Linkind ET6 Smart TV Backlights with HDMI 2.0 Sync Box Review

Design and setting up

• Long light strips in the box
• Corner brackets for attaching light strip

Out of the box, the ET6 looks more polished than WiZ’s equivalent. The control unit is larger and less toy-like, with physical buttons on the top so you don’t always have to reach for your phone.

The lightstrip – well, actually lightstrips as there are two – is longer too, covering the full four edges of your TV instead of just three. That means the glow looks more even when you’re watching.

The lightstrips – which have adhesive backs – plug into the box via USB ports and it’s important to get them the correct way round otherwise your lights and the action on your TV will be upside down.

Mounting is secured with adhesive brackets, and the corner pieces are bendable, which makes wrapping around the screen a bit easier. Still, the process isn’t what I’d call straightforward; you’ll be peeling, sticking, and adjusting for a while before it looks right.

Once the strip is on, you can cut the excess so you don’t have dangling LEDs ruining the look.

These long lightships, measuring 20 feet in total, mean the ET6 system can work with larger TVs, up to 90 inches. 

Pairing with the AiDot app can be fiddly. It took me more than one attempt to get the strip recognised, but once it finally connected, the rest of the setup was pretty straightforward and once it’s in, the app experience is more intuitive than what you get from WiZ, with clearer menus and quicker access to key settings.

Features

• One HDMI port
• 4K, 60Hz max

At its core, the ET6 system is an HDMI 2.0 box with a lightstrip attached. That means it can handle 4K at 60Hz with HDR and Dolby Vision, but if you’re looking for 120Hz passthrough for PS5 or Xbox Series X gaming, you won’t find it here, which is the same story as WiZ.

For that sort of action you’ll have to stump up more than triple the cost for the Hue Play Sync Box 8K.

There also only a single HDMI input too, so you’re not able to run multiple devices through it, so you’ll need to decide which source gets the light show (although you can, of course, add a HDMI switcher to the mix if you want).

Using the AIDot app you can toggle between six different sync intensities, so you can dial it down for regular TV or crank it up for gaming. The AiDot app also brings in a bunch of preset scenes, scheduling, and voice assistant control via Alexa or Google. 

The lightstrip can also act as a regular smart light too, which makes for a nice ambient effect when the TV isn’t on.

If you want to add more Linkind lights to the mix too, you can do so in the app, where you can edit your zones and move the lights around in a virtual room.

Another advantage of AiDot is its shared ecosystem. If you’ve got other Linkind, Orein, or Welov gear, you’ll find it all grouped together under the one app.

Performance

• Impressive colours
• Good transitions

For the price, the color accuracy and response are pretty impressive. It’s a notch up from WiZ in terms of blending – the transitions between hues feel smoother – though Hue still leads the pack with more precise mapping; but at a much heftier cost.

It does struggle with certain colours being on the screen at the same time though; if there’s any blue in the action then that’s the colour that will dominate the illumination in the rear.

Sync speed is quick enough that you don’t feel a lag between what’s on screen and what’s glowing behind it. Watching action movies or gaming, the lights keep pace well. The different intensity modes do change the vibe: low is subtle enough for casual shows, while high delivers the full disco effect during games.

Compared to camera-based kits, HDMI sync just feels sharper and more immediate, albeit with perhaps more frequent misses. 

That all-important bottom lightstrip really completes the look when your TV is wall-mounted or sat on a stand. 

Should you buy it?