So I picked up 2 of these lights from Gearbest for around $22.00 each to give them a try and so far I'm impressed. They physically look identical to Philips Hue E27s and appear to be of good quality. They are ZigBee Light Link HA1.2 and RoHS compliant. The are not however UL listed (that I can find), so if that is a concern for you then you might want to wait until they receive UL approval.
I joined them to deCONZ using the Phoscon app, which immediately found and recognized them. The lights are acting as strong repeaters for the network, though maybe not quite as strong as the Hue equivalents. JowiHue had no problems recognizing them, importing them into Homeseer and controlling them. Whites and Color control appear to be on par with Hue bulbs and they respond quickly to change commands.
The light output of these bulbs is very impressive. The colors appear to be very accurate and rich, much better than Osram/Sylvania and Sengled bulbs. In fact they appear to me to be just as good as the Philips Hue bulbs. I haven't done extensive testing with them yet, but so far so good.
The Jiawens can also be joined to and controlled by a Philips bridge, but I haven't tried that feature yet. I'm also not sure if they would work within a Hue "Entertainment Area". My guess is no, but I haven't tested to confirm.
Again, these are all just initial impressions. Yet to be tested is how well they work and "blend in" when mixed with Hue bulbs in scenes and animations. Also unknown is useful bulb life and how well they work in outdoor conditions.
What I do know is for a half-priced alternative to Hue, they are definitely worth taking a look at. I've ordered a dozen more and also a dozen of their BR30 type recessed bulb to try some projects with.
--Barry
I joined them to deCONZ using the Phoscon app, which immediately found and recognized them. The lights are acting as strong repeaters for the network, though maybe not quite as strong as the Hue equivalents. JowiHue had no problems recognizing them, importing them into Homeseer and controlling them. Whites and Color control appear to be on par with Hue bulbs and they respond quickly to change commands.
The light output of these bulbs is very impressive. The colors appear to be very accurate and rich, much better than Osram/Sylvania and Sengled bulbs. In fact they appear to me to be just as good as the Philips Hue bulbs. I haven't done extensive testing with them yet, but so far so good.
The Jiawens can also be joined to and controlled by a Philips bridge, but I haven't tried that feature yet. I'm also not sure if they would work within a Hue "Entertainment Area". My guess is no, but I haven't tested to confirm.
Again, these are all just initial impressions. Yet to be tested is how well they work and "blend in" when mixed with Hue bulbs in scenes and animations. Also unknown is useful bulb life and how well they work in outdoor conditions.
What I do know is for a half-priced alternative to Hue, they are definitely worth taking a look at. I've ordered a dozen more and also a dozen of their BR30 type recessed bulb to try some projects with.
--Barry
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