Over twenty years ago I started using energy saving bulbs because they were going to last a long time (they did) and use less energy. I certainly was satisfied with my choice then and now. Well, here comes the next generation of bulbs. Not only energy saving but SMART. Yes, it appears all our devices may end up smarter than some humans.
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| From Awox SmartLED |
The Awox SmartLED arrived from MobileFun – home to many wonderful devices. I immediately screwed it into the nearest empty socket, which was in my bathroom. I moved it later, but I’ll get to that.
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| From Awox SmartLED |
The instructions the bulb comes with includes access to the phone app.
The SmartPhone I’m using has Bluetooth 4.1, which will work perfectly with this bulb. This version of Bluetooth allows for better, seamless re-connection between devices once they have been paired.
After installing the app – AwoX Smart CONTROL – Turn ON the wall light switch so the app can find the bulb. This obviously turns on the bulb’s Bluetooth. Make sure the phone’s Bluetooth is also on.
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| From Awox SmartLED |
Tap the SmartLED image as seen in the screengrab above. This will ADD the bulb to your list of bulbs (when you eventually have more than one because you WILL want as many as you can use).
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| From Awox SmartLED |
The setup wizard will now help you go through various features
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| From Awox SmartLED |
The app asks if you wish to take a photo of the device because you may have several bulbs around your house that you wish to control. And having a photo of each is an easy way to identify them.
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| From Awox SmartLED |
Now I can name THIS bulb whatever I wish. This allows me to control each bulb separately and know where it is. Yes, I named my new bulb, “fred”. Why not? It’s MY bulb, right?
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| From Awox SmartLED |
Here I identify where the bulb is from a drop-down menu. This is a great idea. If I had two bulbs for my home on the outside – front and back of the house, I would then control when the are turned on and off simultaneously and I wouldn’t have to walk downstairs go to either end of the house to flip those switches separately. It might be good exercise to walk all over the house, but there are times it’s just easier to tap on my phone. At least I would have the option.
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| From Awox SmartLED |
Basic settings done! I can control each separate bulb (if I had several), or control an entire room. Now THAT is Smart!
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| From Awox SmartLED |
These are the Default lighting schemes that come with the APP.
These are a list of “favorites” which are created in the “Palette” window.
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| From Awox SmartLED |
In the “Palette” window I can change the color of the light the bulb gives off. It’s subtle but it does make a difference. This bulb only has frequencies from yellow to blue. Other bulbs have more colors.
Below the colors is the next feature. I can control the brightness by swiping from low (left) to brightest (right). When I like what I see – the bulb responds to my changes immediately – I “ADD to Favorites” and write in a name for my new Favorite.
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| From Awox SmartLED |
See my new Favorites under the default list.
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| From Awox SmartLED |
I didn’t like the first photo I took so I returned to the settings and took a new photo of “fred”
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| From Awox SmartLED |
So, here you see my better photo of “fred”. All you do it tap the old photo in this window and you either snap a new photo or use some other picture.
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| From Awox SmartLED |
I installed the app on a tablet to see if it was different. The same process as on the phone…here’s the picture of the bulb I took with the tablet. By the way this is the bulb at full intensity – and BOY, is it bright! This is supposed to be a 45 watt LED bulb and inside the house I generally never have it up that high. And I love that it never gets hot. This bulb has a life of 20,000 hours.
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| From Awox SmartLED |
And the list of locations/rooms for the bulb
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| From Awox SmartLED |
Proximity detection: I’m not sure if this feature works with this bulb. There is a huge variety of bulbs including those with motion detectors and cameras. Great for monitoring your home when away.
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| From Awox SmartLED |
Create a Group, say, of all the lights upstairs, or downstairs. That way you can control the entire area at once. Turning all the room lights on and off or having them all the same ambient lighting scheme.
I didn’t bother to take a photo because I only have one bulb, so the app uses the default picture
The AwoX Smart CONTROL App is synced to the Moto360 watch I just reviewed, so I can turn the bulb on and off from my watch! How COOL is THAT?
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| From Awox SmartLED |
On the watch face swipe to see the list of apps then Tap on AwoX.
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| From Awox SmartLED |
Now choose between your devices or groups. You can’t control the Favorites or other features as this just tuns the light On or Off.
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| From Awox SmartLED |
The power icon shows the light is OFF at the moment. Tap it to turn the light ON
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| From Awox SmartLED |
This shows the light is ON
Other Fun Features
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| From Awox SmartLED |
If you have several bulbs – especially the ones that change colors – turn on disco mode and play music. The bulbs will brighten and dim to the music. While I’ve tried this with my one bulb, it’s obvious that this really works best when you have several bulbs – maybe outside in your garden – that are all various colors. Makes for an interesting party atmosphere.
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| From Awox SmartLED |
Once your bulbs are all set up with their colors, just play any songs from your list in your Smartphone. Hit PLAY and Get The Party Started.
Once I set up the bulb I decided to move it to my desk and I must say being able to turn the light there on and off “remotely” is very convenient. “Oops, I forgot to turn off my light and I’m already in bed! Well, I’ll just grab my phone and tap the OFF icon!”
It gives a nice soft light. And I do love that I can change the brightness whenever I need to. It’s great having a Smart Bulb. It almost makes me feel Smarter.