Contents
Intro
My first step into the world of home automation wasn’t buying a Raspberry Pi and installing Domoticz or Home-Assistant on it. It was actually buying a Philips Hue bridge and some Hue bulbs. At that time, it was the easiest way to get into the smart home world and Philips then had (and still has) a great platform. I love the RGB Hue smart light bulb and the colors they bring to my home, but I hate that they are so expensive. Luckily for me, the competition of Philips hasn’t been standing around. These days almost every known light bulb manufacturer produces one or more smart lamps and most of them even provide an RGB version.
One of the main competitors in the smart home market for Philips is Yeelight. Yeelight offers a variety of smart light bulbs that are price wise very attractive compared to Philips. Today, I am testing the Yeelight YLDP06YL and try to see if this is a real Philips Hue killer.
Specifications
Brand: Yeelight
Model: YLDP06YL
Output Power: 10W
Voltage (V): AC 100-240V
Luminous Flux: 800lm
Color Temperature or Wavelength: 1700 – 6500K
Lifespan: 25000h
Features: APP Control,Easy to use,Energy Saving,Remote Control,Timer,WiFi
Function: Studio and Exhibition Lighting
Available Light Color: RGBW
Sheathing Material: Aluminum Alloy
Packaging
Product weight: 0.1950 kg
Package weight: 0.2200 kg
Product size (L x W x H): 6.50 x 6.50 x 13.00 cm / 2.56 x 2.56 x 5.12 inches
Package size (L x W x H): 9.00 x 9.00 x 20.00 cm / 3.54 x 3.54 x 7.87 inches
Does it fit your mailbox?
No. Don’t let the mailman try it 😉
What’s in the box
1 x Smart Light Bulb, 1 x English User Manual
Features
●No hub required
Connect the bulb directly to your WiFi at home.
●Complete control
Control your lights from anywhere using your smartphone and Yeelight APP ( download from Apple Store or Google Play ).
●Vast color options
Match any occasion with the 16 million colors and adjust the brightness as well as color temperature from warm white ( 1700K ) to daylight ( 6500K ).
●Voice control
Control your lights hands-free with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.
●Energy saving
Reduce energy use up to 83 percent without brightness or quality loss compared to a 60W incandescent bulb.
●Compatibility
Compatible with Android, iOS, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and IFTTT.
Review
Build Quality & Design
The bulb is made from what it feels high-quality materials. It does not feel like it is made from cheap plastic or something like that. I like the clean design of the lamp and the geometric line on the base of the lamp. Still though, it is not a lamp that you want to have in plain side like you want with an Edison light bulb. However, most of the time you just want to put this bulb into a lamp that can reflect the colors in a nice way.
Usability
Setting up the smart light bulb was very easy. The Yeelight app has a built-in tutorial that explains exactly what you need to do. To explain it in a few words: Put the bulb in a socket and turn it on, add a new device in the Yeelight app. Enter your WiFi password. connect to the lamp using WiFi. wait a few seconds and you’re good to go.
The Yeelight app surprised me in a good way. Like allot of China products, I was expecting a half English half Chinese app, but I was wrong. Not only is the app available in Dutch and English, it also is very nice to use. You can create rooms and add your different Yeelight light bulbs, create scenes with preset colors or use a built-in scene. There is even a function for automation like automatic turn on lights on a certain time.
Home automation compatible?
Yes, it is! you just have to put the smart light bulb in LAN mode and you’re set to go! I connected the lamp to Home-Assistant with Home Bridge integration. This made it possible for me to add the lamp to Apple Homekit. Homekit allowed me to turn the lamps on and off by using voice commands in Siri and I also could create shortcuts in the iOS menu. I can recommend everyone to do this because you don’t want to do it the long way by unlocking your phone, open the app and then turn off the lights.
Including the bulb in Domoticz is easy. Follow the tutorial on https://www.domoticz.com/wiki/Yeelight
pro / cons
pros
- The smart light bulb is very affordable
- No Bridge needed!
- Easy to use
- Beautiful color options
- Good quality design
- Compatible with most home automation platforms
cons
- Comes without a physical button, you always have to use the app to turn on/off the light
- Need to use an app. It will not connect directly to platforms like Home Assistant without the Yeelight app
- You want to buy more light bulbs to fully use the possibilities of the app and the platform.
Price quality
Price/quality-wise you get a lot of smart RGB light without breaking the bank. It does almost everything Philips hue does, but without the high price and the need for a Bridge!
I love the RGB Hue bulbs and the colours they bring to my home, but I hate that they are so expensive.
Verdict
The Yeelight YLDP06YL is a great product if you are looking for a smart RGB lamp, but doesn’t want to pay as much as for Philips Hue.
