1
00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:08,000
so the holidays are here and that means it's time for the usual trappings of the

2
00:00:04,799 --> 00:00:10,160
christmas season excess spending excess

3
00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:14,960
amount of eggnog and excess decorative lighting now for many

4
00:00:12,719 --> 00:00:19,279
people this might just mean grabbing some lights from that box in the attic

5
00:00:17,199 --> 00:00:24,080
throwing them into an outlet and draping them over something but that isn't

6
00:00:21,119 --> 00:00:28,720
exactly very fun or interesting and maybe that's why we've seen so many

7
00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:32,320
smart christmas lights hit the market in the last couple of years

8
00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:37,120
but are the options out there good enough to turn your average tech heads

9
00:00:34,239 --> 00:00:40,079
house into a veritable santa's workshop that you can control in the palm of your

10
00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:45,920
hand well it's time to find out

11
00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:50,879
after we thank rosewill for sponsoring this video check out their neon k85

12
00:00:48,719 --> 00:00:57,610
gaming keyboard with mechanical switches and m53 gaming mouse with up to 4000 dpi

13
00:00:54,800 --> 00:01:05,600
at the links below

14
00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:11,680
so we're going to be looking at a few different options for your high tech

15
00:01:08,960 --> 00:01:17,920
holiday setup with varying feature sets but all four of them seem to have one

16
00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:19,920
simple idea as an integral part of their

17
00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:25,600
design philosophies having to continually unplug and re-plug

18
00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:28,159
your lights every night is a massive pain

19
00:01:26,479 --> 00:01:31,840
especially after going to all the trouble of setting them up in the first

20
00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:35,119
place especially if your decorating style reminds the neighbors of clark

21
00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:39,759
griswold so just how convenient then did our

22
00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:45,360
contenders make our experience first up let's have a look at the

23
00:01:42,079 --> 00:01:47,520
twinkly system from italian concern led

24
00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:51,360
works and even though the sales rep might give you a confused look if you

25
00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:55,360
walk into the store and ask for twinkly lights it did actually come to us on a

26
00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:59,360
very handsome looking not to mention well labeled box

27
00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:04,399
twinkly more than any of the other products in this video seems designed

28
00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:09,200
specifically with christmas trees in mind which is cool because the app will

29
00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:14,000
connect to your phone's camera and will actually map where each individual led

30
00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:18,560
bulb is on the tree after you set them up you'll be able to

31
00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:24,560
see this map on your screen so that you can address each light individually for

32
00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:27,280
granular control allowing you to draw

33
00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:33,519
custom effects onto the tree unfortunately the app's a little finicky

34
00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:38,319
it couldn't find the light set way too often and the system was a bit slow to

35
00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:42,720
respond at times so the ability to create these custom effects is cool but

36
00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:48,480
it's not very intuitive and the setup was kind of a pain as it didn't specify

37
00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:51,360
that you need to be on the 2.4 gigahertz band when connecting it to your home

38
00:02:50,319 --> 00:02:58,239
network you could use it on the five gigahertz band but only after it was up and

39
00:02:56,319 --> 00:03:02,239
running with all that said the lights themselves look great they're plenty

40
00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:06,640
bright and the effects really helped bring john's we're actually at john's

41
00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:12,640
house right now john's tree to life they are a bit pricey at 110 dollars for a

42
00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:14,560
105 light starter set and that gets even

43
00:03:12,640 --> 00:03:18,560
worse because i would definitely consider getting an extension if you

44
00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:23,040
really want full coverage of your tree this one actually needed a second set of

45
00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:28,000
plain old regular lights to complete the look and at that price point i would

46
00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:33,360
expect better app implementation but overall this one's not a bad buy at all

47
00:03:31,519 --> 00:03:38,959
on the subject of underwhelming app support let's take a look at the lumen

48
00:03:35,519 --> 00:03:42,319
play from s4 lights next unlike twinkly

49
00:03:38,959 --> 00:03:43,440
this one connects via bluetooth 4.0 so

50
00:03:42,319 --> 00:03:49,440
you'll need to make sure your phone is compatible and even then the app might

51
00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:54,959
still cause problems so it was totally non-responsive on a nexus 6p running

52
00:03:52,159 --> 00:04:01,200
Android 8.0 oreo although we did get it working on devices using Android 7 or

53
00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:03,519
iOS 11. with all that said any app that

54
00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:06,640
hasn't been updated in a while isn't a good sign

55
00:04:04,879 --> 00:04:10,080
physically though the lights themselves felt heavy duty and well made and i

56
00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:14,799
wouldn't worry about putting them outside in the elements but the flip

57
00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:20,479
side is this did make them a little bit unwieldy and cumbersome for indoor use

58
00:04:17,840 --> 00:04:25,280
especially with the three bulky modules that we needed for just

59
00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:29,759
the 36 lights that you see in the kitchen here which i imagine would make

60
00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:32,880
them pretty annoying to try to put on a tree

61
00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:36,880
the effects that you can select look all right though you can create your own

62
00:04:35,919 --> 00:04:41,360
maybe because when we tried certain patterns

63
00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:44,720
of animations ended up throwing random colors into our setup

64
00:04:43,919 --> 00:04:52,720
so while the lights themselves aren't bad the very buggy app experience earns the

65
00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:56,240
lumen play a pass from us at 160 dollars

66
00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:58,400
for 36 lights though the set your lights

67
00:04:56,240 --> 00:05:01,600
to music feature actually did work nearly flawlessly as long as you're

68
00:05:00,479 --> 00:05:05,600
playing something from your phone's local storage that isn't drm protected

69
00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:09,520
so that's good if you want to stare at something other than a yule log while

70
00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:13,360
you listen to christmas carols speaking of yule logs there's one

71
00:05:11,280 --> 00:05:18,080
product family with so many lighting options i'm surprised they haven't

72
00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:22,800
released a smart yule log philips hue which you've probably seen

73
00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:28,240
on display at your local big box store the cool thing about this is that they

74
00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:34,880
can all be controlled by this little wi-fi puck thing called the bridge which

75
00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:35,680
can connect to up to 50 different lights

76
00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:40,560
so you'll probably only need one we have a

77
00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:45,520
pair of hue light strips which we tried running behind some pcs and behind this

78
00:05:43,280 --> 00:05:50,639
couch for a bit of christmas themed bias lighting as well as two of the area

79
00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:55,280
effect hue goes no relation to the french novelist philips hue was easily

80
00:05:53,440 --> 00:06:01,600
the most polished experience with a slick intuitive app interface with very

81
00:05:58,639 --> 00:06:05,520
low latency and that responsiveness is exactly what you want when you're

82
00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:10,080
dealing with an elaborate lighting setup also remote access over the internet was

83
00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:14,319
easy to set up and worked like a charm the go lights aren't super bright but

84
00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:18,000
they're powerful enough to light up a corner and they have cool features like

85
00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:21,600
three hours of battery life if you want to move them around or position them

86
00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:26,479
somewhere temporarily during a christmas party and the ability to tilt them up on

87
00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:30,880
this little integrated stand to aim them at your wall phillips does offer another

88
00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:34,000
area effect light called the bloom which is slightly more powerful but we

89
00:06:32,479 --> 00:06:38,960
couldn't get our hands on that one for this video the light strips on the other

90
00:06:35,759 --> 00:06:41,680
hand get extremely bright if you just

91
00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:44,400
set them to emit white light and are actually like i'd say they're bright

92
00:06:43,039 --> 00:06:48,639
enough to really change how your workspace feels unfortunately you can

93
00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:52,560
only set them to one color through the native app even if you have two strips

94
00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:56,880
joined together like we did like the other options hue is extremely

95
00:06:54,160 --> 00:07:00,880
customizable within the app but this is cool it also features a large

96
00:06:59,039 --> 00:07:05,919
number of third-party apps with pre-loaded color profiles including

97
00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:11,280
christmas themed one this setup is a bit pricey including 60 bucks

98
00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:17,120
just for the control bridge but having a very pro feeling experience that works

99
00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:19,599
almost without a hitch makes it at least

100
00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:24,319
somewhat easier to justify but maybe even if you could afford it it's

101
00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:29,840
possible that you already have like 10 000 bulbs worth of existing dumb

102
00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:34,720
christmas lights and just don't see the point of tossing them all in the garbage

103
00:07:33,039 --> 00:07:39,120
well if that sounds like you you might be interested in something like the wemo

104
00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:43,840
from belkin which isn't really a lighting product at all instead wemo

105
00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:47,039
makes smart outlets that plug into your existing ones

106
00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:51,280
now although they won't suddenly make the el cheapo lights that you got at the

107
00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:55,680
dollar store customizable and super fancy they will at least enable control

108
00:07:53,599 --> 00:07:59,039
from your phone and a light schedule randomizer in case you're leaving for

109
00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:03,919
the holidays and you want to deter any grinches that are roaming around we

110
00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:05,039
weren't huge fans of how bulky the plugs

111
00:08:03,919 --> 00:08:09,840
are but that was really the only complaint setup

112
00:08:07,919 --> 00:08:14,479
wasn't hard although again you'll need to use the 2.4 gigahertz band initially

113
00:08:13,039 --> 00:08:18,800
and then you can control it over 5 gigahertz later and remote access over

114
00:08:16,879 --> 00:08:23,520
the internet is enabled by default and worked just fine the app interface is no

115
00:08:21,599 --> 00:08:27,120
nonsense and the plug itself actually gives off an extremely satisfying

116
00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:32,399
audible click when you turn your lights on and

117
00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:37,440
well that's on but not off off so you don't have to wonder whether it worked

118
00:08:34,800 --> 00:08:40,399
the fancier insight switch will also give you a one touch report on power

119
00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:46,160
consumption and if you enter how much your power company charges you it'll even tell you

120
00:08:44,480 --> 00:08:50,000
exactly how much you're spending on keeping your house looking like one of

121
00:08:47,680 --> 00:08:55,360
those shopping mall santa displays the good news is that while you don't

122
00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:56,880
get any actual lights they are a cheaper

123
00:08:55,360 --> 00:09:01,920
option compared to the other ones we've looked at at 80 bucks for two switches

124
00:08:59,839 --> 00:09:05,360
if you already own lights now to be clear none of the products

125
00:09:03,680 --> 00:09:09,920
we've looked at here are really geared towards those folks who want to do like

126
00:09:07,839 --> 00:09:14,800
crazy custom lighting setups that require a pc or a raspberry pi to drive

127
00:09:12,959 --> 00:09:17,920
them not to mention more extensive programming

128
00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:22,720
but with that said hue does have a public API if you are into that sort of

129
00:09:19,839 --> 00:09:26,399
thing however from what we've seen for the main streamers out there there

130
00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:30,320
are plenty of options that while not perfect could add a little bit of

131
00:09:28,560 --> 00:09:34,560
fun techy christmas joy to your holiday setup if

132
00:09:33,040 --> 00:09:38,650
you choose the right one especially if your aunt's dancing santa

133
00:09:36,399 --> 00:09:40,000
claus just isn't cutting it this year

134
00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:47,920
speaking of not cutting it is your computer case not cutting it be quiet!

135
00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:53,279
just release their versatile dark base 700 midi tower and to celebrate they're

136
00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:58,240
having a contest it's called the dark bay 700 character builder you have to

137
00:09:56,000 --> 00:10:03,040
build and configure a pc through their site we'll have that linked below for a

138
00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:08,480
chance to win that system or one of eight dark base 700 cases the contest

139
00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:12,959
runs from now until november 29th and the winners will be announced by be

140
00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:16,160
quiet on december 1st so check it out at the link in the video description

141
00:10:14,959 --> 00:10:20,800
so thanks for watching guys if you disliked this video you can hit that button but if you liked it hit like get

142
00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:24,560
subscribed maybe consider checking out where to buy some of the christmasy

143
00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:27,839
stuff that we featured in the video description also link down there we've

144
00:10:26,560 --> 00:10:32,160
got our merch store which oh i don't think we carry this horrible sweater anymore but the t-shirt i'm wearing

145
00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:36,720
under it we've got that in our merch store and we've also got a link to our community forum