Last year, Living In My GameSpace reviewed Govee’s Starlight Projector (Aurora), and although it was an all-around decent light show, we found the single Aurora scene a little lackluster for the price. Govee’s answer to that criticism is the Galaxy Light Projector 2 Pro. With a mix of real-galaxy and sci-fi-inspired scenes, the GLP2Pro sits firmly as Govee’s flagship projector kit. Of course, that always leads us to the question of whether an upgraded kit is worth an upgraded price. This time, even though I still have a few things to nitpick about, I think it is.
Galaxy Light Projector 2 Pro – Specs
- Price: $179.99 (Amazon, Govee)
- Dimensions: 9.37 x 6.41 x 5.82 inches
- Lux/Illuminance: 230 lumen
- Lens Resolution: 4MP HD
- Projection Area: 90-degree wide projection, covering 301 sq-ft
- Sound: 21 White Noise options
- Matter Support: Yes
- Control Options: Govee App, Alexa, Google Home
Galaxy Light Projector 2 Pro – At A Glance
Along with the projector unit, you’ll find the base, eight discs, a 5V power adapter, a power cable, and the user manual packed into the box. Setup is as simple as plugging in the power cord, throwing in one of the discs, and turning it on. The projector connects to the Govee App via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and can also be controlled via Alexa and the Google Assistant.
Anyone familiar with the original Galaxy Light Projector Pro will immediately notice one significant change – the projector and base are no longer a single unit. Instead, the base serves as a cradle with the projector placed on top for much easier 360-degree adjustments.
Other than the separate base, the exterior of the pill-shaped projector hasn’t changed much from the original design. The lens and starry sky laser dominate one side, with the power adapter plugging directly into the USB-C port on the projector’s side. The function buttons and disc tray run along the top of the projector. For manual control, there is a power on/off, scene switching, brightness, and a play/pause button. Notably missing is the GLP2Pro’s LED bulb, which provided an RGB overlay across the scene.
The disc tray is spring-loaded and opens by pressing down and then pulling it out. The tray holds a single disc – a built-in disc carousel would be a fantastic addition, but it’s not practical given the size of the housing. With the disc snapped into place, you simply slide the tray back in and press to lock it.
Internally, the projector has been enhanced with an upgraded 4MP HD lens with 230 lux brightness – twice as bright as the original. As you would expect, the projector is most visually impressive in a dark room, but it’s bright enough to use in dim lighting.
The projector comes with eight scene disks. The design of the discs has changed from the original projector, making the two units incompatible. The scenes are different than those found in the original GLPPro, so it would have been nice if the two sets could have been interchangeable. The new set of discs include the following scenes:
- Planet Gazer – gas clouds surround the planet at the scene’s center.
- Rose Nebula – a vivid scene of the Rosette Nebula, a giant molecular cloud found in the Monceros region of the Milky Way.
- Pillar of Creation – experience the most iconic picture taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.
- Dream Gate – similar to the Planet Gazer without the planet, leaving the center open to feature the starry sky laser show.
- Milky Way – our night sky fabulously displayed on your ceiling.
- Spectrum Halo – a fiery ring is the focal point of the scene, with a rainbow-colored nebula along the outer edge.
- Falling Planet – a planet crashing through a gas cloud.
- Silent Cosmos – a blue-hued scene with more subtle features than the other discs.
Galaxy Light Projector 2Pro – The Lighting On The Wall
The other Govee projectors are nice, but for me, they all have one major flaw: they are one-trick ponies. The Star Light Projector that I previously reviewed can only create an aurora effect. Likewise, the Nebula and Ocean Wave projectors can only generate their namesake image. There’s a lot of customization that can be thrown in to spice those scenes up, but in the end, you are just changing color, speed, and a few other variables.
The Galaxy Projector Light 2 Pro doesn’t have the same level of lighting control as other kits. There are multiple presets, but they only change the speed of the motion effects and dim and brighten the lights. Obviously, the disks are the main show here. And, boy, are they a show! You’ve probably seen an image of the Pillar of Creation, but I doubt you’ve seen it at this scale or clarity. And the other discs? They have the same jaw-dropping effect.
The show isn’t static either. Only a portion of the scene – a very large portion with the GLP2Pro – is visible at any moment. Like the night sky, the scene slowly rotates to reveal features you hadn’t seen minutes ago. It’s an amazing effect that you don’t really get from viewing a celestial scene on your TV.
The discs are only part of the picture here. The Starry Sky laser adds additional points of light into the scene, giving it more depth than just the disc alone. The laser can be set to Diffuse or Gather to change the direction of the starlight motion. Watching the stars gather into the center of the Spectrum Halo scene is one of the coolest effects the projector can make.
Although the GLP2Pro creates some fantastic scenes, I have a couple of points of criticism. The first is just a limitation of production: there are only eight scenes, and I want more! That’s still seven more than the other projectors, but Govee needs get busy making an add-on pack so that I can get even more images.
My second complaint concerns the starlight laser. Although I really like the way it adds depth and motion to the scene, the stars only come in one color – blue. I’m not sure if you’ve looked up at the sky lately, but stars are white. Blue works well for some scenes, but I found it distracting in others. I would think that the option to change the stars’ color would be an easy addition to the kit – the starscape on the Aurora projector is green – so I hope to see multiple colors in future projectors.
Finally, the ambient background sound options are weak at best. Not only is the speaker’s sound tinny and muddled, but the sounds themselves are right out of a basic noise maker. I would expect something that adds to the grandeur of the cosmic scenes; all we get are babbling brooks, Christmas tunes, and lullabies. Now that the review is completed, I’ll never turn the sound on again, and I’d rather the speaker be removed to save $5 in manufacturing costs.
Final Thoughts
Even though I don’t have an original Galaxy Light Projector Pro to compare to, I was still impressed by the Galaxy Light Projector 2 Pro. The design is sleek and looks great on a table or in the center of your floor.
I really enjoyed the variety of scenes available, from the subtle Silent Cosmos to the iconic Pillar of Creation. However, I have mixed feelings about the Starry Sky laser. The extra stars it creates add movement and depth to the scenes, but I really want the option to change the stars’ color. The background sounds included with the projector are throwaways that add nothing to the experience.
And that leads us to the ultimate question: Is the Galaxy Light Projector 2 Pro better than the other Govee projectors? I’ve only used Govee’s Star Light Projector (Aurora), and even with its shortcomings, the GLP2Pro is a significant upgrade over that model. As for the Nebula and Ocean Wave projectors, I’ve only seen images of their scenes. Like the Star Light Projector, they offer more scene customization options, but I’ll take fewer options and the more realistic, detailed images from the GLP2Pro.
The simple, honest truth of which projector I would buy comes down to how it will be used. If you’re just tossing the projector into your kids’ room, any of the other projectors will wow them at a much lower price. But if you enjoy sky gazing, the Galaxy Light Projector 2 Pro feels like you are actually sitting out under the stars on a warm summer night – bugs not included – and is by far the better viewing experience.
