Smart LED bulbs are not exactly a dime a dozen yet, but prices have fallen drastically since the Philips Hue light bulb debuted about a decade ago. The E27 Smart Color Bulb from Wiz, a sub-brand of Signify (formerly Philips Lighting), for instance, is around S$30. That's about half the price of a similar Philips Hue bulb. That being said, there are even cheaper bulbs in the market. Thankfully, the Wiz app makes all the difference.
Quick specs
- 2200 – 6500K, 806 lumens
- Lifetime: up to 25,000 hours
- Power consumption: 8W
- Two-year warranty
The Wiz bulb itself feels light compared to my Philips Hue bulb. An advantage of Wiz, which has LED light strips, and downlights, over Philips Hue, is that Wiz doesn't require a hub. Setting up the bulb is as straightforward as you'd expect. Install it, download the Wiz app (for iOS and Android), and add the Wiz bulb. Like many smart home devices, the Wiz bulb uses the 2.4GHz Wi-Fi band. But this can pose a problem as most routers no longer separate their 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands under different network names.
The Wiz app, though, has a manual setup option that works for either 2.4GHz or 5GHz bands. It basically involves powering on/off the light several times quickly, but it worked flawlessly for me. If your router has a 2.4GHz-only Wi-Fi band, you can choose the smart pairing option, which can pair several Wiz lights at the same time. The app is more functional than snazzy. It offers several features, such as the ability to set schedules, create scenes, and of course, adjust the colours of the LED bulb.
What I liked most is the app's Scenes feature. It lets you capture a snapshot of the current settings of all the Wiz lights in a room. So you adjust the settings till you're satisfied, and save all your hard work with a tap. The Rhythms feature has an interesting Circadian Rhythm option that automatically alters the colour of the bulb according to the time. However, Wiz lacks some features available in Philips Hue products, such as geo-fencing, and syncing to music. In terms of smart home integration, the Wiz bulb supports both Amazon Alexa and Google voice assistants. It also works with IFTTT and Samsung's SmartThings.
At S$30, the Wiz E27 Smart Color Bulb is reasonably priced for what you get, which is a more affordable alternative to Philips Hue bulbs, albeit lacking some of the latter's features. But there are even cheaper smart bulbs in the market, all touting similar specs and features. The secret sauce then is the Wiz app, which tilts the equation in Wiz's favour with its features and ease of use. Get the Wiz bulb on Lazada, and Shopee.
Note: Review unit provided by Wiz.
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