HomeKit Nanoleaf Essentials Bulbs

[Semiopaque]

Just got four of the Nanoleaf Essentials bulbs for the bedroom today. Quick and easy setup directly in the Home app.

I don’t have a lot of experience with HomeKit devices, just have a few smart outlets, but so far these bulbs work fairly well. It’s a little difficult getting colors right and they sometimes don‘t respond and I have to redo the command to Siri. Not sure if that’s typical with other Homekit devices, but it is with the outlets I have. Could also just be an issue with the electrical I have it plugged in to. I rent and the electrical here is a little sketchy sometimes.

Overall, though, initial impressions are good, I mean, for $20 a bulb with no hub, they seem like a pretty good deal. Color quality is good once I get it dialed in and the white can get far brighter than I’ll ever likely use. Definitely not rock solid performance, but, again, could just be HomeKit or some other issue I have and not the bulbs.

Looking forward to getting the HomePod mini for this bedroom even more than before.

 

[Semiopaque]

Quick update.

Just got the HomePod mini added to the bedroom and the difference in response time for these lights is significant. It’s nearly instantaneous now and there have been no weird hiccups so far with communication to one or more lights failing.

Huge huge difference with the mini added compared to just controlling it through my phone or my regular Homepods. It’s not just issuing commands through the HomePod mini, all commands from anywhere in the house to these lights in the bedroom are quick and reliable, again, so far.

 

[Renho]

i was thinking of trying one out...hmmm.

 

[Dandoodle]

Quick update.

Just got the HomePod mini added to the bedroom and the difference in response time for these lights is significant. It’s nearly instantaneous now and there have been no weird hiccups so far with communication to one or more lights failing.

Huge huge difference with the mini added compared to just controlling it through my phone or my regular Homepods. It’s not just issuing commands through the HomePod mini, all commands from anywhere in the house to these lights in the bedroom are quick and reliable, again, so far.

This is what I was wondering about. Would adding a mini with thread speed up connections by all devices. I've just bought some hue. With black Friday deals they come in around the same price.

 

[Renho]

Quick update.

Just got the HomePod mini added to the bedroom and the difference in response time for these lights is significant. It’s nearly instantaneous now and there have been no weird hiccups so far with communication to one or more lights failing.

Huge huge difference with the mini added compared to just controlling it through my phone or my regular Homepods. It’s not just issuing commands through the HomePod mini, all commands from anywhere in the house to these lights in the bedroom are quick and reliable, again, so far.

Btw- how did you find those? I can’t find any in stock!
Also it uses “Thread” technology which can only be enabled through a boarder router Which happens to be a HomePod mini.

 

[Semiopaque]

Btw- how did you find those? I can’t find any in stock!
Also it uses “Thread” technology which can only be enabled through a boarder router Which happens to be a HomePod mini.

I ordered these direct from Apple the day they came out.

I knew about Thread when I got them and placed an order for the mini at the same time, but didn’t think the difference would be as extreme as it is in practice for me. I was thinking about getting a third full size Homepod, but seeing the results here with the mini, I think I might wait for the big HomePod to get updated now.

Might not matter. I suppose it could just be because the mini is in the same room and relatively close to the lights. May test the lights at some point by moving the mini around and see if that affects it much or not.

 

[bucksaddle]

I ordered these direct from Apple the day they came out.

I knew about Thread when I got them and placed an order for the mini at the same time, but didn’t think the difference would be as extreme as it is in practice for me. I was thinking about getting a third full size Homepod, but seeing the results here with the mini, I think I might wait for the big HomePod to get updated now.

Might not matter. I suppose it could just be because the mini is in the same room and relatively close to the lights. May test the lights at some point by moving the mini around and see if that affects it much or not.

I can confirm this for you. I have my HomePod mini at the other end of my house relative to the Nanoleaf bulb and the wake / sleep of the bulb is as instantaneous as you are seeing. My setup followed your exact path as mentioned in your original post - bulb arrived before mini and the sleep / wake was sluggish due to what I presume was Bluetooth communication. As soon as the mini was added into the mix it’s blazing fast.

 

[Renho]

I ordered these direct from Apple the day they came out.

I knew about Thread when I got them and placed an order for the mini at the same time, but didn’t think the difference would be as extreme as it is in practice for me. I was thinking about getting a third full size Homepod, but seeing the results here with the mini, I think I might wait for the big HomePod to get updated now.

Might not matter. I suppose it could just be because the mini is in the same room and relatively close to the lights. May test the lights at some point by moving the mini around and see if that affects it much or not.

Well if you have a bunch of minis that should widen ur coverage area. I have one in each room so I just need the bulbs!

 

[JonnyBlaze]

They now support adaptive lighting. Not sure if it’s any different from the equivalent setting in the Nanoleaf app, but nice to see it getting updated.

 

[kylew1212]

Question on the nanoleaf bulb, I’m interest in one but what happens if power is lost and regained? Does the bulb remember the previous state or does it turn on when power is brought back online?

Some bulbs that I have will turn off on command, but if the power flashes during the night they turn back on which is extremely annoying.


Thanks!

 

[JonnyBlaze]

Question on the nanoleaf bulb, I’m interest in one but what happens if power is lost and regained? Does the bulb remember the previous state or does it turn on when power is brought back online?

Some bulbs that I have will turn off on command, but if the power flashes during the night they turn back on which is extremely annoying.


Thanks!

I just turned it off and on at the switch (simulated power cut?) and the light simply turns on. The light colour settings were preserved. Not sure if that tells you what you want to know or not though, sorry?

 

[kylew1212]

I just turned it off and on at the switch (simulated power cut?) and the light simply turns on. The light colour settings were preserved. Not sure if that tells you what you want to know or not though, sorry?

My goal is that if the bulb is off, then power is turned off and back on, that the light stays off. So your test seems to present behavior that I would not want.
Thank you for testing!

What happens is occasionally we have power flickers due to storming and it’s really annoying for the lights to come on during the night when they shouldn’t.

 

[waw74]

My goal is that if the bulb is off, then power is turned off and back on, that the light stays off.

I can't answer for the nano leaf bulbs, and you might know this already, but...
The Hue bulbs do have this option. In Hue's app you can set them to return to either "last state" or "default" which is just warm white.

 

[kylew1212]

I can't answer for the nano leaf bulbs, and you might know this already, but...
The Hue bulbs do have this option. In Hue's app you can set them to return to either "last state" or "default" which is just warm white.

Right, several bulbs have this option. I’m specifically interested in the nanoleaf bulbs because of thread.

 

[z20]

Quick update.

Just got the HomePod mini added to the bedroom and the difference in response time for these lights is significant. It’s nearly instantaneous now and there have been no weird hiccups so far with communication to one or more lights failing.

Huge huge difference with the mini added compared to just controlling it through my phone or my regular Homepods. It’s not just issuing commands through the HomePod mini, all commands from anywhere in the house to these lights in the bedroom are quick and reliable, again, so far.

I had the blubs for a month as my first homekit accessories with the homepod mini
I love them I recently started using Nanoleaf app over HomeKit
I suggest you get the Nanoleaf app to get the firmware update for adaptive lighting and nicer controls than homekit.

 

[JonnyBlaze]

My goal is that if the bulb is off, then power is turned off and back on, that the light stays off. So your test seems to present behavior that I would not want.
Thank you for testing!

What happens is occasionally we have power flickers due to storming and it’s really annoying for the lights to come on during the night when they shouldn’t.

We had a power cut this afternoon... good timing I think... the light was on at the switch, but it was off at the time (if that makes sense). When power came back on the light was turned on. Not what you want. I can’t see a setting to change that behaviour, but I am going to email Nanoleaf suggesting it.

 

[kylew1212]

We had a power cut this afternoon... good timing I think... the light was on at the switch, but it was off at the time (if that makes sense). When power came back on the light was turned on. Not what you want. I can’t see a setting to change that behaviour, but I am going to email Nanoleaf suggesting it.

Thanks for updating me! I will email them as well because this bulb checks all the other boxes.

 

[iOS Geek]

We had a power cut this afternoon... good timing I think... the light was on at the switch, but it was off at the time (if that makes sense). When power came back on the light was turned on. Not what you want. I can’t see a setting to change that behaviour, but I am going to email Nanoleaf suggesting it.

I actually thought about this as well and it's really my only complaint. I have a few of these bulbs and lightstrips in my bedroom. One bulb and one lightstrip in my daughter's bedroom as well. We had a short power outage yesterday evening due to wind, and when it came back on, the ones that weren't off at the switch came on. Luckily it wasn't late at night and we were all still awake, but definitely not something you want happening in the middle of the night!

I had another lightstrip a while back (not HomeKit compatible, it was just bluetooth/wifi...don't remember the brand), but there WAS a setting called "Outage Recovery" or something like that. Same thing you're looking for here. Definitely something I would like to see added here.

 

[JonnyBlaze]

I actually thought about this as well and it's really my only complaint. I have a few of these bulbs and lightstrips in my bedroom. One bulb and one lightstrip in my daughter's bedroom as well. We had a short power outage yesterday evening due to wind, and when it came back on, the ones that weren't off at the switch came on. Luckily it wasn't late at night and we were all still awake, but definitely not something you want happening in the middle of the night!

I had another lightstrip a while back (not HomeKit compatible, it was just bluetooth/wifi...don't remember the brand), but there WAS a setting called "Outage Recovery" or something like that. Same thing you're looking for here. Definitely something I would like to see added here.

I emailed the feature request the other day. Will post back if they reply. Would defo be an addition I’d need to see before I fit these in bedrooms.

 

[kylew1212]

I emailed the feature request the other day. Will post back if they reply. Would defo be an addition I’d need to see before I fit these in bedrooms.

I emailed them asking about this as well. No response yet though.

 

[JonnyBlaze]

Latest Nanoleaf app update brings Power Loss Recovery, restoring last setting as has been discussed above! Thanks Nanoleaf!

 

[kylew1212]

Latest Nanoleaf app update brings Power Loss Recovery, restoring last setting as has been discussed above! Thanks Nanoleaf!

Thank you for updating us!

 

[robotica]

I have just ordered 3 of these for my new Apple TV 4k Is there any specific setup for thread? Did you guys have to set it up on the Homepod first (I don't have one of these so not sure if that even its possible) or do you just set it up on the phone and then its on thread automatically?

Going to be replacing some Xiaomi Yeelights any their awful app which constantly pastes from my clipboard. Avoid them. Long live non spyware smart devices.

 

[waw74]

thread should "just work"
if the lights are added to homekit, they should automatically switch to thread once the hardware is available.


There's a good "thread browser" in the eve app, so you can see how your network has configured itself.


below quote from - https://nanoleaf.me/en-US/products/nanoleaf-essentials/get-started/#installing-your-bulb

Thread​

If you have a compatible Thread border router set up in your home (like Apple HomePod mini), your Essentials Bulb will automatically begin using Thread with no additional steps required.

 

[robotica]

That’s good 😊 I thought that’s how it would work but being totally new to thread I thought I’d better ask people with more experience. Can’t wait for everything to get here now.