LIFX Gen3 Bulbs and LIFX Z Lightstrip Review

Introduction So you've invested in your Amazon Alexa smart home assistant or any of the other lovely smart home controllers on the market. You've got your smartphones, tablets, AI assisted heating controls and more, what's next on the modern home shopping list? Wi-Fi controlled lighting of course! We've been playing around with a huge range of cool smart home tech here at eTeknix, such as Alexa, Pop, Harmony, Hue, MiHome and more, so when the latest LIFX products arrived in the office, you can be sure we were excited to connect them to our existing network of IoT devices to see what they can do! https://youtu.be/BWbMJJYosKE LIFX are one of the biggest names in the smart lighting market. We'll be kicking things off today with a look at their new LIFX and LIFX + Gen3 bulbs, as well as their LIFX Z LED light strip. What's really cool about LIFX is that unlike rival hardware, such as the Hue range from Philips, is that it doesn't require a hub to work. You simply pair each bulb directly to your Wi-Fi and you're good to go. LIFX "The light bulb reinvented just got brighter with the launch of the third generation LIFX. 1100 lumens, 16 million colors and 1000 shades of warm to cool whites. Available in A19 and BR30 sizes, with the BR30 suitable for use outdoors. The perfect welcome home." LIFX + "Brighten your space, even in the dark. With the help of infrared the LIFX + takes your smart home to another wavelength by enhancing the vision of your home security camera. Available in A19 and BR30 sizes, with the BR30 suitable for use outdoors. Enhance your security." LIFX Z "Fine-tune your lighting with custom controlled LED strips. Select from a spectrum of color for 8 individually addressable zones and express your creativity. Illuminate under cabinets, cornices or behind televisions for the perfect bias lighting. Get started with a Starter Kit that includes an AC plug pack and 2m LED Strip. Extendable up to 10 meters." Packaging and Accessories All of the lights we're reviewing today come in very durable cardboard drum packaging, with all the main specifications and features detailed around the boxes, which is great if you're looking at these in a retail store. There's virtually no wasted space here, the bulb is packed in nice and snug. Don't worry about it breaking, though, rather than glass, the bulbs head is made from durable plastic. The base of the bulb is inserted in a foam block, preventing any knocks from damaging the metal fitting. The LIFX Z is neatly packed too, with the light strips coiled around on plastic drums for easy access. There are three tiers to the box, with all the plugs, adaptors, cables, etc, stacked throughout. A Closer Look - LIFX Gen3 B22 Bulb & LIFX + B22 Bulb The LIFX lights don't look like your typical light bulb. They're certainly closer to some LED lights in terms of design, as they have a plastic head on them, but otherwise the actual "light" part looks more like a white plastic hockey puck mounted on a surprisingly heavy metal chassis. That metal chassis feels pretty robust, and creates confidence in terms of build quality. Given there's a tiny computer inside each light, as well as WiFi hardware, lighting controllers, and a whole bunch of LED lights, the metal chassis keeps it all safe, but also works as a heatsink, providing passive cooling to the lights internal hardware. While the light section may now look that big, this bulb is still capable of putting out an impressive 1100 lumens, which is about the same as a 75W bulb, so more than enough to light up a room quite nicely. The bulbs we have are B22 fittings, but you can get them in an Edison screw too if that's what you require. Both the LIFX Gen 3 standard RGBW and the LIFX + bulbs look the same, with the obvious difference being the small "+" symbol on the side of the + model. Both types of bulb can deliver 16 million colours, are dimmable, can deliver whites from 2500K to 900K and come equipped with 802.11 b/g/n Wifi. The + also comes with extra infrared LEDs built-in, providing invisible lighting at night to improve the range of your night vision home security cameras, if you have them. A Closer Look - LIFX Z The LIFX Z obviously don't plug into a standard light fitting and require the use of a power adapter from a mains socket, there are connectors included in the box for EU, US and UK, so it should work virtually anywhere in the world. Obviously, you'll want some space between the mains and the light strip, and you'll find a nice long power cable to help you do just that! There are two 1M light strips included in the box, which can be joined together to make a single 2M strip. Each comes with a 3M adhesive backing, so you can stick it to the back of your TV, cupboards, furniture, anywhere really. The strips use multiple LED diodes over the length of the strip, and while they may look small, these tiny lights are in great numbers on the strip. A 2M strip is capable of putting out a staggering 1400 lumens at max brightness, which is pretty freaking bright! Performance For a quick laugh, I plugged in the LIFX Z on my photo white screen, and even with the ISO on my camera set to the minimum, it was a complete washout of blinding white light, illuminating my entire office in the process. Of course, we can dim that down to 50% and it's a little easier to see. Here we've got the strip dialled down to just 25%, this way we can better show some of the basic colours. With 16.8M colours on tap through the mobile app, there's virtually endless choice to be had here. Mounting the Z was pretty straight forward thanks to the handy 3M adhesive. Simply pull off the backing, stick it where you need it, and you're good to go. Here you can see I've put it on the back of a TV, giving us some lovely ambient light for movie night. The colours don't change on their own, and you do set it through the app, but here you can see some demo shots of how you can pick the right colours to set the right mood for any occasion. The great thing about TV ambient lighting is that it can greatly reduce eye strain, and can provide enough light to navigate around the room and find your beer and snacks, but since it's behind the TV, it doesn't cause screen reflections or throw out the dynamic range of the image. The B22 fitting for the LIFX Gen3 and the LIFX + is perfect for most standard UK light fittings, as well as larger lamp designs. Here you can see the bulb is set to around 50% with a warm white, giving us a nice ambient light that's perfect for relaxing, reading, watching TV, etc. You can throw up an icy blue light too, which looks a little strange having a blue room, but dependent on your taste and your decor, it could really work quite well. The dimmable feature is one of my favourite aspects of the LIFX range. Dial it down on an evening to help you wind down. Bright lights keep you alert and can make it difficult to really relax. Dial it down even further and the LIFX and LIFX + make a fantastic night-light. The rich colours are really something to behold, and at 30% it's enough to light up the corner of the room. 60% now, really giving the room a fiery vibe. 100% now, pretty much looks like my house is having a nuclear meltdown, and I'm sure the neighbours think I'm having a disco at this point. It does look pretty neat, and if you add more bulbs, you can mix up the colours between them to create a unique look and feel for the room. Let's start tapping away at some of the pre-installed scenes on the LIFX app. You can create and save your own too, but the default ones are pretty decent too. Why have just one when you can expand the range. Pair both the lights in the app and you can tweak them both quickly to create a more unified theme around the room. Even in the daytime, you can see it throws out some impressive and rich colours onto the walls and around the room. Final Thoughts Price The entire LIFX range can be found on Amazon, with a single B22 or E27 fitting LIFX Gen 3 costing £59.99, or a four pack for 195.96. The LIFX + is a bit more expensive at £79.99 each or £243.16 for a pack of four. Obviously, they're quite specialist and not everyone will need the infrared feature. Finally, the LIFX Z strip Starter Pack (2M) is £80.42, 1M extensions are £29.99, and four packs of extensions are £136.82. This is obviously expensive, but it's comparable to rivals like Hue, and you won't need to invest in a hub to operate them, which can save you some money too. Overview The LIFX range is certainly impressive, with a good range of applications for home and even professional use. As you saw in our test pictures, we can completely change the atmosphere of the living room in seconds. Want a romantic night in, set the lights up for a movie night, or just brighten things up with a warm light on a cold day, it's all easily possible and you won't be able to resist tweaking the profiles, and it only gets better as you add more bulbs. Control is a big part of the LIFX range, and with support for applications like IFTTT (If This Then That), you can have the lights change colour based on temperature, the weather outside, have a bulb blink a colour when you get a Facebook notification, turn your lights to your teams colour when they score a goal, have them come on and off automatically on a morning or evening, and so much more! You can also pair them up with other smart home hardware like we did here with the Energenie sensors. Of course, the big one for LIFX is that they come with Amazon Alexa support, a well as Nest, SmartThings, Logitech Harmony, etc. I can say "Alexa, turn the lamp on/off" and it'll happen. It's a nice luxury to have, and when you're laid on the couch and can't be bothered moving from your cosy seat to dim the lights, you'll be glad you have it. The colours and overall brightness of the LIFX bulbs is fantastic. They're much brighter than the comparable Philips Hue bulbs too, so if you want to light more space with fewer lights, they're a good option to do so. Previous LIFX bulbs did seem a little slow to respond to commands sometimes. Fortunately, I didn't experience that issue with their Gen 3 bulbs, but keep in mind that they rely on WiFi to trigger, so poor signal areas or those with older routers may want to improve that before investing. From spicing up the mood in the living room to creating a relaxing theme in the bedroom, bathroom, or a cool ambient light in the dining room, there's a lot on offer from LIFX. Just be warned, once you get the smart lighting bug, the urge to invest in more is strong and things can get expensive quite quickly. Pros Powerful 1100 Lumens brightness (bulbs) 1400 Lumen brightness (LIFX Z) Dimmable 16.8 million colour RGB Tunable white balance No hub required Incredibly easy to install Smart home support (IFTTT, Alexa, SmartThings, Nest). Stylish design Durable build quality Cons Can be quite expensive, but comparable prices to rivals like Philips Hue Neutral Make sure you've got a good WiFi signal where you need the bulbs installing "As easy to install as any other lightbulb, the LIFX range is perfect for those who want to create a unique look in their home. With support for a range of IoT devices, voice commands and more, the latest lights from LIFX are a great way to expand your smart home setup."