Nanoleaf Debuts HomeKit-Compatible Downlights, GU10 Bulbs and Lamps

[MacRumors]

Lighting company Nanoleaf today announced the launch of new Essentials lights that are aimed at replacing some of the standard bulbs that are installed in ceilings, plus it is introducing a new series of products in partnership with Umbra.

The Essentials Matter GU10 and the Essentials Matter Recessed Downlight are compatible with smart home platforms that support Matter, which includes HomeKit. The lights can be added to a HomeKit setup as long as a Matter hub like the HomePod mini is available. The Essentials lights are also Thread enabled and will integrate with other Thread products for improved connectivity.

Nanoleaf's Recessed Downlights are four inches in size and can replace standard downlights that you may have in your home, while the GU10 bulbs can replace light fixtures that use that bulb style. Like all Nanoleaf Essential lights, the Downlights and GU10 bulbs support 16 million colors as well as a range of different white temperatures.

The lights can be controlled through the Nanoleaf app or through the Home app when added to HomeKit, and can be activated through automations to have lights turn on at specific times or work in tandem with other smart home devices. Multiple bulbs can be grouped together so you can change the lighting in entire rooms at one time.

Nanoleaf today also announced that it is partnering with Umbra on two new Smart Lamps that are compatible with Matter. The Cono Portable Lamp and the Cup Lamp have unique designs created by Umbra with lighting technology supplied by Nanoleaf. The Cono and Cup Lamps work like other Nanoleaf lights, supporting millions of colors and working with scenes, automations, and more.

The Cono Portable Lamp has a built-in battery that lasts for up to five hours so it can be taken from room to room, while the Cup Lamp is a desktop lamp with a USB charging port and a cup base that is able to hold desk accessories.

Three of the GU10 bulbs can be preordered for $50, while the downlights are priced at $35 each. The Cono Portable Lamp is available for preorder now and is priced at $95, and the $130 Cup Lamp will be available in early 2024.

Article Link: Nanoleaf Debuts HomeKit-Compatible Downlights, GU10 Bulbs and Lamps

 

[dbc34]

I think they make some really great stuff. I just can't buy a cup lamp for my desk for 130 or bulbs for $50.

 

[icanhazmac]

Some of their stuff looks good but I haven’t heard good things regarding longevity. Perhaps owners could chime in?

 

[jbpiv3]

Look nice. But need to work. Their matter bulbs really dropped the ball as they refuse to pair to HomeKit.

 

[ddf]

My content blocker doesn’t bring me to the product page by tapping the link in the article.

 

[HylianKnight]

Some of their stuff looks good but I haven’t heard good things regarding longevity. Perhaps owners could chime in?

i have five non-matter essential bulbs, and one matter bulb that was a replacement for a non-matter bulb that went bad.

The Nanoleaf non-matter essential A19 bulbs have been pretty solid. The matter enabled bulb is a giant pain in my $#%! It requires a reset at least every other week, sometimes multiple times in a row. Now, it’s possible this is brought on by my HomeKit hub changing from a new ATV to one of the many HomePod minis in the house.

We have lots of Philips Hue lights, Lutron Caseta Switches (fan and light), a meeros garage door opener, and wemo thread switches… this one Nanoleaf matter bulb is the least reliable by far. Side note, Hue and Lutron are certainly expensive, but they have proven 100% reliable for many years now.

I really want Nanoleaf to do better, because we need more competition in this market segment to bring down prices. Until then, I can’t recommend their essentials line. I can’t speak to their shape lighting.

 

[klasma]

Totally overpriced, and rather on the ugly side. Amazon is full of smart lamps for less than half the price.

 

[jadenandwillow]

Look nice. But need to work. Their matter bulbs really dropped the ball as they refuse to pair to HomeKit.

Yes! DO NOT BUY the matter bulbs!
Had to return them

 

[playaproved]

I need a 6” downlight, my daughter would go nuts. The pricing isn’t too bad on the 4” version.

 

[kkee]

No thanks, I will stick with Phillips Hue.

8 years and 45 bulbs are still going strong.

 

[RMo]

Amazon is full of smart lamps for less than half the price.

How does the quality compare? I haven't used any Nanoleaf smart products, but I use a lot of Philips Hue products, have tried lots of other smart bulbs, and are disappointed by any that are cheap enough to be worth considering instead (Innr being the rare exception, but nothing works quite as well as Hue bulb on on a Hue system, so I still don't).

Lots don't dim well, either remaining too bright or unexpectedly changing color temperature; have poor CRIs, low lumen output; or otherwise exhibit quirky behavior.

Again, not saying these are better, and I suppose we won't know about the brand new products for a while. But price isn't the whole story for lighting.

 

[McWetty]

Some of their stuff looks good but I haven’t heard good things regarding longevity. Perhaps owners could chime in?

I’ve owned a number of different nanoleaf products over the past decade and they have almost all failed. I would avoid them. Hue and twinkly have been much better for me personally.

 

[dannyyankou]

A lamp with a cup for $130, is it April 1?

Also, charging $10 shipping on their website is salt in the wound.

 

[cyb3rdud3]

No thanks, I will stick with Phillips Hue.

8 years and 45 bulbs are still going strong.

Same here!

And what countless people forget is the quality of the light, besides the longevity, the quality of the light, the smooth gradients when dimming, the step differences in shades and colour, the easy of use and integration. Still, nothing even gets close.

 

[ImaxGuy]

No thanks, I will stick with Phillips Hue.

8 years and 45 bulbs are still going strong.

$$$ but reliable. The two out of 12 bulbs I own that failed within two years were replaced free of charge.

 

[svish]

Cup lamp looks good. Price could have been much lower.

 

[mikebenton]

I like the idea of HomeKit downlights, but the cost is way too high and controlling them is not easy to implement. I recently went with some Amico lights from Amazon and paid $360 for 48 lights. The same would be $1,440 for these, but grant it, they are RGB where the Amico bulbs are tunable white. I control them with Lutron switches (including dimming) which integrate with HomeKit. With these bulbs, they are only dimmable via app or voice. Same with controlling the color. Not clear if they offer memory. Also, not clear what happens when power is restored after loss of power. If your power goes out, it's likely that every light will turn on when the power is restored. This happened with my old Lightify bulbs and I would wake up in the morning after a storm to a brightly lit house. There are very few decora light switch options to implement with these types of bulbs which could give the option of controlling these bulbs like a normal wall switch - controlling on/off, dimming, and profiles. I tried a couple options, but they often don't connect and the battery doesn't last very long. Nanoleaf needs to sell a good decora switch with these lights.

 

[cyb3rdud3]

I like the idea of HomeKit downlights, but the cost is way too high and controlling them is not easy to implement. I recently went with some Amico lights from Amazon and paid $360 for 48 lights. The same would be $1,440 for these, but grant it, they are RGB where the Amico bulbs are tunable white. I control them with Lutron switches (including dimming) which integrate with HomeKit. With these bulbs, they are only dimmable via app or voice. Same with controlling the color. Not clear if they offer memory. Also, not clear what happens when power is restored after loss of power. If your power goes out, it's likely that every light will turn on when the power is restored. This happened with my old Lightify bulbs and I would wake up in the morning after a storm to a brightly lit house. There are very few decora light switch options to implement with these types of bulbs which could give the option of controlling these bulbs like a normal wall switch - controlling on/off, dimming, and profiles. I tried a couple options, but they often don't connect and the battery doesn't last very long. Nanoleaf needs to sell a good decora switch with these lights.

The power of Philips Hue Integration done right and easy.

But, there is also the home automation trap. If you automate, you should really automate and not have a half-way house with lot's of manual variations. The wife, children, granny, haven't touched a light switch in years. Just use the one next to the beds to override lights out, and all lights out. The rest is adaptive, and automated based not only on position of the sun, but also available ambient light, presence, and activities. LOL, I don't even have to touch the setup, it just works.

 

[richie510]

First I must comment on the Nanoleaf Matter technology. It is bad. You must manually pair each device to both Homekit and the Nanoleaf app. The Nanoleaf app is necessary for firmware updates and to re-apply the "Light Restore" setting which is often mysteriously lost from the bulbs. Oh, and the bulbs frequently need to be re-paired to the Nanoleaf app. Eve devices work fine without the "pairing to both app and homekit" shenanigans. Still, these bulbs support thread and take some load off of wifi. I am begrudgingly using them in my home, but I wish there were viable alternatives for me.

Next, I tried Hue. Hue works pretty well, but not perfect in my setup. I started with just a couple of bulbs and maybe that was not enough to create a proper mesh. None the less, hue does NOT play nice with apple homekit. Hue wants to be the center of your universe and will actively try to force your homekit home to match the settings of your hue environment, even for rooms and devices that have nothing to due with hue. I had to nuke my apple home twice due to hue wreaking havoc on my setup. No thanks. Play nice with apple home or it is a no go.

I have had a love/hate relationship with LIFX bulbs. Sometimes they work splendidly, sometimes they do not. Never have been able to pin it down.

Most of my Eve stuff is pretty worth it and just works. I have an original bluetooth wall switch that is the most reliable homekit device I have ever used.

Lately Meross has been taking my money as their products are cheap enough to fill my needs until something better comes along. And if nothing better comes along, they work fine. Often I have to reset the wall switches as they lose connection. At least they have a button on the switch to easily reboot them. Most wall switches do not have a reboot button but still need to constantly be rebooted, which required a trip to the circuit breaker.

Even if they work amazing, I'm not jumping into another platform hub inside my Apple Homekit platform hub system.

 

[cyb3rdud3]

??? Hue can work just fine with Apple Home. Have had it so long that I can’t remember how long

 

[iTundra]

CRI = 80. That's pretty bad, about like a florescent. They need to do a lot better on color quality with a CRI over 95 including a similarly high R9 (red). Ideally they need to jump up to measuring based on TM30 though.

 

[Jamie0003]

i have five non-matter essential bulbs, and one matter bulb that was a replacement for a non-matter bulb that went bad.

The Nanoleaf non-matter essential A19 bulbs have been pretty solid. The matter enabled bulb is a giant pain in my $#%! It requires a reset at least every other week, sometimes multiple times in a row. Now, it’s possible this is brought on by my HomeKit hub changing from a new ATV to one of the many HomePod minis in the house.

We have lots of Philips Hue lights, Lutron Caseta Switches (fan and light), a meeros garage door opener, and wemo thread switches… this one Nanoleaf matter bulb is the least reliable by far. Side note, Hue and Lutron are certainly expensive, but they have proven 100% reliable for many years now.

I really want Nanoleaf to do better, because we need more competition in this market segment to bring down prices. Until then, I can’t recommend their essentials line. I can’t speak to their shape lighting.

Have you actually tried updating the matter bulbs? I had issues when I first got mine, did an update immediately fixed all the issues

 

[CarAnalogy]

My content blocker doesn’t bring me to the product page by tapping the link in the article.

Have to allow sponsored links. Gotta block ads because they have gotten outright malicious, but sponsored links are ok.

 

[im_to_hyper]

I think they make some really great stuff. I just can't buy a cup lamp for my desk for 130 or bulbs for $50.

The Plus side? You are probably going to get about 15-20 years of use out of them if you do.

 

[zubikov]

CRI = 80. That's pretty bad, about like a florescent. They need to do a lot better on color quality with a CRI over 95 including a similarly high R9 (red). Ideally they need to jump up to measuring based on TM30 though.

Exactly, sorry but I’m not putting cri 80 lights in a room I spend a lot of time in and mostly just want good recessed lighting.