- Smart color lights
might be my favorite smart home device out there.
They're simple, instantly rewarding,
and don't pose some kind of privacy concern
or risk that other products do.
Smart lights won't spy on you,
they'll always set the mood,
and with a little home automation trickery,
you can make your home appear occupied
and unappealing to intruders.
Today, I'm comparing my favorite smart light bulbs of 2022.
We'll meet the contenders,
then I'll talk about how each of them performed
in these four categories.
If you want a list of more smart lights and their reviews,
check out our lineup on safewise.com.
It's a slightly different one from what I have here,
but it's just as thorough.
We'll be featuring a standalone video
on the Nanoleaf lights coming up too,
so be sure to subscribe on YouTube to see those in action.
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First up is the Phillips Hue.
Phillips Hue has light strips, light bulbs,
lamps, and accessories.
But for this video, we tested a Phillips Hue E26 light bulb.
Phillips Hue is best in batches,
which is a bummer if you only have a budget for one.
They're pretty expensive, but they're worth it
if you have the coin
and want a really cool lighting experience in your home.
The good news is that you don't necessarily need
the Philips Hue Bridge to use Hue.
The version I got is Bluetooth enabled,
making it really easy to set up.
Just download the app, keep your Bluetooth on,
plug in the light bulb, and set everything up in the app.
Phillips Hue lights can do a lot of cool stuff too.
You can program them with moods and scenes,
and all change with different lights
to different colors throughout your home.
The problem is you'll need more than one
to get the really good effects.
And these are expensive.
This one alone was $60.
LIFX smart bulbs have gained
a bit of a reputation for themselves,
so much that we did a whole video about why LIFX
is such a controversial brand.
For this video, we tested a LIFX BR30 flood light.
And this thing is huge.
The good news is that like Phillips,
LIFX has a range of smart bulbs to choose from.
So you don't need to go
with this big honking thing every time.
Setting it up was tricky
but not for the reasons you might think.
The app isn't super clear about what it needs from you
to set up the light bulb,
but you should have everything you need
right out of the box.
It's got some fun features like color cycling,
animations, and a visualizer that works with music.
And I was able to connect it to my Amazon
and Google Home speakers pretty quickly.
Wyze has two kinds of smart lights,
the Wyze Bulb and the Wyze Bulb Color.
Can you guess the difference?
One does color and one does white light.
Pretty simple.
For our test in this video, we focused on the Bulb Color.
I'll be honest, I'm a big fan of Wyze.
It's prices and app just hit a sweet spot for me,
but you definitely get what you pay for with this low price.
Like all of these lights, you can set up the Bulb Color
on schedules, timers, and routines,
but it won't have any of those sexy features
like LIFX or Hue.
As of now, there's no color cycling or animations
and not a lot of syncing with other stuff.
But if you're enough of a home automation wizard,
you can program them within the rules in the Wyze app.
And finally, there's the Sylvania Smart+ plus.
The Sylvania Smart+ and the Wyze Bulb Color
have a lot in common.
They cost around the same, have the same basic features,
and are great for beginners or someone
who just wants to keep things simple.
The Sylvania Smart+ works with, Alexa, Google Home, and Siri,
and even has quick QR codes to connect them
with the platforms.
But none of those codes worked.
You can still connect it to your smart speakers,
but you just gotta do it through the, or Google Home apps.
The good news is that its app
is pretty easy to figure out.
Another reason, it's a good choice for newcomers.
One area where Sylvania stood out was it's app color wheel.
There's not really a color saturation option
like you'd find in others.
You'll pick a flat color, then adjust the brightness.
But there's still a range of colors to choose from.
Now that you've met the lineup, let's talk categories.
How easy were these smart bulbs to set up?
Did they play well with others?
What are their apps like?
And of course, who is the brightest of the bunch?
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The best smart light bulb should be super easy to set up,
not just because easy is better,
but these devices are best in groups.
So it's probably a process you're going to have to do
over and over and over again.
So the more painless, the better.
I'll start with Phillips Hue.
We didn't have a Phillips Hue Bridge
to set up this smart bulb up,
but it turns out that doesn't matter.
The E26 bulb I had came with Bluetooth built right in,
so I was able to set it up in a matter of seconds.
What is the Bridge anyway?
Basically, it's a smart hub for your Phillips lights.
It helps you keep up to 50 Hue lights organized on routine.
You'll need a bridge if you wanna use it
to its full potential, which could make setup
and automation a little more involved.
Next is LIFX, which turned out to be the biggest pain
of the group to set up.
All of the struggle came from poor instructions in the app.
But once you figure out what it needs, the process is easy.
Long story short, it wasn't clear
that the QR code I needed to scan to connect the light bulb
was on the instructions all along.
After multiple attempts and some words with the device,
I got it up and running just fine.
Finally, the two Wi-Fi bulbs in the group, Wyze and Sylvania.
The setup process for these was nearly identical.
Just add the device in the app,
wait for the bulb to flash in pairing mode,
then log into your Wi-Fi, and then you're done.
Now, would I wanna do that process 50 times
with 50 light bulbs?
No way.
But it's an easy process that you can repeat
up to a few times without getting tired of it.
Out of these four smart lights,
LIFX was the only one that gave me trouble.
And Phillips was by far the easiest.
(gentle music)
It's important for smart home devices
to play nicely with each other.
So I took stock on which platforms these lights work with
and how easy it is to connect them.
Right off the bat, I can tell you
that all four of these smart light bulbs work
with Google Home and Amazon.
If you're on team Alexa, you can pair your smart lights
with Alexa Guard, so your smart lights shine
anytime there's a suspicious sound nearby.
Phillips, LIFX, and Wyze all work with IFTTT.
And LIFX works with Apple HomeKit and Samsung SmartThings.
One quirk I did notice in these tests
is that Sylvania is considered a skill
rather than a device in the Alexa app.
This made set up a little different, but it wasn't hard.
While LIFX might be compatible with most platforms,
it doesn't always play nice.
It's hard to ignore the complaints we've seen
from our viewers who say that while LIFX connects
with their smart speakers and other platforms,
it doesn't always stay that way.
Other noteworthy issues I saw was with Sylvania.
Like LIFX, this budget pick adds QR codes
to the instructions for a quick setup.
But when I tried scanning, nothing seemed to work.
As for Phillips and Wyze, they got along splendidly
with my Amazon and Google home speakers.
The problem is you've just gotta keep your voice commands
really basic.
So while LIFX is the queen of connectivity,
it doesn't always get along or stay in good graces.
If you're an Apple HomeKit user,
you can connect smart lights with Zigbee to your speaker
and use them that way.
Zigbee lights like Philips Hue.
You can control and adjust all of these smart light bulbs
in different ways, with smart speakers, programmed routines,
and within their native apps.
That's why I wanted to take these apps
into consideration for the video
because that's where you'll get the most control
out of them.
After setting these up with my smart speakers,
controlling them was easy for simple things
like turning them off and on,
but finding just the right color and brightness
took a little fiddling.
Here are a few things that all of these apps have in common.
If you're looking for something simple,
that's really all you need.
And that's what I found with the Wyze
and Sylvania smart bulbs.
They checked all three of these boxes, but not much more.
And go figure, it's the more expensive smart bulbs
that come with more features.
In the end, you're paying for better app control,
but that's only if you want fancy stuff
like coordinated color schemes, like in the Phillips app,
or color cycles, like in LIFX.
Each of these apps stood out for these reasons.
The Philips app is easy to use
but skips some of that cooler stuff on its own.
LIFX, however, has some serious party modes
and can get really customizable.
It's just kind of a headache to navigate.
So on this one, I'm gonna call it a tie between these two.
Philips delivers the UX while LIFX delivers the features.
Now, if only you can combine the two.
(gentle music)
This is a tough category to rank
and probably the one that matters the most.
All of these smart lights have a full range
of colors and temperatures of white light.
You can adjust brightness and saturation
on each of these too.
But Sylvania is the only one that doesn't shine as brightly.
Unlike the rest of the lineup,
this one is only 800 lumens instead of 1100.
Here, see for yourself.
So who's the brightest bulb in the bunch?
I'd say that distinction goes to Philips Hue.
While having a Hue Bridge helps, it's not 100% necessary
if you look for versions with Bluetooth built in.
It plays well with a range of smart home platforms
like Amazon, Google, IFTTT, and Zigbee,
which allows it to work with HomeKit too.
The mobile app is pretty minimal and easy to navigate
without a ton of extra features thrown in the way.
But that doesn't mean that it can't still do cool stuff.
You just need a Hue Bridge to do it.
And finally, it consistently produces bright, rich colors
and is really quick to respond to any changes from the app
or the smart speaker.
As for the rest, they're definitely not without their merit.
The LIFX bulb has been the problem child of the bunch,
but that's because it likes to party.
If you're patient with it and check the instructions,
setting it up is easy.
This particular model is weatherproof,
so you can use it indoors or out.
And of course, don't forget the fun effects
that you can do with it.
Then there's the Wyze Bulb Color and Sylvania Smart+.
Like I said before, these are both so similar
that it's kind of tough to distinguish their features.
The Wyze Bulb Color is ultimately
a little brighter and richer
than it's Sylvanian counterpart.
But if you're looking for a deal
on a really simple pack of smart bulbs,
it's hard to beat Sylvania's price.
So what do you think?
Which smart bulb is your favorite of the bunch?
Drop a comment below and let us know
what you think the ranking should be
and what you're working with at home.
We come out with comparisons once a month
and videos every week.
So be sure to like and subscribe to catch the next one.
Thanks for watching.
Hey, if you are one of the 10 people who made it this far,
thanks for watching.
And if you want more safety,
head over to safewise.com,
and you can find reviews and our lineups
of best home security systems,
best wireless cameras, and more.
Stay safe.