The Aqueon OptiBright Plus is this year’s follow up to one of the company’s best LED striplights to date, the OptiBright LED. With its plus-level upgrade the OptiBright trades in its touch sensitive channel controls for a very convenient remote control.
Aqueon improved the OptiBright plus with three channels of LED control, one white, one RGB and one low power blue moonlight LED channel. We know what you’re thinking, because we thought the same thing when we first saw the box for the OptiBright Plus, that the remote was just a mildly convenient accessory.
But the remote control is what truly sets the OptiBright plus LED fixture aside from all that have come before it. Because instead of being just an afterthought, the remote control is actually part of a built-in three-channel timer as well as control for the light fixture.
Unlike the super thin, cheap and ubiquitous LED remotes that are being used by many of the major mainstream LED manufacturers, Aqueon us using a beefy remote with the usual pre-programmed color, brightness and on/off controls. But the real kicker is the built-in LCD screen which displays the current time, and allows users to set individual on/off times for each of the three LED channels.
The smart remote included in the Aqueon OptiBright Plus LED is really the lynchpin of a greater strategy with this light. Instead of having multiple power cords for each channel being plugged into a near-disposable hardware timer, the OptiBright Plus LED has a single power cord, and the light timing needs are built right into the remote control.
Even better yet, setting the current time, and each on/off adjustment is incredibly easy and intuitive to program. We didn’t have to look at the instructions at all and were able to set the current time and each timer setting in less than five minutes.
To be clear, the Aqueon OptiBright Plus LED striplight is no PAR monster, you won’t be growing hardly any corals and only the lowest light plants with a single striplight. But for general illumination needs and for seeing your fish in great colors while not promoting too much algae growth, the OptiBright Plus with “super” remote is a great all in one lighting solution for having tons of lighting fun with your tank.
Since the OptiBright Plus LED striplights will be revealed later this week, we don’t yet know how much this light will cost compared to the current OptiBright LED pricing. It may not be that bright, but if Aqueon employs this smart remote-timer strategy into a lighting package which lights in large sizes and with more punch, Aqueon could make some serious inroads into the crowded LED market.
