Today we are taking a look at a 4-foot pixel-based tube light, the Godox TP4R, the mid-sized light in the Godox KNOWLED TP professional tube light family.
Background
We have tested many tube lights in the past including ones from Godox itself. In fact, the Godox TL30 tube lights that we have tested back in 2021 are still some of our favorite and we use them often in the studio with their only major drawback being their battery life.
Unlike the more consumer oriented TL30, the Godox TP4R is designed to be a professional level tube light and it includes several advanced features that sets it apart from some of the more basic tube lights on the market.
Godox TP4R and TL30
Main features
Here is a partial list of the features of the Godox TP4R, we will be going over some of the main ones later on in this review:
- 64W RGBWW tube light with 32 user-controlled pixels
- 2000K to 10,000K color temperature range
- RGB, HSI, CCT, Gel, and expended 17 FX modes
- Support for wireless CRMX, wired DMX, LumenRadio, and Godox Light 3.0 app
- 8bit and 16bit modes
- Mapping for simulating real-life scenarios
- IP65 waterproof rating and 1m shockproof
The Godox TP4R 4 foot tube light
In the box / Accessories
In the box, we received a soft case, user manual, power adapter and a long cable, two short metal security cables, two clamps as well as two screw bolts.
Please note that there are also 4 and 8 TP4R light kits with hard cases and a lot more accessories.
Build and design
The Godox TP4R is 117cm (46”) long and 3.8cm (1.5”) in diameter and comes in white. It has a screen and 5 control buttons; we actually preferred the jog dial of the previous TL30 as it is faster to use and more intuitive. The TP4R also has two 3/8” 16 threads, one on each end of the light. It would be nice if Godox would have included 3/8” to ¼” adapters with the light.
The control buttons include an on/off button, mode button as well as a function and plus/minus buttons. The On/off button can also be used to dim the light to 0% with a short click and a longer press on the mode goes to the light’s menu.
The mode button changes between CCT mode with G/M correction (plus/minus 50), HSI, RGB, Gel mode and FX mode with 17 options.
Typically, we rarely use the FX modes on most lights as they tend to feel a bit gimmicky but we discovered that when it comes to large pixel-based lights the effects can actually be very useful in specific situations for adding another type of change to a scene.
Interestingly, Godox chose to use a USB-C DMX connector (which we didn’t have a chance to test) but did not include USB-C charging which could probably be achieved as the unit consumes far less than 100W of power. Instead, the unit comes with a large DC 20V power brick. On the more positive side, this charger does have a very long cable.
Battery life
We tested the internal 14.4V 5960mAh battery of the light and were able to power the light at 100% for just over 2 hours.
We looked at the power consumption during charge and during operation (when connected to the wall). Interestingly the charge rate when powered off is about 25W and when fully powered it is around 51W.
We also tested the charging time of the unit and it took us about 2.5 hours to fully charge the light.
Why a power brick?
Controls
The light has all the common settings you would expect such as dimming level, color temperature and tint control in CCT mode, with color and saturation in HSI mode. In RGB mode we found an interesting surprise, besides the red, green and blue controls there was also control of the white as an RGBWW light. Please note that you can see the effect of the white light only in specific RGB combinations.
There seems to be around 60 gel options in 2 groups (left and right – kind of strange) with options for either 3200K or 5600K modes.
The FX mode is the most elaborate and you can control not just the power but the speed, color a direction of each the effect. We will get back to this again when we discuss the Godox app.
The light has a pretty extensive menu with options to change settings for the DMX, CRMX, fixture number, ordering, BT, dimming curve, quick start, screen rotation, saved presets, battery status, overheating protection, language, factory reset, and version info.
App control (Godox Light)
Until we tried to control the TP4R with the Godox app it was just a really long tube light with some nice pixel effects but when connected to the app it opened the door to a some really powerful options with more precise control of the different pixel effects in a more simplified way and Godox should really get a lot of credit for integrating such a powerful and simple to use app that has so many advanced features.
The only thing to keep in mind is that the connection to the app is via BT which means that there can be some distance limitations although for us it worked flawlessly at close to 20m away.
Use cases
Longer tube lights have somewhat different use cases compared to the shorter 30c-60cm ones that we tested to date. While they can still be used to light products on tabletop setups this Is not going to be their main use case.
Instead, these long tubes are more useful in the background to add color or interest to a scene as well as hair lights or even for adding some color to the background.
In the case of the TP4R, the pixel aspect gives the light even more options and if you have more than one unit you can do some pretty crazy things.
Tests
We tested the output and light quality of the Godox TP4R using our Sekonic C800, and here are the results that we got:
Results for the Godox TP4R at @1m (3200K):
- Color temperature: 3143.
- Output: 688 Lux.
- CRI: 97 (R9: 97.8; R12: 90).
- TLCI: 98.
- TM-30 RF: 96; TM-30 Rg: 103.
- SSI: 85.
Results for the Godox TP4R at @1m (5600K):
- Color temperature: 5391K.
- Output: 746 Lux.
- CRI: 97.3 (R9: 96.9; R12: 81.7).
- TLCI: 99.
- TM-30 RF: 96; TM-30 Rg: 103.
- SSI: 73.
RGBWW output (1m):
- Blue: 85 lux.
- Green: 476 lux.
- Red: 259 lux.
- White: 782 lux.
Conclusion
It’s hard not to be impressed by what Godox was able to do with the TP4R. Although we had only a single light for testing so we can’t really comment on how it performs as part of a group it’s hard to find any major flaws with the light, it is well built, has a long battery life, and plenty of control options especially when used with the fantastic Godox light app. The pixel effects are more useful than you might initially think and the light accuracy seems very good in our testing.
The only minor drawbacks are the lack of a jog wheel and the choice of DC power instead of USB-C PD for charging. We are also not sure what’s Godox’ policy when it comes to battery replacement after the end of the warranty period (we know from experience with the Godox TL30 tube light that these batteries don’t last indefinitely).
Long battery life
Price
When it comes to pricing the Godox TP4R 4 feet currently sells for $565, please note that at the time of publication there is a huge discount on this product (there are also 4 and 8 kit versions with a lot more accessories available).
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Iddo Genuth 
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