A colour changing, music playing LED lightbulb I can screw into my bedside lamp for smartphone controlled mood lighting? Surely technology has now gone too far. But, fearless vanguard of the future that I am, I couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to review this. Even if it is a precursor to the eventual robot lightbulb uprising.
First up this is an LED “bulb” – no glass or filament here, just sturdy plastic. It’s a standard screw fit that will be compatible with pretty much any socket installed after the 90’s and the best part is, being LED, it doesn’t chug down nearly as much electricity as your standard energy saving bulb. The added speaker functionality might add to that somewhat but even so – it’s just so novel, and if it’s a bit greener too, that’s a bonus.
There is one major stopping point with this review though. The bulb – unlike many like it – can only be controlled by one particular app. This app is nowhere to be found on the Play Store in the UK. Which is pants. There are plenty of bulb control apps but not a one of them will pair with it. Sure, you can still play music with Bluetooth. But I have a soundbar for that – I had hoped to be able to get some mood lighting made simple, or at least some funky colours to go with some Pink Floyd and Hendrix on one of my slightly fuzzier evenings. Without the app the colour changing function simply isn’t there, and that’s half the cool factor gone. It’s not enough for my lightbulb to connect to my phone and stream music in reasonably good quality – IT HAS TO CHANGE COLOUR, TOO .
It’s actually a little surprising how decent the speaker is. Plenty loud and not lacking in oomph – if it was portable I’d probably carry it around. There’s an obvious bass deficiency but hey – it’s a light bulb that plays music. Stop with the grand expectations.
I wish I could heartily recommend this – slap a big ol’ score on it and send it out into the world. But without the app available in certain countries it’s hard to do so. There’s so much I physically can’t comment on. If you’re American, then by all means, buy it, it’s funky as hell. But in the UK you can do the same thing, and cheaper too. It’s well made and a decent light, just expensive for what it is without the app. It’s down to you, but without the app, this is just a fancy smart bulb with a heap of missing functionality.
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
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