Anyone searching for cheap white sensible bulbs that may work with their present Philips Hue Bridge or Samsung SmartIssues hub ought to take a look at the Innr Smart White A19 bulb. Available in a four-pack for $36 (which comes out to an affordable $9 a bulb) or a two-pack for $23Remove non-product link, these primary however sturdy dimmable, warm-white, sensible LED bulbs are suitable with most Hue room-grouping options and routines.
If you’re procuring on your first sensible bulb and also you’re not able to spend money on a hub, an Innr bulb isn’t the most affordable method to go. Instead, you’d be higher off with a Bluetooth- or Wi-Fi-enabled bulb that may function with only a smartphone app. The newest Philips Hue White bulbRemove non-product link, for instance, which may be managed by way of Bluetooth in addition to Zigbee), or a Wi-Fi-connected bulb just like the $8 Wyze Bulb, which presents the bonus of being color-temperature-tunable.
That mentioned, for those who already personal a suitable hub and also you need all of your bulbs to work collectively, the Innr’s product makes it straightforward to fill in your sensible bulb gaps with out breaking the financial institution. Indeed, at $36 for a four-pack, the white Innr bulbs characterize a $11 financial savings in comparison with the equal 4-pack of non-Bluetooth Hue White bulbsRemove non-product link, which sells for $47. And as a result of Innr’s bulbs are suitable with the Hue bridge, they will play good together with your different Hue lights, that means you may management all my bulbs with a single app, in addition to add them to present “rooms” of Hue bulbs and create Hue routines for them.
An even less-expensive various to the Innr Smart White bulbs are Cree’s Connected LED bulbs, which (as of this writing) are at the moment promoting for a mere $5.90 every on Amazon. Like the Innr bulbs, the Cree Connected LED bulbs require a Zigbee-certified bridge, such because the Hue Bridge, SmartIssues, or Wink Hub 2. While Cree’s Connected bulbs are enticingly low-cost, our reviewer famous that he had hassle connecting them to his SmartIssues hub, and he was delay by the bulb’s plastic, “quite homely” design. Still, for those who’re keen to roll your sleeves as much as get the Cree bulbs working together with your hub, that $5.90 price ticket is hard to beat.
Setup
Getting the Innr bulbs up and operating on my Hue Bridge was a snap. Once I screwed within the gentle bulbs (that are suitable with normal E26 sockets) and powered them on, the Hue app discovered the bulbs inside seconds, and … properly, that was all there was to it, no have to enter serial numbers or cope with elaborate workarounds.
The 4 Innr Smart White A19 bulbs I examined related to my Philips Hue Bridge in a flash, no serial numbers or workarounds wanted.
Next, I attempted connecting the Innr bulbs to the TP-Link Deco M9 Plus, a mesh router that doubles as a Zigbee hub. Again, I had no hassle, with the router including the 4 bulbs to its checklist of related sensible units in seconds. (I don’t personal a SmartIssues hub, so I wasn’t capable of check one with the Innr bulbs.)
Connecting the bulbs to Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant was equally seamless, and shortly I used to be commanding Alexa and Assistant to show “Dimmable light” 1 via 4 on and off, or “Downstairs lights” as soon as I’d added the Innr bulbs to a room within the Hue app. Keep in thoughts, nevertheless, that neither Alexa nor Google Assistant can management the Innr bulbs with out assist from a bridge. There’s additionally no Apple HomeKit help, interval.
Operation and options
Using the Innr Smart White A19 bulbs inside the Hue app was virtually the identical expertise as you’ll have controlling Hue-branded bulbs with the app. While you may’t change the colour or coloration temperature of the 2700Okay warm-white Innr bulbs (the identical goes for non-tunable Hue White bulbs, versus pricier Hue White Ambiance bulbsRemove non-product link), you may dim them utilizing the Hue app, and the usual Hue scenes (Bright, Dimmed, and Nightlight) for dimmable however non-tunable bulbs can be found.
I used to be in a position so as to add the Innr lights to the “Downstairs” room that I created within the Hue app, and I put them in a wake-up routine that turns the lights on each weekday at 6:35 a.m., which is my traditional wake-up time. While the Hue app notes that non-tunable bulbs just like the Innr’s are “not optimal” for a wake-up routine, that’s solely as a result of they will’t obtain a sunrise-like golden hue, however you may nonetheless add the Innr bulbs to a wake-up routine if you want.
Ben Patterson/IDGThe sturdy Innr Smart White A19 bulb helps virtually all of the options within the Philips Hue cellular app, and it really works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, too.
Indeed, the one Hue characteristic that the Innr bulbs don’t help in any respect (apart from the truth that you may’t change their coloration temperature) is the “Power-on behavior” setting, which helps you to decide the colour temperature and/or brightness of a lightweight when it’s powered on or after an influence loss.
Of course, one of many largest issues I’ve with a finances sensible bulb (or any sort of finances bulb, sensible or in any other case) is whether or not it’ll truly activate and keep on. During greater than per week of each day testing, the Innr bulbs have but to lose their connectivity or behave erratically. So far, so good.
Bottom line
Snapping up bargain-priced sensible bulbs is at all times a crapshoot, significantly once they depend on a hub, however the Philips Hue-compatible Innr Smart White A26 bulbs exceeded my expectations. Sturdy and (to this point) dependable, the Innr bulbs related to my Hue Bridge and a second Zigbee hub with none trouble, and I used to be in a position so as to add them to my Hue rooms and routines with ease. In quick, these finances Zigbee bulbs make for a reasonable approach for anybody invested within the Hue ecosystem to fill within the sensible bulb gaps of their dwelling.