LIFX L3A19MTW08B22 Mini- Day & DuskB22, Adjustable, Dimmable, No Hub Required, Works with Alexa, Apple HomeKit and the Google Assistant
CamelCamelCamel.
Do you use Home Assistant? If so, how do TP-Link bulbs work with HA for local connectivity only?
Am looking to repace some of the standalone bulbs that I have but want to integrate everything into HA rather than having 10 different apps.
It is possible, but with HA, better to avoid wifi and use Zigbee instead.
"No Hub Required" means "you need a wifi hub, but you probably already have one".
It is annoying how they treat customers as idiots, even when they are.
Thanks for the info. I've started moving most of my internal devices to Zigbee, but have a few Wifi stragglers. Any cost effective Zigbee bulb suggestions? Doesn't need to be RGB but being able to adjust white>warm would be ideal.
@dramant88: Yes, cheap RGB lights have dim colours compared to Hue.
Ikea is good quality and pricing for white spectrum.
https://www.ikea.com/au/en/cat/smart-led-led-bulbs-36813/
$15: https://www.ikea.com/au/en/p/tradfri-led-bulb-e27-1055-lumen…
Zigbee sensors are dirt cheap on Aliexpress etc. Like $5 for motion or door sensors.
@bargaino: That's great, thanks. Will grab a few of these next time I'm there.
I have a couple of motion sensors from Aliexpress but havent installed them as yet. Will be a project for "soon"
I don't use HA, I only have a single bulb.
Ive honestly found the opposite.
They have been great, better brightness and colour reproduction (than Hue), very reliable (Ive never had one die or lose connection) and they integrate well (with both Google Home and Home Assistant). My only complaint is the later App gui which is ugly but I dont use their app anyway.
I have a lot of LIFX devices but I do also have a high bandwith Unifi wifi network for them to sit on.
Maybe i just had terrible luck then lol
Bought one of the very early whites only bulb October 2016, it had constant wifi issues, would always dread wether it would respond or be "not available".
After a year finally got sick of it, so support shipped out a colour version for free. It's been solid ever since and still gets daily use.
Urgh. Completely agree. We purcahsed a house full of LIFX stuff and I will replace it the moment I can. The app is rubbish. Connectivity is a joke.
I have better reliability with Wiz
LIFX look very durable and beefy. Unfortunately, I've had 3 fail so far, connection issues, the lighting part of the hardware is fine
Same here, connectivity is a big problem.
Here is a setup guide they are pretty restrictive ie only work on certain channels
“WiFi channels supported 1 through 11. WiFi channels 12, 13, and 14 are not supported.“
https://support.lifx.com/hc/en-us/articles/14509116693911-Ch…
Been using the quite a few LIFX bulbs for over 5 years, no issue. + connected via Home Assistance as well.
I have LIFX, Philips Hue, Meross, and TP-Link Tapo LED smart lights in the mix.
Philips Hue were replaced with LIFX. Recently installed TP-Link.
My take away:
1 LIFX has the best colour control and effects. No trouble once firmware upgraded and enrolled into HomeKit.
2 TP-Link is a bit fidgety. Trick is to enrol it into HomeKit first, then add it to the Tapo Home app (for firmware updates).
3 Philips Hue overpriced and is a no-go since it relies on a Hue Hub (less is more).
4 Meross is fine and on par with TP-Link in terms of reliability and performance.
I have a mesh wifi network (Ubiquiti) with an Apple TV 4K (ethernet connected) as the Home hub. Wifi signal is strong and the system is stable and well past its initial teething issues. All Sonos audio devices are using wired ethernet (Wifi disabled so Sonos Net is not causing any problems with mDNS). I had Home Assistant before, and replaced that with Homebridge (hosted on Synology server) - although all lights are using their native integrations and not Homebridge, FWIW.
If money was no object, I'd get LIFX again. Otherwise, the TP-Link Tapo bulbs seem like a cost effective compromise and will be my brand of choice (until something better comes along).
Hope this helps someone.
Nice colour and output, but I've had quite a few duds out of the box and a few have failed. Buy some spares. Randomly they just won't respond, also.
All my smart lights are LIFX. The first few were okay to connect to the network, after that it got trickier. I still haven't managed to get the balcony light connected, so it's still just dumb. Or I am. Either or. Not an exclusive or I guess.
However I do like their brightness, and their colour range. Much brighter than the couple of cheapo ones I'd previously tried. And being able to actually get something with a more neutral output rather than something approaching a bad fluoro is what keeps me still using them.
And my Stream Deck has started controlling them again which is also great.
My personal experience with LIFX stuff hasn't been great, they were the first smart bulbs I've tried at the time, expensive, and barely worked for how little I used it. Connectivity was very inconsistent, and it'll often drop out of the app.
Switched to much cheaper TP Link bulbs, no such issues.