amaran SM5c Strip Light System Announced

Lighting News

by Graham SheldonNovember 17^th, 2022

The amaran SM5c strip light has been announced and is aimed toward home creators and live streamers looking to spruce up their shots with easily mountable full-color background lighting. At $89 for a 5-meter kit, the amaran SM5c lands right in the middle of the field in terms of price point. More details below:

amaran, an affordable partner lighting brand of Aputure, thinks the amaran SM5c strip light kit is poised to compete directly with brands like Elgato, Philips, Razer, and others in the strip lighting segment. Indeed a quick look at the market puts the SM5c in a place closer to the previously mentioned brands and not Litegear’s more customizable and, in turn, pricier LiteRibbon product line.

SM5c Feature List:

• Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant Compatible as well as Sidus Link
• Extendable to 10 meters in length (extension sold separately)
• Built-in Microphone for Music Effects Simulation
• “Frosted” Diffusion Layer
• 100 Available Color Zones
• Adhesive Backing

Interestingly this is the first amaran product to feature both WiFi (allowing the light to work with Amazon and Google-based control systems) and Bluetooth connectivity (likely for Sidus Link). The amaran line tends not to feature DMX compatibility natively, although a few amaran products can be adapted to DMX via an external accessory.

It will be interesting to watch the amaran brand begin to compete directly with established large players like Philips in the home space. Of course, this newly-announced strip light is still aimed primarily at content creators, but I don’t see a reason why this can’t be viewed as a more mass-market product, versus what we’re used to seeing out of amaran or Aputure.

Given that this product uses adhesive to mount I would consider the amaran SM5c to be a relatively permanent installation that wouldn’t be suitable for moving from location to location but should fair fine with a long-standing set.

What do you think of the amaran SM5c strip light? Will you be adding strip lighting to the background of your sets? Let us know in the comments below!