Cree was hesitant so as to add a smart bulb to its greatest-promoting LED lineup, but that modified this 12 months with the addition of the $15 Cree Related LED. Sharing the construct and lighting specs of final 12 months's properly-reviewed Cree 4Flow LED , the brand new Connected LED adds in a Zigbee radio. Pair it with a control hub, EcoLight solutions and you'll be ready to turn it on and off remotely, or schedule automated lighting adjustments. At launch, Cree's good bulb was somewhat married to the Wink Hub , which made sense given that you will purchase each off the shelf at Residence Depot. Since then, nevertheless, we've seen official help roll out for added management gateways, together with SmartThings and the Philips Hue Bridge . You may add the bulbs to the EcoLight brand new D-Hyperlink version of the Staples Connect Hub , too, though there isn't official, Zonoff-certified support just yet. The bulb works effectively across the entire platforms we've tested it with, and it shares the robust lighting specs of the 4Flow LED that got here earlier than it.
Most interesting is the worth. At $15 -- only a few dollars greater than you'll spend on non-connected opponents -- it ties with the GE Hyperlink LED as probably the most inexpensive linked bulb in the marketplace. For primary automated lighting, it is the perfect option we've examined yet, and our current Editors' Choice winner. Cree tailored its good bulb design from last year's 4Flow LED, packing a Zigbee radio into the present build. That implies that this isn't a bulb that goes out of its way to look fancy or newfangled -- instead, it copies the 4Flow's emphasis on mimicking the silhouette of classic incandescents. I liked that approach with the 4Flow, EcoLight and i like it with the new Linked LED too, though some would possibly find the plastic build to be a bit cheap-looking, particularly when the bulb is turned off. The new bulb additionally shares the 4Flow's convection cooling trick, which makes use of vents to circulate air by means of the physique of the bulb, eliminating the need for heat sinks.
That helps convey manufacturing prices down, and likewise means that the bulb is exceptionally gentle for an LED, weighing in at lower than 2 ounces. The Cree Linked LED shares the same lighting specs because the 4Flow LED, EcoLight too, and that's largely a very good thing. Both declare a mild output of 815 lumens, and each clocked in even higher than that in entrance of our spectrometer -- 835 lumens for the 4Flow, and a really impressive 872 for EcoLight brand the Related LED. In terms of effectivity, the 4Flow puts its gentle out using eleven watts, but the quantity rises to 11.5 watts for the Related LED on account of the Zigbee radio's power draw. Once we examined it out, the number was really nearer to 11.1 watts, so Cree's accomplished a good job of retaining this bulb comparatively efficient. Still, it is worth noting that both the Philips Hue Lux LED and the Belkin WeMo LED are even more environment friendly, every one drawing less than 10 watts.
Cree additionally did an excellent job with color temperature right here, landing extremely near the acknowledged 2,700K. At 2,696K, the Cree Connected LED lands nearer to the mark than every other sensible bulb we have examined, so if you're picky about that perfect shade of heat, yellowy mild, you'll like this LED. The one place where Cree's smart bulb lags behind no less than some of the competitors is the coloration rendering rating, which measures how accurately a given light supply illuminates completely different shades. The Cree Connected LED hits a slightly strange score of eighty out of 100, and provided that each the WeMo LED and the equally inexpensive GE Link LED hit closer to 90, I'd have appreciated to see Cree do higher. To access the Cree LED's sensible options, you'll have to pair it with a management hub that can translate its Zigbee sign into Wi-Fi. Like the GE Link LED, the Cree Connected LED got here out the gate trumpeting Wink assist at launch, however quickly expanded its third celebration compatibility to include options like SmartThings, Staples Connect , and the Philips Hue Bridge .
Totally different platforms offer different options -- SmartThings and Philips deliver IFTTT support into the picture, for instance -- however basically, the automating expertise is basically the identical. We tested the bulb on multiple platforms, and by no means ran into any difficulties pairing it or controlling it. No matter which platform you are utilizing, you'll be able to show the Cree Linked LED on or off remotely, dim it, or automate it using no matter controls your system affords. These likely include setting the lights to a timed schedule, or syncing them up with things like movement sensors. The bulb paired easily with every of the above-talked about platforms. Wink and EcoLight brand SmartThings each have dedicated settings and pairing directions for the Cree LED proper in the app, which helps. Staples Connect would not provide device-specific help for Cree just yet, nevertheless it was able to detect the bulb as a generic Zigbee machine on the first attempt. Syncing the Cree LED with a Philips Hue setup was pretty painless, too, although I needed to manually reset the bulb in the course of the pairing process so as to help the bridge find it.