Classic-style filament bulbs from Hue, Bulbrite, Ikea and extra examined and rated
Filament sensible bulbs pair fashionable intelligence and LED effectivity with that basic candlelight glow all of us bear in mind from these power-sucking incandescents.
Put merely, these Edison-inspired sensible gentle bulbs have gotten each brains and sweetness.
Whereas LEDs have come a great distance from the times of the blue haze – with white tunable and coloration altering you actually can have any coloration beneath the solar – generally all you want is a pleasant heat glow.
Enter, the Edison bulb. This type is named a filament bulb as a result of its “electrical” filament is seen by means of its tinted glass, and it resembles the very first gentle bulb designed by Thomas Edison means again when.
Solely at present, you are able to do far more than Edison ever dreamed, together with controlling your gentle bulb along with your voice or your smartphone.
Why would you need an old style bulb in your sensible residence? Let’s be clear, these bulbs aren’t for job lighting, they’re all about that ambiance. Most provide between 550 to 800 lumens with a temperature coloration someplace round 2100 kelvins (for comparability, Hue’s white bulbs are 800 lumens and 2700 kelvins).
The place filaments actually shine is in these ornamental lighting fixtures in your eating room, sitting room or probably bed room which might be designed to function the bulb as a part of the look.
Normally, sensible bulbs don’t look that fairly – their opaque white enclosures are designed to be out of sight, whereas most filament bulbs have elegant, tinted glass and an industrial stylish copy “filament” wire inside.
So, they gentle up a la bulbs from a century in the past and offer you a classic heat gentle with a retro look that’s tremendous cool. Pop them in a pendant gentle fixture, desk lamp or cage-style chandelier and exhibit your sensible bulbs in type.
For some time, discovering a sensible filament bulb was a fruitless hunt, however now there are a minimum of six manufacturers with Edison choices, and extra coming quickly.
Plus, you’re not simply restricted to at least one type or form, there are globe, customary and elongated Edison-style, and loads of compatibility along with your sensible residence.
They work with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, and a few with Apple HomeKit and Samsung SmartThings.
We’ve been dwelling with these sensible, filament bulbs in our residence for a very long time now.
Learn on for our critiques of Philips Hue, Sengled, Innr, Ikea and Bulbrite’s choices, plus a round-up of the opposite choices on the market.
Finest filament sensible bulb: Philips Hue Filament Sensible Bulbs
Purchase Now: Amazon, philips-hue.com | From $24.99
The versatile, expansive and all the time wonderful Hue line has the best-looking filament sensible bulbs in the marketplace.
Obtainable in a variety of shapes and fittings, together with conventional A19/A60 ($24.99), an ST19/ST64 ‘tube’ form that’s extra historically ‘Edison’ in its look ($27.99), and a G25/G93 globe bulb for ($32.99), these bulbs will match seamlessly into any Hue sensible lighting set-up.
Of all of the filament bulbs we examined we favored Hue’s design the most effective. The bulb has a black base as a substitute of white so blends in properly in an uncovered fixture.
Final information: Every part you might want to learn about Philips Hue
A white base, irrespective of how small, simply ruins the look this kind of bulb is supposed for.
Moreover, Hue’s curly filament is extra aesthetically interesting than the stick filaments of many of the competitors and the amber-tinted glass offers a heat glow with out diminishing the sunshine.
Hue’s filaments all shine on the identical brightness of 550 lumens with a locked temperature coloration of 2100 kelvins. You possibly can dim and brighten within the app (and thru all the standard sensible residence controls – HomeKit, Alexa, Google, SmartThings), however there isn’t any tunable white gentle right here, simply dimmer or brighter.
You additionally don’t want a Hue hub to make use of the bulbs as they’ll join through Bluetooth, however, with out a hub, you don’t get distant entry or the flexibility to arrange routines.
What we love
- Elegant black base
- No hub required
- Works with HomeKit (with a hub)
What we don’t love
- No tunable gentle
- Costly
Learn our full overview of the Philips Hue Filament Sensible Bulb right here.
Most versatile filament sensible bulb: Bulbrite Solana Edison Filament
Purchase Now: Amazon | $19.99
Bulbrite’s Solana filament bulbs are our favourite all-around sensible filament bulbs, as they’re the one ones that provide tunable white gentle.
This implies you’ll be able to truly use them for job lighting should you want, as they’ve further “filament” threads in them that increase their kelvin energy all the way in which from a soothing 2200 as much as 6500 kelvins.
Bulbrite’s filament bulbs are available in a basic A19 form, ST18 (the extra typical Edison type) and the globe-shaped G25, every providing 600 lumens.
We examined three bulbs in a lightweight fixture over our eating desk and located the vary it provided ideally suited for doing homework within the afternoon beneath invigorating shiny lights after which dimming right down to a soothing, heat glow for time for dinner.
Solana bulbs function over Wi-Fi, so no hub is required, They require a 2.4Ghz community, however labored tremendous on our dual-band mesh community.
The app permits you to dim, alter the colour temperature, set scenes and create schedules they usually’re suitable with Alexa or Google Dwelling.
In comparison with Hue, they positively battle on the brightness scale, being a lot dimmer on the prime degree and far brighter on the lowest degree.
We additionally disliked the white base, which was not hidden in our cage-style chandelier, plus they solely are available in white glass – there aren’t any smokey or amber glass choices.
For purely ornamental functions, these are usually not as nice-looking as a number of the different choices. However as a reasonable, hub-free filament bulb on your residence with a flexible vary, they’re a fantastic choice.
What we love
- No hub wanted
- Good worth
- Three type choices
What we don’t love
- The low vary of brightness
- Ugly white base
- White glass solely
- No HomeKit
Learn our full Bulbrite overview right here.
Finest funds filament sensible bulb: Sengled Edison Filament Bulb
Purchase now: sengled.com, Amazon | $14.99
Low-priced sensible bulb pioneer Sengled debuted its first filament bulb at CES final yr, and it’s a magnificence.
Boasting an all-glass design (no plastic casing in any respect), it’s acquired a refined tint, not too brown, and a sublime, barely elongated Edison form.
With the identical 2100 kelvin coloration temperature as Hue’s filament choice, it’s additionally one of many least expensive filament bulbs, at simply $14.99 a pop.
Whereas Sengled has Wi-Fi bulbs, the filament is Zigbee-based so requires a sensible residence hub to work – both Sengled’s personal or any Zigbee-enabled hub – comparable to an Echo Plus or SmartThings.
We had been impressed with the Sengled’s brightness vary and design, though there was fairly a little bit of flickering when dimming and brightening, particularly in comparison with the Hue and Bulbrite bulbs.
Sengled works with Alexa and Google Assistant, and should you go for the cheap Sengled Hub ($40), you may get HomeKit compatibility too.
What we love
- All glass design
- Cheap
- Works with HomeKit (with a hub)
What we don’t love
- No tunable gentle
- Requires a hub
- Flickering throughout dimming
Various funds choice: Ikea Trådfri filament bulb
Purchase Now: Ikea.com | $9.99
One of many newer entries to the Swedish firm’s sensible lighting lineup, this sensible filament gentle bulb is catchily named the ‘Trådfri LED bulb E26 250 lumen wi-fi dimmable heat glow, globe brown clear glass.’
Any questions?
It provides a heat 2200 kelvin glow and works through the Trådfri hub ($79.99), or you’ll be able to pair the bulb with an Echo Plus or Hue hub courtesy of its Zigbee powers.
At simply $9.99 for a single bulb, that is the most cost effective filament bulb on the market, plus it has a snazzy curly filament and a brass base (no garish white right here) and a pleasant tinted brown glass for that further smokey bistro vibe.
Ikea’s Trådfri helps Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and Apple’s HomeKit, the final one which means you may as well use Siri to regulate your lights
What we love
- Good brass base
- Cheap
- Works with HomeKit (with a hub)
What we don’t love
- No tunable gentle
- Requires a hub
Nice Zigbee choice: Innr filament sensible bulbs
Purchase Now: Amazon | from £15.99
This Dutch model was created by a bunch of ex-Hue and Ikea workers, and the result’s what you’d count on: reasonably priced, easy-to-use, good-quality sensible gentle bulbs. Whereas the remainder of the lineup is obtainable within the US, at the moment its retro filament lineup is simply in Europe and the UK.
Innr has 4 totally different filament fashions all providing 2200 kelvins. There’s a daily bulb, an Edison-shape and a fantastic huge Globe bulb, all with choices of tinted glass or white glass.
As with many of the different filaments we examined these don’t provide the identical heat vary changes of the common white LEDs – as they’re designed to all the time look heat for that retro really feel. However you’ll be able to alter the brightness.
Zigbee-powered these want an Innr hub or any Zigbee controller, comparable to a Philips Hue bridge, an Amazon Echo Plus or a Samsung Sensible Issues hub.
They’re good bulbs, not as premium as their Hue counterparts and there’s no HomeKit compatibility, however they do work with Alexa and Google.
What we love
- Works with Hue hub
- Cheap
- Tinted and white glass choices
- Brass base
What we don’t love
- Not out there within the US
- No HomeKit
Learn our full overview of the Innr line-up right here.
The very best of the remainder
Whereas we’ve but to check out these filament bulbs, right here’s a rundown on the specs, costs and compatibility of the opposite choices so you’ll be able to examine. We’ll replace this information as and once we get our fingers on these.
Sylvania Sensible+ Bluetooth Clear A19 Filament
Purchase now: Amazon | $19.99
Sylvania’s sensible filament bulb is a bit brighter than most – providing 2700 kelvins – plus it really works with HomeKit, Alexa and Google all with out a hub, as they use a Bluetooth Mesh system.
There’s just one type and it has that pesky white base, solely is available in clear glass and is a bit on the expensive aspect.
Lifx Filament
Coming quickly (hopefully) | $29.99
Lifx’s new filament vary debuted at CES means again in 2020… however we’re nonetheless ready for them to point out up on the market. All mentions have additionally been faraway from the corporate’s website, so this one isn’t trying to promising.
After they had been initially unveiled, Lifx signifies there can be two types – an ST64 Teardrop (pictured) and a G95 Globe with “Sticks” LEDs. They had been additionally set to return in three glass choices – smokey, amber and clear glass – making this the broadest vary on the market by way of glass.
These are nonetheless solely single, heat white dimmable, although, with no tunable gentle.
Lifx’s line is Wi-Fi-powered and the bulbs will work with Alexa, Google Assistant and HomeKit when/in the event that they ever get launched.
TCP Sensible Filament Twist Traditional
Purchase now: Amazon | £14.33
A funds bulb out there within the UK, not the US, the TCP Sensible Filament Twist Traditional is a bulb higher suited to a lamp or for mild ambient lighting, because it’s not that shiny at 250 lumens. Obtainable in B22 or E27 fittings, this bulb connects through Wi-Fi.
You should use the TCP Sensible app, however the bulb is definitely suitable with the Sensible Life system, so it’s price utilizing that app to broaden the vary of units which you could join collectively.
This bulb is tunable between heat (2000K) and chilly (5000K), giving a bit extra selection than a number of the competitors.
The twist design is sort of good and a bit of totally different to many of the competitors. This bulb additionally appears good when it’s turned off, due to the yellow glass and metallic base (there’s not an inch of plastic on show).
Belief Sensible LED Filament
Purchase now: Amazon | £20.99 (two-pack)
One other funds sensible bulb, the Wi-Fi powered Belief Sensible LED Filament is obtainable in single packs or, for higher worth, double packs.
This bulb makes use of a extra customary design, with straight filaments inside. Because of the brass-colour screw connector, there’s no plastic on show, whereas the yellow-tinted glass offers a extra classic look.
Once more, it is a product that may be managed by means of Belief’s app, though you may as well set up it through Sensible Life. The latter might be the higher choice, as you’ll be able to add units from a number of functions into one place.
Tunable between 1800K (heat) and 2700K (heat like a standard bulb, there’s a small quantity of adjustment however not as a lot as you get with a lot of the competitors.
This bulb is rated at 450-lumens, though we didn’t discover it noticeably brighter than the TCP bulb, making it a more sensible choice for desk lamps.
