Rarely on sale, I picked up a gen 3 kit (also rare!) from Loganholme QLD this afternoon and there was more left on the shelf. The ad says it's for the gen 2 kit, but TGG don't seem to differ in their system and it all scans at the same price. Happy new year folks.
Agreed. Started off with Hue a few years ago but now I'm all about those $12 Xiaomi RGBs
Is it true the yeelights dont need a hub?
Using two of the RGB Yeelights now. No hub. Google Home talks directly to them. They work with IFTTT directly… I don't know why you'd buy anything else frankly.
Not trying to be funny, but how do you control the lights if your internet connection drops out? Does it still work?
They're great lights. As for this price… not so much. For others interested you can get them delivered from Amazon UK for around $160 - $200 during sales, e.g. https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/344860.
Warranty costs money though…
AU warranty is very expensive.
On a good deal you can get 2 kits from UK for the price of 1 kit from AU.
Once these 800 lumen Xiaomis come out I don't think there's any point to invest in these. Makes no sense to me paying 5-7 times more. Yeelights are Google Home native now.
Does anyone know whether the 20 year lifespans are true? Xiaomi only states 10 years for them.
and Alexa, just not Siri but I dont think anyone on here doesnt have a google home by now
I don't have google home nor alexa - I don't expose my internal network to external control. So for me, the hue system is perfect for internal control without the exposure, even at the premium.
That doesn't make sense. Don't you control Hue from an app? If so, your internal network is exposed to external control, the Home or Alexa doesn't do anything different to what your mobile phone or computer does.
Secondly, your Google Home or Alexa needs permissions to access any other third party smart device
@jared444: naw the hue hub doesn't have access outside of my internal network (blocked at the router). I control it via my smartphone or wifi switches on my wall - all within my internal network. Google home has to use external servers to process commands (afaik) so (again afaik) you have to allow them to communicate with external servers and let google etc process and know about your internal activities. Happy to be proven wrong.
Still confused on how your mobile connects directly to your hub, just doesn't sound like the way it's done these days unless it's old tech. I thought all the settings are in the cloud.
@jared444: my mobile doesn't connect to hue outside of my internal network. That's a strange comment about old tech. "The cloud" is just a jargon term for a server outside of a private network. The hue hub is a server itself and doesn't need to have access to an external, public server. Just like a nas server doesn't need to push data to an external seever unless you explicitly require it to.
I know what the cloud is. The reason I say old tech is because most companies now force the cloud as it is a good way to have control over users.
@jared444: maybe but I don't buy into it. The hue hub allows external access if you enable it. I choose to protect my internal network/home automation as much as I can hence the choice. Zwave home control is also internal without cloud enabled software as are many other robust home control solutions.
I have some yeelights. I see the appeal ($) and these aren't for everyone, but the physical switches and siri integration were the winners for me, and I'm sure others.
No. You don't want to have 60+ wifi devices (bulbs, strips, switches and sensors) in your home. Your router could have hard time and you will need to use more APs to handle these devices, not to mention the 2.4g interference between wifi APs.
Xiaomi or even Lifx, who has the best wifi products in the market, has the mentioned limitation.
In addition, you pay for what you get, Xiaomi's colorful bulb has the poorest color as well as the dimming range. If I do use a mixed setup in my home, I would just invest Xiaomi bulbs in less important area like corridor, porch or toilet.
Philips uses Zigbee solution which is much better in terms of reliability. And reliability is the number one feature you need for lighting solution. That is why even Lifx with technically better product in terms of color and brightness still loses here. Xiaomi is just a cheaper and worse version of Lifx.
I need under cupboard task lighting in the kitchen, shelf lighting in the pantry and walk in robes. I was going to buy the lifx strips as they are bright and easy to setup by the look of it. Should I be using a different product or will the lifx be suitable? The Xiaomi and Hue products simply aren't bright enough IMO…
Definitely go for the product that meets your requirement. You can use mixed setup in your home.
PM me in 2038.
This is only reason I would get a Hue https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgPG2CNT92k since Xiaomi dont make Downlights yet
Don't those cheap SONOFF things do the same at $5 a pop?
I havent seen any SONOFF ones, are they Hue or WiFi?
I haven't had any experience with Philips Hue but i don't know why you would get these over the Lifx ones, no home base thingy needed and you would get 1 more bulb for the same price.
The Lifx bulbs are brighter than the Yeelights but the $ difference doesn't justify it for me. I'll keep snapping up the Yeelights when they are cheap.
The Lifx and Yeelights strips have very little difference so don't bother with the Lifx strip.
I have Hue specifically for the hub. No external cloud required - for both security and reliability.
Well they sure are some pricey bulbs you got there.