Yeah, I have over a dozen of the normal bulbs. I’ve had color bulbs from other companies, but they were expensive and didn’t work as well as my Wyze bulbs. Color smart bulbs are a pretty competitive market lately, so it’s hard to have a disrupting price, but the fact that it has some extra features and works well within the Wyze Ecosystem is a big plus for me.
I have some bulbs that turn on (like use it for my desk lamp bulb) when certain contact sensors are left open too long (front/back door), only now I can have them change to certain colors for different warnings so it’s WAY more useful and I can add way more rules/routines to the same device to give me different messages without audio while I’m working! I love this. It can tell me things without annoying the whole house with constant Alexa announcement interruptions. These will be great for automation messages like that.
While colored bulbs are mildly interesting, I’d love to see indoor floods from Wyze I have almost 2 dozen of these in m house. A solid, reliable cost effective solution from Wyze would be a winner in the marketplace.
Yeah, but my eyes wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between most of those colors! I can’t even tell the difference between most of the standard 256 colors unless they’re right up next to each other
Even then, half of them look like the same color to me! You can divide those an exponential amount of times all you want, and I won’t know the difference between >90% of them. I’d call most of them in a few specific categories: Blue, light blue, green, light green, yellow, orange, red, purple, pink, white…yeah, that’s pretty close to about as different as I’ll ever get without confusing colors…I mean I know people will say all sorts of others like teal or whatever…but I’d just mistake that green or light blue or something…if it showed at the same time as green or light blue, I’d probably tell the difference, if it was alone, I might confuse it for one of the others! So, that’s up to like 10 different distinguishable notifications…should be sufficient anyway. If I need more, I just add another lamp and notifications on a different lamp would mean something else!
I’m not color blind or anything…I’m technically a trichromat (3 color channels/cones as normal, meaning I should be able to see 1 million colors), but I could never tell you the difference between all 1 million colors or be able to recognize which one is which…I swear to really be able to clearly distinguish between more than several dozen colors you’d have to be one of those rare tetrachromats (having 4 types of cone cells in the eye and able to see and distinguish 100 million colors).
Am I the only one who (despite not being color blind) still thinks half those 256 colors look like the same color even though we’re supposed to be able to distinguish 1 million variations?
I guess in the end, at least I know these bulbs can show me all the possible colors I’d ever feel like I can recognize
I’ve been comparing these specs to the original Wyze Bulbs.
HERE ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE OLD BULBS AND THE NEW BULBS:
PRICE:
Original Wyze Bulb: $29.99 4-pack ($7.50 each) or $7.99/single. (PRICE WINNER) Wyze Bulb Color: $34.99 4-pack ($8.75 each) - (not sold singly yet, but they said they will be launching a 2-pack of these in a few months)
Color Rendering Index (CRI=how close a bulb’s light is to natural sunlight):
Original Wyze Bulb: 82 Wyze Bulb Color: 90+ (CRI WINNER`- closer to natural sunlight)
Number of Colors:
Original Wyze Bulb: (Color Temperature only…basically 4: Soft White, White, Daylight, Cool White, = which is kind of Orange-ish to Blue-ish) Wyze Bulb Color: 16 Million colors (COLORS WINNER)
Original Wyze Bulb: 802.11 b/g/n 2.4GHz Wyze Bulb Color: 802.11 b/g/n, 2.4GHz, Bluetooth (WAIT, IT HAS BLUETOOTH TOO?!?! COMMUNICATION WINNER)
EDIT: I got confirmation that you can connect to these bulbs locally and control them via Bluetooth even when your internet is out! This is a HUGE UPGRADE!
Original Wyze Bulb: 800 Wyze Bulb Color: 30-1100 (BRIGHTNESS WINNER, unsure about lower limit dimness though) (I’m not sure why the original Wyze Bulbs don’t list a lumens lower range, because you CAN dim them, but I don’t know the lower limit, but it is still pretty bright for my wife when set at 1% at night. Anyone know how to find the lower lumen limit on these?)
Dimensions:
Original Wyze Bulb: 4.8”x2.36”x2.36” (SIZE WINNER) Wyze Bulb Color: 2.5” x 2.5” x 5” (so these are a little bigger)
Weight
Original Wyze Bulb: 4.6 oz (WEIGHS LESS WINNER) Wyze Bulb Color: 0.31 lbs (=4.96 oz)
Weather Resistance:
Original Wyze Bulb: Indoor Use Only Wyze Bulb Color: Suitable for damp locations; Not for use in totally enclosed luminaries (WEATHER RESISTANCE WINNER)
Original Wyze Bulb: (None listed) Wyze Bulb Color: (CERTIFICATION WINNER)
Energy Star
CUL
UL
FCC
IC
CA Title 20
Prop 65
ES
ALMOST EVERYTHING ELSE IS THE SAME BETWEEN THE 2
The new color bulbs win in almost every way that matters except that they cost a little more (presumably due to the extra features) and they use more electricity when turned on (not surprising since they go brighter). Presumably when “off” neither use much electricity at all. People have tested the bulbs and plugs and they use such a minuscule amount of power to stay connected to the WiFi that it is hardly detectable and almost irrelevant. Presumably, it will be the same with these new ones. The new ones can also probably use less electricity if you don’t always use them at full brightness (dim them to 70% and they’d presumably be using close to the same amount of power as the originals at full brightness?)
Again, anyone know how to tell what the lower Lumen range is for the Original Wyze Bulbs? My wife likes to dim the lights to 1% at night while laying in bed reading, but even that feels pretty bright at night.
We’re hoping that even if 1% on these new bulbs is still fairly bright that late at night, that perhaps we can also change the “color” to be a dimmer/dark color and it will help make it seem slightly darker. Either way, it should work out okay…I was just trying to get an accurate comparison. If any of the beta-testers have both an original and a color bulb, can you try testing both at 1% and see if you can tell a difference in brightness at the lower end?
Serious question here - not trying to be ‘negative’ or start a flame war…
These bulbs are currently priced at $34.99 for four and $7.99 shipping. Let’s leave taxes out of the equation for now. That’s a total of $42.98 for four bulbs, or $10.75 per bulb.
In the last couple months, I’ve purchased “Sylvania Smart+ Wi-Fi Full Color Dimmable LED Lightbulbs” on Amazon for $24.49 for one order and $30.99 on another. Current price today is $34.99. You can find them on Amazon by searching for what I have in quotes above - I don’t want to directly link to a competitor out of respect to Wyze.
I’m a Prime member, so I get free shipping. In fact, in many cases, I get my orders shipped to me the next day.
This being said, ordering Wyze color bulbs from Wyze involves paying a premium of $18.49 to $11.99 over the cost of the Sylvania bulbs.
So for that premium, reading through the specs, I’m mainly getting a slightly wider temperature range and a brighter bulb:
2700K-6500K for Sylvania color bulb, versus 1800K-6500K for Wyze color bulb
800 lumens for Sylvania color bulb, versus 1100 lumens for Wyze color bulb.
The rest of the features seem to match between the two different bulbs, including the Color Rendering Index of 90+
Is this really worth the extra $18.49 to $11.99 for four bulbs? Also, if I understand correctly, the current $34.99 pricing is “special pre-order pricing”, so they will cost even more when they start shipping, making the cost differential even wider.
Again, I’m asking this seriously. I currently own over a dozen Wyze Cams, as well as Wyze sensors, Wyze Doorbell, Wyze outdoor plugs, Wyze regular bulbs, etc, so I’m a fairly invested Wyze customer. What has always attracted me to Wyze products was their low pricing versus other products, and their quality. This is the first time that I actually paused before pre-ordering a newly launched product. The pricing just seems out of line from what I’m used to seeing from Wyze. I’m trying to justify the premium in price, but I’m not finding features that, to me, justify paying so much more than from another reputable company like Sylvania.
@WyzeGwendolyn I saw in the specs that these new bulbs support bluetooth, does that mean we’ll be able to connect to them directly to use them even when WiFi/internet is out? Can we use them locally? What is the point of the the bluetooth connectivity? Can you please elaborate for us? (I didn’t see anything in the FAQs)
EDIT: So, after doing a little research, I am guessing the bluetooth might be involved in setup…is that correct?
I have been using 4 Treatlife color bulbs along with 4 Wyze Bulbs. Treatlife color on Amazon are normally $33.99, currently under $30. Free shipping.
When we have a power fluctuation, or outage, my Wyze Bulbs will either all turn on, or all stop working with my triggers. My Treatlife do not have any issues.
Will these new Wyze Color Bulbs work independently or need a Bridge?
As a WYZE fan, backer, and supporter. I want more disruption. Lots of vendors selling bulbs/color bulbs, LED strips, etc…
I have half my wall switches (single pole and 3-ways) replaced with smart switches with another vendor, and I have been happy with the price, functionality, ease of install of those devices, will WYZE be stamped on the back half of those?
Congrats on the release of your new product WYZE team, and I totally bought a pack
You can resolve the power fluctuation issues to some degree by going into settings and selecting your preferred “Power Loss Recovery” option of what you want the bulbs to do when the power disconnects. You can tell it to maintain the previous state (if it was off, then stay off when power is restored), or to always turn the light on when power is restored. The “previous state” option has some things that are kind of frustrating (if you flick the switch off, then flick it back on, you have to wait until it connects to the internet first then tell it to turn on).
How do your Treatlife bulbs act differently?
This is REALLY AWESOME! THIS IS A HUGE PLUS!!! I might eventually replace ALL my original Wyze bulbs just for this reason (I’ll start with 8 for now)! Thanks for the response Brady! I love it!
I’d love to try a colored bulb, but not four - especially at that price. Hopefully you’ll offer one bulb sometime in the future - or even a free one with another order, as you did with the regular bulb and the scale.
While this is a great feature, in my case, I’m not sure of the usefulness - If my Wi-Fi is down, it’s usually because there is a power outage and the lights are off anyhow And Bluetooth won’t exactly help me turn off a light in the basement when I’m in a bedroom upstairs or outside, etc.
I can see a benefit of having Bluetooth during the initial setup though. For my particular use case, the ‘Bluetooth’ feature is more of a ‘marketing’ feature that Wyze can use, rather than something I would leverage all the time. Perhaps there’s another use case I’m not thinking about?
Can I buy a 1-pack of Wyze Bulb Color?
Sorry! A single bulb is not available.Currently, only a 4-pack of Wyze Bulb Color is available. We’re working on getting a 2-pack of Wyze Bulb Color in the Wyze Store in a few months. Stay tuned!
A comment and question: We use either red or yellow lights all throughout our house to emulate evening/night time conditions and to eliminate blue light which can be harmful to sleep and other things. Can these bulbs be brought down to these low emissions? If so, (and I will check the range the doctor recommends) this could be sold easily to many who go this way to eliminate blue light in their homes.
@carverofchoice my Treatlife bulbs are not affected by power outages or fluctuations. Unlike my Wyze bulbs that either stop working with triggers and/or all turn on. I did not have to find hidden settings to make the Treatlife bulbs work as expected.
My bulbs are in a group. Thanks for your recommendation. Apparently in the hard to notice ‘More’ option for each bulb is another window, with another settings icon. I set them all for previous state.
I’ve had several different brands of smart lights. I am not 100% sure what you mean by your other bulbs are not affected by outages. I presume they can’t work when the power goes out…that they don’t have a battery backup or something…so I am assuming that you mean they already default to the previous state (if they were on, then when power restores they turn on, or when they were off, when power restores they stay off?).
Bulbs like that which automatically default to last state like that without me setting that as my preference still have the same problem where if they were on when the power went out and then later power restores in the middle of the night, they will still turn on when I don’t want them to. Also, if I use an app or Google/Alexa to turn them off, then someone later flips the light switch off (cutting the power…thank you visitors or kids), then when I turn the switch back on, the light still won’t turn on until it can connect to the internet, and that’s kind of annoying for certain lights that I want to always turn on when I flip the switch on. I only like the default to last state on a few bulbs…like my bedroom, so they aren’t waking me up when power goes on/off during the night. But most other places I need the light to turn on whenever the switch is turned on, even if someone told an app or google/alexa to turn it off before flipping the switch. What I like about Wyze bulbs is that I have the choice of how it responds to power outages now. I can still have it do the previous state option like many others do, but I can also choose to always have it turn the lights on when power is restored on most of my other lights. If it’s a big deal, I can always have a certain bulb I never actually use set up with automation rules, so when it turns on during certain times (ie: power flicker or restoring in the middle of the night), it will automatically run a routine to turn off all the other lights in the house that I want off at night…and my bedroom was already set to previous state, so it never turns on when restored in the middle of the night. Having had tons of different smart lights, that’s the best solution for smart lights in my opinion…be able to pick what happens at restoration and set up routines so they all work exactly as desired. Wyze allows this, no others I have tried allow me to do these kinds of things…so Wyze has been superior for my uses.
Still, your point is certainly valid. It might be better to offer the previous state option as the default, or ask people during setup which way they want/expect the lights to work when power is restored. That’s some great feedback for them to consider adding during setup. Too many people like you don’t know it’s an option, so it makes sense to call it a hidden option from that perspective. Thanks for sharing.
I hope the option change helps make the Wyze bulbs work the way you’re used to. I hope Wyze considers letting people know more about this option during setup too.
@Donkey Yeah, I get that if you have stable and reliable internet. I don’t. My internet sucks. Sometimes it’s the ISP in my area (Comcast), sometimes it’s the router (I’ve had to upgrade to increasingly more high-end routers as I’ve added devices crashing the 2.4 gHz band), and sometimes it’s the signal congestion (too many 2.4gHz routers in the neighborhood all interfering with each other…Yes, I know how to check and change channels, and use the most open channel, etc…but there are so many interfering with each here, that there are issues I can’t do much about). Then there are all the times Wyze has an outage where my lights won’t respond. So, for me, a local Blutooth option is HUGE! It will alleviate lots of annoyance! None of the other smart bulbs I’ve ever had offered this. It also helps me to think that if they release the API, or someone hacks the API to work on something like Home Assistant, that I can easily use it 100% locally with different triggers. Bluetooth 5.0 can go a fair distance.
I’m thinking about how awesome it would be if Wyze allowed the Wyze Home Monitoring Hub (which also uses Bluetooth) to connect directly to my app and/or these Color Bulbs through the app. I could use contact sensors as smart switches to work 100% locally instead of totally reliant on ISP And Wyze connectivity! If Internet goes out, my contact sensor, acting as a light switch will still work 100% of the time because my phone, the hub and light switch can all connect locally.
I get if that’s not a huge thing for some people, but for me it is HUGE when it comes to improved reliability and usability. No more insane 2.4gHz problems (which isn’t a Wyze issue, it’s just so crowded on that bandwidth and my ISP sucks in general around here too). That’s why it’s a big deal for me and many others. Some of us would use it all the time.
I get that Bluetooth won’t allow us to control lights on a different level or across the house very easily, but most of the time I want to change a light near where I am, definitely within Bluetooth range. Though, I am tempted to look into “Bluetooth repeaters” after some testing of distances in my house once I get this initial batch. Then I might be able to control any light locally from anywhere on my property. We’ll see…one step at a time for now.
As for the price, I am not very pleased with the total costs after shipping and taxes as well. It’s feeling pretty steep compared to competitors. I know the smart bulb market is already super competitive, so it’s hard to have a disruptive price in that realm, and Wyze’s new color bulbs are better than most of the cheaper ones I compared that get free shipping…I guess the added benefits for me are that it works in the rest of my Wyze Ecosystem well (with rules, etc), and it has local Bluetooth access…sure it goes brighter and all sorts of other things, but some of those things aren’t hard-sells for me. The price is decent, but it’s not GREAT or disruptive compared to others if all you want are basic features…it’s the very slight additions that I’ll use that make it worth it for me, but would have no bearing for others who just want basic color changing options and don’t care about most of the rest of it.
. Lots of vendors selling bulbs/color bulbs, LED strips, etc…
And Bluetooth won’t exactly help me turn off a light in the basement when I’m in a bedroom upstairs or outside, etc.