Gadgetory

hey I'm here in the scene that smart-home testing out beyond bolt these are a new set of LED light bulbs that use Bluetooth radios to communicate with your cell phone and they also have interesting security minded smarts namely they'll listen for your doorbell or your burglar alarm and then turn on automatically when they hear it they'll also turn on when the switch is off or the power's out because they've got a built-in battery by this little yellow module in the center of the bolt that last bits pretty appealing a lot of traditional smart lights won't work as the switches off these don't have that problem if you come home and the house is dark you want to turn the lights on before you get in you can do it even if your lamps and switches are turned off now I like these bulbs quite a bit the built in battery is an appealing addition for anybody who doesn't like that traditional smart bulbs won't work when the switch is down if you automate them to turn on in the morning you leave the switch off it won't work these bulbs don't have that problem so one thing I don't like is that you can't set them to turn on in the morning you can't set them to turn on at any time there's no scheduling feature a very basic smart bulb component built into this bulbs app another cool feature the bulbs have a sort of DVR function that will record your common lighting habits then when you're away on vacation or out for the night just slide that slider to the right and the replay your typical lighting patterns and fool people into thinking that you're home the focus is really on security so if you like the fact that they'll turn on when the doorbell gets rung or when the alarms go off I think they're an intriguing option they're also really expensive seventy-five dollars per bulb or two hundred for a three bulb starter package that's more expensive than philips hue lifx a lot of the other expensive smart bulbs out there and a lot more expensive than the entry-level kind of basic smart bulbs you've got the Cree connected led the GE link led those just cost fifteen dollars each that price makes these bulbs quite a swards unless you're really drawn in by the security minded smart more check out my full review at cnet.com along with the rest of our smart home coverage for CNET I'm right Chris