Nanoleaf Canvas

DANCING ON THE WALL...

LIKE THE ORIGINAL Nanoleaf Light Panels, the Canvas is also a pricey investment for any smart home – yet after using the basic starter kit, we’re happy to admit we’re already considering splurging on an expansion pack to add more panels to our wall.

And if you think the colors might be garish in any way, fear not. They’re mesmerizing, soothing, and you could stare at them for hours without tiring of them, even at 100% brightness. The Canvas can add personality to any space – large or small. They’re perfect to set the scene for a romantic night in, or pulse through a room with the music when a party is rocking. And the touch-sensitive panels make using the lights a whole lot of fun.

Unlike the Nanoleaf Light Panels’ triangular shape, the Canvas consists of square panels. If you’re already familiar with older Nanoleaf lights, you’ll immediately notice that the Canvas panels are smaller – the triangular Light Panels measure 21cm in height and 24cm across the base, while the Canvas panels are 15cm x 15cm each. Both sets of lights, though, are made from the same lightweight white plastic.

Also worth noting is that, while the original Nanoleaf Light Panels required an optional Rhythm Module to make the lights dance to your choice of music, you don’t need to purchase any other accessories for the Nanoleaf Canvas. That’s now powered by a single control panel which is included in each pack.

The tape supplied is similar to 3M’s Command strips – they’re just as strong (if not more so) and have a tab that can be pulled to remove the tape off the wall without damage… theoretically at least.

In reality, we found that peeling them off the wall was near-impossible because of the design of the panels themselves. There are three plastic strips visible on the back of each panel where the tape needs to be applied. Unfortunately, the depth at which these strips are placed is so far back that the little tab to peel the tape off gets hidden behind the panel when it’s put up on the wall. That means you’ll

AND IF YOU THINK THE COLORS MIGHT BE GARISH IN ANY WAY, FEAR NOT. THEY’RE MESMERIZING, SOOTHING, AND YOU COULD STARE AT THEM FOR HOURS WITHOUT TIRING OF THEM, EVEN AT 100% BRIGHTNESS.

THE CANVAS MIGHT BE AN EXTRAVAGANCE, BUT YOU’LL BE HARD-PRESSED TO REGRET THAT YOU EVER SPENT MONEY ON IT. IN FACT, WE WOULDN’T BE SURPRISED IF YOU WANTED MORE PANELS TO FILL YOUR WALLS (AND POTENTIALLY CEILING) WITH COLOR AND LIFE.

likely be peeling off paint along with the panel if you want to move the lights to another spot in the house or want to redesign the look.

You’d be forgiven if you think installing the Nanoleaf Canvas on your wall is an intimidating task. Honestly, it’s not. But before you get too excited to start putting the panels up, you will need to decide on a design.

APP CONTROL

Thanks to the Control Square you don’t necessarily need the app to turn your lights on and off, or change scenes. It works wonderfully well straight out of the box. However, you will need the Nanoleaf Smarter Series app to set up voice control using HomeKit, Google Home or Amazon Alexa devices. You’ll also need it to download other scenes and set up schedules to automate the lights.

Once your account is set up, you’re ready to pair. You just need to follow what the app prompts you to do. You will, however, need the product code (or QR code) printed on the user manual that ships with the starter kit. In case you’ve thrown that out, you’ll find it on the power hub (as mentioned above).

On the app you’ll find a plethora of Color and Rhythm scenes you can download. The color scenes get added to HomeKit on iOS devices automatically, giving you easy access to all your smart home devices in one place.

The app also allows you to set up schedules – you can set a time for the lights to turn on, how often you want scenes to change and so on.

Another standout feature of the Canvas lights is the ability to set a fade duration during scheduling. Similar to the fade in and fade out feature on Philips Hue bulbs, the Canvas lights can be programmed to do the same, even simulate a sunrise.

FEATURES

The touch-sensitive panels give you the ability to interact with the lights in a few different ways. The simplest way to interact with Canvas is to touch any panel; this sends out a ripple and the color of the light on that particular panel will change, depending on the scene lighting up the wall.

There are also touch gestures you can use on Canvas. These aren’t dependent on light scenes but can be used to control the lights themselves, like changing scenes, adjusting brightness or turning the Canvas on or off. These can be configured in the app.

The touch capacitive nature of the panels also converts Canvas into interactive games. On the app, under the Discover section’s Interactive tab, you’ll find a few games you can play, including Memory, Whack A Mole, PacMan and Game of Life.

If you can think of any other game that can be played on Canvas, or you prefer a color scene not already available on the app, Nanoleaf lets you create those scenes yourself. These get added to the ever-growing library of user-built options available to download for free.

VERDICT

The Canvas might be an extravagance, but you’ll be hard-pressed to regret that you ever spent money on it. In fact, we wouldn’t be surprised if you wanted more panels to fill your walls (and potentially ceiling) with color and life.

It’s a versatile kit – you can have fun with it, it works well with other mood lighting (in fact, if you have an elaborate setup, the Canvas can replace mood lighting altogether), and it’s transformative. It’s guaranteed to lighten your mood, no matter how bad your day was.

If only Nanoleaf could come up with a better design to make sure the panels peel off a wall without causing any damage...