HomeKit-connected smart lights are easy to find these days, but there are still opportunities to make specific bulb types smarter. Sylvania is doing just that with its new Smart+ Soft White A19 Filament Bulb, the first HomeKit-connected filament bulb to hit the market.
These retro-style bulbs can be controlled and automated with Siri and Apple’s Home app thanks to HomeKit compatibility. Each bulb is dimmable with brightness rated at 650 lumens with soft white 2700K color temperature. That compares to Philips Hue White LEDs at 840 lumens and Sylvania Soft White A19 LEDs at 800 lumens. The brightness is a bit duller, but that’s the trade-off for the retro look.
Smart+ Soft White A19 Filament Bulb works without a hub so there’s no need to connect another box to your wireless router, but that means these rely on Bluetooth for connectivity which can affect connectivity speed. We haven’t tested these yet, but we’ll report back when we do.
Sylvania’s HomeKit filament bulbs aren’t quite ready yet, however, but you can pre-order starting today and expect delivery at the beginning of Q2 2018. Each bulb goes for $31.99 and is expected to ship on April 1.
With the addition of the new filament bulb, this is Sylvania’s complete HomeKit lighting lineup:
- Soft White A19 Filament Bulb / 650 lumens / 40W equivalent / 2700K / reg. $31.99
- Soft White A19 LED Bulb / 800 lumens / 60W equivalent / 2700K / reg. $25.99
- A19 Full Color LED Bulb / 800 lumens / 60W equivalent / 2700K to 6500K / reg. $44.99 (currently $36.99)
- Full Color LED Flex Strip / 2700K to 6500K / reg. $59.99
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