Eleven LEDs you can control on your smartphone (pictures)
These smart LEDs promise to breathe new life into your home lighting routine.
A spotlight on smart LEDs
If you're looking to spruce up your home lighting situation, these smart LEDs can do much more than your basic bulb.
All 10 of them have apps for remote access and some can even change color and integrate with IFTTT. Click through the gallery to find out if any of these smart bulbs have a place in your home.
Belkin WeMo LED Lighting Starter Set
This smart LED kit isn't available just yet, but it will retail for 130 bucks and come with two white-light-only bulbs, a Wi-Fi hub, IFTTT compatibility, and integration with the existing Belkin WeMo app.
GE Link Connected LED
GE's new Link bulbs are its first foray into smart LED territory. A starter kit with a hub and two A19 bulbs retails for $50, and individual bulbs go for $15 each, with BR30 and PAR38 options available as well, all exclusively through Home Depot.
iLumi Color Tunable LED Smartbulbs
iLumi is a crowd-funded project that's been on our radar for awhile. Currently, it offers an A21 bulb for $90, and a PAR30 bulb for $100. Both can switch between white-light and RGB.
Insteon LED Bulb
With just 591 lumens, Insteon's smart LED is on the dim end of the output spectrum. But, if you're looking for something that lands between a 40W and 60W replacement, these $30 8W bulbs with a 52,000-hour lifespan aren't a bad choice.
Lifx Multicolor Smart LED
Lifx's $99 smart bulbs have built-in Wi-Fi chips so no extra hub is necessary. That does mean that each bulb will cost more, though, so if you plan to get a lot of LEDs for your home, Lifx isn't the most cost-effective option.
Philips Hue Connected Bulb starter pack
Philips' color-changing bulbs are ZigBee-enabled LEDs that come in a $200 starter pack of three along with a hub. Although pricey, the app is well designed and it can switch to a wide range of colors, including the standard incandescent white. Oh yeah, they're also compatible with IFTTT.
Philips Hue Lux LED
Philips Hue Lux is very similar to the Philips Hue bulbs, except that they don't have color-changing capabilities. Two white-light-only LEDs and a hub come standard in the $100 starter kit.
Samsung Bluetooth-enabled Smart LED
Samsung's new smart LEDs have Bluetooth tech, meaning that they're supposed to work within range of your smartphone. These white-light LEDs have a color tuning feature, so you can adjust color temperature as you see fit.
Tabu Lumen LED Color Smart Bulb
Tabu's Lumen bulb runs on Bluetooth 4.0, so there's no hub required. Still, the bulbs cost $70 each, and they don't work with IFTTT. They're also dimmer than Philips Hue bulbs -- closer to a 40W replacement than the Hue's 60W replacement stats.
Tabu LuMini LED
The LuMini is the, well, mini version of the Tabu Lumen. Each bulb costs $35 and it's RGB-only, so it won't replicated the color of an incandescent bulb. It's a more affordable option for smart color-changing mood lighting.
Connected by TCP Wireless LED Lighting Kit
This LED kit is among the most affordable we've seen. For your $110, you get three white-light LEDs and a hub. Additional bulbs cost just $17. It doesn't come with advanced automation options, but it's a solid option for basic remote lighting control.