This smart home accessory has made the biggest difference in my kitchen decor – and it's not what you'd expect

Since hate is a strong word, I tend to say that I don't like my cooking at all. It's dingy and dark, so I'm always looking for ways to brighten it up. After DIYing a new backsplash and replacing all of my recessed lights, which wasn't enough, I added some under cabinet lights – but not just any lights. I went with you Cync GE Reveal HD+ Under Cabinet Lights And I can confidently say that I will never try fairy lights for this again.

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GE Lighting, a Savant company, released these Cync under cabinet lights about a year ago, and I've had them in my kitchen for a few months. They are easy to install and perform exactly as promised, giving my kitchen some much-needed lighting. I have my machine running on a schedule every morning and evening when we are making breakfast and getting the kids ready for school, and then while we are preparing dinner. They work with Alexa and Google for seamless voice control, so I can always ask one of these assistants to turn them on when I need extra light.

Installation was easier than I expected. The lights are available as pucks or light strips with millions of color options and plug-in or hardwired installation options. Since I didn't have under-cabinet lighting yet, I connected it. The pucks come with a reference template that you can use to drill small holes where you need them. You use the 3M backing to position each one. You can then attach them with the included screws.

Only the captive screws are required to install the light bar. So all you have to do is screw them in and set them up in the Cync app. The pucks and light bar allow you to connect additional lights with a total output of up to 500 watts, which is handy considering the 12-inch bar is 13 watts and each 3-inch puck is 5 watts. You can control each light individually or as a group, no matter how many you have.

I set up a puck on a small cabinet next to the stove, five connected pucks above my prep area in the kitchen, and a 24″ light bar above the coffee area. Most of the time I control the lights as a group to turn the entire kitchen on or off, although sometimes I ask Alexa to turn on a specific light. That's why I named each light after what's in the cabinet above it.

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Since installing these lights I have enjoyed being in the kitchen more. When the lights are on, the room feels brighter and fresher, and the extra light is helpful when cooking. The lights just make my kitchen look good. I put them on a schedule where they show up every morning for two hours and another two hours in the evening.

The only problem I've encountered is that the light strip sometimes disconnects from my home WiFi, so I have to manually turn it off in the app (which uses Bluetooth to connect) or ask Alexa to do it when the light connection is reestablished. Otherwise, the light bar sometimes misses its signal to turn off and stays on overnight, which we only notice when we return downstairs for the morning rush. However, this could be an issue with this single light bar as it is not a common complaint from buyers.

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The light bar features continuous lights that produce bright output of up to 750 lumens in a small space without dark areas. Each puck emits up to 300 lumens, which is bright enough for under cabinet lights.

Using Reveal, a GE Lighting trademarked technology, the lights filter out dull yellows to produce whiter whites and more vibrant colors for clarity and true-to-life color. You can enable or disable this setting in the Cync app.

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Many people choose to use string lights for under cabinet lighting, which is something I've tried before. But test that Cync Reveal HD+ under cabinet lights from GE Lighting convinced me to never use string lights instead. These lights provide the consistency and visual appeal you don't get from string lights. The latter often fall down, become detached from their clips or have lower brightness than the Cync under cabinet lights.

Even when reflected off my shiny granite countertops, the circular lights look much better than a row of LEDs and give my kitchen a more elegant look.

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The fact that the Pucks look so good and work so seamlessly with the app and third-party integrations makes them easy to recommend to anyone looking to upgrade their kitchen or improve their lighting.