iLuv's Rainbow8 is a decent Wi-Fi smartbulb for Apple's HomeKit, but not much more

Posted:
in iPhone edited April 2017
On its own iLuv's new Rainbow8 does what a HomeKit bulb needs to, and should satisfy most people. A poor app and a lack of IFTTT or Alexa integration, however, may mean there are better choices.




Arguably, easy setup is the main reason to get the bulb. Because it uses Wi-Fi instead of Bluetooth, and there's no extra hub to connect to your router, setup is ridiculously fast and simple. Once it's screwed in and turned on, all you have to do is load up the Rainbow iPhone app, tap the "+" button to add an accessory, and scan your HomeKit code -- voila, you're connected. Like any HomeKit gear, you will need an iPad or Apple TV to serve as a hub if you want control outside of the house.

The Rainbow8 supports 16 million colors and is rated at about 800 lumens, roughly equivalent to a 60-watt incandescent bulb. You may need 2 to 4 to adequately light anything but a small room, in other words. It's brighter than some LED options, but not as powerful as what you can get from companies like LIFX.

In testing we also found that veering away from white could sometimes significantly diminish brightness. That's actually a common problem with color-changing smartbulbs, but something to consider if you plan to bathe a room in a particular shade.

Full brightness in white, red, and light blue tints.
Full brightness in white, red, and light blue tints.


A little more troubling is that the color wheel in the Rainbow app doesn't always correspond well with real-world output. We sometimes had to fudge our color selection to get what we were expecting, which is ultimately just an inconvenience yet still disappointing.

The app as a whole is arguably the weakest part of the product. It's serviceable, but sometimes counterintuitive. To control a single bulb for instance, you can tap on its icon once to turn it on or off, but have to tap and hold to see color and brightness settings. All three of those options should be accessible from the homescreen. We did at least appreciate the ability to save five favorite colors through a bulb's settings, not to mention options to quickly rename a light or assign it to a different room.




There are other awkward design issues. Despite HomeKit integration, the only scenes that show up on the homescreen are ones you've created with the app -- you have to hit the "Rooms" tab to see everything. Some parts of the app have badly-written English, and if you want to reset a Rainbow8, you'll have to delete its entry and flick a power switch on and off four times.




It's best to control the accessory using Siri or iOS 10's Home app/Control Center extension when you can. All of Apple's standard options apply -- you can tell your iPhone to "set the Tall Lamp to pink," for instance, or use 3D Touch in Home to quickly access brightness and color settings. The bulb integrates seamlessly with scenes, and of course supports standard automation options like timers and geofences.

What it doesn't support though is Amazon's Alexa assistant, or IFTTT (If This Then That). You may not care about Alexa if you have an Apple Watch or an iPhone with you at all times, but IFTTT hooks into so many other hardware and software platforms that support may be a legitimate reason to go with other smartbulbs.

Conclusions

It seems to us that the Rainbow8 is best suited to people who don't have heavy HomeKit demands -- say, someone living in an apartment who just wants to set the mood for a movie, or have a few lights turn on and off when they come and go.

Beyond that though, it's better to invest in lights with a complete ecosystem. The Philips Hue platform may have its critics, but it integrates with Alexa, IFTTT, and HomeKit, and has a range of bulb types and switches, not to mention a better app. LIFX doesn't support HomeKit yet, but it should soon and it already works with Alexa, IFTTT, and some specific accessories like the Nest Thermostat.

Score: 3.5 out of 5

Where to buy

The Rainbow8 costs $49.99 from iLuv or third-party vendors like Amazon.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    irelandireland Posts: 17,799member
    Yes, and what's the betting it's not available in a bayonet bulb style, as usual.
  • Reply 2 of 7
    macguimacgui Posts: 2,419member
    I've already got a Hue Starter kit and extra bulb and with no Alexa or ITTT compatibility iLuv has no love for me. 
    Soli
  • Reply 3 of 7
    evilutionevilution Posts: 1,399member
    ireland said:
    Yes, and what's the betting it's not available in a bayonet bulb style, as usual.
    Not surprising considering the market.
    The US has has the Edison screw bulb for over 100 years. Asia and almost all of Europe changed to Edison screw a long time ago.

    The bayonet bulb is really only used in the UK and some countries that were part of the British Empire (Pakistan, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Ireland, and New Zealand, parts of the Middle East and Africa).

    We are a small market. We were lucky that Philips made a bayonet bulb at all.
  • Reply 4 of 7
    irelandireland Posts: 17,799member
    evilution said:
    ireland said:
    Yes, and what's the betting it's not available in a bayonet bulb style, as usual.
    Not surprising considering the market.
    The US has has the Edison screw bulb for over 100 years. Asia and almost all of Europe changed to Edison screw a long time ago.

    The bayonet bulb is really only used in the UK and some countries that were part of the British Empire (Pakistan, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Ireland, and New Zealand, parts of the Middle East and Africa).

    We are a small market. We were lucky that Philips made a bayonet bulb at all.
    Add those countries you mentioned and u get a lot of people. I won't use Philips anyway. I refuse to switch to smart bulbs that require an expensive and technologically unnecessary bridge hardware. Two reasons: principal & values and I don't dislike regular led bulbs enough to warrant changing with too much added cost or complexity. One guy one here in the AI forums said in defence of my criticism of the Philips bridge, "well I switched my entire home to Philips wireless and I'm glad I spent the $700 to do this". To each his own, ffs!! It's crazy to think we live in a world where over 1B people have access to no electricity at all and there's folks out there switching over to a new bulb technology and paying a lump sum of $700 do so, without blinking. Land of the free; home of the absurd.
    edited April 2017 watto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 7
    auxioauxio Posts: 2,754member
    ireland said:

    It's crazy to think we live in a world where over 1B people have access to no electricity at all and there's folks out there switching over to a new bulb technology and paying a lump sum of $700 do so, without blinking. Land of the free; home of the absurd.


    edited April 2017 macgui
  • Reply 6 of 7
    macguimacgui Posts: 2,419member
    It's crazy to think we live in a world where over 1B people 'have access to no electricity at all' and there's someone who's complaining that a bulb he probably wouldn't use isn't available in a particular base, while complaining about the plight of 1B people who have no access to electricity at all. Land of the subjects, home of the bonkers.


  • Reply 7 of 7
    evilutionevilution Posts: 1,399member
    ireland said:

    Add those countries you mentioned and u get a lot of people. I won't use Philips anyway. I refuse to switch to smart bulbs that require an expensive and technologically unnecessary bridge hardware. Two reasons: principal & values and I don't dislike regular led bulbs enough to warrant changing with too much added cost or complexity. One guy one here in the AI forums said in defence of my criticism of the Philips bridge, "well I switched my entire home to Philips wireless and I'm glad I spent the $700 to do this". To each his own, ffs!! It's crazy to think we live in a world where over 1B people have access to no electricity at all and there's folks out there switching over to a new bulb technology and paying a lump sum of $700 do so, without blinking. Land of the free; home of the absurd.
    I got the Philips Hue. Yes at first it is expensive but with the bridge, the bulbs are cheaper.
    It would cost them hundreds of thousands to change the moulds and a change of construction.
    It costs a couple of Euros to change your bulb holder from BC to ES if you really want to adopt LED smart bulbs.
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