Let there be light! Choosing a budget smart lamp. Luminous Smart Bulb Bluetooth Smart Bulb Overview

We have already seen multi-color LED lamps controlled via a wireless connection. Today, the market for such solutions is developing quite actively and in almost every specialized store you can find such products. Among the use cases commonly mentioned are interior design, exhibitions and events. The main deterrent to proliferation is high price solutions. In addition, "multi-color" significantly changes our understanding of lighting and immediately come up with interesting options use is quite difficult.

In this material, we will get acquainted with the product of the young company Yeelight, which, nevertheless, has already managed to win the recognition of customers in many countries of the world. In addition, interest in it has increased significantly since last year's October announcement by Xiaomi, dedicated to their version of the home automation system. In the official photos, you could easily spot the Yeelight logo on the LED lamp.

Unfortunately, there are almost no details about Xiaomi's solution, so in this article we will take a direct look at the Yeelight product - the Bluetooth-controlled Yeelight Blue II lamp. At the same time, the device, judging by the name, belongs to the second series. In addition to it, today the company also offers a set of three Yeelight Sunflower lamps with a ZigBee interface and a special gateway for working via Wi-Fi. We also mention the development of a Bluetooth-controlled led strip Lightstrips, it can already be found on foreign online trading platforms.

Our video review will tell you the best about the capabilities of the Yeelight Blue II lamp:

Contents of delivery

The packaging of the device is made of strong cardboard, and the lamp itself is additionally protected by foam inserts. The design looks quite reliable for buying in an online store. In addition, LED lamps are less sensitive to external influences than other models. In particular, the device suffered a fall on the office carpet without any problems.

In the case of a single lamp, the box contains only the lamp itself and a brief instruction manual in English and Chinese.

Appearance and characteristics

We tested the modification for the E27 cartridge. Some time ago, it was one of the most popular home options for connecting traditional incandescent lamps, but today it can already be difficult to find it.

The lamp has a massive base made of gray-painted polycarbonate, which acts as a heatsink and electronics housing. Above it is a white matte cylindrical cap, under which LEDs are placed.

According to the height of 105 mm, the cases are divided into 30 mm of the base, 50 mm of the metal part, and 25 mm given to the cap. The maximum lamp diameter is 50 mm. The weight of the product is 167 grams. In general, the lamp seems compact enough to fit in place of traditional incandescent lamps.

The manufacturer indicates the possibility of adjusting not only the color shade, but also the temperature within the range of 1700-6500 K. The idle consumption is stated at 0.3 W, and during operation should not exceed 6 W. The maximum brightness of the lamp is 500 lumens. The manufacturer estimates the operating time at 20 thousand hours. According to the parameters of the supply network, the model is universal and is capable of operating with voltages of 100-240 V and a frequency of 50 or 60 Hz. The Bluetooth LE protocol is used to control the device. The device is designed for indoor use. Permissible temperatures environment manufacturer does not provide.

Setup and use

The instructions for connecting the lamp are very concise - we screw it into the required place, turn on the power, download the application for a smartphone or tablet, turn on Bluetooth on the mobile device, launch the program and start playing with colors.

With the choice of location, in addition to the availability of the necessary space, there is only one essential feature - you cannot use the connection via dimmers. As for the switch on the wall - it is not required, but desirable. True, it should be noted that the state of the lamp after turning off is not remembered - it turns on in white at full brightness. However, this corresponds to the standard lamp control option, but it is not very convenient in case of power outages in the absence of the owners. Probably, the manufacturer should have provided for the choice of behavior in such a situation.

The easiest way to download the application is to use the QR code provided in the instructions. The expectedly named Yeelight Blue is available on both the AppStore and several Android stores, including Google Play.

In any case, the control device will need to support Bluetooth LE. Among the compatible models, the manufacturer indicates Apple iPhone 4S and older, iPod touch fifth generation and older, iPad third generation and older, iPad mini, Xiaomi 2S, Samsung Galaxy S4, Note II, Note 3 and others.

Bluetooth LE (from low energy - low energy consumption), also called Bluetooth Smart, has appeared on the market relatively recently. This solution is focused on use with devices for wearable electronics segments, household appliances, healthcare solutions and other similar areas. This standard is not compatible with "classic" Bluetooth and differs from it, first of all, in simpler controllers with lower consumption, which is important for stand-alone devices, and lower cost. “Under the knife” was high speed, as well as sound transmission. At the same time, they promised to keep the range of work at the level of hundreds of meters and implemented profiles specific for the intended use.

So if you plan to use this equipment with your smartphones or tablets, you should check that they are capable of working with Bluetooth LE. For example, you can take a look at the site listed on the Bluetooth SIG website.

The implementation of this type of control has certain features - you will need to be relatively close to the lamp. The official range is 30 meters, but in fact it will depend significantly on the smartphone model, layout features, interference and other external factors. Of course, if we are talking about working within the room, then there should be no problems. Well, remote control via the Internet is also impossible in this case.

Another controversial point is the simultaneous control of several lamps. We only had one for testing, so we could not estimate the delays. Judging by the technology used, it is likely that they will appear when working with a dozen lighting devices at once.

The next remark to the system is the absence of its own "mind" in the lamp. That is, to implement, for example, scenarios related to schedules, direct control is implemented from a smartphone or tablet, so if you left home with it, the lamp in most cases will not do anything by itself.

True, there is one loophole here - the manufacturer has published on the website a description of the API for controlling lamps via Bluetooth, so that with a certain interest from developers, specialized programs for modern PCs or automation controllers may appear that can implement complex work scenarios.

But first, let's get acquainted with the mobile application, which was tested on the Apple iPhone 5S and Sony Xperia Z3 Compact smartphones. There are no significant differences in working with iOS and Android in this case. Note that the Windows store also found a program from the manufacturer for working with lamps, but we were not able to see the lamp through it, although it was found when searching for Bluetooth devices.

When launched, the program searches for all available Bluetooth LE devices. Note that there are no means of control and access restriction in the system. If friends with compatible smartphones and programs come to visit you, they will also be able to control your lamps.

Lamps are best connected in series one at a time and renamed through the program, otherwise it will not be easy to figure out several models with the same name. In addition to changing the name, there are few settings in the program. In particular, there is an item for updating the firmware of the lamps and a section for connecting fitness bracelets as control devices (only in iOS). The current version supports bobg II and work is underway on compatibility with Xiaomi and Misfit solutions. Also in the program there is a brief reference and a feedback form.

The user can control several lamps selected from the list at once. Three screens and an editable list of scenes are provided for selecting operating modes.

The first screen, as expected from its name - Colors, is designed to work with color. There is a choice of brightness on a scale from 1 to 100 in the central field and a choice of color on a circular scale. On the one hand, this is simple and convenient, but on the other hand, it may not provide the required accuracy. There is an off button at the bottom of the circle. A long press on it opens a menu with a time setting for turning the lamp on or off. This is practically the only stand-alone lamp function that works with a built-in timer, judging by the presence of commands in the protocol with a delay. True, it was not possible to turn on the lamp according to the schedule in the desired mode or color. This is probably a bug in the program. The protocol provides for setting the activation color, but there is no direct setting for it in the program.

The second screen, signed Sunshine, is used to work with white lighting. The design of the control is similar to the first screen - in the center of the circle there is a general brightness control, and the color temperature is selected on a circular scale. Here, too, you can enter the setting item for turning on or off with a delay. Strange, but the program cannot be started from the “off” state. It has only one button on the screen. Note that turning off the program remembers the last state of the lamp and sets it up when it is turned on again.

The third mode of the lamp provides a change in colors according to the program. At the top is a speed setting slider. The button to the left of it allows you to select from a palette of up to four colors that will be used in this mode. The button on the right opens a gallery of smartphone photos for selecting animation colors based on the analysis of your image. Brightness cannot be adjusted in this mode. Note that the specified program continues to work even after the application is turned off or the smartphone is removed.

Additionally, the use of scenes is provided, which are simply a set of pre-set settings without reference to a schedule or timers. If desired, you can add your own entries - you must first turn on the lamp in the required way, and then click the "+" icon in the scene menu. Scene editing is not possible. So in this case, you will have to delete the scene and reprogram.

Separately, it is worth mentioning the Disco mode, which uses the signal coming from the microphone of the smartphone to dynamically change the brightness and color of the lamps. It has no settings, as well as complex sound analysis algorithms. So it is more suitable for parties than for visual accompaniment of audio recordings. If necessary, you can turn on music playback on the smartphone itself, so that it will enter the microphone through the speaker.

In general, the program has the expected set of functions and options for controlling lamps. In practice, there may be certain features associated with the background operation of programs in different mobile devices. operating systems and the need to spend a couple of seconds reconnecting to the lamp. From the point of view of unlocking the potential of such solutions, too little has been done. In particular, it would be possible to implement a color change according to a schedule or depending on time, as well as synchronous control of several lamps with the installation of different modes for participants. The question of the possibility of working with big amount lamps and the convenience of managing groups of devices. From a technical point of view, there are no significant problems here. In any case, these issues can usually be resolved with an update. software or the emergence of alternative programs from third-party developers.

It is worth noting that for iOS in the store there is another program for working with these light bulbs. This is probably an older version of the utility. There are practically no differences in functions, you can only pay attention to a slightly different management organization.

The solution uses 256 levels for each channel, so brightness and color adjustments are quite smooth. The issue with the color temperature is not very clear, since there are no commands for setting it in the protocol description. It is possible that it is emulated through colored LEDs. Judging by the scheme on the manufacturer's website, fifteen LEDs are installed on the same plane. But the matte diffuser is quite effective and the bulb is visually perceived as a single light source without a clear advantage of the frontal flow direction.

The operating range significantly depends on the presence of obstacles and the state of the air, not to mention the implementation of antennas in a smartphone. Recall that the 2.4 GHz band today is heavily used by Wi-Fi equipment, and mobile devices are usually focused on working with Bluetooth devices at a short distance. In particular, with our devices, it was possible to control the operation of the lamp at distances of about eight meters through a pair of non-permanent walls. When placing the lamp near the window, we were able to get a range of about 20 meters from the street. We would not count on control in cottages and private houses through several concrete floors. On the other hand, the solution is still more local, and there will be no problems when working within the room.

Testing

The lamp turns on with a noticeable, but not yet too annoying delay. Start schedule:

After the actual switching on, the brightness increases linearly for about 0.4 s until it reaches its maximum. Variant of "polite" illumination. When working on outdoors without a cover, the lamp warms up in about 10-15 minutes to a more or less stable body temperature (feelings to the “very warm” level), which is accompanied by a decrease in brightness by about 10%. The luminous flux corresponds to the level of a conventional 40 W incandescent lamp, but the pronounced radiation directivity creates enough high strength light, which makes it possible to use this lamp, for example, in a lamp such as a desk lamp for reading from paper.

The minimum luminous intensity (1% on the dimming scale) for the variant with white and initially the brightest light was about 7.1 cd (this corresponds to a luminous flux of about 34 lm). That is, the minimum brightness is low enough to use the lamp as a soft night light.

The efficiency of the lamp as a light source (luminous efficiency) is noticeably lower than the best representatives among LED lamps two years ago. The colorimetric characteristics are good, the light is moderately warm and quite white, the spectrum is filled evenly, that is, colored objects under the light of this lamp will look more or less in accordance with their true color. All this in the mode option white color with maximum brightness. This is what the spectrum of white light looks like:

And so the family of spectra obtained by varying the color of the lamp:

The shape of the spectra suggests that the lamp uses at least two types of emitting devices. These are white LEDs (blue emitter and yellow phosphor) and colored LEDs with relatively narrow spectral emission bands of blue, green and red. The first - actually for lighting, the second - for creating color effects.

The device can register brightness modulation with a large amplitude. For example, this is how brightness versus time looks like at three different levels of brightness set in white light mode:

And so in the color mode for conditionally red, green and blue colors:

The modulation frequency is high - 980 Hz. With a strong desire, flickering at this frequency can be seen in tests for stroboscopic effect, however, during normal use of the lamp, no flicker is visible.

Conclusion

The question of the need for RGB lighting is certainly interesting, but clearly beyond the scope of this article. However, it is worth recognizing that such solutions can be useful in certain usage scenarios both in the home and in the commercial sector. The Yeelight Blue II product reviewed is a Bluetooth LE-controlled, multi-color, mid-power LED lamp with an E27 base.

The device turned out to be quite compact for its format and is capable of performing the functions of decorative lighting, as well as spot and main lighting. Since the model is similar in terms of luminous flux to 40-watt incandescent lamps, for the latter option, in most cases, you will need to use several lamps.

Bluetooth LE control can hardly be called a universal option, and it has certain features that are worth considering when evaluating a product. In particular, you need a compatible smartphone or tablet, control is only possible from a short distance, there are no access control functions and integration into automation systems (at the moment). Also note that offline functionality is severely limited.

The proprietary utility offered by the manufacturer for Android and iOS generally does a good job of doing its job. However, in our opinion, its possibilities could be wider. Unfortunately, we were unable to test the convenience of working with a large number lamps, and the practical use of this scenario raises certain doubts.

The cost of the lamp in foreign stores at the time of writing was about $40. If you don’t want to wait, you can find a product on the domestic market, and in this case the price may be even lower.

LED lamps are the future - they are not only more economical, but also more environmentally friendly than fluorescent ones. But what if, in addition to saving, the lighting element gave control over the on time, brightness and even the color of the glow? This is exactly what “smart” LED lamps with a Bluetooth 4.0 module, controlled from a smartphone or tablet, can do. Similar gadgets were released in last years many manufacturers, but they cannot be called cheap - for example, Philips Hue Lux costs from 3,000 rubles. In the summer, LG announced a similar light bulb priced at 35,000 won (about $33), but it's not available in Russia. A device from an unknown Chinese manufacturer called Luminous Smart Bulb, priced at 1,290 rubles, came to our test.

How it works
The lamp comes in a simple cardboard box with a transparent plastic insert. There is a minimum of information on the packaging - even the name of the application that is used to control the device is not indicated. True, when searching for “smart bulb” on Google Play, it is the first line that appears, so there are no serious problems.

The lamp consists of a standard E27 base, a ribbed (for extra rigidity and better heat dissipation) aluminum body and a frosted plexiglass dome. Inside - a transformer, a Bluetooth module with an antenna, a controller board and LEDs.

Power consumption - 7 watts. The manufacturer does not give the equivalent brightness in watts of conventional incandescent lamps, but subjectively, at maximum brightness with a white glow, the lamp looks like 50 watts - a little brighter than a 40-watt, a little dimmer than a 60-watt one.

What can
Luminous Smart Bulb connects to any smartphones or tablets via Bluetooth 4.0 protocol, just screw it into the cartridge and turn on the current. The control application is available in versions for iOS (6 and above) and Android (4.3 and above), visually the interface does not differ. From the application, manual control of color and brightness is available, you can also program lamps, including those combined into groups. For example, you can create a preset to turn on “cold”, “daytime” light at the same time as an alarm clock and, conversely, “warm” light in the evening with a gradual fading of brightness so that the body tunes in to sleep.

In addition, by turning on music on the device (unfortunately, Android only supports playback of tracks stored on the device), you can make the lamp blink to the beat. Finally, various presets for changing color and brightness are available - for example, a smooth cycling of red to blue and back.

Why do you need
Of course, one such lamp is of little use in the household - except perhaps as a toy. However, having bought a set of at least three (that is, having spent money on a mediocre chandelier), you can already organize “smart” lighting in a small room like a bedroom (for the living room, lamps, given their outstanding maximum brightness, will need more).

At the same time, there are also disadvantages. Yes, you don’t have to get out of bed to control the lamps from your smartphone, but turning on or off requires much more effort than pressing a switch. Imagine: you need to get a smartphone, unlock it, launch the application (the developers have not yet reached the widget) and there already reach for the virtual "switch".

On the one hand, Smart Bulb is a great way to feel like the owner of a "smart home" today. On the other hand, I would like to add “mind” to the device. Still, without additional features such as presence and light sensors, such a system is somewhat limited in functionality. Yes, and it would not hurt to work thoroughly on the control application.

At the same time, if you have a shortage of ideas for an original and inexpensive, albeit not the most practical, gift, such a light bulb is quite suitable - the children are simply delighted with it. Oh yes. We almost forgot to thank the guys from the Medgadgets.ru store for the gadget provided for the test.

I have already reviewed a smart lamp with Bluetooth control, a Bluetooth speaker too, but what happens if you cross them. And you get a musical lamp, which should turn any party into a mini disco hall or make your own disco with light music, for example, in a gazebo in the country. And whether it will work or not - more ...

18.* - The product is provided by the store ...

✔ FEATURES

✔ PACKAGING AND APPEARANCE

Inside was a lamp and instructions.

The lamp itself is almost 1 in 1 ordinary LED lamp, only the mesh on the sides gives a little bit of a 5-watt speaker in it.

The upper part is matte opaque plastic.

Base E27. I myself really wanted to take it apart, find out what was inside, but everything was glued together, except to completely break the top cover.

If you simply screw the lamp into the cartridge and flip the switch, the lamp will glow with a cold white light, and will not differ in any way from an ordinary LED lamp, of which there are many in China.

The weight of the lamp is 156.7 grams and the maximum diameter is approximately 68 mm.

For comparison, a "candle" at 40W.

✔ LAMP CONTROL SOFTWARE

Download and install the application. The instruction is already presented in the program itself, we only need to find our lamp and activate it.

The main "desktop" in the program is a change in the brightness and color of the lighting. The menu can be accessed by pressing the round button “Tab Button”. In the menu, you can control the on/off of the lamp and change some of the operating parameters.

A handy feature in the operation of the lamp is the on and off timer. It can be used as an alarm clock or, conversely, in the nursery as a sleep signal with automatic shutdown after 20-30 minutes when the child falls asleep.

Another feature of the lamp is the profiles, namely the brightness and color for a certain
scenario. You can add your own by setting the lighting to taste.

Well, since the lamp not only shines, but also plays music, there is a Music button in the menu, by clicking on it. a list of all ringtones on the smartphone opens. There is no way to specify a folder with your records, but it is possible to turn on the shuffle mode or continuous playback of one track. In the menu, you can choose the speed of color change, turn the lamp on or off and control the volume.

But when you turn on the music for the first time, the smartphone will play music, since there was no pairing request from the software, you will have to go to the Bluetooth settings of your smartphone and connect the lamp as a headset. Calls "go" not to the lamp, but to the smartphone, so do not worry that your conversation will be heard by the whole apartment. The volume is like that of a not very expensive Bluetooth speaker, it does not wheeze or creak.

The box states that there are still settings, but I did not find anything by checking for updates and feedback forms.

✔ HOW IT LIGHTS

Various options for working, unfortunately the camera conveys a little differently, the colors in real life are more recognizable to the eye.

Suitable only as a bedside lamp. The light is rather dim.

For example, 40 watts already illuminate much better.

The measurements are not very correct, since the lamp shines upwards, but 4 lux is still very small.

Sorokovka gives out 168 lux.

✔ VIDEO REVIEW

I'll start with the bad, it seems that the idea is not bad, but the software is crude, for example, the same scheduler simply does not work, at least set it at 4 in the morning, at least the lamp will not turn on at 10. After some time, when the phone is idle, you need to reconnect to the lamp in the search and lamp selection menu. The room is not flooded with light, and is suitable for finding slippers and not stepping on a dog.
Fans of warm lamp sound, of course, will not do, but turn it on in the gazebo under the barbecue in the country, and even blink to the music, this is probably its main use, but there is no way to specify the folder from which to play, even system ringtones are included in the list, too minus. Now my child has occupied the lamp, he has an evening disco, he likes to dance to the light music and control it from the phone. This is the second use of the lamp, children under 10 years old make their own disco with juice and light music to modern hits Dj.fm

The product was provided for writing a review by the store. The review is published in accordance with clause 18 of the Site Rules.

Full color LED lamp LED Music Bulb with a built-in Bluetooth speaker, this is an excellent music and lighting device that combines the ability to choose the color of the lighting in the room according to your mood and listen to music from mobile devices wirelessly, both simultaneously and separately. For ease of use Bluetooth speaker Lamp comes with a remote control that you can use to select the color or backlight mode, turn on / off the light, control music playback. The volume of the 3W speaker built into the lamp is comparable to average portable laptop speakers and is sufficient for use even in a large room.

The musical light bulb will also decorate a holiday, a house party, a children's room, draw attention to a shop window, create a New Year's mood and much more! You just need to screw the light bulb into the socket for an ordinary light bulb and turn on the light. Located overhead, in the center of the room (screwed into the chandelier cartridge), the speaker distributes sound equally well and evenly throughout the room. You can play your favorite music, lectures, audio books, tutorials and radio in the background. The lamp is easily screwed into a socket for a conventional lamp, or plugged into a socket using a special adapter (not included).

Peculiarities:

Easy installation and simple use

Long service life, low power consumption A

No UV rays, mercury-free, safe for people and the environment

High impact resistance, lightweight body - does not break when dropped

Practically does not heat up during operation, silent operation of light elements

24 button remote control allows you to choose the color of lighting, effect mode, turn on / off, control music with one touch

Compatible with almost any smartphone, iPad, iPhone, Tablet PC, Samsung, Music Player

Characteristics:

● Original name: 3W Wireless Speaker Multicolor Light LED Music Bulb E27 with 24 Key IR Remote Control (CX-BT003)

● Bluetooth Version: 3.0 A2DP (Supports Bluetooth devices from version 1.0 and above, up to 15m away)

● LEDs: 26 pcs. (14 pcs SMD 5730 white + 12 pcs SMD 5050 RGB)

● Total LED power: 12W

● Speaker power: 3W RMS

● Frequency response: 135Hz - 15KHz

● LED power bulbs: 7W (equivalent to 50W incandescent bulb)

● Light source: 12 SMD 5050 RGB LEDs, 14 SMD 3020 White LEDs

● Light output: 400-600 lm

● Temperature: 5700-6300K

● Lamp glow: 16 colors - red, green, blue, white, yellow, cyan, purple, orange, etc.

● Remote control: 24 buttons (1 CR2032 battery)

● Modes: Flash (flash), Strobe (blink), Fade (attenuation), Smooth (smooth)

● Remote control working distance: ≤ 10m

● Illumination angle: 180°

● Operating temperature: - 40°C ~ 80°C

● Service life - from 30,000 hours of continuous operation

● 80% energy saving.

● Power supply: AC 100 - 240V/50Hz-60Hz

● Cartridge standard: E27, B22

● Housing material: ABS plastic, aluminum

● Size: 9.4 x 13.2 cm

● Weight 225 gr

● Certification: LVD, EMC, FCC, CCC, CE, RoHS

Equipment:

Music LED lamp

Remote control (24 buttons)

Instruction (eng.)

Packing/box

*You can buy a multi-colored lamp with Bluetooth in St. Petersburg and with delivery to the regions of Russia by mail.