15 dollars are frequent GE smart bulbs evaluation

Among all of the smart home devices, networking bulbs may be the most promising products into the mainstream market. For consumers interested in trying this technology, the current market has also been a relatively rich choice. Among these products, General Electric (GE) Link networking bulbs is an attractive choice, which is due to some extent because of its $14.97 (about 94 yuan) ultra-low price. That in actual use, which is the performance of the network light bulb?

Price and design

GE Link priced at $14.97 (about 94 yuan), the same as the CREE networking LED bulbs. Prior to the advent of the GE Link, the world's cheapest networking bulb products are PHILPS's Hue Lux, but its price is still much higher than the former ($99.95, or about 626 yuan).

Although it is expensive to buy a light bulb for $15, the life expectancy of Link can reach 25 thousand hours, much higher than that of ordinary bulbs. In addition to the basic model of 60W, GE also provides 65W and 90W models, the price is $19.97/24.97 (about RMB 125/156 yuan). In the rich products, GE Link is stronger than Cree.

Although the light bulb will always be covered by the shade, but Link itself is indeed a very good design, looks like the future from the filament bulb. The lower part of the conical design is a shiny white plastic with a light green at the bottom. The top of the bulb is made of transparent plastic material, which exposes the internal structure of the bulb, thus showing a sense of industry.

But after the light bulb, Link transparent design also brings problems. Compared to the Cree translucent processing, Link in the light scattering performance to be worse, look at the eyes will be some glare. However, taking into account the bulbs are usually installed in the shade, so the performance of the two bulbs in the work will not be much difference.

Link maximum brightness of 800 lumens, the maximum power consumption of 12W, compared to the traditional light bulb is less than 80%. Although the weight of 172 grams is not light, but this is not a problem after installation. Among similar products, Link is the biggest heat. After 10 minutes, the bottom feels very hot.

Connections and settings

Although the light bulb can be disassembled, but if you want to use mobile devices to control, you need a bridge". GE own a price of $30 (about 188 yuan) Link Hub, but it seems not yet listed. Priced at $50 (about 313 yuan) Wink Hub is another easier access to the control center, although it is a solution to the third party. Technically, Link can be compatible with any hub that supports the ZigBee protocol, even without official support. In the test, Link and Wink between the Hub very smooth cooperation.

After installing the Wink Hub at home, and the installation of supporting applications on the mobile device, the lamp is very simple to set up. In the application, you only need to click on "add a product" bulb "and then select the Link bulb from the list of pops. The application will then present you with all the installation steps, but they are all very simple. All you have to do is wait for the control center to be ready, turn on the light bulb, and light it up.

Link can not be installed in the three street lights, and the dimmer is not good, not always the highest brightness when flashing.

Wireless control

On application control, Link and other networking bulbs are not different. First of all, you need to make sure that the power switch is turned on so you can turn on and off the application control bulb. Compared to other home automation center on the market, Wink Hub interface is more intuitive, cartoon design is also very attractive. When you click on the light bulb icon, you can use the pop-up menu to allow you to control each light bulb, or batch control.

Click on the icon of a single bulb to control its switch, and drag and drop it to control brightness. If you want a more precise control, long press the icon will pop up the extra menu, which contains the control of the brightness of the slider. You can look at the time that the bulb is turned on or off in the record, or make a default.

Wink Hub currently does not support IFTTT, but it has a similar function called Robots, allowing you to set up a series of networking equipment trigger conditions. For example, if you have a Quirky Aros air conditioner (and are used to going to bed when you open it), you can set the light bulb to turn off when the air conditioner is turned on.

summary

In general, GE Link is a Cree network and lighting products matched. The former design is even better, although the Cree in the work of the light is more gentle. In the $14.97 (about 94 yuan) price, which is not wrong choice.

For more information about LED, please click on China LED network or pay attention to WeChat public account (cnledw2013).