Cree was hesitant so as to add a smart bulb to its best-promoting LED lineup, but that changed this year with the addition of the $15 Cree Linked LED. Sharing the build and lighting specs of last 12 months's nicely-reviewed Cree 4Flow LED , the brand new Linked LED provides in a Zigbee radio. Pair it with a control hub, and you'll be ready to show it on and EcoLight solutions off remotely, or schedule automated lighting modifications. At launch, Cree's smart bulb was considerably married to the Wink Hub , EcoLight LED bulbs which made sense given that you're going to buy both off the shelf at Home Depot. Since then, however, we've seen official support roll out for extra management gateways, together with SmartThings and the Philips Hue Bridge . You can add the bulbs to the new D-Link model of the Staples Join Hub , too, although there is not official, Zonoff-certified assist just but. The bulb works well throughout the entire platforms we've examined it with, and it shares the robust lighting specs of the 4Flow LED that got here earlier than it.

Most appealing is the price. At $15 -- just some dollars greater than you may spend on non-linked opponents -- it ties with the GE Hyperlink LED as the most inexpensive related bulb in the marketplace. For fundamental automated lighting, it's the best choice we have tested yet, and our present Editors' Choice winner. Cree tailored its sensible bulb design from final yr's 4Flow LED, packing a Zigbee radio into the present construct. That signifies that this isn't a bulb that goes out of its option to look fancy or newfangled -- as a substitute, it copies the 4Flow's emphasis on mimicking the silhouette of traditional incandescents. I liked that method with the 4Flow, and that i like it with the brand new Connected LED too, EcoLight LED bulbs though some might discover the plastic build to be a bit low cost-trying, especially when the bulb is turned off. The brand new bulb additionally shares the 4Flow's convection cooling trick, which uses vents to circulate air by the physique of the bulb, eliminating the need for heat sinks.

That helps bring production prices down, and also implies that the bulb is exceptionally light for an LED, weighing in at less than 2 ounces. The Cree Connected LED shares the same lighting specs because the 4Flow LED, too, and that is largely a superb thing. Both claim a gentle output of 815 lumens, and each clocked in even greater than that in front of our spectrometer -- 835 lumens for the 4Flow, and a really impressive 872 for the Linked LED. In terms of effectivity, EcoLight the 4Flow places its light out utilizing eleven watts, however the number rises to 11.5 watts for the Linked LED on account of the Zigbee radio's power draw. When we examined it out, the quantity was actually closer to 11.1 watts, so Cree's performed an excellent job of preserving this bulb relatively efficient. Still, EcoLight LED bulbs it's value noting that both the Philips Hue Lux LED and the Belkin WeMo LED are much more environment friendly, every one drawing less than 10 watts.

Cree also did a very good job with color EcoLight temperature right here, touchdown extraordinarily near the stated 2,700K. At 2,696K, the Cree Linked LED lands nearer to the mark than another sensible bulb we've examined, so if you are choosy about that good shade of warm, yellowy gentle, you'll like this LED. The one place where Cree's sensible bulb lags behind at the least a number of the competitors is the shade rendering rating, which measures how accurately a given light supply illuminates totally different shades. The Cree Connected LED hits a moderately odd rating of 80 out of 100, and given that each the WeMo LED and EcoLight energy the equally cheap GE Link LED hit closer to 90, I might have appreciated to see Cree do better. To entry the Cree LED's smart options, you'll have to pair it with a control hub that can translate its Zigbee signal into Wi-Fi. Just like the GE Hyperlink EcoLight LED bulbs, the Cree Related LED got here out the gate trumpeting Wink assist at launch, however quickly expanded its third social gathering compatibility to include options like SmartThings, Staples Connect , and the Philips Hue Bridge .

Completely different platforms provide totally different features -- SmartThings and Philips convey IFTTT support into the image, as an illustration -- however usually, the automating expertise is basically the same. We tested the bulb on a number of platforms, and by no means ran into any difficulties pairing it or controlling it. Regardless of which platform you're utilizing, you may be able to turn the Cree Related LED on or off remotely, dim it, or automate it using no matter controls your system affords. These seemingly embody setting the lights to a timed schedule, LED bulbs for home or EcoLight LED bulbs syncing them up with issues like motion sensors. The bulb paired easily with every of the above-talked about platforms. Wink and SmartThings both have dedicated settings and EcoLight LED bulbs pairing directions for the Cree LED proper within the app, which helps. Staples Join would not supply gadget-specific help for Cree just but, however it was able to detect the bulb as a generic Zigbee gadget on the first strive. Syncing the Cree LED with a Philips Hue setup was pretty painless, too, though I wanted to manually reset the bulb during the pairing process so as to help the bridge find it.