LIFX Colour Lightbulb

Uk.lifx.com

£39.99

The LIFX Colour is a Bluetooth-enabled lightbulb that can be set to pretty much any colour. Unlike some lightbulbs that offer this ability, the LIFX Colour one doesn’t rely on a smart hub. Instead, the bulbs can be controlled directly from your phone, and the accompanying app manages to be simple to use whilst also giving you way more options than you might have thought you needed.

You can set the LIFX to a myriad of colours using a colour wheel, as well as being able to choose from a spectrum of white to warm light. This white-to-warm spectrum is a lovely addition, as some smart bulbs only offer this feature – being able to have this as well as the colour options means you can use this bulb for absolutely anything, whether you’d be inclined to have it set to a colour all of the time, or only in specific moments.

My friends and I have actually been wanting to try one of these bulbs for our D&D nights for some time. We already have atmosphere-building music playing whenever we run a session, be it spooky tension or epic fight music, but we’ve always thought that being able to change the colour in the room for important scenes would be the immersive next level. We were right. It’s all goofy fun, but being able to tell your players that they’ve discovered a creepy ritual happening and then slam the room into red lighting never gets old. Likewise, finding a magical lake might call for a soft blue, wandering the fae realm might be a light green, or going to a sci-fi nightclub might be a great time to whip out some of the animated lighting settings, pulsing the room between that typical neon pink and electric blue. The best part is, it’s all possible via an easy press of the app – especially with the ability to pre-program and label your presets.

The LIFX Colour kicks out 1000 lumens, though this is dimmable via the app. The bulb doesn’t rely on a hub to be used, meaning it’s a low commitment purchase. That said, if you already have Alexa, Google Assistant, Cortana etc, the bulb is compatible with them. In other words, it can easily integrate with your smart home system, but it also doesn’t require one in order to work. You can program on-off times, mode changes etc., or you can trigger the changes with a click of the app as and when you want them.

Whether it’s for game nights, house parties, your reptile room or whatever it is, this bulb is hugely varied in its options. Personally, this is a product I would use in a room or two where I knew I was going to need that kind of novelty, rather than kitting out every bulb in the house, or the price would start to add up. However, or just a bulb or two, this is a very affordable price for a fun and easy-controlled novelty that also has practical day-to-day applications.

Pros
1000 lumens
Massive range of possible colours
Bright, clear pigment
Dimmable
Programmable pre sets
Lighting animations or still colours
White-to-warm settings
Bluetooth – no hub needed

5/5