Top 8 in Smart Lighting

From mood adjusting to music playing and even an alarm, lighting is getting more and more smarter and here are 8 of the best smart lighting technology available now. Besides the fact they are super cool, they also save you a lot of money and last longer than your regular incandescent light. technologies 


Philips Hue 

Philips Hue allows you to control your lighting system at home, by connecting your Lightbulbs bulbs to your smartphone. All you need to do is download the app and your up and running. 

It gives you full control of the brightness, colour and timing - meaning you can now schedule your light to come on as you approach your house or change moods just before you smuggle up in bed. The long range connection also allows you to be miles away and still be in control of your lighting system. The careful production of the Philips Hue makes it a sensible, technical and an overall great addition to your home

Elgato Avea

Do not let the the classic look fool you, this light is as smart as they come. From one single device it allows you to control the mood lighting for up to 10 different bulbs. You can also keep it all in one colour or choose from seven different themes. 

Compatible with almost all devices from iPhones to iPads. The 7w LED screwable Light bulb is extremely energy efficient and has class A energy rating. 

It does not stop there, this light can also be an alarm clock that is capable to be set at a chosen time!. The only downside to it is the app, as it looks a tad simple and can also be hard to use for an android 

Osram Lightify range 

Osram introduces you to a lighting technology thats truly innovative and ahead of its time. whether its your garden or your bedroom you can guarantee having a light which adjusted to your moods and requirements. The bundle pack of gardenspot and normal led bulbs also comes with a gateway which acts as a router and connects you to your lighting wherever you may be, no seriously you don't even need to have wifi in your house. This product also has 16million colour (didn't even know there was that much) you can adjust to, and a 2000-6500 range in colour temperature - 2000 being extremely warm to 6500k being daylight. 

One thing i think is extremely cool is how you can take a picture of any object and the light can adjusted to colour of that object!. Having said all of this, lightify technology is definitely dressed to impress. 

Belkin Wemo LED Lighting starter set 

The belkin Wemo is a direct replacment for a 60w incandescent bulb and therefore is not capable of mood changing. You can choose from bayonet cap or a Edison screw each rated at 800 lumens. This is a little less than classic incandescent, but 800 lumens is still a great amount of output and with the added technology it sets it apart from your original incandescent light. The wemo pack acts as bridge between the wifi connection and the bulb.

You can set rules which can control your dimming and when your light turns on and off. you can also include a sleep period just like your tv. 

the app is relatively easy to use and as the Wemo pack acts as a wifi router you don't need to connect it to your router at home. Although the price can seem hefty it stands as a good introduction to smart lighting.

LIFX

This product is relatively expensive but you get a bulb of very high quality. Similar to the Elgato Avea  multiple colours can be controlled with this light - given you 16 million colour choices!. furthermore, you can control all the light at the same time and set an alarm for yourself. 

the difference with this product is that it can replace a 75w halogen and still last for up to 27 year, an investment worthwhile.


Senled Pulse 

This products has all features of a smart light such as; dimming control. connect it to a bluetooth device, once paired then you can hear your favourite music from a your Lightbulb! This is another slightly expensive product but when you think about it you get two products in one.

1byone Smart LED Bulb 

Similar to the senled pulse above this also contains an LED lightbulb and a bluetooth speaker. however, this product has the ability to change colour while playing music. 

initially there are translation issues with the Chinese app, but once you are able to click on the lamp tab you can control the brightness and colour of the lamp. this contains a lumen light output of 300 which is similar to 20w-30w halogen light, meaning it is not able to light a whole room single handedly. 

the white light is very cold and slightly bullish and does not have the same quality output in comparison to LIFX and HUE. However the idea of having a light evolving, relatively cheap, music playing light bulb is quite tempting. 

Lava BrightSounds  

Having a light which can play music at home is pretty cool but what about if you have that light all the time. Step in the Lava Bright,  its dimmable,  water proof, reachargeable and oh yeah it can also answer one phone calls. Personally I think this is the creme de la creme of speaker/lighting products and one which would be a great addition to your camping kit or even a barbecue in your garden.   

This blog post was adapted from "PCadvisor, 11 best smart lightbulbs 2015/2016: Best smart LED bulbs, smart lighting, mood lighting and speaker bulbs for your UK connected home" , 03/11/15