SilverStone SST-LS03 Flexible Light Strip Review

Introduction

In the feverish trend of colorful lighting setup and whatnot almost every company with a few exceptions like Noctua has off the shelf RGB/ARGB ready devices for the users. SilverStone is among those companies but the company has not lost the focus on performance over the form as well. Today, I will be taking a look at their SST-LS03 ARGB lighting strips. The SST-LS03 is a pack of two ARGB strips each having a length of 300mm. Bundled are two cables which allow to daisy chain the strips as well connect it to the 5V lighting header of the compatible motherboard. Let’s start digging it.

Product: SST-LS03

Manufacturer: SilverStone

Price: $21.99 [At the time of the review]

Specifications

Packaging and Unboxing

The strips are shipped inside a transparent container placed inside a paperboard box. The packing box has more length to it as the strips are not rolled.

This side of the packing box has a colorful background. SilverStone brand logo and name are printed on the top left. LS03 is printed in the bold and enlarged font size. Box has 2 ARGB strips.

This side has the picture of two ARGB strips on the top. The specifications are printed in the tabular format. Addressable RGB LEDs text is printed in 10 languages. The UPC, EAN, and Serial no stickers are printed/pasted at the bottom. The product is made in China.

This side has LS03 printed on the right side whereas the description is printed on the left side.

This side is identical to the other side except that LS03 is now on the left side and description is on the right side.

Opening the box will reveal the transparent container with the contents placed inside.

Contents

There is not a bunch of accessories in the content. The following are included:

2x ARGB LED Strips
1x Sync Cable
1x Splitter Cable
1x User Manual

Closer Look

Here is what SilverStone is saying about their product. “LED strip is a must-have for any enthusiast looking to brighten up their PCs. SilverStone created the LS03, an addressable RGB LED strip which allows for control of each individual LED to display colors independently for a nearly unlimited combination of colors and gradients. It can be controlled by hardware or software that can manipulate +5V, D, G, signals such as addressable RGB LED control box or motherboard to display user’s desired colors on each LED. It also has the ability to daisy chain multiple light strips to accommodate various applications. Finally, to improve ease of installation and replacement, the LS03 has both built-in magnetic strip and adhesive tape to better meet the demand of enthusiasts that require more flexibility in installation.”

The SilverStone has bundled two ARGB LED strips in a box. Each strip has 12 ARGB LEDs on it. The length of the strip is 300mm not including the connector cables. Each end of the strip has a different connector which makes sense as it allows the user to either daisy chain the multiple strips or simply connects a single strip to the lighting source. The SST-LS03 is compatible with:

Asus AURA Sync
MSI Mystic Lighting Sync
ASRock Polychrome Sync
Gigabyte RGB Fusion 2.0
Razer Chroma
SilverStone RGB Approved.

When the user connects the LS03 to the motherboard 5V lighting header and does not use the motherboard’s lighting application then the default behavior of the strips will be as shown in the picture above.

Taking a closer look at the strip itself, it has a black color background. There is an SST brand logo between every two ARGB LEDs. The LS03 is following this pin format:

+5V, D, G
+5V, D, G

The power rating of the strip is 3W using 0.6A at 5V DC. Please, note that the motherboard sync cable only has +5V, D, G connector. You will need to find a +5V, D, G pin format connecting cable for the Gigabyte motherboards. I wish SilverStone had considered this.

The SST-LS03 has 3M adhesive tape on the magnetic strip. The user can either simply place the strips on the steel frame of the chassis or peel off the red cover and paste the strip to the chassis frame. Kudos to their design team for giving this much flexibility!

Each strip has two connectors with one on each end. One is the 3-pin female connector and the other is a 3-pin male connector.

The SilverStone has bundled two cables in the box. One is the splitter cable as shown in the above picture. This cable allows to daisy chain up to 3 strips. It has one 3-pin female connector and two 3-pin male connectors.

The cable shown in the above picture is the sync/connect cable as it allows the daisy-chained or single strips to be connected to the lighting source like 5V lighting header or the lighting hub. It has one 3-pin female connector and one 3-pin male connector. There is a 4-pin female connector with pin format of +5V, D, G. Please, note that this cable will not work on the Gigabyte motherboards as these boards are using the +5V, D, G pin format.

The SilverStone LS03 is compatible with many of their products, some of which are:

CPL02-E RGB Hub
LSB02-E RGB Hub
FG122 RGB Fan Grill
FG142RGB Fan Grill
AP124-ARGB Fan
AP142-ARGB Fan
PM01 PC Chassis
PM02 PC Chassis
RL06 PC Chassis
RL07 PC Chassis

ARGB Lighting

I have used SST-LS03 in the test build that I have made to test the EKWB Classic RGB P360 kit. Here is the configuration:

Intel i7 8700k
Asus Strix Z390-E Gaming
Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 16GB
Samsung PM961 150GB NVMe SSD
Antec HCP1300
Cooler Master H500P Mesh
EK Classic RGB P360 kit

I have daisy-chained the two strips and connect them to the 5V AURA header of the motherboard. When the system was powered on, the strips were in multiple colors lighting mode by default. Here are some of the pictures:

Conclusion

The SilverStone LS03 is a great way to enhance the lighting setup in your build. The SST-LS03 is an ARGB lighting solution comprising of two ARGB LED strips and supporting cables in a single box. Each strip has 12 ARGB LED strips on it. The LS03 is using the 3-pin format of +5V, D, G on both connectors of the strips. One connector is 3-pin male one and the other end has 3-pin female connector. The length of the strip is 300mm. The power rating of the strip is 3.0W using 0.6A at 5V DC.

Each strip has a magnetic base with 3M self-adhesive tape. The user can either use the magnetic force to install the strips in the steel frame of the chassis or can peel off the tape and paste the strip on the frame. The SilverStone has bundled two cables in the packing box. One is the splitter cable that allows the user to daisy chain the multiple strips or connects the strips to the supported ARGB SilverStone products. This cable has two 3-pin male connectors and one 3-pin female connector. The second cable is the sync/connect cable which allows the user to connect the strip(s) to the lighting source. It has one 3-pin male and one 3-pin female connector. There is one 4-pin female connector using pin format of +5V, D, G.

The SST-LS03 packs some stunning and sublime lighting effects. One good thing about them is that they are not overly done in terms of the lighting brightness. The SST-LS03 is listed at $21.99 at the time of the review. A bit steep price but worth it! The SST-LS03 based on our testing comes recommended by us.