NZXT rolled out version two of its HUE 2 Ambient Kit, addressing many of the concerns we had with the original kit. After some testing, we found the new package to be almost perfect for adding some ambient light to your desktop setup, so much so that we bumped our previous review score and can now provide it a Windows Central Recommended Award.
What the company changed with this refreshed kit is the adhesive on the rear of the LED strips. Not only did we have the choice of using the built-in magnets (who owns a display with a metallic rear panel?), but also pre-installed adhesive. The only drawback of the latter was it was really poor. You had to keep checking to make sure the strips were not peeling away from the display.
This new adhesive is vastly improved, maintaining contact with even curved back panels. Testing the kit out, I attached a single strip to the rear of a few monitors to see just how well it lasted, and not one began peeling away. That's a substantial improvement.
As well as the new adhesive, NZXT removed the corner cables used to hook up strips that are not level. These were slightly cumbersome and didn't allow for perfect 90-degree cornering in some cases. What replaces these cables are L-shape 90-degree plastic connectors. These are easier to both manage and install.
Alcohol wipes are now included with the kit to ensure the rear of your monitor is clean ahead of installing strips and the controller module, just in case you don't have any wipes at hand. All of these changes make for a far better overall package and one we feel is well worth considering for PC builders looking to create a unique system setup.
The kit still isn't perfect, however, which is mostly down to the CAM software. But NZXT tells us it is also working on addressing this issue.
Add some color to your PC
Attach these strips to the rear of your monitor(s) to create an ambient glow behind the screens you'll be gazing at for hours at end. Not only does it look cool, but can even be synced with gameplay currently being displayed on-screen.
