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Connected lighting is quickly becoming more popular, but I imagine the fact that most smart bulbs require a separate hub is likely a deal breaker for many would-be buyers out there. We’ve tested bulbs that work without a hub, like the LIFX LED ( at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) , but its $99 price tag seems even likelier to turn potential buyers away than a hub does. So I was pretty excited to check out the Avea Dynamic Mood Light from Elgato. For $49.95, the Avea connects to your mobile device without the need for a hub, and lets you choose from a number of color-changing scenes to pick lighting that suits your mood. It works as advertised, but the Avea lacks Android support, doesn’t get terribly bright, and offers little in the way of additional features when compared with the competition.
Design and Specs
Although many new LEDs are foregoing traditional light bulb designs, it’s pretty clear that the Avea ($11.89 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) isn’t your average bulb right out of the box. The top half is a regular-looking white dome, but the bottom half is composed of a number of plastic fins. It terminates in an E27 Edison screw connector, so it fits all the same bases as a traditional bulb.
The Avea only reaches up to 430 lumens, so it’s lacking in brightness compared with bulbs like the Philips Hue ($199.99 at Verizon)(Opens in a new window) , which reaches 600 lumens. This makes for a noticeable difference if you’re planning to use the bulb as your primary light source, though as an accent light it’s easier to look past. On the positive side, it only uses around 7 watts of power and delivers a warm white (3000k) light. And though it’s pricey, the Avea lasts for up to 25,000 hours, which is nearly three straight years of nonstop light. So unless you never turn your lights off, you should get a lot more than three years of use out of it.
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Setup
Unlike most smart bulbs, you don’t need a hub in order to control the Avea using your mobile device. You do, however, need a device with Bluetooth 4.0 running iOS 7.1 or later. That means you can control the bulb using most Apple devices released in the last couple of years, but Android support is out of the question for now. This actually highlights one of the advantages of using lighting that connects through a hub, since most hubs support both Android and iOS devices.
Installing the Avea is as simple as installing any other light bulb: Just screw it in and turn it on. Of course, you’ll need to download the Avea app to your mobile device to get the full experience, which you can find for free in the Apple App Store. Adding a light to the app is easy. Since it connects via Bluetooth, you’ll need to enable Bluetooth on your device and search for any available lights directly from the app. I was able to find and connect my bulb in just a few seconds, a process that feels extra simple thanks to cutting out the hub, which eliminates a step from the pairing process. But keep in mind that you can only control a connected light when you’re within Bluetooth range (up to 100 feet), which is far less distance than you get when connected via a hub.
App Control
The Avea app is attractive, thanks to a main menu with nine sliding boxes that allow you to control your connected light (or lights). Seven of those boxes are the dynamic light scenes which the Avea is named after. The scenes range from Magic Hour, which mimics a sunset, to Northern Glow, which looks something like the Northern Lights (or at least like the pictures I’ve seen of it). Each scene causes the connected light to shift in color, either slowly, like the aforementioned Northern Glow, or more quickly, like Cozy Flames, which intersperses pops of yellow, orange, and red to mimic the glow of a fire. You can choose the intensity of the light on a sliding scale, though on the lowest setting, some of the colors are inaccurate; Cozy Flames, for instance, turns green. And while I like the scenes on offer, there is no way to create your own, which seems like a missed opportunity, especially for a product that bills itself as a mood light. What if Cherry Blossom just isn’t my mood?
Of course, you can also choose from a range of solid colors. Unlike most other bulbs, which allow you to pick from a color wheel, the Avea has seven set colors from which to choose: blue, green, orange, purple, red, white, and yellow. Once you select a color you can then change brightness, as well as color temperature. This means a color like purple is really more like a sliding scale from purple to pink. It allows for a more precise level of control than you get with the Philips Hue bulbs, though ultimately I feel like you’re getting less colors to choose from.
The Avea is lacking in other features, as well. For instance, you can set a wake-up light that gradually wakes you to a lighting scene that’s meant to feel like the rising sun. That’s cool, but you don’t get anywhere near the level of scheduling control you get with the Philips Hue bulbs, or even less expensive options like the GE Link or Cree Connected LED ($25.00 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) . These bulbs allow you to set schedules that change throughout the week, and support features like geofencing, which can automatically turn lights on or off depending on where you are. The Avea also lacks support for services like IFTTT (If This Then That) like you get with Hue, or the IFTTT-like Robots feature available when using the GE or Cree bulbs with a Wink Hub ($50.00 at eBay)(Opens in a new window) .
Conclusions
The Elgato Avea Dynamic Mood Light is a decent way to get connected lighting without a hub. Another option is the LIFX LED. It has better light quality and more features, as well as a much greater distance of control thanks to the use of Wi-Fi instead of Bluetooth. But the LIFX bulbs cost twice as much as the Avea bulbs, which is quite an investment. You’re better off sticking with our Editors’ Choice, the Philips Hue. Sure, it requires a hub, but what’s so bad about a hub anyway? Installing the Hue hub is simple, and so is connecting your bulbs. It’ll get you brighter lights with support for both iOS and Android, better scheduling capabilities, and a host of other features you won’t find on the Avea.
3.0
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The Avea Dynamic Mood Light from Elgato can simulate light from a fire, but it lacks features compared with other connected bulbs on the market.
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Source link : https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/elgato-avea-dynamic-mood-light