(Jazzy background music)
- This is the Yeelight.
It's a smart bulb
which means it gets to do
lots of cool smart bulb things.
It can change color.
You can put it on a timer.
And you can even talk to it.
The Yeelight does these things really well
which is why it's our top pick for
Best Smart LED Blub.
Smart Home!
For the latest update to our guide to
best smart LED light bulbs,
writer Rachel Cericola tested 10 bulbs
throughout her house.
Hey, Rachel.
- Hi.
Do I need props?
- No.
How do you actually put these bulbs
through their paces?
- I use a lot of lamps
and any available sockets around my house.
So I set schedules for every day
and then, of course, just using them
on the fly,
both through the app
and voice commands.
- [Siri] The lights are on.
- A great smart bulb, first of all,
should work.
It should go on and off
when you want it to,
whether that's through using an app
or scheduling it to go on and off
specific times of day.
It should also be affordable.
People do not want to pay
a lot of money for a light bulb.
- [Jon Chase] Among all the bulbs we tested,
we chose the Yeelight
as our top pick
for a few reasons.
The first reason is how versatile it is.
The Yeelight works with all the major
smart home platforms:
Amazon Alexa, Apple Home Kit,
Google Assistant, and Samsun SmartThings.
- You know it will work with any platform
that you currently have
and even better,
it'll work with something that
you may want to use in the future.
- There are other smart bulbs
that work with those platfors as well,
but the Yeelight is the most affordable
at about 18 dollars per bulb.
Another great thing about the Yeelight
is it doesn't require a hub...
that's one of these things...
Like the Philips Hue does.
What's the deal with the hub?
Why, why do I got to have a stinkin' hub?
- A hub is a small box
that connects to your router.
It is what connects every bulb in your house
to your network.
They make it so that
your bulbs will work really nicely,
that they can connect together.
- It creates a stronger connection
throughout the house,
specifically in areas where
you may not have strong WiFi.
- But, once you have a bunch of smart home devices,
you end up having lots and lots of hubs
connected to your router.
It gets messy.
It gets confusing.
- Some people think it's an eyesore.
But there are advantages and disadvantages.
- The Yeelight actually connects
directly to your home WiFi network,
which makes it super easy to set up.
One gripe people have with smart bulbs is
they aren't as bright as they would like.
- [Rachel] A lot of smart bulbs, I think,
are a little bit dimmer
than your average light bulb.
During my testing,
my family would complain
that they couldn't see well
when some of the smart bulbs were in use.
The Yeelight is bright enough
for every day use
and not blinding, bright
but like a normal light bulb.
- [Jon] The Yeelight is brighter than
most of the other bulbs we've ever tested,
even brighter than the Hue.
There's one other feature
we really love about the Yeelight.
All smart bulbs have their own apps
and they have lots of neat little features,
but the Yeelight has one called Color Picker,
which lets you use your smart phone
to point it at any color you like
and the Yeelight will actually match that color.
It's a cool feature.
- For me, I used it for fun,
specifically on Halloween.
A lot of smart bulbs have a problem
with the color orange.
So I matched it to the pumpkin outside my house
and it popped right up
with the right color.
We like that the Yeelight
doesn't require a hub,
however, that means it connects to the internet
using your home WiFi.
If you have problem areas in your house
where devices have a hard time connecting,
the Yeelight will also have trouble,
so you may want to opt for a Hue instead.
A lot of smart home bulbs
have an Away mode.
That means that whenever you leave the house,
it can be set to trigger
and do certain things.
The Yeelight doesn't have that for some reason,
but we hope that a software update
may bring it in the future.
By far, the most popular smart bulb out there
is the Philips Hue.
It's actually our upgrade pick.
But we think the Yeelight is better
for most people
because it's cheaper.
It's brighter.
And you don't have to use a hub with it.
Another bulb we really like is the Eufy.
The Eufy'sreally great.
It's pretty cheap.
The only problem is,
it doesn't work with as many
smart home platforms as the other bulbs
and it's also really big.
So you may have a problem
sticking it into some light fixtures.
I don't know, Eufy.
What's up with you?
Finally, our budget pick is
the Wyze Bulb.
The Wyze Bulb is cheap.
It works great.
It doesn't change color, though,
and it doesn't work with Apple Home Kit.
For more about our smart home bulb picks,
click on the link below.
Smart Home!
You did Smart Home stuff!
Yes, all right!
Kapow!
- [Man Off Screen] Is there something else?