A beginner’s guide to smart light bulbs

If you’re thinking of turning your home or apartment into a smart home, one of the first upgrades you’re probably thinking of is a smart light bulb. Although they are relatively inexpensive, they can have a significant impact on the appearance and convenience of the surroundings. Here’s what you need to know before you buy a smart light bulb and the top brands you need to shop for.

Why should you consider smart light bulbs?

It may sound superficial, but one of the main reasons people get smart light bulbs is effectiveness. Traditional bulbs are usually affixed to a single shade of white, even if they support dimming. This is practical, but not very exciting. Many smart light bulbs change color, which can dramatically change the atmosphere of the space. Some of them can be further synchronized with TV, speakers, and / or computer content. If you get a white light bulb, it can allow dimming where you didn’t have it before.

Equally, or even more important, convenience. At the very least, you can expect home control via the phone app. But more often, smart light bulbs allow phone control from anywhere over the Internet, enabling voice control of smart speakers and displays. By linking with platforms such as Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, and the Google Assistant, you can incorporate lights into complex automation based on time of day and other triggers. For example, bedroom lights often fade in through sunrise routines, and kitchen and living room lights often switch when returning home.

reference: The best smart displays from Google, Amazon and more

Related to this is security. Automation means that you can turn lights on and off on a schedule, creating the illusion of occupancy even when you are in another country. Even better is to use lights triggered by sensors and security cameras. This will at least illuminate the intruder as long as it doesn’t scare the intruder. Some form of platform-compatible Wi-Fi hub (not to be confused with a router) may be required to ensure automation with or without internet access.

Finally, if you automate things correctly, smart light bulbs can save you money. Let’s be clear. Prepaid costs are high, especially when considering hubs and smart speakers. However, if they are shut off early or operating at lower brightness, the electricity bill will inevitably be reduced. This is especially true if you tend to forget the lights when you go out.

How do smart light bulbs work?

Smart bulbs are similar to traditional LED bulbs, but with the addition of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, threads, and / or Zigbee or Z-Wave radios. It may have one or more processors, but it is not the same as a mobile phone or PC processor. They are only strong enough to manage instructions and encryption.

To install a smart light bulb, you typically screw the light bulb into a socket, turn on the appropriate switch, and complete the setup with the phone or tablet app. This includes naming the light bulb, assigning it to a room, and linking it to a smart home platform that you may be using. For example, for Lifx bulbs, if you want to control them with Echo speakers, you need to configure the appropriate Alexa skills. The bulbs may be detected automatically or you may be asked to scan the pairing code.

Keep in mind that most smart bulbs are designed to fit E26 / E27 sockets, but you can usually find a model that fits any socket type such as E12 or GU10. The downside is that only the largest companies can cover the full range. Therefore, it may be necessary to combine brands.

The execution of lights may depend on automation, apps, and voice, but in some cases you can link the light bulb to a physical controller such as a smart button or remote control. It is best to avoid the combination of smart light bulbs and smart switches in the same fixture. This is because it can cause confusion in terms of overlapping labels and controls.

check out: Best smart light switch

Things to consider before buying a smart light bulb

By the way, one of the first questions to ask is whether smart switches are a better alternative. These require a bit of electrical work and don’t give you any special color effects, but they are intuitive and prevent people from accidentally disabling the smart features of the light. When someone switches on the smart light bulb, it gets dark, both literally and figuratively.

Smart lamps are also worth considering. These can integrate the intuitive control of the switch with the smart light bulb feature set and add mobility as a bonus. The trade-off is that they are more expensive and some rooms do not have enough lamps.

read: The best smart lamp you can buy

Next is platform compatibility. Make sure the bulb you are interested in supports your favorite smart home platform, preferably multiple platforms. You may be all-in to Alexa at this time, but if you decide to use Google or HomeKit later, you’ll need to replace your Alexa-only product.

On the wireless side, avoid Bluetooth-only light bulbs. These can only be controlled when you are at home. Instead, you need to decide whether to use a light bulb with built-in Wi-Fi (like Lifx) or a light bulb that connects to a Wi-Fi hub (like Philips Hue). The former is often easier and cheaper to set up, but buying bulbs in bulk runs the risk of dropouts due to network overload, especially if you’re not using Wi-Fi 6. The hub can also continue to automate when internet access is lost.

When shopping, make sure your bulb meets wattage, socket type, and brightness requirements. The wattage should match the capacity of the socket. In terms of brightness, you’ll need a bulb rated at 800 lumens or higher, unless it’s purely for accent lighting. If the light bulb is the only light source in the room, it should be best at 1,000 lumens or more. In fact, people may combine multiple 1,000 lumen light bulbs in a room just because the 800 model feels dim. Also, keep in mind that all smart bulbs are below peak brightness when displaying colors other than white.

Finally, you need to buy a bundle whenever you need more than one bulb. Lighting companies naturally want to pay a lot of money, so they often discount bulk purchases, especially if the lighting system requires a hub.

The best smart light bulb brand

Philips Hue

Hue products are often the go-to tool for smart light bulbs, and for good reason. Their quality is reliable and Philips tends to offer the widest variety of light bulbs. This means that even those who buy other brands may be forced to buy one or two Hue bulbs to meet their needs.

Most importantly, the Hue Smart Hub connects and automates up to 50 lights without the burden of Wi-Fi like many light bulbs. The hub also enables hooks for Alexa, HomeKit, Google Assistant, Samsung SmartThings, and even Google Nest, so you don’t have to worry about platform compatibility.

Here are some Hue products we can recommend. Note that only the starter kit bundles the hub. However, it can be purchased individually as needed. It should also be explained that White Ambiance bulbs provide a “shade” of white, from cool blue shades to warm orange shades. They are the center of the Philips product line.

lifx

Lifx is not for everyone. Often regarded as second in the smart light bulb industry, all products rely on embedded Wi-Fi. This eliminates the need for a hub, but at the risk of oversaturating the router or not performing automation when Internet access is down. Although these issues are common (including the following brands), they are worth mentioning.

If you can mitigate the problem, Lifx will create some great hardware. Its flagship color bulb outputs a whopping 1,100 lumens, and you can even get a model that promises to clean up bacteria and enhance the night vision of security cameras. Thankfully, if you’re trying to save money, you can get a less powerful white, color, or “day and dusk” model. The entire brand supports Alexa, HomeKit, and the Google Assistant.

wise

When you think of Wyze, people tend to think of low-priced security cameras, but the company makes a huge assortment of other low-priced products, including light bulbs. With Wyze you can save a lot of cash. Four packs of 1,100 lumen light bulbs are not much more expensive than a single Lifx or Philips light bulb.

So why don’t you go with Wise for everything? Well, first, the company was lazy in dealing with camera-related security breaches, so you may not trust it. Wyze only supports Alexa and the Google Assistant, and Philips and Lifx tend to have a better reputation for quality, not to mention a wide range of choices. Wise bulbs aren’t bad at all, they’re not just top flights.

Casa

TP-Link’s Kasa is another budget brand, which also only supports Alexa and the Google Assistant. At a purely functional level, there is little reason to choose Kasa over Wyze, even with less security concerns. The company’s brightest bulbs reach their highest at 1,000 lumens, but unfortunately they are not available in bundles.

There are some unique brand elements. Kasa sells antique filament models that are cheaper than Hue’s equivalent. Kasa also likes to draw attention to the app’s energy monitoring. This can help identify usage that pushes up electricity bills.

Frequently Asked Questions