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Nanoleaf debuts HomeKit Essentials Bulb and Lightstrip with HomePod mini-supported Thread as Apple Store exclusives

Shortly after unveiling its HomeKit-enabled Shapes Triangles and Mini Triangles in October, Nanoleaf has debuted its new Essentials Smart Color Changing LED Bulb and LED Lightstrip. The new products will launch exclusively at Apple, don’t require a hub, and have compelling features like HomeKit and Thread support.

Nanoleaf’s CEO Gimmy Chu teased last month that the new Essentials Bulb and Lightstrip would be arriving in November and Apple users will be glad to see these new HomeKit accessories hit shelves. Nanoleaf detailed the two new Essentials products today in a press release:

The latest innovation from Nanoleaf is making smart lighting more accessible than ever, without compromising the quality users know and love from the brand. Lighting that allows you to be both comforted and productive is essential as we transition to spending even more time indoors than ever before. Essentials enables the most optimal lighting for every day – whether that’s working from home, relaxing before bed or setting the ambiance for a special night with loved ones.

When unveiling the HomePod mini, Apple revealed that its new smart speaker supports Thread, a standard that offers direct device communication which increases reliability and more. And Nanoleaf’s Essentials Bulb and Lightstrip are the first smart lighting products to include support for Thread.

Launching exclusively into Apple stores worldwide, the Essentials are the first-ever consumer smart lighting to work with Thread*, a low latency and low power mesh network. With Thread, users will experience improved connectivity, a wider control range and the ability to set custom Schedules. Thread will enable additional smart features and integrations in future updates including Color Scenes, Screen Mirror and Rhythm Music Sync (available next month). Users can also set up Essentials via Bluetooth.

When it comes to Nanoleaf’s new Bulb and Lightstrip enabling “the most optimal lighting for every day” the company says it created a new “Circadian Lighting” feature that sounds akin to Apple’s new HomeKit Adaptive Lighting.

The Bulb and Lightstrip have a built-in Circadian Lighting feature that allows the lights to automatically adjust color temperature throughout the day to complement natural daylight, setting the perfect ambiance for any time of day. With the brightest white lighting available within the smart lighting category, Essentials is ideal for daily lighting needs. Users can even set custom timing to help adjust lighting to irregular schedules unique to them.

Along with a no-hub design and Thread support, the Nanoleaf Bulb landing at just $20 and the Lightstrip coming in at $50 make the new products really competitive in the HomeKit market.

We’ve just got our hands on both new smart lights and will be sharing a full review soon.

Here are some more specs for the Essentials Bulb that features a sharp geometric design:

With the widest max brightness range on the market, the Essentials Bulb provides the brightest white lighting at all color temperatures (2,700-6,500K), illuminating an average brightness of 806 lumens and max brightness of 1,100 lumens. The Bulb itself also doubles as an art piece with its unique Rhombicosidodecahedron shape that can hold it’s own, even without a shade.

And for the Essentials Lightstrip:

The Lightstrip is also specially designed with four white LEDs per LED set – two warm and two cool – to achieve the best lighting for your daily needs, and outfitted with 21 LED sets per meter. With an 80-inch length and expansions available at 40 inches, each Lightstrip is easily cuttable for users to customize to their own space, with the option to extend length up to 10 meters while still ensuring optimal brightness (between 2,000-2,200 lumens).

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