Wyze Bulb Color hands-on: The cheap color-changing LED I've been waiting for?

Disclaimer: We aren't recommending that consumers purchase Wyze products at this time. Over the past several years, Wyze has suffered from repeated data leaks and security breaches, including a 2019 user data leak, exposed databases in 2022, and exposed video files that same year. More recently, Wyze has seen both 2023 and 2024 security flaws that let at least 13,000 people see through other Wyze security cams owned by unrelated users.

Wyze's forum report on the latest breach includes an update from February 2024: "Our engineering team has added a new layer of verification between users and event videos to prevent this from happening again. We've also removed the client library and will not be using caching until we can find a new client library and stress test it for extreme scenarios like we saw on Friday."

This response is a start, but Wyze has repeatedly struggled to reliably update its approach to security and meaningfully communicate with its users. While we have seen security companies bounce back from security problems in the past, we haven't seen this kind of improvement from Wyze yet. So we are not endorsing their products or any services where you need to create a Wyze account with your personal info. 

We'll keep you updated on Wyze's security and privacy if our recommendations change. If you're looking for security brands that have made notable security improvements or have good privacy track records, we can recommend products from Ring, Google's Nest, Blink, and Arlo.

Wyze's latest LED, the Wyze Bulb Color, is the Seattle startup's first color-changing bulb. At $16 for a single bulb, $27 for a two-pack and $50 for four, it's less expensive than most of the comparable 75-watt replacement bulbs out there. But it isn't the cheapest color-changing smart bulb we've tested; that honor still goes to the $10 Cree Connected Max 60-watt replacement LED.

So is the Wyze Bulb Color worth the extra six bucks? Here are my first impressions after a few days of testing. 

Wyze Bulb Color basics

Wyze has made a name for itself for selling a fast-growing lineup of affordable products for the home. Just in the past year, the company has introduced at least 10 new devices (I've lost count at this point), ranging from a thermostat and a security system to a robot vacuum, a sprinkler controller and a video doorbell. 

Its lighting category, which began with the CNET Editors' Choice Award-winning Wyze Bulb, now also includes the Wyze Bulb Color, the Wyze Night Light and the Wyze Floor Lamp. 

The Wyze Bulb Color shares a lot of features and specs with the white-light-only Wyze Bulb. Both are Wi-Fi-enabled, dimmable, white light color-temperature-adjustable LEDs accessible via the Wyze app or with voice commands on an Alexa or Google Assistant smart speaker or display. Wyze's Bulb Color deviates from there, with a promised max output of 1,100 lumens (similar to a 75-watt incandescent bulb) versus the Wyze Bulb's 800 lumens (closer to a 60-watt bulb).  

Wyze Bulb Color testing

I've been testing the Wyze Bulb Color for a few days and my experience has been good, beginning with the easy initial setup. Hit the plus sign on the top left corner of the app home screen, select Add Device and Power & Lighting. Choose the Wyze Bulb Color from the list of products, and follow the steps to connect the bulb to your Wi-Fi. The whole process took me a few minutes at most.

Once the light is connected in the app, you can make adjustments whenever you want -- turn it on or off, dim it, change the color temperature -- or set it to a specific color on the color wheel (see screenshot below). This light also works with voice commands, so I connected the bulb to an Echo Dot via the  Alexa  app (search for the Wyze skill and follow the steps to link the two devices). 

Both the app and the Alexa commands worked well. I especially liked being able to ask Alexa to turn the bulb "light blue" or "dark green." It worked without hesitation. It can't handle every nuance, though. When I asked the Echo Dot to turn the light "olive green," Alexa wasn't sure what to do. 

You can make your own "Rules" for the Wyze Bulb Color, including shortcuts (turn all my Wyze bulbs on), schedules (turn my kitchen light off every night at 11 p.m.) and device triggers (if my Wyze Cam Outdoor detects a person, turn on my living room light). You can create scenes, too, and custom sleep schedules that slowly fade in your Wyze light as you wake up and slowly fade it out as you fall asleep. 

These options are more robust than ever before, but the Wyze app still doesn't have sunrise and sunset schedules. It would be helpful if you could set an on/off schedule to automatically adjust throughout the year as daylight hours shift. Currently, you have to go into the app and manually update the times yourself. 

Should you buy it?

I'm still testing out the Wyze Bulb Color, but I'm happy with it so far. I specifically want to find out how close this LED gets to its claim of 1,100 lumens. If that's accurate, then this bulb is a true 75-watt equivalent worth the extra $6 over the 60-watt Cree Connected Max (if you're looking for a brighter color-changing bulb). We'll see. 

Watch this: CNET's LED Buying Guide makes sense of the light bulb aisle

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