Are Full Color Smart Bulbs Worth It?

Author: Eric Ravenscraft / Source: reviewgeek.com

There’s an obvious appeal to smart bulbs—you can control them with you voice or smartphone, set timers, and do all sorts of neat things. But when it comes to full color smart bulbs, the price spike significantly. Is it worth it?

There Are Two Kinds of Color Bulbs: RGB and Color Temperature

Most bulbs—smart or not—come in a single color and have for ages.

We buy warm white bulbs to make bedrooms cozy and cool white bulbs for crisp light in our work spaces, and so on. Color smart bulbs, on the other hand, let you change the color of the bulb. However, there are two kinds of variable bulbs: ones that adjust their color temperature, and ones that can change to any color using a combination of red, green, and blue light.

Color temperature bulbs, like this $30 bulb from Philips Hue, can’t change to just any color. You’re not going to get wacky green or purple lights from this. Instead, they can vary the shade of white light they emit. “Warmer” colors have more of an orange-ish hue, similar to what you’d see from an old-school style incandescent bulb. “Cooler” colors are more blue-ish, like florescent lights in an office.

Meanwhile, RGB bulbs can emit any color, including the full range of white color temperatures. You can use warm or cool presets with your bulbs, but you can also change them to more interesting colors. Want some quick Christmas lighting? Set your bulbs to red and green. Throwing an 80s party? Splash your room with some pink and purple. You get a lot more freedom with RGB bulbs, but they also tend to cost a lot more too.

Color Temperature Bulbs Can Change the Entire Mood of Your Rooms

Here’s a little-known secret of interior design: lighting is everything. More specifically, the color temperature of your bulbs can have a huge impact on how you feel when you’re in your room. Warmer colors feel more low-energy and relaxed, whereas cooler color temperatures tend to make us feel more energized and active. There are a lot of psychological reasons behind this (and it can vary from person to person), but a simple way to understand it is that sunlight tends to result in bright, cool white light, which we associate with being active during the day. As night falls and…

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