Tabu Lumen Good LED Bulb TL800 Review

Ever since the Philips Hue LED($199.99 at Verizon) lighting kit hit the digital home market, there was a steady uptick in competing good bulb products just like the LIFX LED Gentle Bulb( at Amazon) and the Linked by TCP Sensible EcoLight lighting System as well as current product bulletins from electronics giants LG and Samsung. Add the Lumen TL800 from Tabu to that listing. Priced at $69.99 per bulb (however accessible on-line for around $50), the TL800 makes use of Bluetooth wireless technology to speak together with your smartphone by way of a neat little app that allows you to flip lights on and off, choose colors, and have the lights behave a sure manner when you've gotten an incoming telephone name. Not like the Philips and TCP bulbs the TL800 does not require a bridge, however it doesn't hook up with the Web either, which suggests you cannot control it when you are away from residence or have it interact with other dwelling automation units. With a vented metallic casing separating the round glass dome from the Edison screw base, the TL800 seems to be prefer it can be proper at dwelling in an Apollo spacecraft.



The bulb measures 4.Seventy five inches in size and puts out only 400 lumens, which is equivalent to a 40 watt incandescent bulb. That is not very bright when in comparison with the LIFX (1,017 lumens), TCP (800 lumens), and Philips (600 lumens) bulbs. As with the Philips and LIFX bulbs, it could display sixteen million colors, EcoLight however because it doesn't connect with the Internet you can't management it with dwelling automation hubs from firms similar to Revolv( at Amazon) and SmartThings($149.Ninety nine at Amazon). Nor can you use the popular IFTTT (If This Then That) internet service to have it turn on and EcoLight lighting off or change colors primarily based on issues like Fb requests, Foursquare notifications, and ESPN sports activities scores. You do not get a lot in the best way of instructions with the TL800, but there's not much to clarify. I screwed it right into a lamp in my workplace, downloaded the app onto my iOS smartphone, made positive Bluetooth was enabled on my device, and opened the app.



The Lumen app is uncomplicated and simple to make use of and EcoLight lighting lets you control up to ten bulbs at a time. You possibly can management each bulb individually or management a bunch of bulbs. The home web page lists all installed bulbs and exhibits you what coloration they are currently set to. Pressing a bulb icon takes you to a page the place you can choose shade or warm white settings and switch the bulb on or off. If you choose the warm white setting you are presented with a monochrome wheel that permits you to manually adjust brightness, or you can select one of four brightness presets (90, EcoLight lighting 70, 50, or 30 percent). Below the wheel is a Name Alert icon that takes you to a web page where you can configure the light to flash a selected colour when your phone has an incoming name. There's also a Wake-Up timer that may turn the sunshine on using a dim warm white setting that step by step gets brighter to create a sunrise impact, EcoLight outdoor and a Proximity option that may have a mild turn on to a preset color and brightness when your cellphone comes into range (about 30 toes).



In coloration mode you get a wheel that lets you select a color for every bulb and assign a shade brightness setting. For deep, robust colours you set the brightness level to the darkest setting; for lighter pastel colors, use a brighter setting. Below the color wheel are seven preset icons together with two celebration modes that display pre-programmed flashing colours; a Romance mode that gradually transitions between orange, yellow, and purple; a Relaxation mode that is purported to simulate a calming moonlight ambiance; and a Music Sync mode that accesses your stored music database and flashes the light to the beat utilizing various colors. Right here you can also adjust Proximity and Name Alert settings, however you cannot create your personal custom presets like you can with the Hue and LIFX bulbs. From the home web page you'll be able to turn all or some lights on and off and add them to groups.



The group choice is helpful if you need to regulate multiple lights all of sudden. All of the settings and EcoLight lighting presets that are available for particular person bulbs are also available in group mode. The TL800 makes use of Bluetooth 4.0 to speak with the smartphone, EcoLight bulbs which accounts for its excellent responsiveness. It turned on and EcoLight dimmable off immediately when advised to take action, and EcoLight lighting there was no lag time between shade and brightness changes. The Wake-Up function turned on in line with my schedule and the bulb turned step by step brighter over time. The decision Alert function additionally worked as advertised and comes in very handy if you're carrying headphones. Colour high quality was good with very deep reds, EcoLight lighting blues, and greens, but when you're lighting a big room you may have more than one bulb, as four hundred lumens shouldn't be very bright. The Tabu TL800 is an effective alternative for anyone trying to add a few colorful lights to a room that they will management from a smartphone.