Trust Smart LED Bulbs
Wi-Fi connectivity at a low price
£20.99 FROM Trust, trust.com FEATURES 2x multicolour LED bulbs, 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, 806 lumens, 15,000 hours bulb life
There are lots of affordable smart bulbs that can be controlled via Bluetooth on your iOS devices, but Bluetooth does have limitations – including, of course, a range of just 10m. Wi-Fi is a more flexible way of controlling your lights, providing additional features such as remote control when you’re away from home. Wi-Fi bulbs tend to be a lot more expensive though, so we were pleased to find that Trust’s new range of Wi-Fi LED bulbs starts at just £16.99 for two white bulbs, or £20.99 for the multicolour bulbs reviewed here. The bulbs are available with both bayonet and screw fittings, and provide 806 lumens brightness (comparable to 60W for ye olde, pre-LED light bulbs).
Getting started is easy, as the app can automatically detect the bulbs and connect them to your home network – although your device will need to connect to the 2.4GHz band on your network during the initial installation process, as the low-cost bulbs don’t support 5GHz. The app allows you to adjust colour and brightness, and to control multiple bulbs in groups. The bulbs work with the Amazon and Google voice assistants but, sadly, there’s no support for Siri or HomeKit (not at this price). Even so, the competitive price and easy set-up of the bulbs makes them a good way of getting started with smart lighting at home. Cliff Joseph