls, both can be accessed through the app and the hardware buttons on the bar. CT button has 3 colour profiles (warm, cold, neutral) and brightness has 5 levels (every 20%).
Back Light
The back strip brings full RGB experience to BlitzWolf BW-CML4. These are individually addressable LEDs, so you will be able to play various animations as well setting colourful backdrops. Despite the front light being set to max, there is very little bleed from the main light and the colours projected on whatever is behind your monitor are full of life.
I’m pleased to say, that BlitzWolf BW-CML4 delivers. The front beam (white CT LEDs) provides enough illumination to see what’s around on my desk without dazzling me in the process, while the back RGB bar sets the mood nicely.
Smart features
The whole thing connects to the BlitzWolf app, but you can also use Tuya if you fancy having it all in one ecosystem. The paring process is easy and the light is identified as a light bar in the app and connects to 2.4GHz WiFi.
The app offers access to a full-colour picker, the animation screen where you can customise the effects and sound driven controls. I’m not sure if this light comes with a microphone built-in as the effects in the music mode seem rather random. It could be a hit or miss algorithm or poor implementation but the music mode isn’t its strongest suit.
I have a Razer BlackWidow V3 Pro keyboard and Razer Basilisk Ultimate – both with Razer Chroma support (now you understand the sentiment for Chroma enabled Yeelight) which does more than just illuminate my peripherals, it can put up a real light show. I wish the light supported that as this way, I could set the RGB bar to the colour based on one of the edges of my monitor. Instead, I have to rely on the preset colours and animations.
Final thoughts
While some of you will appreciate the smart functions of the BlitzWolf BW-CML4, the lack of Razer Chroma makes it less appealing. The controls are at arm’s length and it’s quicker to adjust it via buttons than a play about with the app. Then again, I’m spoiled by my Razer keyboard and mouse. If you are fine without Chroma effects, go for it – at $46 it’s not that expensive, otherwise, take a look at slightly more expensive Yeelight. Let me know what do you think in this Reddit thread.
🆓📈 – See the transparency note for details.
