Nanoleaf's new ‘Elements’ light panels are designed to match your decor

Smart lighting company Nanoleaf’s multi-colored, smart LED panels and remote have become instantly recognizable thanks to their popularity with gamers. But what about those customers who want something subtler and want panels that look as good when off as they do on? Enter the “Elements” line, a new range of hexagonal light panels with a wood veneer finish, and all of the smart home integrations that have made the Canadian company’s other wares so popular.

Unlike Nanoleaf’s existing panels (available in triangles, squares, or hexagons), the Elements range only emits white light, but the temperature range is extensive (1,500-4,000K). Like their predecessors, though, the Elements panels include preset lighting scenes along with the ability for users to create their own and share them with other Nanoleaf owners.

See the rhythm — Like Nanoleaf’s other panels, the Elements range includes a microphone so the illuminations can be set to react to music, and like their stablemates, it’s possible to power them on or off or change scenes with all three major smart home / voice assistant platforms: Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple’s HomeKit and Siri. Plus they work with Samsung’s SmartThings platform and IFTTT.

The panels are also touch-sensitive (like Nanoleaf’s square, “Canvas” panels), and the color temperature and animations of each corner can be individually altered, which makes for more organic-looking patterns, like the panels’ ability to look like a roaring fire. It also makes it possible to adjust the panels or toggle them on or off without having to dig around in Nanoleaf’s app.

Users can also create schedules, or have the Elements panels adjust based on time of day and location with a feature called “Circadian Lighting.” Panels can work as a wake-up light in the morning, brighten and turn cooler during the day, and then warm and dim into the evening.

Subtle and stylish — “Most smart products have been made to only focus on functionality and not how it fits into a home,” says Gimmy Chu, Nanoleaf CEO and co-founder. “We’re here to change that. We believe that a smart home can be innovative, forward-thinking and also welcome you warmly into a space.”

Elements panels are available starting today from Nanoleaf’s online store and will come to Best Buy stores in the U.S. later this month. They’ll also be stocked in Apple Stores globally later this year. The starter kit (seven panels and the requisite plug, wall mounts, and connectors) costs $299.99 and expansion packs (three panels) are priced at $99.99 each.

New features for older devices — Nanoleaf today also announced new features for its “Essentials” range of LED strips and bulbs, and its existing color-changing panels. The strips and bulbs previously only supported single colors, but can now be set to transition between up to seven colors and includes new animation-like features.

And gamers haven’t been forgotten. Users have been asking Nanoleaf for the ability to sync their Razer gaming hardware’s colors with their light panels, and that’s now possible.

Less headline-grabbing, but potentially important down the road, Nanoleaf also announced that the Elements panels will support the Thread smart home standard (like the Essentials devices already do) after a software update and thus will be able to serve as nodes in a device-agnostic Thread network. That should mean better support for a range of smart home kit no matter who makes it and means Nanoleaf devices will work with future devices that support Matter, the forthcoming, cross-platform standard being touted by Amazon, Apple, and Google.