Twinkly Festoon

Verdict

Excellent fun, bright and packed with dynamic scenes, the Twinkly Festoon can bring any outdoor space to life. They’re a little ugly when turned off, but I can easily forgive this, as the lights are so much fun when lit up.

Introduction

Festoon lights are a brilliant way to light up a garden and fill it with light.

Not only do the Twinkly Festoon match that brief, but their smart control and an excellent range of scenes make these lights more fun than the competition.

Design and features

• Available in two lengths
• HomeKit compatible
• Wide choice of scenes

The Twinkly Festoon lights are available in two lengths: one with 20 individually controlled lights and one with 40 lights. Unlike some traditional Festoon lights, these ones can’t be extended, and each set needs its own plug. However, lights can be connected in the Twinkly software to give the appearance of one continuous set of lights, no matter how many individual sets are used.

These lights are very easy to set up, with each bulb containing a small hook. Lights can be strung along a fence or wrapped backwards and forwards over an area to suspend the bulbs. My only complaint, as with the TCP LED+ Outdoor Festoon Light, is that the bulbs look a little ugly when turned off.

Power is via a plug that must be connected to a waterproof plug. I used an outside multi-way power socket for this job.

Externally, there’s an inline control with a single button that is used to cycle through the scenes programmed to the lights. This is the same controller used on the Twinkly Curtain lights. I found it useful for quickly turning the lights on and off without having to reach for my phone.

More control is available through the app, with the lights connected to my home network via Wi-Fi. From the app, there’s direct control over brightness and an option to select a solid colour. In this way, the lights provide solid ambient lighting.

Want something a bit more fun? There’s a gallery of scenes, which vary between slowly shifting shades of colour to racing lights that move up and down the bulbs. Each effect can be customised by speed and colour.

To get the most out of the effects, the bulbs’ positions need to be mapped using the app and your phone’s camera. It must be dark enough outside for the camera to see the lights, but not too dark.

It can be tricky to pick the exact time of day to do this. And, because the lights can cover a large area, it can be hard to get everything in view; using the more advanced option that uses multiple shots from different angles proved best.

As well as the Twinkly app, the Twinkly Festoon can be controlled in Apple Home. This gives basic power, colour selection and brightness controls. However, HomeKit compatibility is also useful for automations: I have my Twinkly Festoon lights set up to turn on when a Hue Smart Button is pressed (this also turns on my Hue Outdoor lights); when a specific Hue bulb turns off, the Festoon lights turn off, too.

Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant support are available. Voice commands let me turn the lights on and off, but not select a scene.

Performance

• Bright bulbs
• Fun scenes, enhance an outdoor space

At their brightest, the Twinkly Festoon are good enough to light up an outdoor space. I have mine running down a fence next to the path I use to get to my outdoor office. I found the lights bright enough that I could easily see where I was going.

It’s the dynamic scenes that really set these lights apart. As each bulb can be individually controlled, the range of effects is impressive, and the result more dynamic than with dumber chains of light that can only change colour together.

I found that the Twinkly Festoon responded quickly to the app, and they always worked with my Apple Home Automations.

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