I do love my gadgets. The idea of being able to control things like the lights, music, blinds (if I had more of them) from my phone feels almost sci-fi. Yet this is technology that has existed for a while now. The issue for many like myself has been the price of such items. I price has kept these new exciting and sometimes experimental products way way out of our reach. In the case of googleglass that was definitely a good thing! Heck it's only recently I've even started to see the fitness trackers come into play, dispite having been a wearer of Nike's Fuelband for over 5 years. Even now, it seems Fitbit have a strong grip on the wristband market. So I remain in the minority, having auburn hair, being in the minority is something I'm used too haha.
In late November I felt a need to invest in my own self care. To get some things that helped me feel happier and more like my home was my own. So I 'invested' in a wifi speaker (details in a future post) and these wifi lights.
I was so excited when the bulbs arrived. I opened up the box, and took out the contents. Two bulbs, a wifi hub and small manual.
The manual is awful! I tried to workout how to set the bulbs up and it was useless. There is a downloadable / viewable online manual, which is good. It tells you everything you need to know. I would rather have just had a leaflet that said download the online manual. Or have a basic setup flyer in the box. Once I had the lights up and going however, they were great!
I downloaded the Time2 'Kit4Home' app to control my bulbs. After a bit of playing around I was up and running.
I really like having bulbs that I can have on different dimmer settings and colours. It's almost just an added extra that I control this from my phone.
The app also lets you group together bulbs, so for example I have two in my lounge which I have grouped. This means they turn on and off (as well as colour etc) together. Avoiding having to turn on two separate bulbs.
A couple of times I have caught myself out by not having my phone in my hand and wanting to turn the light on. But I guess it's a gradual process of getting used to having this technology.
Another function I really like is the alarm. There's a sleeper too, but I haven't used that. The alarm allows you to set a time for the light to turn on. It will start on a very low setting, then gradually increase in brightness. I haven't quite got the confidence level to turn my audio alarm off yet. But the light is a really great way to wake up, it's so much more natural and less intrusive than the traditional audio alarm.
I am delighted with these bulbs and very pleased I purchased 4 bulbs. I have two for the lounge, one for the kitchen and one in my bedroom. These are the only rooms I would really need these in. So I'm happy with 4.
I did get mine during a sale, as such I paid around £30 for 2 bulbs and a Hub (twice). That being said, I have seen the product in another sale since. The original price is listed as about £120. This is a price I would not have paid, or even considered. It's definitely worth shopping around and checking prices. Similar products seemed to vairy in price greatly!
This is my second product review post, and is again a product I purchased. I have not been approached, invited or sponsored in anyway to write this post.
If you would like to find out more about this product or others by Time2 there website is https://www.time2technology.com
I would love to hear about your home gadgets! You can always find me on twitter if you would like to share a link or image.
Thanks for reading.