GE CYNC Smart LED Light Bulbs, Full Color and Color Changing, Matter Compatible, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Enabled, Works with Alexa and Google Home, A19 Bulbs (4 Pack)

I bought these to set up in my room to wake me up in the morning with light. It worked perfectly.

The only thing is, you have to keep your lights on from the switch and only turn them on and off from your phone.

But it’s easy to get used to.

Smart bulbs are good for three things: Security, entertainment and comfort. Security because one can remotely turn on lights which can deter agents of the night. Entertainment because one can select a color to frame the mood including party flashing lights or subtle romantic ambiances. Comfort because the color and intensity of light can enhance the environment.

I had always wanted them, and had my sights on the Phillips Hue smart bulb. When it comes to electronics, I’ve learned the hard way to only go with brands that I trust and recognize. The Phillips brand is a well known one, but the bulb was way too expensive. There are much cheaper bulbs but they are from obscure brands. And then I saw these. GE is a household name and these bulbs are far cheaper than the Phillips.

When they arrived I followed the instructions, inserted the bulbs into their receptacles, turned them on and added them using the proprietary Cync app which I easily found and downloaded to my Android phone. I then added the two bulbs to the Google Home app on my phone. Now, turning on my home office light for example is as simple as commanding my Google Assistant to do so verbally. This answered the one question that I needed clarity on: whether I needed any hardware other than my phone to operate these bulbs. I do not.

It has all the colors on the spectrum, and can imitate settings like the flickering of a candle or sunset. The light can be dimmed or enhanced in intensity. These are also rated to last 15 times longer than regular bulbs. The software could be better, and hence the reason for docking this review one point. The app doesn’t always connect immediately and can get hung up. But it always eventually resolves itself. Also, it only seems to work with Google Home when I am within my home’s WIFI range. But I can control the bulbs wirelessly from anywhere in the world including at home with the Cync app. Hence, I use either app to control the bulbs, depending on where I am. I am happy with the purchase.

N.B. I bought both the A19 and the A21 models. The A19 model is the basic house bulb, rated at 60 watts. It worked in every receptacle I installed it in the house. The A20 is a slightly but noticeably larger bulb, both in height and diameter, rated for 100 watts. It is more selective, and would not work for my front porch. It is also significantly brighter than the A19. It’s now my habit to turn on the family room light remotely if I am not home, so that my dog does not have to sit in the dark.

 These bulbs are less expensive in general AND don’t require a hub. Two big wins there. I’ve had two of these installed on my front porch for a week or so now, and they’re still shining bright.

Installation was as simple as screwing in a light bulb.

To set them up, I installed the Cync app and used that. I initially had a failure adding the bulbs, but later determined it was because I was attempting to name a room and a group with the same name during setup. When I retried setup and used different names, it worked flawlessly.

After setup the bulbs needed a firmware update. Ya, weird… light bulbs… firmware… The update failed on both bulbs at first – don’t know why. When I went back in to try again it worked just fine and they both updated.

Adding the group to Google home was simple, but USING them is hit/miss. It looks like Google has issues talking with the Cync servers. Using the Cync app worked every time. For these particular bulbs, I really don’t have a desire to use Google Home, but if I get additional interior bulbs I’ll have to dig further.

I got the A21 (100W equivalent) so they were brighter, but after installing these the A19s would be fine. In fact I’ve set the dim to 50% they were so bright.

Changing colors and setting favorites is easy, and the animated stuff is cool. In the attached video, they go from “normal”, to “candle”, to “vegas”, to “lava”, then back to normal. You can create your own effects as well.

I’m considering replacing my kitchen bulbs with these!

Totalmente