Linkind ET6 Smart TV Backlights with HDMI 2.0 Sync Box review

Linkind ET6 Smart TV Backlights with HDMI 2.0 Sync Box: Introduction

The likes of Govee and Nanoleaf offered up the first budget alternatives to Hue’s Sync Boxes, but those systems both come with a caveat: you need to use a camera that points at your screen to sync up the action with your smart lights.

Linkind, with the ET6, offers an HDMI 2.0 sync kit that promises the same plug-and-play lightshow without the camera faff, and at a price that won’t have you wincing.

As with the WiZ HDMI Sync Box that was launched earlier this year, the Linkind ET6 combines a control box with a lightstrip that sticks to the back of your TV.

The idea is simple: whatever’s happening on screen gets mirrored in color-soaked real time behind your screen. No calibration, no camera dangling in front of your display, just HDMI in, HDMI out, and lights that match the action.

So, how does Linkind’s effort it stack up against WiZ, Govee, Nanoleaf and the pricier Hue boxes?

Read my Linkind ET6 Smart TV Backlights with HDMI 2.0 Sync Box review to find out…

Design and installation

The Linkind box itself is a bit chunkier than WiZ’s but in a good way as it feels nicer, has a more premium look, and even throws in physical control buttons on the top so you can cycle modes without reaching for your phone, which is handy for when guests are over and you just want to show off without being too much of a bore.

You also get a HDMI cable in the box, which not every rival includes, plus the usual sticky-backed lightstrips and mounting clips.

Unlike rival’s three-sided design, Linkind’s setup runs around all four sides of your TV, with two separate 10ft strips powered via USB out of the control box.

That 20 feet of lightstrip length means supports for up to 90-inch TV sets and any excess can be trimmed, so you don’t need to worry about having extra unneeded length ruining the effect.

Getting around corners with these sorts of setups is always a challenge but the ET6 comes boxed with some bendy corner brackets to try and make things easier.

They’re a little fiddly, and you can’t quite get the light beads facing totally outward, but they do eliminate the dreaded dark corner gaps.

And, because the strip runs along the bottom of the TV as well, the whole thing looks much more immersive, especially if your TV is wall-mounted or on a stand.

The connection to your TV is simple enough; you just plug in your set top box, console or streaming stick to the ET6’s single HDMI input, then out to your TV. There’s no support for smart TV apps running natively because the box needs that HDMI feed.

Pairing with the AiDot app (where Linkind, Orein, Welov and Winees all live under the same umbrella) was fussier than I’d like.

On both Android and iOS I had to toggle off 5GHz Wi-Fi and make a few attempts before it stuck. But once connected, you can add other AiDot bulbs to the mix and assign their position relative to your TV for a fuller room effect.

One caveat: with just a single HDMI input, you’ll need an external HDMI switch if you want to keep multiple sources (console, set-top box, streamer) plugged in. Hue still has the edge here with four inputs, but you are paying more than triple the price.

Features

Once you’re all paired-up in the app and have the lightstrip(s) stuck to the back of your television (plus any other bulbs added to the mix that you want) then you’re all ready to go.

Linkind gives you six sync intensity modes including Smooth, Medium (TV), and Strong (Gaming), and they all do what they say on the tin.

There are also six presets, four music-sync modes, and of course manual control over the 16 million colors if you just want ambient lighting.

Voice assistant support is advertised for Alexa and Google Assistant. In practice, I couldn’t get it to fire up TV sync mode via voice, but standard smart light commands (on/off, brightness, color changes) worked fine.

If you’re hoping to trigger movie-time sync by shouting at a speaker, you’ll probably be disappointed (unless you work out the correct commands, that I couldn’t seem to).

Under the hood you’re looking at HDMI 2.0b, which means 4K at up to 60Hz as well as HDR, and Dolby Vision.

There are no HDMI 2.1 features like 120Hz gaming, VRR, or ALLM. If you’re chasing buttery-smooth next-gen console output, you’ll still need to cough up for Hue’s 8K box.

The AiDot app is a bit more straightforward to navigate than Wiz and Govee’s apps, with TV sync options less buried in menus. It’s not Hue-slick, but it gets the job done.

Performance

This is where the ET6 really impresses for its price. Color accuracy is pretty good on the whole, blending is actually a bit better than WiZ in my experience, and latency is basically a non-issue.

It did struggle with yellow and green a bit, with blue hues dominating, but not enough to make the experience jarring.

That bottom strip really adds a punch; it’s subtle when you’re watching a brightly lit scene, but in darker content or action movies it makes everything feel more enveloping.

For me, it elevated the whole experience compared to WiZ’s three-sided setup.

Like WiZ, the ET6 works best when brightness and intensity are dialed up to full whack, which you can do in the app or with the physical buttons on the box.

Fast-moving sequences can occasionally trip it up – I did notice the odd miss compared to Hue’s tighter sync – but that’s to be expected at this price-point.

Music sync is surprisingly solid too, though this feels more like a party trick than a reason to buy the kit.

Overall, for casual gaming, sports, and movie nights, the ET6 keeps pace with WiZ while offering a slightly richer, more consistent glow thanks to that four-sided strip.

Final thoughs

Linkind hasn’t reinvented the HDMI sync box here, it’s still capped at HDMI 2.0, still stuck with a single HDMI input, and still a bit fiddly to pair at first. But what it has done is refine the budget formula WiZ has kicked off.

The physical buttons, bendy brackets, and full four-sided strip aren’t gimmicks; they genuinely improve the experience and make the ET6 feel like a more complete package. Hue Play is still the gold standard, but you’re paying hundreds more for that privilege.

If you’re shopping for immersive lighting on a budget and can live without 120Hz gaming, the Linkind ET6 is right up there with WiZ as one of the best value boxes on the market… maybe even the smarter pick if you want that bottom glow.

How we test

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