Shades of Yellow

Finally Linus says what every other person who’s ever been interested in smart light bulbs has said at least once:

Since starting my very own IoT (or IoS, depending on whom you ask) journey this year, I’m appalled at how expensive the Hue bulbs and components are:

Thankfully being in Malaysia we’re pretty spoilt for choice on the “smart” bulb front, from the no-brand generic China ones, to those from TP-link, Philips, Yeelight (a Xiaomi sub-brand) and my personal favorite, the Philips-Zhirui ones, also from Xiaomi.

These Philips-Zhirui bulbs are cheap, coming in at less than RM40 per E27 bulb compared to RM70 for a comparable Yeelight one, which is still cheaper than anything in the Hue stable. They’re also compatible with the Mijia series of home electronics, which cover temperature sensors, light sensors, alarm clocks, fire and smoke detectors, robotic vacuum cleaners, and far too many others to mention. They only cycle between Warm White or Cool Daylight, but off the bat you’re able to set timers, group bulbs according to rooms, and control them remotely – all by purchasing a Xiaomi home gateway (around RM95) and connecting it to the Mijia server in…

Mainland China.

Yeah. It’s a bit of a conflict right now, but there’s ways and means to limit the access these devices have to the rest of the wifi network, but that’s something for another day (and perhaps, a better router). At this point the 4 bulbs I have are working pretty damn well, and I’ve resigned myself to slowly building up the stable of these devices for the home.