Nanoleaf Launches HomeKit-Compatible 'Essentials' LED Bulb and Lightstrip

[HyperliteG4]

Jumped on it right away, mostly because I've been waiting for an Adaptive Lighting-compatible light strip and the Eve one is out of stock on Amazon. But I'm getting conflicting information... This article and many others claim that Adaptive Lighting is supported, but TechHive and 9to5 suggest otherwise. Can anyone confirm?

Nanoleaf's website calls it "Circadian Lighting" which is the same thing. I ordered one as well, this was a main feature I was looking for. Now I just need to find where to order extensions! They aren't up on the Apple Store like the starter pack is.

EDIT: On the HomeKit Blog it says: "The Circadian Lighting option allows the Essentials line to automatically adjust color temperatures throughout the day, similar to Apple’s recently launched HomeKit adaptive lighting feature, which Nanoleaf intends to accept in future firmware updates." Correct me if I'm wrong, but to me that reads adaptive lighting isn't supported through HomeKit yet, only through their app, but they intend to add it in the future.

 

[icanhazmac]

Has anyone seen the lightstrip extensions for sale yet? I don't see them on the Apple Store

Nanoleaf Essentials 80” Lightstrip Starter Kit - Apple

Apple Store Search Results

www.apple.com

Edit: my apologies, I just noticed you specifically asked about the extensions.

 

[felixroqu3]

Don’t worry, you get what you pay for. I’ve got about 8 hue bulbs and two lightstrips, none have ever gone bad. My friend has 1st gen bulbs and they are all still working. They are quality bulbs

Question. Can you have multiple colors on the lightstrip, or is it just one solid color?

 

[AbSoluTc]

No hub required, and cheaper than Phillips Hue. I'm curious how well these work.

How are these so cheap? Is there a catch vs Phillips hue?

I asked the same questions. I have over 30 Phillips hue bulbs and lights. Half normal price, half sale prices through the years.

I have a Nanoleaf Aurora that's had no issues for the past 5/6 years (minor blip software wise, support says a fix is coming).

Decided to try these bulbs. Ordered two. So far, same lumens as hue. 800 w/a max of 1100. 16 million colors and tunable whites. They connect via Thread (found in the new HomePod Mini) BLE. I have not read anything else.

I am curious if they work without a HP Mini. I don't know. Lots of questions, not many answers yet but at $20 a pop, I will try it out and see. Worse case, they go back. Best case? I now can buy full color/white lights same as Hue for a much cheaper price.

Quality/longevity still TBD but if it's like their other products, shouldn't be an issue. Nanoleaf may be the next Phillips Hue.

 

[tranceme]

These seem to be Koogeek from the design.

LED Strip Lights, Koogeek Dimmable Smart Strip Lights Siri Timer Remote Control, 16000K Colors USB Powered 6.56ft Compatible with Apple HomeKit, Android, Alexa, and Google Assistant on 2.4Ghz

LED Strip Lights, Koogeek Dimmable Smart Strip Lights Siri Timer Remote Control, 16000K Colors USB Powered 6.56ft Compatible with Apple HomeKit, Android, Alexa, and Google Assistant on 2.4Ghz

www.amazon.com

I have them and they do HomeKit. They don't sell them anymore. Which is odd...unless they sold the design to Nanoleaf.

Anyway, the work pretty well. I just wish they were longer. Fine length for something like a desk at 6.6ft. Color was really nice compared to some of the cheap LEDs I have.

 

[AbSoluTc]

Got two of these in today. Nice bulbs. There is one issue though, colors are not as bright as my Hue bulbs. Noticeable difference there. The whites though are super bright at all hues.

wondering if the firmware update that’s pending might help.

 

[jordanpin]

Nanoleaf's website calls it "Circadian Lighting" which is the same thing. I ordered one as well, this was a main feature I was looking for. Now I just need to find where to order extensions! They aren't up on the Apple Store like the starter pack is.

EDIT: On the HomeKit Blog it says: "The Circadian Lighting option allows the Essentials line to automatically adjust color temperatures throughout the day, similar to Apple’s recently launched HomeKit adaptive lighting feature, which Nanoleaf intends to accept in future firmware updates." Correct me if I'm wrong, but to me that reads adaptive lighting isn't supported through HomeKit yet, only through their app, but they intend to add it in the future.

Thanks for confirming that. Odd that many news outlets have confused the Circadian Lighting for native HomeKit Adaptive Lighting. I'm also looking for the extensions, haven't been able to find them anywhere...

 

[freedman]

Just received a Nanoleaf essentials bulb on friday. I have a number of Hue and Lifx bulbs already deployed around my house and am interested in cheaper alternatives. Based on a few days of use, I can offer the following assessment:

Pros
• nice tunable whites (especially the warm part of the spectrum)
• plenty of lumens (white spectrum only)
• attractive shape
• easy/seamless Homekit integration
• $20 price (compared to $40-50 for Hue/Lifx)

Cons
• deep colors are much dimmer than with a similar Hue/Lifx bulb
• color/brightness adjustments via Home app and native Nanoleaf app can lag - sometimes it's almost instantaneous but other times it can take up to 5 seconds or not process at all.
• bulb sometimes sporadically switches to white when I'm navigating through various portions of the color palate (reds/purples) and won't allow the selected color to display.

The bottom line is that the bulb does not offer the same brightness with respect to non-white colors and seems to have some connectivity/responsiveness issues when compared to a Lifx/Hue bulb placed in the exact same location. Wondering if this would change if I deploy some Thread-enabled devices. Even so, it's only $20.

Hoping that there is a way for me to tune the system to get better responsiveness.

 

[JonnyBlaze]

Just received a Nanoleaf essentials bulb on friday. I have a number of Hue and Lifx bulbs already deployed around my house and am interested in cheaper alternatives. Based on a few days of use, I can offer the following assessment:

Pros
• nice tunable whites (especially the warm part of the spectrum)
• plenty of lumens (white spectrum only)
• attractive shape
• easy/seamless Homekit integration
• $20 price (compared to $40-50 for Hue/Lifx)

Cons
• deep colors are much dimmer than with a similar Hue/Lifx bulb
• color/brightness adjustments via Home app and native Nanoleaf app can lag - sometimes it's almost instantaneous but other times it can take up to 5 seconds or not process at all.
• bulb sometimes sporadically switches to white when I'm navigating through various portions of the color palate (reds/purples) and won't allow the selected color to display.

The bottom line is that the bulb does not offer the same brightness with respect to non-white colors and seems to have some connectivity/responsiveness issues when compared to a Lifx/Hue bulb placed in the exact same location. Wondering if this would change if I deploy some Thread-enabled devices. Even so, it's only $20.

Hoping that there is a way for me to tune the system to get better responsiveness.

Thanks for your thoughts, really useful to know the comparison. I’m most interested in the HomeKit Ambience feature, does nanoleaf support that yet? If so can you say how that compares to Lifx.

 

[freedman]

Thanks for your thoughts, really useful to know the comparison. I’m most interested in the HomeKit Ambience feature, does nanoleaf support that yet? If so can you say how that compares to Lifx.

Haven't used the ambience feature. Not of much interest to me. I like to keep the whites dialed to around 2700k (or lower) throughout the day. I may experiment and report back.

 

[HyperliteG4]

Thanks for your thoughts, really useful to know the comparison. I’m most interested in the HomeKit Ambience feature, does nanoleaf support that yet? If so can you say how that compares to Lifx.

It's not supported yet. You have to use it through Nanoleaf's app, it's called "Circadian Lighting" but supposedly it will be supported natively in HomeKit soon

 

[jzuena]

Just received a Nanoleaf essentials bulb on friday. I have a number of Hue and Lifx bulbs already deployed around my house and am interested in cheaper alternatives. Based on a few days of use, I can offer the following assessment:

Pros
• nice tunable whites (especially the warm part of the spectrum)
• plenty of lumens (white spectrum only)
• attractive shape
• easy/seamless Homekit integration
• $20 price (compared to $40-50 for Hue/Lifx)

Cons
• deep colors are much dimmer than with a similar Hue/Lifx bulb
• color/brightness adjustments via Home app and native Nanoleaf app can lag - sometimes it's almost instantaneous but other times it can take up to 5 seconds or not process at all.
• bulb sometimes sporadically switches to white when I'm navigating through various portions of the color palate (reds/purples) and won't allow the selected color to display.

The bottom line is that the bulb does not offer the same brightness with respect to non-white colors and seems to have some connectivity/responsiveness issues when compared to a Lifx/Hue bulb placed in the exact same location. Wondering if this would change if I deploy some Thread-enabled devices. Even so, it's only $20.

Hoping that there is a way for me to tune the system to get better responsiveness.

So, for someone who:

• doesn't already have color expectations (from owning Hue products)
• is expecting to place a light within a foot or so of a HomePod mini (for good Wifi and Thread signal)
• and expects to use color lighting only in low light conditions (watching TV at night in the same room)

there doesn't seem to be any really bad show-stoppers, then? I guess for $20USD it is worth trying.

 

[jordanpin]

For those who were looking for the light strip extensions - they're now available from Nanoleaf directly on their website. I don't see them on the Apple Store yet.

Also: I received the light strip on Monday, HomePod mini Tuesday. I would say Thread is a must for these. Speed & reliability improved drastically with the HomePod mini. Response is now instant, not only when using Siri on HomePod but also through the Home & Nanoleaf apps.

 

[ErikGrim]

Great whites, disappointing colour nits.

 

[Brad Smith]

For those who were looking for the light strip extensions - they're now available from Nanoleaf directly on their website. I don't see them on the Apple Store yet.

Also: I received the light strip on Monday, HomePod mini Tuesday. I would say Thread is a must for these. Speed & reliability improved drastically with the HomePod mini. Response is now instant, not only when using Siri on HomePod but also through the Home & Nanoleaf apps.

If you have original HomePods, how do you make sure that the mini is using Thread to control it? They are nearby, but not in the same room.

 

[jordanpin]

If you have original HomePods, how do you make sure that the mini is using Thread to control it? They are nearby, but not in the same room.

Not too sure, the process is all automatic. From my understanding, it’s a mesh network so I assume the light strip and mini are able to ‘recognize’ each other and switch to Thread if it makes sense to (ie. signal strength is better than Bluetooth). I put the mini and light strip in the same HomeKit room, and have original HomePods in a different one.

 

[pdmpolishing]

I brought one of these to try against my hue bulbs, works well with Thread on the HomePod mini but the colour side of the bulb are disappointing compered to the Hue bulbs they are very dim (very bright in white mode), you will notice a difference to the Hue Bulbs. Also they can be sometimes slow to react to Siri commands. Also I have not been able to connect to Amazon Echo.

 

[JonnyBlaze]

Despite the Apple shop being sold out of these for a while now, I did manage to get one when it was briefly back in stock. It’s my first step into smart lighting, and so far I really like it. I cant compare to anything else, but the white spectrum is really bright, whereas the colours seem about half as bright at a guess. There is a couple of seconds delay on commands, and while I know a HomePod mini would speed that up it doesn’t really seem worth £99 when we don’t need the mini for anything else. Big thumbs up from me, I’ll be getting a couple more when they come back in stick for sure.

 

[TVreporter]

Ordered a strip, I'll let you guys know

And how is it?

I’m looking to get into smart lights - but I’m seeing a mixed bag among Nanoleaf customers ranging from it’s all awesome to continuous disconnects.

Most notably and repeated on its Facebook page is lousy customer support.

 

[omenatarhuri]

And how is it?

I’m looking to get into smart lights - but I’m seeing a mixed bag among Nanoleaf customers ranging from it’s all awesome to continuous disconnects.

Most notably and repeated on its Facebook page is lousy customer support.

Hey, so far I haven't needed to contact support so can't comment on that. The strip has been fine. It's my first smart light, so kind of hard to compare.
- Setup was easy
- Can control with their own app or pretty much any other HomeKit app (at least the ones I've tried), also direct from later iOS version and/or Siri
- Can configure any color or temperature for the light
- When full brightness is on it's enough to light up the whole smallish room on it's own, it seems to be much brighter when using the temperatures rather than colors

The big surprise for me as a non-heavy user of Siri has been that I actually like to use Siri quite often to control it, just "lights off" or "lights on". Very easy.

I could definitely see myself getting more of these or some other smart light to kinda start putting together some elaborate smart home. But it works fine as a single item as well.