WiZ HDMI Sync Box with TV Backlight Review

WiZ HDMI Sync Box (with TV Backlight): Introduction

Back in April, Philips Hue’s parent company Signify took the covers off a more affordable ticket for immersive TV lighting. But what was announced was not another Hue Play HDMI Sync Box. Joining the HDMI smart lighting action was Signify’s “budget” brand WiZ.

The new Wiz HDMI Sync Box with TV Backlight, as its full name suggests, consists of a control box and an LED light strip that sticks to the back of your TV, working together to create a light show in response to the visuals on your screen. You can’t actually buy the box on its own, hence the big name.

Like Signify’s flagship product, the Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K, you don’t have to point the camera at the screen like you do with Govee and Nanoleaf’s TV sync products, and it still costs less than a third of its Hue big brother.

But how does it change in terms of performance? Read on to find out…

Design and setup

The first thing you notice when you take the WiZ HDMI Sync Box out of the box is that it’s a very small box, much smaller than Hue’s other products, but it also looks and feels much cheaper.

After all, it’s much cheaper, and the Sync Box is unlikely to be on display, so that’s okay. It’s probably stored in your AV unit or hidden behind your gaming console.

That’s because WiZ HDMI Sync Box directly reads the video signal from the HDMI source to achieve real-time color matching effects. You’ll need to connect something to the lone HDMI input to start the action.

This means that the light reflects what’s happening on the screen without the hassle of adjustment and doesn’t require an additional camera, as is the case with similarly priced rivals. Just plug in your streaming stick, console, or set-top box and turn on the lights.

Therefore, setup is easy. Inside the box, alongside the main unit, you’ll find a light strip, an HDMI cable, a power brick, and an extra clip to secure the light strip in place.

This light strip is a 3-sided segmented RGBIC LED strip that comes in two different sizes: one for 55-65 inch TVs and one for larger models from 75-85 inches. I tested the former on a 65-inch TV for this review.

The first thing to do is to sync the Sync Box itself with the WiZ app. This is the same app used in WiZ’s existing smart lights. There is no separate app for sync actions.

It pairs via Bluetooth and you can make calls by plugging in the light strip and sticking it to the back of your TV.

The light strip comes with 3M tape already attached, and as mentioned, there are also some additional clips in the box.

WiZ takes a different approach to corner sections than I’ve seen before. The light strip actually comes as three segments connected by small wires. The idea is to run the wire through a small corner block.

This means it’s less cumbersome to install than rival cars, which require you to bend and angle the light strip around corners, but it also creates small spots where no light is emitted. However, thanks to the brightness, you won’t notice this when the sync action is occurring, so this isn’t really a problem.

Once you pair your Sync Box, the app will run a test to see which direction you installed the light strip, and you’re good to go.

Signify also sells other lights that work well with the Sync Box. The Gradient Floor Light (£79.99 / $89.99) is a slim plug-and-play unit with a wide beam angle, designed to cast a rich wash of color on walls and corners.

The Gradient Light Bar (£54.99 / $59.99) provides multi-colored segmented lighting in a compact design that can be mounted vertically or horizontally.

If you want to add these to the mix, you can set their positions using the TV Area section of the app. It’s not as intuitive or detailed as its Hue counterpart, but it’s still a simple process.

As mentioned earlier, the Sync Box relies on HDMI inputs to operate streaming sticks, set top boxes, game consoles, etc., so it won’t work natively with smart TV apps on your TV or with HDMI inputs that go directly into your TV.

It also only has one HDMI input (and, of course, one output), so you’ll need an external switch if you want to connect multiple devices. Hue’s 4K and 8K boxes both have four HDMI inputs.

Features

Once you start syncing, you’ll notice that the WiZ app offers four sync modes: Cinematic, Vibrant, Relaxation, and Rhythmic. These are fancy names for a series of presets with different brightness, saturation, and intensity settings, which can also be adjusted manually in the app.

Voice commands via Alexa or Google Assistant are also offered, along with an optional WiZ remote control.

Available voice commands include start/stop, change mode, adjust intensity, and adjust brightness. I find it easier to create a movie time Alexa routine that sets everything exactly to my liking with one simple command.

It’s HDMI 2.0 only, so it can handle 4K and all major HDR formats, but it’s not the best choice if you want to get the most out of 120Hz gaming on PS5 or Xbox Series X.

If that’s what you’re looking for, consider last year’s Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K…but it’s much more wallet-friendly.

Instead, the WiZ HDMI box directly analyzes the HDMI input (up to 4K at 60Hz with HDR10+ and Dolby Vision) and sends synchronized color effects to selected WiZ lights in the TV area.

The WiZ app is designed with regular smart lighting in mind, so accessing the sync settings is actually a bit of a pain. I wish the Sync Box experience was placed in a more intuitive position within the app.

In use and performance

I’m a huge fan of both the original Hue Sync Box and its 8K follow-up, and I went into this review knowing that my standards were pretty high when it came to optical syncing on TVs.

So I had to lower my expectations a bit with a much cheaper device.

The good news is I didn’t have to lower it too much. It’s the authentic and stunning visuals you get with the Hue model, but it still delivers great performance.

Sure, there are times when pairs of colors combine to form mixtures rather than showing exactly what’s around the edges of the screen (such as the red and blue making purple in the image above), and yes, the WiZ sync box completely messed up in some fast-paced scenes, but overall it performed much better than I expected for the price… especially since you don’t have to point the camera at the screen.

With the Hue Sync Box, you may want to reduce the saturation and intensity, as they can be a bit high. At WiZ, we find that we leave everything running at full capacity for best effect.

Like all TV light sink systems, it’s perfect for bright, vibrant movies and TV shows. The animation and sci-fi action made the film shine, and were also effective in adding depth and realism to the sporting events.

I’m not an avid gamer, and like I said, it’s not suitable for a serious 120Hz head, but it worked well enough for casual gaming. I tested a few EA Sports games on the Xbox Series S, as well as some family-friendly games I play with my kids, and it worked great.

If you want, you can use the light strip as a regular smart light, but where’s the fun in that?

final thoughts

Signify did this wisely. By removing the extra HDMI port, ditching the premium build, and pursuing a more mainstream audience, we’ve lowered the price without sacrificing fun. Sure, hardcore gamers who want 4K/120Hz HDR should still go for the Hue Sync Box 8K, and there are some color matching issues, but for the price, the WiZ HDMI Sync Box does the job admirably.

Test method

When we publish a review, you can rest assured that it is the result of long-term testing.

Smart lights typically exist within an ecosystem, or perhaps a set of products that all work in harmony. Therefore, it is impossible to use connected lights for a week and make a judgment.

We test smart home kits all day, every day, so we know what’s important and how a particular light compares to the alternatives you’re considering.

Our reviews are comprehensive, objective and unbiased, and of course we don’t receive direct compensation to review devices.

For more information, read our guide on how to test smart lights.