[MUSIC]
Hey I'm [INAUDIBLE] Krist, here with the Cree Connected LED, our Editors Choice winner in the Smart LED category.
We first reviewed this bulb back in January and liked it quite a bit.
It got an 8.5 out of ten.
Work with the Wink platform at launch and did quite a nice job on that platform.
It would turn on and off when you came and went.
It would.
Turn on and off on a schedule, you can control it remotely from the app.
All of that works perfectly, but we didn't like that it worked just with Wink at launch.
We wanted more official partners.
Well in the month since, we've seen those partners emerge.
First up, with SmartThings, which added official support for Cree LED.
Debuted last month.
You can also control it on Staple's Connect now, with official support coming in the next month or two.
And you can control it using Phillips [UNKNOWN].
So if you've got color changing hue lights, and you wanna slightly less expensive option to add to your setup, these work well.
When I say less expensive, that's exactly what I mean.
These are $15 a light.
That's about as cheap as smart lights get.
In fact, that's exactly as.
The cheapest smart light to get is Phillips [INAUDIBLE] it costs thirty a piece, [INAUDIBLE] cost 30 a piece, this is one of the few options that has really come down to an accessible price point.
It is as high as the GE Link LED at 15, but I think this one works a little better with the platforms that we have tested both on.
Maybe a little laggier there on the link hub, but you have got other options now which is really important.
The other options also bring in new features and functionality.
For instance the Phillips Hue Bridge and the SmartThings Hub are both IFTTT compatible.
They have IFTTT channels.
So if you add the bulb to these hubs you can control it using IFTTT.
You can't do that with Wink.
Beyond those connected features this is a very good bulb.
It draws 11.5 watts and puts out 850 lumens of light at 27,000 k. That's a nice yellow-y color temperature.
And when you turn it on you can barely tell that it's not an incandescent.
It's got that same silhouette and that's the Cree 4Flow design at play.
It's the bulb from last year.
The dumb version of this bulb that Cree put out.
It's the same design here with the Cree connected LED.
I think it looks pretty good.
Some people might not like that when the bulb's back off it's got kind of a plasticky look, there's no glass.
But all in all I like the.
Assisted line.
If you decide to go with a more expensive competitor, like Philips Deluxe or Belkin Wemo's LEDs, you might notice a slight bump in color-rendering capabilities, maybe a little bit better efficiency but not enough of a jump to justify the price increase.
Those cost twice as much per bulb as the Cree bulb.
If you're outfitting a whole home's worth of lights, you're gonna want something a little more.
Portable.
The Cree bulb also does a better job connecting and automating of these platforms then the equally priced GE Link LED.
All in all, that adds up to a pretty terrific value, the best option that we've seen in the smart lighting category yet.
And that makes this bulb the winner of our Editor's Choice.
Thanks for watching.
Check out the rest of our reviews at cnet.com.
For cnet appliances, I'm Ry Crist.
