If you're like most people, you don't think too much about the light bulbs that hang out in the sockets in your house. Maybe you've got a preference, but most of us are happy as long as they work and illuminate the area adequately. Still, innovation is generally a good thing, which is why we were so excited to try out the
Satechi Spectrum iQ Bulb, an LED bulb that utilizes Bluetooth to give users nearly-endless lighting options.
The Satechi Spectrum iQ Bulb is about the size of a standard incandescent lamp bulb and fits into a standard socket. It's meant to replace a standard 50W bulb if you're looking for something compare it to. It's worth noting that it won't work in a dimmer socket or a three-stage lamp.
Being an LED, it produces almost no excess heat and is bright for it's size. The bulb uses only 10 percent of the energy that an incandescent bulb does, a bit less than a CFL of the same brightness, and has a lifespan of just about 25,000 hours. The Satechi Spectrum iQ Bulb is also capable of producing millions of different colors, which you can select by using the Satechi Spectrum app.
Using the app to control the light is a little strange at first, but once you realize that you can pick any color you can think of as your light color, it's worth it. Not only can you control the color, but you can also control its intensity by dimming it down to create some awesome mood lighting. It's worth noting that certain colors become more prominent (red, for example) when you dim colors below a certain point. You can also control up to ten bulbs from your iPhone, which can be set up and controlled as individual "scenes" as well.
As far as the app is concerned, we've got some mixed feelings about it. On the surface, it's absolutely incredible and has every feature we want. Want to set your light up on a timer? You can do that. Want to set your light to a daily/weekly schedule? You can do that too! We absolutely love having our light set to come on just as the sun is setting, and fade out as we're heading to bed.
There's a very gimmicky disco mode as well, which we think kids or event planners would likely enjoy, but we found that it often centered itself around colors that we weren't too thrilled with, specifically a blood red that made our eyes ache.
There are some downsides to the app. First, it's only set to work with an iPhone. Sure, you can use it with an iPad, but the app is stretched and looks less than great. Secondly, it occasionally takes a few tries for the app to correctly find the light bulb. In our trials, we found this to be a fairly rare occurrence, but frequent enough to bear mentioning.
Overall, we're quite pleased with the Satechi Spectrum LED light. It's bright, it's customizable, and the app is useful, even if it isn't perfect. We will warn you, LED bulbs, especially those that are Bluetooth enabled, are fairly pricey, but are rated to last for about three years of continuous, uninterrupted use. If you only use them for six hours a day, though, you should be able to stretch about a decade out of them. The
Satechi Spectrum iQ Bulb comes in at a steep $30 per bulb, and is available from Amazon.
Who the The Satechi Spectrum iQ Bulb is for:
If you're looking to set up a cool scene in your house, or if you like the idea of being able to change the light spectrum that lights your house, we highly suggest these bulbs -- they're great!
Who the The Satechi Spectrum iQ Bulb isn't for:
If you're not willing to spend $30 per light bulb, even for one that might last a decade, then obviously this isn't for you.
-Amber Neely (
@SurferAmber)
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