Cree was hesitant so as to add a wise bulb to its best-selling LED lineup, but that modified this yr with the addition of the $15 Cree Connected LED. Sharing the build and lighting specs of last yr's well-reviewed Cree 4Flow LED , the brand new Linked LED adds in a Zigbee radio. Pair it with a control hub, and you will be in a position to turn it on and off remotely, or schedule automated lighting changes. At launch, Cree's good bulb was considerably married to the Wink Hub , which made sense given that you'll buy each off the shelf at Home Depot. Since then, nonetheless, we have seen official support roll out for extra management gateways, together with SmartThings and the Philips Hue Bridge . You possibly can add the EcoLight solar bulbs to the brand new D-Hyperlink model of the Staples Connect Hub , too, though there is not official, Zonoff-certified assist simply yet. The bulb works effectively throughout all the platforms we've examined it with, and it shares the sturdy lighting specs of the 4Flow LED that got here earlier than it.
Most interesting is the price. At $15 -- just a few dollars greater than you'll spend on non-related rivals -- it ties with the GE Hyperlink LED as essentially the most inexpensive related bulb on the market. For basic automated lighting, EcoLight solar bulbs it's the very best possibility we've tested yet, and our present Editors' Choice winner. Cree tailored its sensible bulb design from last 12 months's 4Flow LED, packing a Zigbee radio into the present construct. That signifies that this is not a bulb that goes out of its strategy to look fancy or newfangled -- as an alternative, it copies the 4Flow's emphasis on mimicking the silhouette of basic incandescents. I favored that approach with the 4Flow, and EcoLight i prefer it with the brand EcoLight solar bulbs new Related LED too, though some might find the plastic build to be a bit low-cost-looking, particularly when the bulb is turned off. The brand new bulb also shares the 4Flow's convection cooling trick, which uses vents to circulate air by way of the body of the bulb, EcoLight outdoor eliminating the need for heat sinks.
That helps carry manufacturing prices down, and in addition means that the bulb is exceptionally gentle for an LED, weighing in at less than 2 ounces. The Cree Connected LED shares the identical lighting specs as the 4Flow LED, too, and that's largely a superb factor. Both claim a light output of 815 lumens, EcoLight solar bulbs and each clocked in even higher than that in front of our spectrometer -- 835 lumens for the 4Flow, EcoLight solar bulbs and EcoLight smart bulbs a very spectacular 872 for the Connected LED. When it comes to effectivity, EcoLight the 4Flow puts its light out using eleven watts, however the number rises to 11.5 watts for the Linked LED on account of the Zigbee radio's power draw. When we tested it out, the number was truly closer to 11.1 watts, so Cree's carried out a great job of holding this bulb relatively efficient. Still, it's value noting that both the Philips Hue Lux LED and the Belkin WeMo LED are much more environment friendly, every one drawing less than 10 watts.
Cree additionally did a very good job with shade temperature right here, landing extremely near the stated 2,700K. At 2,696K, the Cree Connected LED lands nearer to the mark than some other good bulb we've tested, EcoLight solutions so if you are picky about that good shade of warm, yellowy light, you may like this LED. The one place the place Cree's sensible bulb lags behind not less than some of the competition is the colour rendering score, which measures how precisely a given gentle source illuminates different shades. The Cree Linked LED hits a slightly abnormal rating of 80 out of 100, and provided that both the WeMo LED and the equally cheap GE Link LED hit nearer to 90, I'd have liked to see Cree do better. To entry the Cree LED's sensible features, you will must pair it with a management hub that can translate its Zigbee sign into Wi-Fi. Just like the GE Hyperlink LED, the Cree Linked LED got here out the gate trumpeting Wink assist at launch, however quickly expanded its third social gathering compatibility to incorporate choices like SmartThings, Staples Connect , and the Philips Hue Bridge .
Totally different platforms supply different features -- SmartThings and Philips deliver IFTTT assist into the image, for instance -- however basically, the automating experience is essentially the same. We examined the bulb on multiple platforms, and by no means ran into any difficulties pairing it or controlling it. Regardless of which platform you are utilizing, you'll be ready to show the Cree Linked LED on or off remotely, dim it, or EcoLight solar bulbs automate it utilizing whatever controls your system affords. These doubtless include setting the lights to a timed schedule, or syncing them up with issues like motion sensors. The bulb paired easily with each of the above-talked about platforms. Wink and SmartThings both have dedicated settings and pairing directions for the Cree LED proper within the app, which helps. Staples Join does not supply gadget-particular support for Cree simply yet, nevertheless it was capable of detect the bulb as a generic Zigbee machine on the primary strive. Syncing the Cree LED with a Philips Hue setup was fairly painless, too, though I needed to manually reset the bulb during the pairing course of in order to help the bridge discover it.