Meanwhile, the colors with Philips Hue and Sengled were the least bright of the bunch, with the C by GE LED falling squarely in the middle. The White Ambiance can display thousands of shades of white, ranging from 2200K to 6500K, and can connect with other smart home accessories like thermostats to further automate your home. Philips Hue offers a ton of potential for folks who want to go all in with an elaborate, whole-home smart lighting setup that they can use in all sorts of creative ways -- but that's more than a lot of people might actually want from their lights. You'll need a C-Bridge hub to use the C-Sleep over Wi-Fi, but if you don't mind sticking to Bluetooth, it's a significantly cheaper option that works right out of the box. If that's good enough to scratch your itch for multi-color lighting, then skipping Philips Hue isn't a compromise at all -- it's just a smart decision. 0:00. It's the brightest of all of these options, and the one with the widest range of white light color temperatures, too. Originally published June 13, 2019Update, June 21, 2019: Added new information about the Philips Hue cyan setting when bulbs are paired directly with Alexa via the Amazon Echo Plus or second-gen Amazon Echo Show. Turn an $800 chandelier into an $1800 chandelier with 20 Hue bulbs. They can also be used to amp up your gaming setup, whether you want to make your desk flashier or lights that react to the game you're playing. On top of that, Hue's bulbs aren't the brightest and its colors aren't the most accurate if you're controlling them with an Echo Plus. A19; A21; B11; BR30; G25; See more. GE entered the smart lighting market in September 2014 with 3 LED bulbs through a partnership with Quirky. Here are some of our favorite options. Make Christmas bright. Among color-changers, Sengled's Wi-Fi bulb that needs no hub costs $25, while the Zigbee version that does costs $20. Only the Lifx Mini edged it out. It's your best bet if specs are what matter most. Different color temperatures in LED bulbs . As for the color presets, we used Alexa commands for all except the C by GE bulb and the Sylvania bulb -- we used color presets from the Google Assistant and Siri for those two, respectively. While not necessarily a letdown, if you only have one Google Home, you need to be aware of where you place it and how far away the smart bulb is. We used separate, locked-down camera settings for the soft white shots, since the bulbs are each considerably brighter in those. Yianni adds that it's the Hue Bridge that handles the color conversion for each Hue bulb. GE entered the smart lighting market in September 2014 with 3 LED bulbs through a partnership with Quirky. Create the perfect environment for every room in your home. Philips Hue offers a wide range of smart light bulbs, lamps, fixtures and accessories. Despite some major strides with the surprisingly affordable Philips Hue White smart light bulbs, the color-changing Hue bulbs are still really, really expensive. You could also have issues installing updates, and sometimes they will fail completely. Let's take a look at your top alternatives. LEDs come in a wide variety of sizes and fittings. The problem with all of that? In addition to the bulbs listed above, I also considered color-changing LED options from names like Feit, TP-Link Kasa and Anker's smart home offshoot, Eufy.Â, Feit offers a $25 HomeKit bulb that's comparable to Sylvania's bulb, but Sylvania edged it out with superior color quality. It looks a little worse in the photo than it did to the naked eye, but it was definitely noticeable at the time. Pros . Both make bulbs that change color temperature throughout the day to ease you into your mornings and help you wind down at night, but each comes with a set of pros and cons — the trick is narrowing down which is better for you. Lifx is the only option that can really compete with Philips Hue -- in fact, I think I prefer the Lifx app over Hue thanks to its color wheel, which is a much better interface for dialing into a specific shade than the overwhelming ocean of tints that Hue gives you, where you have to drag a little icon over the specific shade you're looking for. For additional peace of mind, a 1-year on-site warranty is included. Aside from costing less, Ring's outdoor security lights are the more practical pick, as each one features a built-in motion sensor. Find your light. My recommendation: Start with a single Lifx smart bulb like that Lifx Mini LED bulb pictured above, which you can currently get for $35, then play with the app and integrations a bit to see if you like the Lifx approach. C.C. A hub isn't necessary — but it certainly helps. That means anything that runs on WiFi, Z-Wave, or BlueTooth will not work. Which lights don’t work with Hue? We love smart home tech, and test as many smart bulbs as possible to give you the best recommendations possible. Most people won't run up against this limit, but it's worth noting that … Read more: The light switch is no longer your smart bulb's worst enemyRead also: Philips Hue's new Bluetooth bulbs let you skip the Hue Bridge. ZigBee and Z-Wave are both mesh networking technologies. Philips Hue also has a wide selection of accessories for its smart lights, from wireless dimmer switches to motion sensors and options from third parties, and you can save money by buying these accessories bundled with the bulbs. In fact, with the release of USB 3.1 Gen 1, all existing USB 3.0 connectors were renamed to USB 3.1 Gen 1. Whether it’s for your living room, your kitchen, your bathroom or your garden, Philips Hue has the perfect light. Shop GE StayBright 150-Count 37.2-ft Multicolor LED Plug-In Christmas String Lights in the Christmas String Lights department at Lowe's.com. Read more on CNET. Then again, if you're going to use your bulbs with a voice assistant or a larger smart home platform like Apple HomeKit, then these apps don't matter nearly as much, because you'll really only use them for the initial pairing process, and perhaps to troubleshoot if you're ever having connection issues. Price. Recently, though, the brand has made a sharp pivot towards simple, budget-priced smart bulbs and compatibility with Amazon's AI assistant Alexa is touted as a core feature -- enough so that you'll now often find Sengled bulbs bundled with Echo speakers on Amazon's website. Got a tip or inquiry? C-Reach Hub required to connect with Alexa or Siri), No (Apple TV, Apple HomePod, or always-on iPad required for HomeKit control from outside of your home's Wi-Fi network). If you’re looking for a new bulb that is the same “color”, choose light with the same color temperature. Turn on your C by GE lights. 0:00. GE Lighting; HUE; Lutron; Magic Hue; Philips SmartSleep; LE; See more. Lowes.com, by APIV What you can do. It puts out 610 lux from the top and 350 lux from the side, making it brighter than any bulbs except the LIFX (which cost several times more). There is an exception, the native C by GE app has 3 fixed color temperatures 2000K, 3700K, and 7000K (approximate). 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