Earlier this year LIFX teased the Candle Color, a candelabra bulb that uses polychrome technology, a fancy way of saying it can display multiple colors at once. Candle colors are now available for purchase.
LIFX has used polychrome technology in the Tile, Beam and Z Strip light strips, but this is the first color mixing feature available in a light bulb.
The color of the candle is a candelabra bulb that fits into an E12 socket, which is on the rarer side of home lighting. These are often found in small table lamps or chandelier-style hanging lamps, but are not as common as the typical A26 bulb.
LIFX uses multi-colored LEDs inside the candle to create different light zones, allowing for multiple colors and different lighting effects available to mimic a real candle. Inside the tiny bulb are 26 customizable color zones, which can be set to one of 16 million colors.
Design-wise, the candle color looks like a standard candelabra bulb, so there’s not much to look at before adding it to a matching lamp. Once it’s powered up, setup is as simple as scanning the HomeKit code in the included manual. Candle Color requires a 2.4GHz connection, which should be aware of before attempting to set it up.
It’s a wifi connected bulb, so it can be controlled via wifi and doesn’t need a hub to work. Using the capabilities of the LIFX app, the color of the candle can be set to multiple different colors at once, with the option to “paint” the bulb however you see fit.
I put the candle color on a small candelabra lamp with a soft white lampshade that I bought on Amazon to test how it works in a lamp. In general, it is difficult to see multiple colors in any type of lamp that diffuses light. While painting different colors on each part of the bulb, it’s hard to tell that multiple colors were involved since it’s such a small bulb.
Blues and reds, for example, mix together to make purple, and the same goes for other color combos—it creates a mixture of light. With contrasting colors it’s easy to see slight differences in person, but in most cases, the lighting effects aren’t very impressive if the bulb is dim.
The same is not true for a bare bulb. With a bulb without a shade, it’s easier to see different color areas, so I think this type of light bulb would work best in a lamp without a shade, like a chandelier or similar style. I loved the look of the multicolor bulb when it was just the bulb — it’s easy to see the different color zones and fun to paint in different colors.
Because of the lack of brightness, this is something you’ll want to use as an accent lighting option for significant lighting, although if you add several of the multi-bulb lamps it can put out enough light. More than special effects bulbs. You can set these lights to be colored or different shades of white, so they can be used more like traditional bulbs.
In addition to being able to draw in different colors, the LIFX app supports various animated modes such as a fire (moving red), a ghostly theme (light flickering off and on), morphing colors (changing between different colors), candles (faking a burning) candles), and more.
The app has options for changing colors, swapping between white and color, setting the aforementioned effects, choosing from the different color themes available (which are just preset colors), and setting lights to turn on and off at specific times. times
Most of the controls for LIFX candle colors must be done in the LIFX app as this is the only location that supports bulb painting options and effects. That said, it’s a HomeKit-enabled bulb so you can use Siri or the Home app to turn it on/off, dim or brighten it, or set it to a solid color.
I had no issues with connectivity with the LIFX Color Candle and the app worked well for control purposes. It connected to my HomeKit setup, worked with Siri, and offered a painless setup process.
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As someone who has a full Hue setup, multiple Nanoleaf products, and other smart home lighting installed, I’m a big fan of Candle Color. I love the way the bare bulb looks when painted in different colors and the effects are a neat bonus that looks great on any lamp.
It’s a bulb that works best in a lamp where it can be shown off, and it’s fun to change the color and animation options available. That said, it’s still usable when a lamp shade is involved, but the different colors won’t be as visible.
Unfortunately, it’s a candelabra bulb so it won’t go in any lamps, but I’m hoping LIFX will come out with additional bulbs that offer the same color painting features in the future. That said, you can get an E12 to E26 adapter if you want to use it in a larger lamp, but I also think the color painting feature will ultimately work better on a larger bulb.
how to buy
The candle color can be purchased from the LIFX website for $44.95.
