Bulbrite Solana Orderly LED Filaments Tunable White A19 evaluation: More cost-effective and intuitive, however characteristic-deprived

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Even as you’re buying for a fine, straightforward-to-exercise easy filament bulb that acquired’t rupture the bank, this more affordable mannequin from Bulbrite’s Solana line makes for a exact replacement. In the market for $20, The Orderly LED Filaments Tunable White A19 is a Wi-Fi-enabled bulb that doesn’t require a hub, and unlike diverse easy filament bulbs in its trace differ, that which you’ll be in a position to perhaps also tune it from a warmth white to a fab daylight hours temperature. Easy wi-fi setup and a swish, intuitive app can grasp to delight newcomers to the easy home market.

Some key aspects are missing, then again, similar to exact sleep/wake modes as properly as a vacation mode. And whereas the Bulbrite Solana bulb does crimson meat up Alexa and Google Assistant, it lacks crimson meat up for Apple’s HomeKit and IFTTT.

This evaluation is a part of TechHive’s coverage of the excellent easy LED bulbs, where you’ll bag experiences of the competition’s choices, plus a buyer’s handbook to the aspects which you’ll be in a position to grasp to take into fable when browsing this class.

Specs

Bulbrite affords a large selection of Solana-branded easy bulbs, along with an in style A19 dimmable white bulb, a dimmable white BR30 floodlight, and a color A19 bulb (which we’ve beforehand reviewed). The tag additionally sells three easy filament bulbs, along with a G25 globe, an Edison-style ST18 bulb, and the long-established A19 bulb  reviewed right here.

The $20 sticker trace for the Bulbrite Solana A19 filament bulb within reason more affordable as compared with identical easy filament bulbs in the marketplace, significantly given that its both dimmable and tunable. Philips Hue, to illustrate, sells a dimmable however now now not tunable ST19 coiled filament bulb with Zigbee and Bluetooth connectivity for $25 (or $28 on Amazon), whereas LIFX has a dimmable, non-tunable Wi-Fi filament bulb for an glorious pricier $40.

The Bulbrite Solana A19 filament bulb has a smartly-identified bulb form and an in style E26 unsightly, which can screw into most gentle gentle sockets. Rated to last as prolonged as 15,000 hours, the bulb’s white temperature might perhaps well well also be tuned from an awfully warmth 2,200 Kelvin to a fab 6,500Okay, which is the the same of daylight hours on a hazy day.

Internal the clear bulb are a quartet of hetero (in preference to coiled) filaments, two of which emit a hotter white temperature whereas the numerous two filaments shine with a cooler gentle. The 2 pairs of filaments will glow in diverse combinations to back up the color temperature you’ve situation in the Bulbrite Solana app (more on that in a 2d).

Ben Patterson/IDG

Being the filament bulb that it’s miles, the Bulbrite Solana A19 is more healthy suited to atmosphere a mood than lighting up a workspace, however it completely’s gentle reasonably intellectual at 800 lumens, which is the the same of a 60-watt vivid bulb. Cranking the bulb’s brightness all of the formula up in my darkened dining room, the Bulbrite Solana A19 filament bulb’s illumination used to be simplest adequate; however again, filament bulbs are more about style than utility.

Setup

Step one in along with the Bulbrite Solana A19 filament bulb to your Wi-Fi community is to derive the firm’s app and blueprint an fable (you’ll wish to enter an electronic mail handle and blueprint a password). Next, the app will instructed you to screw for your unusual easy bulb, power it on, and be clear that it’s blinking all of sudden, meaning it’s in pairing mode. You’ll then wish to enter your Wi-Fi password, and if all goes properly (because it did for me, and refreshingly on the first try), the bulb can grasp to join to your Wi-Fi router.

Ben Patterson/IDG

As with most easy bulbs, the Bulbrite Solana A19 filament bulb connects simplest to the 2.4GHz wi-fi band, meaning you’ll potentially wish to disable the 5GHz band to your Wi-Fi router before connecting the bulb to your wi-fi community. Once the bulb is hooked up, then again, try to be able to reactivate your router’s 5GHz band without any complications (I didn’t grasp any).

Substances and functionality

The Bulbrite Solana’s cell app is swish and intuitive, unlike too many diverse easy bulbs app which might perhaps well well very properly be saddled with needlessly confusing interfaces. That’s the proper news; the unpleasant news is that its easy functionality within reason restricted, with some aspects—particularly sleep and wake modes—failing to behave as that which you’ll be in a position to perhaps seek facts from.

Ben Patterson/IDG

For starters, that which you’ll be in a position to perhaps also administration an particular person bulb with a fine, clearly designed interface with tabs for both brightness and temperature, whereas a huge slider allows you to gloomy and brighten the bulb or situation hotter or cooler white temperatures. On the bottom of the interface is a prominent power button.

That which you’ll be in a position to perhaps presumably also neighborhood Bulbrite Solana bulbs into diverse rooms for your easy home (“Bedroom,” “Draw of job,” “Kitchen,” etc.), and once that’s performed, that which you’ll be in a position to perhaps also switch white and color temperatures (while you have a Bulbrite Solana color bulb), alter the brightness, and switch the facility space of all of the bulbs in a room simultaneously. That which you’ll be in a position to perhaps presumably also additionally take from bigger than a dozen neighborhood icons to blueprint rooms one day of the app more straightforward to title.

Besides grouping bulbs together, the Bulbrite Solana app allows you to blueprint lighting scenes that that which you’ll be in a position to perhaps also situation off in schedules. Shall we embrace, that which you’ll be in a position to perhaps also situation up a scene that sets a pair of bulbs for your bedroom to a warmth white temperature whereas dimming their brightness, whereas one other scene might perhaps well well dial up diverse brightness settings, colors, and/or white temperatures for more than one lights in the identical or diverse rooms. The total direction of of establishing a scene is easy: You merely salvage the bulbs you wish included, then alter their settings, precisely as you’re going to grasp been you controlling the bulbs personally.

Atmosphere a agenda is a easy direction of, if reasonably restricted. That which you’ll be in a position to perhaps presumably also situation a custom agenda that turns a single gentle or a neighborhood of bulbs on and off, otherwise that which you’ll be in a position to perhaps also situation a agenda that triggers a lighting scene. Any other option is to situation an “away” agenda that douses your lights in the event you’re some distance flung from home, however it be critical to agenda your “away” hours manually in preference to by job of geofencing, and there’s no “vacation mode” that randomly turns your lights on and off.

There are additionally “wake up” and “tumble asleep” schedules, however they don’t automatically regularly brighten or gloomy your lights; in hiss so that you just can construct that, you’ll wish to situation a series of schedules. Shall we embrace, that which you’ll be in a position to perhaps also blueprint a agenda that turns to your lights at 10 p.c brightness at 6 a.m. on weekdays, then one other agenda that u.s.a.the brightness to 20 p.c at 6: 05 a.m., etc. That’s both stressful and disappointing. Fortunately, that which you’ll be in a position to perhaps also without complications situation up staunch sleep/wake routines with the support of Alexa or Google Assistant. Talking of which…

Orderly home integrations

The Bulbrite Solana A19 filament bulb works with both Alexa and Google Assistant, meaning that which you’ll be in a position to perhaps also add the bulb to a room one day of the Alexa and Google Dwelling app, neighborhood it with diverse Alexa- or Google Assistant-controlled devices, add it to routines, and administration it with swear commands.

That which you’ll be in a position to perhaps presumably also additionally exercise Alexa and Google Assistant to gain a hole in the bulb’s characteristic situation; particularly, the flexibility to situation “wake up” and “tumble asleep” schedules. With Alexa, that which you’ll be in a position to perhaps also add the Bulbrite Solana bulb to a routine and then situation it to regularly ramp up or gloomy its brightness. For Google Assistant, that which you’ll be in a position to perhaps also exercise the “gentle wake and sleep” characteristic to expose the Assistant to “sleep” the bulb at night time (which regularly dims its brightness) or “wake” the bulb in the morning (which slowly increases the brightness). Nonetheless if HomeKit is your easy home ecosystem of replacement, that which you’ll be in a position to perhaps also’t construct any of that.

Base line

The Bulbrite Solana Orderly LED Filaments Tunable White A19 bulb has its drawbacks: it lacks native crimson meat up for sleep/wake routines (though as we merely smartly-known, that which you’ll be in a position to perhaps also situation these up with Alexa or Google Assistant), there’s no vacation mode, and there’s no HomeKit crimson meat up (now now not too surprisingly given the bulb’s trace point) nor IFTTT crimson meat up (which is more disappointing).

Aloof, the Bulbrite Solana easy filament bulb is more affordable than we might perhaps well well want guessed given that it’s both dimmable and tunable, and the Bulbrite Solana app, whereas restricted, is swish and straight forward to exercise. When that which you’ll be in a position to perhaps are also residing with its barriers, the Bulbrite Solana Orderly LED Filaments Tunable White A19 bulb makes for a exact, more affordable replacement.

• Bulbrite Solana Orderly LED Filaments Tunable White A19

  Newcomers and nick charge hunters will warmth to this more affordable easy filament bulb, however its lack of sleep/wake modes, as properly as HomeKit and IFTTT crimson meat up will annoy savvier customers.

  Pros

  • Easy to situation up
  • Intuitive app administration
  • More cost-effective for a tunable filament bulb
  • Alexa and Google Assistant crimson meat up

  Cons

  • “Web up” and “tumble asleep” modes don’t work the formula you’d seek facts from
  • No vacation mode
  • No HomeKit or IFTTT crimson meat up

Ben has been writing about skills and client electronics for bigger than 20 years. A PCWorld contributor since 2014, Ben joined TechHive in 2019, where he covers easy home and residential entertainment merchandise.