WiZ bulbs: Wi-Fi lighting without a bridge at a glance

What you actually start with when choosing WiZ

Before you choose a lamp, it is worth asking what it is for: should just one floor lamp in the living room be able to change colour and white tone, should the whole bedroom turn warmer in the evening, or is it about light behind the TV? WiZ is a system that works exclusively over your existing Wi-Fi. According to the manufacturer, the 2.4 GHz band is enough for this, Bluetooth is added for setup, and a separate bridge is not required. This lowers the entry barrier, because you need nothing apart from the lamp itself.

This is exactly where the most important trade-off lies, though. Each lamp takes up a slot on the home network. With two or three lamp holders this is usually unproblematic, but with many luminaires, sensors and switches a hub system often becomes easier to keep track of. The documents do not support a general statement on how many lamps tip the balance, and we have not measured anything on this. If you want to expand further, the article on bridge and lamp limit with Hue is a starting point for how hub systems work at this point.

The editorial team sorts the lamps using manufacturer and listing information. We did not have the products in hand, so there is no documented hands-on testing from us. What you read here is a classification of the documents, so that you ask the right questions before buying. All figures come from the respective product pages and, where they come from WiZ, are marked as according to the manufacturer. We give no prices, only orders of magnitude: the lamps sit in the entry-level to mid-range price band, the Sync Box in the mid-range price band. The price in the shop is always what counts.

One bulb in an existing luminaire: the usual starting point

The most common case: you have a floor, table or ceiling luminaire with an E27 lamp holder and want to give it colour and white tone by app or voice command without replacing the luminaire. The WiZ Smart LED bulb Color and Tunable White, E27, 806 lumens is there for this. According to the manufacturer, WiZ lists up to 806 lumens, app or voice control and a direct connection to the existing Wi-Fi for its colour-capable A60 models with E27. The product family covers several power and colour variants, so you should match model and pack size in the offer exactly.

An alternative in the same format is the WiZ Smart LED A60 E27 Full Color, four-pack. According to the manufacturer, WiZ states a power consumption of 8.5 watts, 806 lumens and a white range of 2,200 to 6,500 kelvin for the colour-capable A60 with E27. According to the manufacturer, the colour rendering index is at least 80 and the energy efficiency class is F. The figure of 60 watt equivalent is only a comparison value: what can be compared are the 8.5 watts and the 806 lumens, not the equivalence note. The set suits you if you want to convert several lamp holders at once, for example a multi-arm luminaire or several rooms.

With both, note the similarity in name to a white-only variant: according to the manufacturer's page, the variant with adjustable white only starts at 2,700 kelvin and draws 8 watts, while the colour-capable version covers 2,200 to 6,500 kelvin. Rely on the EAN or article number, not on the product name. How to interpret kelvin values is explained in the article on colour temperature in kelvin.

When a room needs more light

Smart colour bulbs are often bought as mood lighting but are also expected to provide the general lighting. Then luminous flux counts. The WiZ Modern Bulb A60 E27 colour 1,521 lm, 2-pack is the brighter version for this. According to the manufacturer, up to 1,521 lumens at 2,700 kelvin are documented there, with an actual power consumption of 12.5 watts. WiZ classes it as a replacement for a 100 watt incandescent bulb. A white range of 2,200 to 6,500 kelvin, a colour rendering index of 80 and energy efficiency class E are in the data sheet, as is a rated lifetime of 15,000 hours and 50,000 switching cycles.

Here too: there is an almost identically named version with 806 lumens. Check the lumen figure in the offer, otherwise you are comparing two different items. Whether 1,521 lumens makes sense for your room depends on floor area and activity. Guidance is given by the lumen values per room and the lumens-to-watts chart. If you want to calculate the brightness needed for your floor plan, use the lighting calculator.

In small rooms a very bright lamp can be dimmed. According to the manufacturer, this goes from 100 per cent down to 1 per cent on the 1,521 lumen version. That does not replace planning, though: a lamp that runs permanently at a fraction of its output is simply oversized for the room, and the smaller 806 lumen version would have been the more suitable choice.

Light behind the TV

For films and games, WiZ has a dedicated product: the WiZ HDMI Sync Box with TV lighting. According to the manufacturer, the set consists of a Sync Box and a lightstrip for TVs from 55 to 65 inches, the strip is 2,600 millimetres long and 10 millimetres wide, and the power consumption is 17 watts. According to the manufacturer, the box supports 4K at 60 hertz as well as HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. Signify gives an HDMI 2.0 input for it, so above 4K at 60 hertz it ends there.

Important for the purchase decision: the box reads the video signal directly at the HDMI input. You therefore need an external source such as a console, cable box or streaming stick. According to the offer, apps running on the smart TV itself cannot be synchronised. The box has one HDMI input, and for several devices you would need an HDMI switch, which is not included. According to Signify, colour-capable WiZ lamps that are paired over Wi-Fi in the WiZ app can be integrated. A camera-based solution avoids the box, but depends on camera position and ambient light.

Setup, dimensions and consumption

According to the manufacturer, the colour-capable A60 has the A60 shape, about 122 millimetres long and 60 millimetres in diameter, and weighs around 65 grams as a single lamp. This is the classic bulb shape and fits most luminaires with an E27 lamp holder. With narrow shades or closed glass bodies you should still re-measure the length. According to the manufacturer, the 100 watt version is 12.2 centimetres high and 6 centimetres wide.

For consumption, WiZ states 9 kilowatt hours per 1,000 operating hours for the 806 lumen version and a rated lifetime of 25,000 hours at 70 per cent lumen maintenance. For the 1,521 lumen version, WiZ gives 13 kilowatt hours per 1,000 hours. How to derive running costs from this is in the article on power consumption and costs of LED. For consumption when switched off, the article on standby consumption of smart lamps gives guidance, as the product pages give no value for it.

For setup, the listing of the four-pack variant says the lamp can be integrated automatically with Alexa and an Echo device. Otherwise pairing runs via the WiZ app. A 5 GHz network alone is not enough, because the lamp transmits on the 2.4 GHz band. If you have a router with separate bands, you should therefore log your smartphone on to the 2.4 GHz network for setup.

Voice control, Matter and Apple Home

According to the manufacturer, WiZ lamps can be controlled with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. For Apple the information is abbreviated: WiZ names Siri shortcuts and describes Apple HomeKit as a route via Matter, for which a third-party Matter controller must be present in the household. This also applies to Matter in a foreign ecosystem in general. So if you want to use Apple Home, you plan in a suitable hub, and the advantage of being free of a bridge shrinks at this point.

Matter improves cooperation between different platforms, but does not guarantee that every special function of a manufacturer's app is available everywhere. Scenes or music modes may remain tied to the respective app. Cloud dependency, app account and update policy are also part of the buying decision. If the Wi-Fi fails, the app and voice control no longer respond. Notes on operation by wall switch are given in the article on smart lamps and light switches.

WiZ compared, suitability and limits

WiZ is not the only system without a bridge. An alternative to WiZ is, for example, the Tapo L530E, Wi-Fi bulb for E27. According to the listing, it works only with 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, and a hub is not required. We give no further values here, because they are not backed by manufacturer information on the product page. If you are torn between brands, you should above all check which voice assistants and which accessories (switches, sync solutions) you need, and lay the data of the respective product pages side by side.

The table summarises the values of the products mentioned above. Empty fields mean that the respective product page gives no information.

It suits you if you want to make a few lamps smart, rent your home and do not want to buy an additional hub. It suits you less if you want to bring many luminaires, sensors and switches together in one reliable network or want to use Apple Home without an additional hub. For colour-critical work such as painting, sewing or photography, a colour rendering index of at least 90 makes sense, which the colour-capable A60 does not reach according to the manufacturer. For living rooms, hallways and mood lighting, a value of 80 is usual.

Coloured accent light usually does not replace general lighting. Also check the lamp holder and Wi-Fi coverage at the planned location before you buy several lamps. You can find further models in this area in the category Smart lighting. Because we have not measured anything, every classification here remains a reading aid for the documents, not a laboratory result.