This is a brand new company that promises a new expandable and standalone RGB lighting kit. So far they have a great combo of products to impress us with. Everything is plug-and-play so your imagination is the limit on how you will use them. At first glance as you go up in the product rage, things get very interesting. For example, when we see that there is something like an illuminated 4-button controller with a 32-bit high-end microprocessor with two ports that each support 144 digital-RGB LEDs which even has a built-in microphone ! So let’s jump in and explore these multi-purpose cool lights.
First about evnbetter
They are based in Hanover (Germany) and are a brand for high-quality and innovative computer components for gaming, lighting and modding. The products are designed in Germany and stand out with their unique design and quality of the highest possible degree. evnbetter employs cutting-edge, modern materials and manufacturing technology. The team behind the brand has several years of experience in the IT sector and has a sharp eye for detail and trend-setting solutions for the market.
Prices and Availability
We have a big list since they come in different colors, RGB sizes and lengths as well. Those that are in BOLD are our test samples. You cab find them currently on alternate.co.uk and on Amazon.de
Starter sets – These are new control units and you can choose from 3 combos regarding the regular RGB strips, the new flexible LED lights and the thicker variants of those.
* #1.01 LightControl Baseline 45: €29.90
* #1.02 LightControl Slimline 45: €39.90
* #1.03 LightControl Wideline 45: €45.90
xcd 1 Baseline – These are the standard magnetic RGB strips.
* xcd 1.01 Baseline 30: €19.90
* xcd 1.02 Baseline 45: €24.90
* xcd 1.03 Baseline 60: €29.90
xcd 2 Slimline – The ‘medium’ thickness RGB lines
* xcd 2.01 Slimline 30: €25.90
* xcd 2.02 Slimline 45: €32.90
* xcd 2.03 Slimline 60: €39.90
xcd 2.04 Slimline 180: €49.90
xcd 3 Wideline – The extra wide RGB lights
* xcd 3.01 Wideline 30: €32.90
* xcd 3.02 Wideline 45: €39.90
* xcd 3.03 Wideline 60: €49.90
* xcd 3.04 Wideline 180: €59.90
Presentation and Specification
*Courtesy of their website.
#1 LIGHTCONTROL AS A POWERFUL RGB CONTROLLER
evnbetter enters the market with an innovative RGB solution. At the heart of this solution we find the #1 LightControl. This is an illuminated 4-button controller with a 32-bit high-end microprocessor with two ports that each support 144 digital-RGB LEDs, or a maximum strip length of 3.6 meters per port. The 40×40-millimeter controller has a matt black PCB and transparent buttons for a sleek look. Thanks to an integrated magnet and rubber back, the #1 LightControl can be gently attached to any case or compatible metal surface. A single sleeved multi-cable can be cleanly routed into the back of the PC via an included slot cover, preventing unnecessary cables on the desk. In addition, the controller has another connector for RGB LED strips outside the computer.
EASY OPERATION AND RGB SYNCHRONIZATION
The multifunctional, intuitive control unit allows easy operation of the connected flexible RGB LED strips. Light strips can be placed in the PC, on the back of the monitor, on or behind the desk or even on the wall: the only limit to upgrading your gaming PC is your own creativity. The #1 LightControl can also be connected to an RGB-compatible motherboard, which makes it easy to synchronize the entire setup at the touch of a button.
MANY EFFECTS AND BUILT-IN MICROPHONE
The #1 LightControl offers plenty of extraordinary features: at the touch of a button, users can quickly choose between 15 light modes, 12 predefined colors as well as five brightness and speed levels. Users can also pick any color from the entire RGB color spectrum. In addition, evnbetter has integrated a high-sensitivity microphone that picks up sounds or music from the environment and converts it into lighting effects.
XCD 3 WIDELINE: PREMIUM LED STRIPS FOR DOT-FREE LIGHTING
evnbetter offers three different RGB LED strips at market launch. The xcd 3 Wideline is its flagship model. Thanks to in-house developed evnLight technology, this model offers dot-free lighting (diffuse light with homogeneous distribution). You no longer need to hide this strip, which allows glare-free effects as well as creative lighting designs, such as characters on the wall. Installation is extremely easy thanks to included aluminum clips which allow the xcd 3 Wideline to be either glued or screwed to its desired spot.
XCD 2 SLIMLINE: NARROW SOLUTION FOR GLARE-FREE EFFECTS
Similar to the xcd 3 Wideline, the xcd 2 Slimline also offers a homogeneous light distribution for glare-free effects. This model is also highly flexible, can be bent lengthwise, and has a narrow width of just six millimeters. This makes the xcd 2 Slimline even easier to install and more discreet. As with the xcd 3 Wideline, securing is also done with aluminum clips.
XCD 1 BASELINE: OPTIMAL SOLUTION FOR THE PC INTERIOR
The xcd 1 Baseline is designed as a high-quality solution for the PC interior. The flexible digital RGB strips are equipped with individually addressable LEDs that provide brilliant colors and a high brightness. The strips have magnets for convenient mounting to metallic surfaces, and evnbetter also includes metal plates with adhesive strips to attach the strips to non-magnetic surfaces.
Everything sound very good because you can connect the control unit to your PC and interact with all of the light functions via the handy remote. The unit is fully compatible with ASUS AURA, MSI Mystic Lights and ASRock’s Polychrome synch apps. As for the lights themselves, the Wideline are the stars of the show since they offer dot-free lighting and everything comes with their own metal rails/clips to secure them to almost anywhere. Then even the most basic RGB strips are magnetic for ease of usage and come with adhesive stickers if you have an aluminium case for example.
Visual Inspection & Installation
Each product and variation has its own design and box size, not to mention they are so easy to notice given their bright packaging colors. Let’s start from the smallest to the biggest.
First up is the plug and play RGB LED strips XCD 1.02, the baseline 45 meaning the strips are 45 mm in length.
The back cover gives us a nice amount of specs and details.
Presentation is taken seriusly even for such a small and generic product.
So you get two magnetic 5V either 30, 45 or 60 mm long RGB LED strips, one short and one long extension cables and twelve metal plates with adhesive.
Zooming in, the strips are high quality, with an all black background which has evnbetter logos all over and on this length it has 18 LEDs.
Next is the slimline. We have the longest option at 180 mm. This should be interesting.
The xcd 2.0x series makes things very interesting since the LED RGB strips are engulfed in a wider and thicker silicon shell. They look very cool and are defiantly something that I have never seen before. Mind you, this is just the beginning !
Besides the regular one short and one long LED extension cables, you get with the slimlines some metal rails plus some double sided adhesive pads, so you can attach them anywhere you please.
Now for the ‘daddy’ of them all – the most complete offering they have, the #1.0x light controls set. They are very lovely because you can synchronize all the different light strips they have. Not only that, you can even use your own existing LED RGB strips ! Plus you can choose what type of lights you can have in the sets. Ours has the widest variant possible and, mind you, they are over the top !
The back explains some of the remote’s capabilities and it also presents the full list of accessories.
As you open the box, you are greeted with the command center.
That’s the first box. Underneath we have a divider which holds the wideline LED strips and another box that has the accessories.
Talk about compartmentalizing.
This has the riches accessory list as well. Thus we have:
* 1x Digital RGB fully braided cable at 90 cm long
* 1x LED strip connection cable at 10 cm long
* 1x LED strip connection cable at 50 cm long
* 1x LED strip Y-splitter cable at 10 cm long
* 1x PCI-E slot bracket
* 6x Aluminium rails
The wideline light strips, you can easily mistaken them for hoses since they are in a different league of their own regarding thickness.
Notice that only one side of them will illuminate but there is a cutout in the middle to make use of that real-estate and to provide even more light.
The last bit is the remote that will require a SATA power connector. All of the cables are braided and overall the attention to details is impressive.
Finally, here is the remote control unit which has its own microprocessor, has 4 buttons that control brightness, effects to name some and comes with 15 pre-installed light effects. To decipher the weird symbols on each button you need to read the manual first.
It can accommodate up to two 3.6 meters long of RGB strips via two ports, one is located in the frame and the other via the attached cables. This thing is so cool!
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s showtime !
Testing
Everything here is compatible with any motherboard that has a 3 pin 5V RGB header, everything can be mounted in series and everything is compatible with the control unit/remote.
Hardware used:
– CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2700 AM4 – 8c/16t @ 65W TDP
– CPU Cooler: Noctua L9i chromax.black
– Noctua AM4 adapters: Noctua L9i chromax.black
– Motherboard: ASUS ROG STRIX B450-i Gaming mITX
– RAM: 32GB DDR4 G.Skill Trident Z Royal RGB Silver 3000 MHz
– Boot SSD: Samsung M.2 970 PRO 2TB TLC
– Video card(s): EVGA GTX 1080 FTW 8G
– PSU: Corsair SF600 SFX Gold
– Case: Dan A4-SFX V4
– Case fan: Noctua NF-A9x14 HS-PWM chromax.black
Here is the xcd 1.02 Baseline in action – the standard but magnetic plug and play RGB LED strips.
Next up, are the xcd 2.04 Slimline strips. The camera doesn’t do them justice. They are über cool to look at !
Here are the meaty xcd wideline 3.01. They are just mental !
For the grand finally, let’s connect everything together and pretend that the aliens are among us.
The remote is bonkers and a joy to interact with. It even changes colors in correlation to the mode you choose for the strips as well.
To wrap thing up, here is a video to see everything in motion.
Analysis
I had a lot of fun with this new light kit from this fresh company, especially with their very interesting ‘thick’ dot-free RGB light strips. The cherry on top was the remote since it is so handy and fun to interact with. It is so nice to have so many types of lights to choose from.
You want them longer? No problem, they have up to 4 lengths. You want to integrate the remote with your own RGB stuff, again not to worry, everything is plug and play. Want to cut the middle man and don’t use the remote, then just stick the strips in any motherboard with a 5V RGB header and you are good to go. Want them on your wall? Say no more, they come with the correct metal rails to use. They have thought of everything and I can’t fault them.
They are a joy to look at, are flexible, versatile, can be connected in series and out of the box you have full control of everything. You can even control the inside lights of a computer and the outside lights of your desk for example, all from the same evbetter remote. You get the picture.
Conclusion
RGB has become a phenomenon but it is very refreshing to see such innovative design, versatility and feature packed products from a such a young company. Especially in RGB lights where nobody has bothered to refine them. Their offering excels at quality, options, easy of use and most importantly – fun factor. They are such a joy to play with and set up. Thus your imagination is the limit of what you can do with these lights. If you want to take your setup and desk to the next level, well then, evnbetter will get you sorted in style !
The good:
+ Clever and innovative approach to RGB lights
+ Superb quality products
+ Plenty of choices regarding sizes, lengths and types
+ Very pretty to look at
+ Basically compatible with anything that has a 5V RGB port
+ The strips can be connected in series
+ Can be combined even with existing RGB systems
The bad:
– None
Glob3trotters “Must Have!” Award – 5 out 5
Many thanks for evnbetter for this out of this world lights !
