SYLVANIA LIGHTIFY Starter Kit, Includes 2 LIGHTIFY ZigBee Full Color RT 5/6 Recessed Lights, 65W Equivalent, and 1 OSRAM LIGHTIFY Gateway

Update: The devices on my original network on the second floor (where this is positioned) stopped responding to the Wink hub consistently. So I moved some of our GE Link bulbs over to the Sylvania hub. They were identified by names number from "Device1" to "DeviceX". They functioned properly with the app, just like the Sylvania light bulbs. Amazingly, removing the devices from the Wink hub and adding them on this hub was relatively painless and refreshing the Amazon and Google configs deleted the old devices and presented the new ones to be renamed and added to the appropriate rooms. (Though discovery still shows the bulbs that are already paired when you search again like they are still available.)I believe the need to move these devices is more a Zigbee signal issue than anything wrong with the compatibility of the two hubs...---This is our second Zigbee-based hub and second brand of Zigbee light bulbs - we also have a 1st gen Wink Hub and the GE Link light bulbs.It seems that with all of WiFi-based Zigbee hubs setup is a bit painful. Every time I have to change a network it is worse than the initial setup - which also is not painless. Unfortunately, Wink has had numerous outages as of late and we needed another option. Since we only have light bulbs on our Zigbee network, we were not so worried about the Zigbee devices being migrated to another "cloud" service.This hub uses the OSRAM Lightify smartphone app. Interestingly, if the app crashes before you have added any devices you have to reset the device to defaults as the app will only continue from the beginning. When adding devices, you need to choose whether the type is a bulb, switch, or sensor - it does not list anything by brand, it just scans/discovers those that are in pairing more and you hope the device is supported before and after discovery (as I found little about compatible products online). After discovering my new light bulbs (though you could discover any of the three types at setup), the app displayed their names as a serial number-ish ID with the type (aka A19_10yr) in the name. It seems that when you add devices that you can do it en-masse as it keeps scanning for more until you press next, though I did not test pairing more than one at a time. After hub and device setup, the app shows home, devices, features, and setting icons along the bottom of the screen. Home allows you to make groups for room names, though I could not create two groups containing the same light bulb. Devices allows you to list the paired devices by count of each type - device, switch or sensor. Features allows you to setup an on/off schedule (ala Wink/SmartThings, etc.) as well as wake-up lights, vacation mode, and "tv simulation". Settings is like most other smartphone hub apps- here you can find app versions, get help, change accounts, activate light bulb fading (for on/off), change time and WiFi networks, install system and device updates, reset factory defaults, delete all preferences, and logout from your account.The hub cloud account also paired with both Google home and Alexa per the usual way - adding the login to Google Home app followed by "sync devices" and the Lightify skill to Alexa followed by a discover. After adding the hub to the voice assistants, both discovered the obtuse names of the light bulbs, but not the group that I had placed them in. Luckily in their current versions, both the Alexa app and the Google Home app allow the editing of device names and addition of room names as well as the ability to move devices between rooms. So, after all the renaming was complete the new devices functioned with both voice assistants.While I cannot yet speak to the range of this smaller device nor to its compatibility with most devices, I am not a fan of its lack of a naming convention for each bulb within the app as it is still not pretty to have to remember the device name in the app to control it manually. Also, while there was no issue at all using the app for on/off and dimming, both voice assistants both have had some issue with consistently completing on/off operations (whether by name or by complete room) on speaker devices as well as on the assistants' respective phone apps. When I asked it to turn on the computer room, it would sometimes turn on everything except the bulb paired with the hub... and when I asked it to turn on the bulb it would think it had completed the command appropriately thought the bulb still sometimes did not come on (similar issues with turning it off). Also, responses to voice requests seem to take a few seconds longer than with Wink when they work. Testing the Lightify app over and over provided consistent results with expected outcomes, so I assume that the issue is with Sylvania's cloud interactions with Amazon and Google -- This NEEDS to be addressed by Sylvania lighting's current owner.While it seems the Sylvania/OSRAM cloud service and hub work fine without interference from all of my WiFi gear and my other functional Zigbee network, it is a surprising value that works fine after setup -- as long as you do not mind repeating yourself and/or can decipher which Zigbee device is which in the app. Because of these two issues, I am rating it 3 of five stars... and I am not recommending it for older people who will dislike these drawbacks... especially repeating themselves! (So Mom, I do not think I will be getting you one of these. ;-)

These lights are equivalent replacements for white incandescent bulbs with regards to light brightness and temperature (e.g. blue/orange range). The hub conveniently plugs in to any socket within wifi range of both the lights, and your google home / alexa device, and after a brief app setup and free account creation, your lights will respond to basic voice commands.. setting color or dimness, turning them off or scheduling them to turn off all become tasks you can easily accomplish while sitting on your couch by voice, or through your phone. Installation is fairly straight forward if you can change a light bulb, and plug/unplug things.. the lights come with an electrical connection clip for sockets designed that way, and the clip can connect to the traditional screw-light socket end if you need to screw your socket in. The metal bars which hang the T-lights are a little unique to work with, but that is a function of the fixtures, and not particular to these bulbs. Once the lights are plugged in, you plug in the hub to any nearby power outlet, then download the appropriate apps, create a free account, and after a 5-10 minute configuration, you're good to go. Total time for this tech savvy guy to install 3 lights which were awkward to reach, and configure the software, was around 30-45 minutes. If I were to do it again knowing what I know now, it would probably take about 5 minutes a bulb. When you have guests who are not technically savvy, they will inevitably throw the light switch which turns them off (they have no power supply, so can no longer work; nothing they could have done about this).. this serves as an advantage if you regularly have a guest who doesn't understand computers, like my maid. She may never use any of my google voice commands, but if she flicks the lights off, then on again, they come on in bright white instantly like normal bulbs would. I, of course, have to flip the switches on again when she leaves, but that's not too bad. You could, of course, just wire your light switch out of the picture if you didn't want to worry about switches.. this is a super simple electrical task, though if it doesn't sound super simple to you, you should probably hire an electrician, or enlist a friend you know knows their stuff. My one complaint about the lights, and the factor which caused them to lose stars, is that I ordered from the exact same amazon listing as my friends, and their bulbs are running a different version of the firmware, and so are able to perform cool color changing / strobing effects, while mine tell me I have to update my firmware (if possible), and then when I go to where it updates the firmware, it says it's up to date.. everything's up to date; the app, the hub firmware, and the lights firmware. The lights show they are running version 00102090, while my friend's version is 01020345 (I forget the last four digits of hers, but the number was the same number of digits)