LEDVANCE Introduces First Smart Filament-Style LED Bulb

LEDVANCE has introduced some new additions to its HomeKit-compatible Sylvania SMART+ lighting line, including a smart filament-style LED bulb. The new retro-style SMART+ Soft White A19 Filament Bulb will be available as a 40W equivalent and is available now for pre-order, expected to ship in April 2018. Assuming no competitor beats them to market, this will be the first of its kind, offering the convenience of smart lighting with the vintage look of a filament bulb. Like the other HomeKit-compatible SMART+ products, the bulb connects using Bluetooth. There’s no need for a hub, so setup is quick and easy. It will retail for just under $32.

LED filament-style bulbs are perfect for fixtures where the bulbs are exposed, particularly where you might want a more eclectic, vintage, or decorative feel. One of the nice things about these types of bulbs is that the filaments aren’t as glarey as other clear LED bulbs with exposed LED diodes. Instead, these bulbs emulate the look and light quality of antique, Edison-style filament bulbs.

These bulbs will be dimmable using Siri or any HomeKit control app. Unfortunately, they do not offer a “warm dimming” feature, which would make the light appear more orange as it dims, more closely emulating filament bulbs. We’re hoping LEDVANCE considers adding this in future hardware updates, as this is one of the nicer features that makes filament LEDs more practical for dimming installations.

In addition to the new product announcement, two previously-announced SMART+ products are now available: a standard dimmable soft white bulb, and a full color light strip kit. The 2700K white A19 bulb is 800 lumens (60W equivalent) and will also be available in a 40W equivalent version. It retails for just under $26.

The real gem here is the light strip, which will run you about $60. Like Sylvania’s legacy Lightify Flex Strip (now also rebranded as SMART+), their Full Color Flex Strip for HomeKit comes in 2-foot segments. Combined, the three pieces can extend to 72″ long. By comparison Philips’ hue LightStrip Plus (80″ long) retails for $90.

Besides the lower cost, the Sylvania’s light strip offers significantly more flexibility—literally. Additional segments can be purchased separately, allowing you to extend the strip up to 20 feet long. More significantly, you can buy connectors that let you piece together different segments around corners or to span distances of several feet. You can also trim the strips, making those DIY architectural lighting projects much easier. These accessories are readily available since the new Flex Strip for HomeKit is compatible with the extensions and connectors are already sold for the legacy (f.k.a. Lightify) line.

It’s worth noting that you need an iOS device to control these HomeKit-compatible lighting products, and you’ll need an Apple TV (Gen 4+), home-bound iPad (running iOS 10+), or a HomePod for automation or remote, away-from-home control.

For now, you can buy the Sylvania SMART+ products for HomeKit online at Amazon.com and HomeDepot.com, but you should expect to see them in other major retail outlets next year.