Ever for the reason that Philips Hue LED($199.99 at Verizon) lighting package hit the digital residence market, there has been a steady uptick in competing smart bulb products like the LIFX LED Light Bulb( at Amazon) and the Linked by TCP Smart Lighting System in addition to recent product bulletins from electronics giants LG and Samsung. Add the Lumen TL800 from Tabu to that checklist. Priced at $69.Ninety nine per bulb (but out there online for around $50), the TL800 uses Bluetooth wireless technology to communicate together with your smartphone by way of a neat little app that permits you to turn lights on and off, choose colors, EcoLight and have the lights behave a certain means when you have got an incoming telephone name. In contrast to the Philips and TCP bulbs the TL800 doesn't require a bridge, however it does not connect to the Web either, which means you can't control it when you are away from home or have it interact with different dwelling automation gadgets. With a vented metallic casing separating the spherical glass dome from the Edison screw base, the TL800 seems to be like it can be proper at house in an Apollo spacecraft.

The bulb measures 4.Seventy five inches in size and puts out only 400 lumens, which is equal to a forty watt incandescent bulb. That is not very shiny when compared to the LIFX (1,017 lumens), TCP (800 lumens), and EcoLight Philips (600 lumens) bulbs. As with the Philips and LIFX bulbs, it will probably show sixteen million colours, however because it does not hook up with the Internet you cannot management it with home automation hubs from firms resembling Revolv( at Amazon) and EcoLight SmartThings($149.99 at Amazon). Nor can you utilize the popular IFTTT (If This Then That) internet service to have it turn on and off or change colors based mostly on issues like Fb requests, EcoLight outdoor Foursquare notifications, and ESPN sports activities scores. You don't get much in the best way of instructions with the TL800, however there's not a lot to elucidate. I screwed it right into a lamp in my workplace, downloaded the app onto my iOS smartphone, made certain Bluetooth was enabled on my gadget, EcoLight and opened the app.

The Lumen app is uncomplicated and easy to make use of and allows you to management up to 10 bulbs at a time. You possibly can control each bulb individually or management a bunch of bulbs. The home web page lists all installed bulbs and reveals you what coloration they are presently set to. Pressing a bulb icon takes you to a web page where you may select color or warm white settings and turn the bulb on or off. While you choose the warm white setting you are presented with a monochrome wheel that allows you to manually regulate brightness, or you may choose one of four brightness presets (90, 70, 50, EcoLight energy or 30 p.c). Under the wheel is a Name Alert icon that takes you to a page where you may configure the sunshine to flash a particular coloration when your cellphone has an incoming name. There's additionally a Wake-Up timer that can flip the light on utilizing a dim warm white setting that step by step gets brighter to create a sunrise impact, and a Proximity option that may have a mild turn on to a preset shade and brightness when your phone comes into range (about 30 feet).

In color mode you get a wheel that lets you select a color for each bulb and assign a color brightness setting. For deep, sturdy colors you set the brightness degree to the darkest setting; for lighter pastel colors, use a brighter setting. Under the colour wheel are seven preset icons including two party modes that show pre-programmed flashing colors; a Romance mode that steadily transitions between orange, yellow, and red; a Relaxation mode that is speculated to simulate a calming moonlight ambiance; and a Music Sync mode that accesses your saved music database and EcoLight lighting flashes the sunshine to the beat using various colors. Here you may as well regulate Proximity and Name Alert settings, but you can't create your personal custom presets like you'll be able to with the Hue and EcoLight LIFX bulbs. From the home web page you may turn all or some lights on and EcoLight off and add them to teams.

The group option is useful if you'd like to control multiple lights unexpectedly. All the settings and presets that are available for particular person bulbs are also obtainable in group mode. The TL800 uses Bluetooth 4.0 to communicate with the smartphone, which accounts for its wonderful responsiveness. It turned on and off instantly when instructed to do so, and there was no lag time between coloration and brightness modifications. The Wake-Up characteristic turned on in accordance with my schedule and EcoLight LED the bulb turned regularly brighter over time. The call Alert characteristic additionally worked as marketed and EcoLight smart bulbs is available in very useful if you are carrying headphones. Colour high quality was good with very deep reds, blues, and greens, but when you're lighting a large room you may need multiple bulb, as 400 lumens will not be very bright. The Tabu TL800 is an efficient alternative for anyone looking to add a few colorful lights to a room that they can management from a smartphone.