Chinese junk. save your money!

Bought this for a project of mine. Does exactly what it's supposed to do. Perfect for my lighting project.

I bought a set of RGB lights which were great but fell short in one key way - control. The LED strip I bought had a remote which worked, but was somewhat limiting in its offering. I snipped off the controller and plugged the stripped ends directly into this controller. There was no soldering required, just pressing the convenient buttons to allow the wires to be grabbed. They booted up the first time. Set up and connecting to the wifi were simple in the Smart Life app, where it lives with my other Tuya devices. Two of the colors didn't watch their wire coatings, but the controller tabs once again made rectifying simple. Using the app allows so much more control now that the lights are running correctly. I have granular control of the colors and brightness, but can also control the lights remotely from my phone as well as through home automations. This is nearly a necessary upgrade.

(Update 9/27/2023) It is a couple days after writing the original review. Addressing the Coil-whine, I discovered that it is being caused by a particular set of lights. All of the lights hooked up to this are 5050 style rgb lights, however, some are storefront lights, and some are strips. I was curious and started some testing. It just so happens that after I tested other PSU's with no difference, the first set of lights I disconnected from the system were a set of the strip style lights. The noise stopped immediately. Cause undetermined, they work fine otherwise using another controller. There are still other pieces of this same strip on the other side of the room connected to this controller and everything is working fine, no noise. When I find time try and replicate the situation with new lights, I will update with my findings. Star added, that was the only reason I took one away, lbvs.Original Review Below This PointI saw this controller and immediately had the idea that "it could power the LEDs in my office for my "Zen Mode" I bet!" while also connecting it to my smart home."So, a while later here we are. This thing is on the back of my shelf connected to some distribution blocks. 2 blocks, split half and half with jumpers. 1 color wire to each half. This allows me to tie in new sets of lights with ease in just a few seconds. All without having to disconnect a thing but the power supply.Pros-It has enough juice to supply lots of lights. This is already controlling a good number of lights with more to come.-It is a manageable size.-Has 2 ways to connect a power source, wires or a barrel jack.-Has multiple ways it to wire up lights. Meaning you can use a few different types of lights with it. Please read the product details.-Works great with my smart home systems. Pretty responsive as well.-Can get your LEDs nice and bright when needed. Just make sure your LEDs can handle the juice if you crank it up.Cons-There is a slight ringing/Coil-whine type of sound emitting from the device that gets louder when increasing brightness. I am guessing this is not a problem for most people seeing that this is listed for use on boats. It will probably be drowned out in the intended environments, but it is something to think about if you plan to have this controller near areas where you will be close to it. Since I am using it outside of the description, I guess I will make accommodations somehow. This is also the cause for the 4-star rating instead of a 5. It has been good to me so far, but once I discovered the noise I can't unhear it. This is not a deal breaker for me, especially since I have the option to put it in a different area entirely if I cannot mask it. Definitely something to think about for some people.Note: Make sure you press the "Set" button to put in on the proper setting for the type of lights you are using. For example, I am using RGB (Mostly 5050 style) lights, and no white settings worked for me initially. It works just fine now after putting it on the right setting.It is shown powering a few different styles of 4 wire LEDs in the photos (Including store-front LEDs, shown in the blue pic) with no problem...Recommended.

The 5 in 1, C1-1 LED Controller caught my attention while looking for a controller for my 5 pin LED strip.What stood out is the controller works with the Smart Life app. This was important because the Smart Life app has an integration for my smart home setup using Home Assistant.The product arrived quickly, and was packaged with all the listed items. The first thing I'd like to mention is that this controller DOES NOT work with newer LED types such as the ws2812, or sk6812. It is not designed for use with LEDs that use a data pin-It's also worth noting that this controller requires 12-24 volts; this isn't the controller you're looking for if your LED use 5v. (although it may be possible to wire the controller to 12v and then inject 5v at the strip.. but I did not test this)This controller has two ways to input power using a barrel plug that is attached to most transformers, or with direct wire using the spring loaded terminals. The output to the LED also uses these handy push button terminals more convenient then typical screw terminals.There is an LED on the controller which is used to display the 5 modes of use. Since I was using this for a single color COB LED strip, installation was a breeze! Once installed I clicked the set button to change the controller mode to single color/dimming.It also paired quickly and easily with the Smart Life app.Unfortunately I was unable to test the other smart home integrations like Alexia or Google; I don't use those services. also, I did not purchase a separate;y sold c1-2 remote control. I will send commands using the Home Assistant integration, or by using my phone and the smart life app. Otherwise I was unable to try out the 2.4g remote.I've been running the controller for about 30 days, and thus far I haven't had any problems, and the controller works as intended.I didn't open the controller, but it has the weight of a high quality controller. Although it is not waterproof. Areas with rain, or high moisture would probably quickly ruin it. It is not water proof and has no IP rating.To sum it up, this is a nice controller. With the ability to control 5 different types of LEDs, it enables you to future proof your setup. But the price of the controller was on the higher side. You may want to keep your eye open for and coupons or extra savings offers.Thanks for reading, and the opportunity to review this item.. I would recommend this LED controller, but be sure your LED strip doesn't use a data pin-- it wont work with this controller.Enjoy your new lights!

I got this controller specifically to upgrade the capabilities of some old Ikea Dioder LEDs, and set up was a breeze. Do note that the button on the device itself changes the LED mode once set up. If you set up your LEDS with the controller and only have the option for white balance or color only, click it a few times, and it'll cycle through LED modes.I got stuck on having only white balance brightness/control on solely RGB LEDs, but pressing the button cycled into RGB mode, and unlocked the option in the app.