Review: WiZ HDMI Sync Box

Lighting is not just about enabling us to see the food on the table in front of us – and read a book while we eat. For us Scandinavians, it is about creating a mood. About cosiness. The manufacturers of smart light sources have also realised this.

The WiZ HDMI Sync Box is mood lighting for your TV viewing. The small box takes colours and light from the image on the screen and transforms it into mood lighting in the living room. It is a good example of how smart technology can enhance our experience of films, sports and games. The WiZ box is also a “poor man’s version” of Philips Hue’s more or less equivalent, but also several times more expensive, HDMI Sync Box. This, in turn, is inspired by the Ambilight technology from Philips TVs, where LEDs on the back of the television illuminate the wall behind it.

As WiZ is part of Signify, which also owns Philips Hue, we can guess that they have not had to pay a fortune for the development or licensing of the technology for interpreting the HDMI signal.

How much does it cost?

The WiZ HDMI Sync Box can be used with most smart lighting products from WiZ, and it can also be used on its own, as the LED strip needed for backlighting the TV is included in the box. WiZ especially recommends combining the box with their Gradient Light Bars or Gradient Floor Light.

• The HDMI sync box with LED strip for 55″ to 65″ TVs costs €90.
• The same, but with an LED strip for 75″ to 85″ TVs, costs €110.
• Gradient Light Bars cost €60 for a set.
• And Gradient Floor Lights cost €90 each.
• In this review we look at the box and the Gradient Light Bars.

Only what is necessary

The WiZ version of the HDMI box is somewhat smaller than the Philips Hue version. However, the small black plastic box has all the minimum requirements, namely an HDMI input (the Philips Hue HDMI Sync Box has four) and an output to transmit the signal. On the front, there is toggle switch to turn it on and off.

The WiZ HDMI Sync Box supports HDMI 2.0 with signals up to 4K at 60 Hz with HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. It reads the video signal directly from HDMI and converts it into a dynamic lighting experience. So far, so good, but here we come to a built-in limitation in the system. Both with WiZ and Philips Hue. It only works on external video sources. The signal must pass through the box to be interpreted as mood lighting.

Don’t do the following…

However, in some cases, it is possible to cheat and still pull a video signal from the television to power the box. This can be done via the ARC/eARC HDMI output, which is designed to transfer sound to a home cinema receiver or soundbar. The disadvantage, however, is that the sound is not transmitted through the WiZ box, so the external sound system becomes silent. In that case, you have to choose between good sound or beautiful light. Signify’s press department emphasises that the box is not intended to be used in this way; it is only intended for use with external video sources.

Installation and setup, WiZ HDMI Sync Box

The box comes with a three-part RGBIC LED strip. There are two versions, one for TVs from 55″ to 65″ and one for TVs from 75″ to 85″. Four preset lighting effects – Cinematic, Vibrant, Relaxation and Rhythmic – give the user a varied selection of moods. From dramatic colour changes to more subdued transitions, depending on the mood and experience you want. For films, Cinematic provides the most impressive effect.

The WiZ HDMI Sync Box can also entertain when the TV is turned off. Using the built-in microphone, it can pick up music and synchronise the lights accordingly. If you enjoy your music through music videos, you can choose what gives you the most interesting experience.

The LED strip is attached to the back of the TV. The strip is divided into three pieces and is self-adhesive on the back, making it relatively easy to attach it along the two sides and the top. A bag of self-adhesive extra fasteners is also included to make it even more securely attached. It is optional whether you start from the left or the right, as you can choose the direction of the strip in the app.

WiZ Gradient Light Bars

If you want to extend the atmosphere even further into your living room than the LEDs on the back of the screen can manage, the HDMI box can be synchronised with other WiZ light sources. We were supplied with a set of WiZ Gradient Light Bars, which, true to their name, are elongated light sources that can shine in several colours at the same time. Like the LED strip, the bars are designed to shine backwards towards the wall.

The light bars are made of plastic and are surprisingly light – weighing just 550 grams in total. The two bars are attached to a single cable, as is the tiny remote control. It all seems inexpensive, and it is; in fact, two light bars with multicoloured light cost less than one coloured smart bulb from sister company Philips Hue.

The light bars have a stated lifespan of 15,000 hours – or 15 years at just under three hours of daily use. WiZ does not provide any information about brightness or construction, but the bars consist of four light zones that can each light up in their own colour.

Feet and mounting kits are included so that the bars can be placed on a TV stand or on the back of the television.

Tricky setup

The setup is as easy as other smart lights from WiZ. Simply connect the bars and let the app find them. They will then appear as a light source that can be assigned to a room.

However, getting them to work with the HDMI Sync box was not quite as easy. Initially, with the HDMI box already installed, the soundbars could not access the app’s virtual entertainment room at all.

The problem turned out to be related to the user interface in the WiZ app. Once the TV room has been created, changes to it, including adding new light sources and their placement in the room, must be managed in a completely different place in the app, namely under ‘Library’ instead of under ‘Rooms.’

During the process, we spoke with an expert at Signify, who promised that the cumbersome access to TV room management would be resolved in an upcoming update to the app…

Light everywhere

Setting up mood lighting in your home cinema is considerably more difficult than fitting a smart bulb into a lamp socket. Or, for that matter, using “ordinary” smart LED strips. But it’s definitely worth the effort!

You can easily play games or watch films without an extra light show, but the experience is enhanced when the living room joins in the fun.

The LED strip on the WiZ HDMI Sync Box provides an experience that is just as impressive as the ‘real’ Ambilight from Philips TVs. And the light bars enhance the experience even more.

The ability to let the sound control the light is also excellent. However, since a large proportion of smart light sources from all manufacturers already have the same function, it is not nearly as groundbreaking.

In addition to following the action on the TV screen, the light sources in the TV room can still be used in line with other light sources from WiZ. Among other things, you can choose from a large number of scenes with mood lighting – animated or static.

Conclusion

The WiZ HDMI Sync Box does not offer anything that has not been seen before, even from the same corporation. However, it is so affordable that everyone can afford it. The light quality is excellent, and once the setup is complete, you can essentially forget about the technology and simply turn on the entertainment on your television screen, and the mood lighting will follow.

The app’s user interface is unnecessarily cluttered and could do with an overhaul, but with a bit of luck, this will already have been done by the time you read this.

The only real criticism of the WiZ HDMI Sync Box is its purely systemic shortcoming – that it can only be used with external video sources. But in that respect, there is no difference between the WiZ box and the much more expensive box from Philips Hue.