If you’re periodically searching for inexpensive connected color bulbs on Amazon, you may have noticed a new product from a well-known brand. LEDVANCE has a new SYLVANIA SMART+ offering now on Amazon: WiFi bulbs.
The new bulbs are currently only available in four-packs, and the pricing is highly competitive. Four white, dimmable 2700K bulbs are just under $30. More impressively, four full-color, dimmable bulbs go for just $5 more at about $35. That’s only $8.75 per bulb! You’ll find many off-brand bargain bulbs for more than that, and the reliability and color quality of those could be questionable. Sylvania is a well-known, reliable brand that offers a rich spectrum of colors.
SMART++
These bulbs are part of the SYLVANIA SMART+ line, which is LEDVANCE’s connected consumer brand. We’ve covered SMART+ in the past. It’s a robust line of products that includes various standard (A19) lamp bulbs, ceiling can fixture (BR30) bulbs, light strips, and more. The new WiFi bulbs are only available as standard A19s at this time.
Our biggest concern with SMART+ is its intra-brand incompatibility and the potential, resulting consumer confusion. The previously-branded Lightify products became part of the SMART+ family a few years back. As a result, some SMART+ products were Zigbee-based and some were Bluetooth. For the hobbyist, these are obviously incompatible. But that’s likely not as obvious to general consumers.
The fate of SMART+ Zigbee bulbs is still unknown since former SYLVANIA owner OSRAM previously announced the deprecation of the services supporting these products. With new WiFi bulbs now joining the family, the confusion continues. SMART+ Bluetooth bulbs are HomeKit compatible, and they only work with your assistants if you have your phone nearby. These new SMART+ WiFi bulbs work with Amazon’s and Google’s assistants, but according to the product documentation, they don’t work with HomeKit. Why? Why can’t they just release one product that works with everything […the editor asks rhetorically]?
Nonetheless, this is a great deal on some solid, new product offerings from LEDVANCE. If you’re willing to take the risk on a new product, you may want to give these a try!
