Wyze’s new BR30 smart bulb is designed for downlighting

Wyze’s new Wi-Fi BR30 color bulb fills a gap in the budget smart home company’s lighting lineup — recessed can lighting. BR30s generally fit into holes in your ceiling and, with their directional light, are great for larger rooms such as kitchens and living areas. The new bulbs cost $23.99 plus $5.99 shipping for a two-pack or as low as $12.50 per bulb in a four-pack (plus shipping), making the Wyze Bulb Color BR30 a well-priced, if not spectacular bargain.

Comparatively, Philips Hue’s color BR30s go for $100 for two, but you can find good, budget Wi-Fi BR30 bulbs in two-packs from the likes of Wiz ($28) and Sengled ($35). Both of those have lower lumen outputs, though, making Wyze the brighter budget bulb.

The Wyze bulbs work with Alexa and Google Assistant for voice control to turn them on/off, adjust brightness, or change color, but Wyze has yet to announce what its plans are for supporting the new smart home standard Matter. The full-color, dimmable smart bulbs have a wide range of tunable white light, from a warm 1800K up to a cool 6500K, with a maximum brightness of 950 lumens and a color rendering index (CRI) rating of 90 plus.

Hue’s more expensive Bluetooth/Zigbee-powered bulbs have a lower (less accurate) CRI rating of 82, but their lumen output is higher at 1,200. Hue works with Apple Home through its Bridge, which Wyze does not. Meross has both brighter light and Apple Home compatibility with its 1,300-lumen two-pack of Wi-Fi bulbs for $39.

Wyze smart lights, including the new BR30, have one thing most competitors don’t, a native natural lighting setting called Sun Match. This automatically adjusts the color temperature of the bulbs throughout the day to mimic the sun. This is similar to Apple Home's Adaptive lighting feature, which works with Hue, Nanoleaf, and LIFX bulbs, but you need an Apple Home hub to enable this. Wyze’s version requires just its free app.

Other features of Wyze’s app that work with the new BR30 bulbs include a Vacation Mode to mimic presence in a home and Sleep Routines to gradually brighten or fade the lighting. There’s also the option to set the lights on schedules and create automations when paired with other Wyze products.