Few lightbulbs come with as good a story as LIFX. Phil Bosua invented these LEDs. His previous gigs include electrician, drummer, and app designer—experience that he used to create color-changing LEDs that connect to a Wi-Fi network for smart phone control. Bosua pitched his idea in a video on the Kickstarter crowdfunding website. Funders, also known as strangers, pledged $1.3 million in six days. Consumer Reports’ lightbulb experts were intrigued and put LIFX through some initial tests and then started playing with it.
As a lightbulb, it’s bright. We paid $99 for a LIFX LED and in our preliminary tests this dimmable bulb met the claims we tested. It was nearly as bright as a 75-watt incandescent, used about 17 watts of energy, and cast light like a floodlight does. When we first turned the LED on the light color was bright white, but after a tester installed the app on a smart phone and set up the bulb with a home Wi-Fi network he changed the light color from warm yellow to a bluish white and then any color he wanted. You can use a light switch to turn the LED on and off, but a smart phone lets you brighten and dim the LED remotely. LIFX says you can connect LIFX to a Nest thermostat and when it switches to away mode the lights turn on and off to create a lived-in look. LIFX claims this LED lasts 40,000 hours. That’s nearly 37 years when used 3 hours a day.
Party mode. Our tester set up the bulb with his home Wi-FI network and started playing with colors, setting a mood and transforming a space, and sampled six effects. One caused the light to pulsate to the beat of the music and switched colors. The candle effect created a yellow-orange light flicker, while lava light cycled through intense colors. Some effects didn’t work at first, but eventually they did, although some stopped on their own. The LIFX website says more features are coming via free app updates.
Security weaknesses found. According to the U.K.-based Context company, its experts hacked into a private Wi-Fi network via LIFX LEDs and then notified LIFX. Context does note on its website that an attacker would have to be within wireless range, making a large scale hack impractical. LIFX announced on its website in late June that new firmware was available for downloading which offers security improvements and bug fixes.
The lighting revolution continues. We're looking for the next big thing, but if you need energy-saving sources of light—minus the special effects—take a look at our lightbulb Ratings of dozens of LEDs and CFLs.
—Kimberly Janeway
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