LIFX White 800 Smart Bulb Review
by Ganesh T S on June 12, 2015 9:55 AM EST- Posted in
- Home Automation
- Wi-Fi
- Qualcomm Atheros
- LIFX
Miscellaneous Aspects and Concluding Remarks
Prior to proceeding to the business end of the review, we look at a couple of different aspects that affect the end-user experience - power consumption and thermals. We recorded power consumption and power factor values using the Ubiquiti Networks mPower Pro power strip at various brightness levels. The good news is that the White 800 consumes very little power (~ 700 mW) in the standby mode after recent firmware updates. It was close to 2W at launch, but it is too low to measure reliably on the AC side now. (Update: We shifted the power measurement duties to the Visible Energy UFO Power Center. It can measure sub-1 W numbers more reliably compared to the Ubiquiti Networks mPower devices. The table below has been updated for the standby setting.)
| LIFX White 800 Power Consumption | ||
| Brightness Level | Avg. Power (W) | Power Factor |
| 0% [ Off / Accessible via App ] | 0.69 W | |
| 25% | 1.32 W | 0.50 |
| 50% | 3.08 W | 0.49 |
| 75% | 5.88 W | 0.67 |
| 100% | 10.71 W | 0.89 |
There was no measurable variation in the power numbers when the color temperature was tuned (for a particular brightness level).
In order to evaluate the thermal performance, we kept the light on at the maximum brightness level for a hour and recorded a thermal image (using the Seek Thermal smartphone add-on). As recommended for any 'high-power' LED fixture, it would be good to not install the unit in a tight space with inadequate airflow. (Update: It has been brought to my notice that the LIFX bulbs have been "UL box" tested (that's a standard ~6" wooden cube, open on one end - simulating an air starved ceiling fitting), and should meet their stated lifetimes in an open air fitting. Everything in the bulb is rated for 105 C operation)
The following table summarizes the various home automation aspects / consumer checklist for the LIFX White 800 and how it compares with the other systems that we have evaluated before.
| Home Automation Device Aspects - Summary Table | ||
| Aspect | ||
| Evaluated Devices | LIFX White 800 | mPower mPower Pro InWall Outlet InWall Dimmer Switch |
| Communication Technology | Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz) | Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz) |
| Platform | Qualcomm Atheros QCA 4002 1x1 802.11n Wi-Fi SoC Freescale Kinetis MK22FN512 MCU |
Qualcomm Atheros AR9331 1x1 802.11n Wi-Fi SoC Host CPU: MIPS 24Kc, DRAM: 32MB |
| Power Source | AC Powered | AC Powered |
| Hub / Bridge Requirement | No | No |
| Control Center | Local Device (basic access, rules and scenes) Cloud (for control over the Internet) |
Local Device (basic access, rules and scenes) Local Server (comprehensive access, rules and scenes) |
| User Control Interface | Mobile Apps | Web Browser Mobile Apps (basic control) |
| Open APIs | Yes (Protocol Documentation) HTTP (Cloud-only) |
Yes (uPnP, HTTP, SSH) |
| Third-party / Hub Compatibility | AllSeen / works with nest /IFTTT | None advertised |
| Cloud Reliance | Optional (only for access from an external network) | None |
| Security Notes | Username / Password authentication at app level | Username / Password Authentication LAN Access Only |
| User Support / Discussion Forums | LIFX Support | Ubiquiti Networks Community - mFi Forums |
| Street Price | USD 40 | USD 60 (mPower) USD 95 (mPower Pro) USD 59 (InWall Outlet) USD 59 (InWall Switch / Dimmer) |
With respect to the open APIs, we would like the LIFX bulbs to present a simpler interface for power users. HTTP APIs and a web server (that could also act as an interface on PCs) similar to that of the UFO Power Center or the Ubiquiti Networks mFi devices would be great. In terms of hardware, we observed audible buzzing with any brightness setting under 100%. This might not be a problem for ceiling fixtures, but is definitely a factor when the bulb is within earshot for those sensitive to such noise. Unfortunately, this is a problem with most dimmable LED fixtures.
Other than the above two aspects, the LIFX White 800 is a reasonably-priced smart lighting fixture. The tunable color temperature differentiates it from the host of multi-colored smart LED bulbs in the market. The low-power Qualcomm Atheros QCA4002 platform is also instrumental in driving down the power consumption and price for widespread adoption.
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sor - Friday, June 12, 2015 - link
What sort of capacitors does this have? The common problem with LED bulbs today is that the caps will die long before the 22 year rating of the LEDs. The heat of the bulb evaporates the electrolyte and shortens the life of already mediocre caps. I'd give most LED bulbs a 5-10 year rating, personally based on this.sor - Friday, June 12, 2015 - link
I also don't get the wifi-switched bulbs. It seems cool on the face, until you realize that you have to train yourself and family to pull out their phones instead of flipping the light switch, which is now a useless switch.fluxtatic - Saturday, June 13, 2015 - link
I didn't get any LED bulbs until I found them for $5 a pop. Even $7.99 was more than I'd pay, given how cheap decent CFLs are. And the power savings over CFLs isn't really all that fantastic, either.All that said, $40 apiece for these strikes me as absolutely ludicrous. Apparently not everyone feels that way, and spend your money the way you want, I suppose. Maybe I'm getting old, but this is definitely over in "get off my lawn" territory for me.
Pork@III - Saturday, June 13, 2015 - link
$40 for lighbulb too expensive. In my country have normal bulbs 30¢ per one.Wombat2013 - Saturday, June 13, 2015 - link
An interesting post from OpenDNS about IoT vulnerabilities (from an enterprise perspective, but still of interest to individuals):https://blog.opendns.com/2015/06/02/opendns-enterp...
Solandri - Saturday, June 13, 2015 - link
Actually, it sounds like we need a new electrical standard. Kinda like the converse of PoE where you send power along cabling initially intended for network signals.A low bandwidth (so as to not cause widespread high-frequency interference) powerline ethernet standard should allow you to plug in "smart" bulbs into a home's standard electrical sockets, and have them controlled via a central control station which communicates with the bulbs over powerline ethernet. Only the control station would need wifi connectivity so you could control it. The individual bulbs would only need to receive instructions next time they were turned on and announced themselves to the control station, thus eliminating the always-on power draw of putting a wifi receiver onto every light bulb.
sor - Sunday, June 14, 2015 - link
There are actually quite a few power line network solutions. Most of them are one to one though, like a bridge between rooms. The issue is that home power is one big bus, so you'd be dealing with a lot of collisions. You'd also have to get people to buy an extra device that is the power line equivalent to the WiFi router they already have. I don't think it would save on cost, either.sor - Sunday, June 14, 2015 - link
I have some arduino projects with 2.4GHz radios that have lasted over a year so far on a 3v coin cell. They modulate between on/off to achieve that, but the point is that the radio, even powered, only pulls a few mA. You can also put the radio into sleep mode where it is not fully powered but can still receive messages and can send an interrupt to your microcontroller to wake it up when there is data in the radio buffer. That's how you get good battery life, your CPU only wakes up for a few ms to process messages when necessary and goes back to sleep.Their power draw might be due to parasitic power supply losses, like wall wart power adaptors, and the logic chip itself, perhaps combined with laziness in always powering the CPU/radio because they aren't on battery.
badkat7 - Sunday, June 14, 2015 - link
While examining the light, did the author take a look at the power supply / drive circuitry? The reason I ask is because I've just completed a study of CFL light failures which causes me to question the claims of manufacturers for life expectancies of 22,500 hours (or similar claims) for LEDs.In my analysis of CFLs from two major manufacturers (over 100 lights) I discovered that over 90% of CFLs quit due to circuit board failures rather than the CFL element. The root cause down-rated components (especially the transistors) and electrolytic capacitor failure. In particular, thermal probes indicated the electronics were running in ambient temperatures of almost 80 deg C. Looking back at earlier CFL drivers I noted they used beefier transistors (or FETs) and higher voltage capacitors. Regardless, the figures quoted by manufacturers are completely unobtainable. Looking at component manufacturer's charts, the average life of a CFL should be rated at between 800 and 2000 hours with the higher power units (100W) rated at the lower limit.
Incidentally I also discovered the thermal fuse incorporated into all LED lights never comes into play (and if it did would most likely start a fire)!
My concern, therefore, is that LED lights may have the same issue - the LEDs may far outlast the drive circuitry associated with them. Perhaps the author of this article, in future reviews of (expensive) LED lights might wish to examine this aspect of their performance?
badkat7 - Sunday, June 14, 2015 - link
Apologies for typo. Meant to say "The root cause WAS down-rated components"