Advice on wifi-enabled bulbs?

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jonathan18

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#2347117 1-Nov-2019 11:07

Edwood:

Wait what?! "when set to warm white!?". Are you using Yeelight? ...or the Xiaomi Philips ones? The Xiaomi Philips ones you buy in NZ do not let you change the colour tone. Thats why I had to buy all mine on Ali.

The Xiaomi bulbs we have are the RGB ones - started with them and it was just easier to keep buying these, plus the Philips has a lower output. Can't work out the difference between these, and from the outside they seem identical; perhaps it is worth contacting them, and given it's the same company...

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/BULMIX0607/Xiaomi-WiFi-LED-Bulb-RGB-Mi-Home-Smart-Light--E27

https://www.mi-store.co.nz/product/GPX4014GL/WiFi-LED-Bulb-Smart-Light-RGB-Mi-Home

Edwood:

FWIW, our use case is pretty simple... We just wanted to be able to set the brightness & colour tone the way we like it. I'm still learning to live with it, but at the moment, we use switches 95% of the time and the lights are set the way we want, with a few exceptions. I have set up a day/night setting for the bedroom, and also a 'reading' config which turns off extraneous lights, and I manually dim and or turn on/off lights via app for for dinner/TV mode.

I have not figured out any way to set up custom scenes which is very frustrating! Xiaomi only give you 4 preset scenes, so I can't set up a "TV mode" and "Dinner mode" like I had with my Hues. *Surely* this is coming soon in an app update!?

Do you use either an Alexa or Google Home device to control your bulbs? We're using a Home Hub and Home Minis, and it generally works well. One advantage is being able to use routines, which lets you establish shortcuts; I'm not sure if routines work without a physical device, or perhaps they can just run off your phone? (you need to set a device to run the routines). We have simple things like 'turn on night light' , which turns on only one bulb in the lounge and another in the kitchen at 1%, and automatically runs in the morning prior to me getting up.

The Home Hub's a damn valuable device, especially given it's so affordable - eg https://www.catch.co.nz/product/google-home-hub-smart-home-controller-au-version-charcoal-3284707/?st=2&sid=google%20hub&sp=2&asp=2&aqi=f82ad6bb996a21cefd54e645e5909f49

Edwood

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#2347536 2-Nov-2019 10:49

I'm going to have to give up on the Philips/Mi Bulbs I bought from China. :(

They are perfectly good if you want an app controllable LED light, but, specifically the Chinese (firmware?) ones are locked to the mainland china server, and:

- Will not work with Google Home/Assistant (But you can control with Siri)

- Don't go dim enough for my liking (for now?)

- ...and don't have customisable scenes (for now)

Back to the drawing board...

I think I'll end up going back to the expensive Philips bulbs... at least I have more appreciation for what I'm paying for now.

It's a PITA for me 'cause my most of my house has 4 lights per switch, so it gets expensive or awkward quickly.

JimmyH

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#2348446 5-Nov-2019 11:52

This review might be worth watching before you pull the trigger on Hue bulbs. He has also done a few other hue product reviews as well. Conclusion seems to be that while they are OK they cost more, and are not as good as, some of the alternatives.

One of the channels I follow - I find him pretty honest and entertaining.

Edwood

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#2349152 7-Nov-2019 07:42

Thanks! I watched the review. Entertaining chap, although clearly hates Hue with a passion.

He recommends something similar to the Xiaomi ones I'm now getting rid of.

He also recommends LiFx over Hue, which I don't really 'get' and/or certainly doesn't apply to me. I've just done the numbers...

LiFx adjustable colour temp white = $68 or $816 for 12 (no hub required)

Don't know how dim it can go (for night/movie lighting)

WiFi bulbs, so some/many will have issues with # of devices. I would have to add a 2nd router for smart home devices.

Hue adjustable colour temp white = $33 or $487 for 12 (includes hub)

Add a few $40 or so for a hardware dimmer / hardware controller

Goes a *lot* dimmer than Xiaomi for night/movie lighting

I've tried to run with the cheaper option and ended up giving up on Xiaomi for lighting.

Smart home lighting is ridiculously expensive, and despite what that reviewer says, the price of LiFx is a *lot* more expensive.

...I'm crossing my fingers and will hope to save a few dollars on Hue Bulbs on black Friday.

richms

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#2369854 6-Dec-2019 21:37

If you are thinking of getting the Arlec wifi sensor light because that would be great! A wifi connected outdoor motion sensor that you can use to automate things, have other lights come on with it detecting, change the sensitivity, on time or light setting remotely, see how bright it is outside, check the lights are working by the light changing when they come on and other nice automatable things..... Well, Don't bother.

It appears all they have done is stick a little wifi board inbetween the power supply and the existing sensor light circuit. It still has the dreaded 3 rotary potentiometer controls on it that will inevitably leak, There is no feedback about motion happening either daytime or night time, nothing to detect the light level.

In fact in the app, when you choose manual mode to make the lights come on, it pops up "please wait 3 seconds" as if it is just doing that thing where it goes off and on in 2 seconds to trigger manual mode. Choosing auto says "please wait 10 seconds" and the light go out. I assume its waiting a while before repowering it to make it go back into auto mode.

Half-assed is a gross overestimation. 0.5% assed is more like it.

Richard rich.ms

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