These smart bulbs make other lights look dim
Wirelessly controlled multi-colour lights are swarming like fireflies – we've rounded up the best for beating the winter blues
Light bulbs used to be boring – but now they’ve been jazzed up with tech smarts, using Wi-Fi connectivity to let you control multiple colours and effects. From light fittings to smart alarms we’ve got the best ones right here, ready to battle the winter blues.
Philips Hue
From £50, meethue.com
Philips was the first to have the Eureka moment of making light bulbs smart. With over 90 shades of white and nearly every colour, this Wi-Fi controlled LED is leading the way in smart bulbs.
LIFX
US$70 (£44), kickstarter.com
Not only does this Kickstarted LED, Wi-Fi friendly 60W equivalent bulb work on iOS and Android – it’s also got one of the coolest metal frames we’ve seen. Good luck getting one soon though; the first batch is already sold out.
UnikkoNordic Aurora Wake-Up Light
£TBA, unikkonordic.com
The sun may not have his hat on at this time of year, but you can still wake up to a rising light with this alarm clock. With multicolours and dimming for sleeping we’re sold – and eagerly awaiting pricing from the Finnish company.
Insteon
US$30 (£19), insteon.org
This smart bulb comes with sensors that activate its 60W capacity LED if, for example, a door is opened to the room it’s in. Plus there’s an app for mobile controls – though for a mere £19, don’t expect the rainbow of colours you’ll get from other smart bulbs.
US$50 (£31), indeigogo.com
This bulb looks retro cool, has a wide RGBW colour spectrum and can be controlled directly using Bluetooth 4.0. Great for mobile control in the house, not so good for doing it from elsewhere in the world. Though quite why you’d want to fiddle with the lights while you’re on holiday is beyond us. Still, great for the price.
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