Wyze Lamp review: Dumber (and better) than you probably thought

Wyze may be known for its smart home gadgets, but its new floor lamp with an unimaginative name isn’t exactly “smart.” There’s no Assistant support, and controls are Bluetooth only (via the app and bundled remote). As for a smart light, it’s honestly pretty stupid. But, while I wish I could ask Google to play it and it could be longer, I actually like it.

Goodness

Not very good

It is a lamp with a remote control

sheep

When I volunteered to take a look at Wyze’s new floor lamp, I was assuming (as most of our readers probably did) that it would be a connected smart device like the company’s previous lighting products. But whatever the product is white label Xiaomi West Wyze grabbed the sale in the US, so you shouldn’t think of this as a “smart” product at all. It’s just a lamp with a remote and some automatic controls.

In terms of appearance, it is your usual modern adjustable light bulb. You have a weighted base – which could be a little heavier, I think – gooseneck to place it on, and the part where the light comes out is very focused. Point it to the things you want to see. There is a power switch on the cable, which comes out from the bottom of the upright support.

Other than the very light base, the only physical thing I’m not a fan of is the height of the lamp itself. Ostensibly he’s 5 feet 11 inches tall, but that’s if you point that crooked neck straight up, which precisely no one would do. Twist it to shine on anything and the lamp is too short to work on, say, a standing desk. I wish it was taller or had an extra reach to add an extra foot of height.

This battery-operated, magnetic Bluetooth remote is the star of the show and the part you’ll touch most often. It’s a simple circular puck a few inches in diameter with a raised knob and a clicker that you turn to adjust the lamp between 11 brightness settings. Press it and it turns on and off, and there’s a button on the side for pairing, as well as an LED to indicate commands are being sent.

The remote is very nice and generally works as you would expect. I like to put it on my desk right above my mouse pad so I can click on it when I sit down to do work, but I have a few complaints. The on/off command can be delayed randomly for a few seconds, only Long enough you might hit her again thinking you made a mistake. The handle could also be heavier, which increases the quality feel and its ability to stay in one place – while it’s magnetic, my desk is not. However, the rubber feet do just that Okay job. but, Light plastic is not strong enough to stay in one place well. IIf your desk is cluttered (like I do), it might get bumped and moved around a bit.

The lamp uses a 9W PAR30 E26 bulb which is user replaceable. It’s rated at 800 lumens and a center brightness of 1,400L at 4 feet, 7 inches away, all at a “cool white” temperature of 4,000 Kelvin. A more neutral white seems to be best for task lighting.

The quality of the lighting itself is fine. Anecdotally, the light was bright enough and dim enough for indoor use, didn’t flicker, and the color was just as nice — though I prefer warmer lights overall, and wish the white point was adjustable.

“Smart” but very stupid

Of course, the Wyze app supports pairing the bulb with your phone, and there are some added features like schedules and a delay timer, in addition to basic on/off and brightness level controls. However, I am almost convinced that it is not worth doing. Bluetooth means limited range, and your phone must be close by. I truly I wish Wyze had taken Wi-Fi and given it the ability to connect to Assistant for true smart home control and integration.

Note that we used a demo/demo application. These features are not yet live in the stable release and may look or behave differently when they arrive.

The lamp also has an AI feature to adjust the lamp’s brightness over time based on how you set it yourself. I’m told it also works without the app, but if you choose to use it, it’s more granular there, as the app supports 100 levels of brightness control while the remote only supports 11 levels. It works – and can this be a good thing? After the last couple of weeks of using it and adjusting it, the lamp seems to be set to the level I need, and I don’t have to pay much attention to turning it up or down. I think this means the feature is working fine?

You can also set up schedules for lighting at specific times, but I didn’t find this feature very useful for my workflow — you might as well.

I was fully prepared to not like the Wyze Floor Lamp once I realized it wouldn’t connect to the rest of my smart home gadgets. I’ve criticized many of the company’s recent actions, and many of its recent products have felt like they’re a bit low-effort. But, honestly, I was enjoying the Wyze flashlight. Having a task lamp next to my desk with convenient controls right above the keyboard that I can adjust as the day goes on (and which adjusts itself based on my habits) is actually nice.

Wyze originally advertised the lamp for $30, but it’s actually $44 with shipping, and it plans to bundle those costs together into one price going forward, so expect something closer to the latter when it’s available again.

Good for some, but not for everyone

I’m hesitant to give a blanket yes/no recommendation for the Wyze Floor Lamp. On the one hand, I actually like it and love using it, but the lack of Assistant support is an issue – although I’d argue it’s not a deal-breaker for everyone since the remote works well and you can place it wherever you need it. However, in this age of smart lighting, this isn’t considered “smart,” and I want built-in Assistant controls whenever possible. But, if you’re really in the market for some dumb lighting tasks and you like the idea of ​​a remote, I think this is a really decent choice.

At $44 with shipping, it’s a a little Expensive for what’s essentially a stupid lamp, but I think the remote makes it a fair value. Of course, you can spend a lot on lighting and consider it a bargain. This lamp is closer to IKEA quality than Herman Miller, and you can get some cooler adjustable floor/task lighting for the same price or less. (Hell, pair that with the Wyze Plug, and you’ve arguably got smarter functionality than a Wyze Floor Lamp.)

I’m so glad Wyze has plans moving forward to be more honest about pricing, too, because this lamp was a prime example of how deceptive its previous policy was: Wyze claimed this cost $30, conveniently ignoring the shipping cost of the product. The lamp was almost 50% extra on top of that. It’s one thing if you’re paying whatever price the shipper wants to charge at checkout, but I’ve always felt Wyze’s policy went too far, and I’m glad the company will only collect the shipping cost for a flat $44 — even though the price is set to go up.

Even if you completely unplug it from your phone (as I think you should), it’s a functional lamp. You can turn it on and off, it emits a light, and it even has a convenient remote control. It’s not for everyone, and it’s not really “smart,” but the Wyze Floor Lamp isn’t a bad buy.

He buys: Wiz