GE's newest smart bulbs sync with your sleep patterns
Branded as "C by GE" bulbs, these new connected LEDs use Bluetooth to sync with your phone, and promise to help you sleep better at night.
- 10 years product testing experience with the CNET Home team
GE is no stranger to low-cost smart lighting. In 2014, the brand unveiled the automatable Link LED at a price of just $15. The rub was that the bulb communicated using a ZigBee radio, meaning you needed a control device like the Wink Hub in order to translate its signal into something your home's router could understand.
GE thinks you need something easier, and to that end, it's introducing a new line of Bluetooth LEDs branded "C by GE," with plans to start selling the bulbs to consumers online in early 2016. With Bluetooth, the bulbs can speak directly with your phone, so you won't need a hub in order to control them.
The LEDs will come in a four-bulb C by GE starter pack expected to sell for $50. There are two types of C by GE bulbs planned for launch, and you'll get two of each. The first, the C Life LED, is just a simple, dimmable smart bulb, and not much different from the Link LED, save for the Bluetooth radio.
Sync it up with your phone, and you'll be able to turn it on and off or dim it using GE's app, or set up scheduled lighting changes.
The second bulb, the C Sleep LED, is a little more interesting. Aside from basic on/off functionality, it offers three distinct color temperature settings designed to sync with your sleep cycle. That means you'll be able to set it to change from energizing white light during the day to a warmer, more relaxing orange glow in the evening.
GE promises that its new app will make it a cinch to set up these kinds of automated changes -- that'll be critical, given GE's aim of getting these lights into homes that haven't embraced connected technology yet.
The C Sleep LEDs won't be the first color-tunable smart LEDs on the market, but they'll certainly be some of the most affordable. The Osram Lightify Starter Kit comes with just a single bulb and costs $60, while the Lifx White 800 LED costs $40. With two color-tunable bulbs plus two standard smart bulbs for $50, C by GE definitely looks like the better value. What's more, GE is promising limited early-bird pricing that will bring the cost of a starter pack down to $40 for those willing to buy in at launch.
Since they use Bluetooth, you won't be able to access your bulbs when you're not at home, but GE tells me that they'll work with the Wink Hub. Pairing them up should allow you to control them when you're outside of Bluetooth range.
I wouldn't be surprised if the bulbs also end up working with other Bluetooth-compatible smart home platforms, like SmartThings . That's what ultimately happened with the Link LED, which started out as a Wink product, but quickly became more or less platform-agnostic.
To that end, GE tells me that it's looking into multiple platform partners for the bulbs -- including possible integration with Apple HomeKit , the set of smart-home control protocols built into the latest versions of Apple's mobile operating software for iPhones and iPads. GE promised earlier this year that HomeKit-compatible light bulbs were coming, at the Lightfair International lighting convention in New York.
We'll know more about the bulbs and which platforms they work with when they arrive in 2016. When that time comes, expect a full review.