Cree was hesitant to add a sensible bulb to its best-promoting LED lineup, however that modified this yr with the addition of the $15 Cree Related LED. Sharing the build and lighting specs of final yr's well-reviewed Cree 4Flow LED , the new Linked LED provides in a Zigbee radio. Pair it with a management hub, and you will be ready to show it on and energy-efficient bulbs off remotely, or schedule automated lighting modifications. At launch, Cree's good bulb was somewhat married to the Wink Hub , which made sense given that you're going to buy each off the shelf at House Depot. Since then, however, we've seen official support roll out for additional control gateways, together with SmartThings and the Philips Hue Bridge . You'll be able to add the energy-efficient bulbs to the new D-Hyperlink version of the Staples Connect Hub , too, though there isn't official, Zonoff-certified assist just but. The bulb works properly across the entire platforms we have examined it with, and it shares the sturdy lighting specs of the 4Flow LED that came earlier than it.
Most interesting is the value. At $15 -- just some dollars more than you may spend on non-connected opponents -- it ties with the GE Link LED as probably the most inexpensive linked bulb on the market. For basic automated lighting, energy-efficient bulbs it is the very best option we have examined but, and our current Editors' Selection winner. Cree tailored its sensible bulb design from last 12 months's 4Flow LED, packing a Zigbee radio into the prevailing construct. That means that this is not a bulb that goes out of its approach to look fancy or newfangled -- as an alternative, it copies the 4Flow's emphasis on mimicking the silhouette of basic incandescents. I preferred that strategy with the 4Flow, and i prefer it with the new Linked LED too, though some may find the plastic build to be a bit low cost-wanting, especially when the bulb is turned off. The brand new bulb additionally shares the 4Flow's convection cooling trick, which uses vents to circulate air through the body of the bulb, eliminating the necessity for heat sinks.
That helps carry manufacturing prices down, and likewise means that the bulb is exceptionally gentle for an LED, weighing in at less than 2 ounces. The Cree Related LED shares the identical lighting specs as the 4Flow LED, too, and that's largely a good thing. Each declare a light output of 815 lumens, and both clocked in even greater than that in front of our spectrometer -- 835 lumens for the 4Flow, and energy-efficient bulbs a very impressive 872 for the Linked LED. By way of efficiency, the 4Flow places its mild out using 11 watts, but the number rises to 11.5 watts for the Linked LED on account of the Zigbee radio's power draw. When we tested it out, the quantity was really nearer to 11.1 watts, so Cree's executed an excellent job of protecting this bulb relatively efficient. Still, it's value noting that both the Philips Hue Lux LED and EcoLight lighting the Belkin WeMo LED are even more efficient, each one drawing less than 10 watts.
Cree also did a very good job with color temperature right here, landing extremely near the stated 2,700K. At 2,696K, the Cree Linked LED lands nearer to the mark than some other good bulb we have tested, so if you're picky about that excellent shade of heat, yellowy mild, you may like this LED. The one place the place Cree's smart bulb lags behind at the very least among the competitors is the colour rendering rating, reduce energy consumption which measures how precisely a given light supply illuminates completely different shades. The Cree Connected LED hits a rather extraordinary rating of 80 out of 100, and given that each the WeMo LED and the equally cheap GE Link LED hit closer to 90, I'd have liked to see Cree do better. To entry the Cree LED's sensible features, you will must pair it with a control hub that may translate its Zigbee signal into Wi-Fi. Like the GE Hyperlink LED, energy-efficient bulbs the Cree Linked LED got here out the gate trumpeting Wink help at launch, but soon expanded its third occasion compatibility to include choices like SmartThings, Staples Join , and the Philips Hue Bridge .
Totally different platforms supply totally different options -- SmartThings and Philips bring IFTTT assist into the picture, as an example -- however on the whole, the automating expertise is essentially the identical. We tested the bulb on multiple platforms, and never ran into any difficulties pairing it or controlling it. No matter which platform you are utilizing, you'll be in a position to turn the Cree Related LED on or off remotely, dim it, or automate it using whatever controls your system gives. These likely include setting the lights to a timed schedule, or syncing them up with things like movement sensors. The bulb paired easily with every of the above-mentioned platforms. Wink and EcoLight dimmable SmartThings both have devoted settings and pairing instructions for the Cree LED right within the app, which helps. Staples Join doesn't offer system-specific assist for Cree simply yet, however it was in a position to detect the bulb as a generic Zigbee machine on the primary try. Syncing the Cree LED with a Philips Hue setup was pretty painless, too, although I needed to manually reset the bulb throughout the pairing process in order to assist the bridge discover it.