Computer Shopper - UK (2020-07)

ADVANCEDPROJECTS

ISSUE 389|COMPUTER SHOPPER|JULY (^22020127)
outdoors),doorandwindowsensors,a
motion sensor and asmart plug. Even more
intriguingly,itcan incorporateHue devices
(only via aHue Bridge).
Choosing your smart bulbs depends
largely on what you want to achieve and
how much moneyyou have.Ifmoney’s no
pprrobblem,,LIFX’sabilitytodecouplepower
stateanddcolourstatemakesthemtheonly
option.Ifyou’renotsoldontheneedfor
perfectlightquality,thenconsiderHueor
Hive bulbs.
LIGHTTHEWAY
We’ll show you how to glue together bulbs
from various systems intoone scheme,but
firstlet’s cover basic automations. The apps
use similar methods, even if the words and
some details differ.For example,the TP-Link
Kasa app has you set schedules per bulb: set
an action, colour,fade-in duration, time and
dayofthe week,and then pressSave.
LIFX’s system is similar,but you have
more options and you can group lights to
automatesets of lights. Youcan also set
schedules forall your lights; forexample,
settingcolourhueagainstsunsetorsunrise.
Huethinksmoreintermsofroomsthan
groupsoflights,soyouaddlightstoaroom,
andthensetautomations(Routines)fora
room,asetofrooms,orallyourlights.
Whensettinglightstomatchsunlight,
alwayssetlongfade-intimesofatleast 20
minutestomirrorthegraduallychanging
qualityoflight.Shorterfadesandtransitions
of asecond or two can give lights afeeling
of luxury.You can also set interesting
sequenced fades or power changes, perhaps
setting each row of your spotlights to have a
second delayfrom the previous row.
Perhaps more impressive is being able
to control your lights based on where you
are,apractice known as geofencing.
Essentially,you allow an app or service to
track your location, and the act of you
entering or leaving alocationset through

SMARTBULBCOMPARISON

CONNECTION B22 E27 GU10 E14 BR30 FILAMENT EXTERIOR POWER/

COLOUR

DECOUPLING

LOCATION

TRIGGER

VOICE

ASSISTANTS

INTEGRATIONS OTHER

Hive Bridged D,

W&C, C

D, W&C,

C

D,

W&C

D,

W&C

Amazon

Alexa, Google

Assistant

Hive devices, Hue

bulbs, Samsung

SmartThings,

IFTTT

Light strips

C

Hue Bridged,

Bluetooth

ND,D,

W&C, C

ND,D,

W&C, C

ND,

W&C,

C

ND,

W&C,

C

E27 D; B22

D; G93 D

Spot C,

Strip C

Amazon

Alexa, Google

Assistant,

Microsoft

Cortana

Samsung

SmartThings,

IFTTT,Apple

HomeKit, Razer

Chroma

Ikea Bridged W&CND, DW&C E27 D Amazon

Alexa, Google

Assistant

Ikea Home Smart,

Apple HomeKit

LIFX Wi-Fi D, W&C,

C

D, W&C,

C

CCC BR30 C Amazon

Alexa, Google

Assistant,

Microsoft

Cortana

IFTTT,Razer

Chroma ,Nest,

Flic

Light panels

C, Light

strips C

TP-Link Wi-Fi D, W&C,

C

D, W&C,

C

E27 D; B22

D

Amazon

Alexa, Google

Assistant,

Microsoft

Cortana

IFTTT

V-Tac Wi-Fi D D Amazon

Alexa, Google

Assistant

E27 (A95)D

KEY:D–Dimmable single-colour white; ND –Non-dimmable single-colour white; W&C–Warm and cool white; C–Colour

BULB WARNI

NG

RF smart lights

Somesmartbulbsaren’tsosmart, and it’s

usually easy to spot these dimofferings.

Thegiveawayistheneedforadedicated

remotecontrol unit. Thesebulbsdon’t

usesmartwirelessstandardslike

Bluetooth,ZigBeeandWi-Fi;

instead,theyusecheapconsumer

RFlinks.Youcan’tuseyour

smartphonewiththesebulbs,

and you can’t set automations;

you can’t do much at all. The

cost saving isn’t worth having to

fish out yet another remote

from the crack in the sofa.

⬅OnlyLIFXallowsyoutodecouplepowerstate

fromcolourstate