LifeSmart ‘Blend’ Colour Bulb – wifi model (review)

Important Note: For reasons unknown at this time, the LifeSmart app (client version 1.1.8p3 and above) for iOS no longer has the HomeKit code generating feature, so you will be unable to add the Smart Station or Smart Alarm to HomeKit.

Coming in at around £20, this is one of the cheaper smart colour bulbs on the market, along with Vocolinc and Ikea’s Trädfri colour range. There are two things to note about the Blend light bulb; there are two variants, one of which is wifi enabled, and the other, bluetooth only. The Bluetooth version can work without the LifeSmart Smart Station, but that also leaves it unable to work with HomeKit, which going via their bridge allows you to do.

I currently have three of the wifi version bulbs and they aren’t as bright as the Hue, coming in at around 600lm, whereas the Hue Colour has around 800lm. This isn’t an issue for me, as I only really use them for mood lighting in the bedroom, not for everyday lighting, for which I have a powerful LED ceiling light.

As just mentioned, with the Wifi powered bulb you get to have them appear in the Home app via HomeKit, and all the stuff you can do with standard HomeKit compatible bulbs can be done with these. The only issue with these bulbs is that the colour can be a bit ‘off’ in relation to what you see on your iPhone screen, which doesn’t seem to be an issue with Hue bulbs. Having said that, if I say “Hey Siri, make it Red” for example, all the bulbs look like the same shade of red, so it’s good enough for me.