Best Smart Light Strip, It Ain't LIFX!

LIFX is still a great light though

Has anyone managed to actually connect this to HA? Or get it linked to any app at all? I've tried HA directly, Smart Things and even their own Yeelight Station (can't even log into the latter).

Brought the yeelight strip after seeing this video. It connects to Apple HomeKit instantly but not the yeelight app! Has anyone else had this issue if not can you reply with a step by step guide to pairing to the yeelight app please?

I received my Yeelight Obsid strip with extension a couple of weeks ago and there....OK. Software to connect to pc is abysmal, the amount of hoops you have to go through is ridiculous not to mention its not even detected as "Obsid" according to the pc its a "Chameleon 2". Unless ive missed is there no editing the individual LEDs in the app, scenes are boring and setting up the amibilight is a faf.
After saying all this the lights themselves are very good, the mobile app is useful and after tinkering im sure getting the lights into Home Assistant will be beneficial.

If your wanting a nice LED strip these are worth it esp if you got the discount, failing that i think im going to get a strip of WS2812's and an ESP32 and make my own.

I just came across this video. You will love this idea if you have not already seen it. Keep up the great videos.
Zac Builds channel: RIP Philips Hue & Govee - from 8 months ago

I am unable, for 2 years, to get the lifx app to show ANYTHING other than one bulb in the outside group (there are 2 bulbs). As a result the second bulb, which is always on, and cannot be controlled through the app, is being talen down. So is the lone first bulb. So is the app. I have 16 other bulbs inside the house that are Tapo and TPlink and all can be controlled through those apps and Alexa. I think Lifx is a menace to society and my patience. I still need 2 smart bulbs for the outside of the house which can take extreme weather temperatures.

There selling off whats left thats why on line still 😂😂😂😂brains you 😂😂😂😂😂

I use Lifx bulbs in my house - Have a good Wifi connection is my tip :) i run 8 bulbs 1 of them outside and I dont have any drop outs. Agreed The other stuff with lifx is is useless. I wanted smart bright lights with some colours sometimes without hubs and other rubbish :)

I haven't purchased lifx in a long time but the several I do have have been working for many many years and have zero drops or failures. Can't say the same about any of the other brands. I would have much more lifx if they had remained price competitive after the few massive sales I purchased during.
As far as matter I think that only matters with apple? And I give a rats about apple control connectivity.

what video do you use to test ambilight

I have had a lifx strip for years and was needing another. I looked at all the stuff that had come out since and went for the nanoleaf. It had loads bettter features. Thing is though that the main job of a light is to light things. The Lifx is a country mile better at this and so i would advise sticking with them.

Ive got the GOVEE dreamview T1 Pro on the TV and its pretty bloody useless.
Really do feel like i was ripped off buying them as it barely ever produces the right colour when watching films.
Only time it seems to work is if its something like football and the screen is mostly all green
Itsa so crap that ive just set it to a scene and even thats a pain as most are crap to use behind the TV
Just want a slow moving rainbow effect but thats even way too fast.

My Lifx experience hasn't been as bad as yours but ive definitely had some issues. The other day Smarthings refused to switch off both my bulbs (I gave up on the Lifx app) but Google home assistant worked fine.

LIFX has been a bag of turds for a very long time. Years back, I got one of their wifi light strips. The strip was 5 feet away from the AP. Despite this, LIFX couldn't manage to stay connected to an incredibly stable, well-managed WiFi network. Their support team took over a month to respond, and gave absolutely no help whatsoever. I dumped them in a hot second and never looked at them again.

I have 1 strip that doesn’t work right and my other strips work fine. But the fact that u have to compare all the new ones to the OLD AF lifx clearly suggest that it was the one to beat

Paul - How do you integrate Govee lights into your Home Assistant? It's been a while since I last messed with my config with regards to Govee - but what I am still using is horribly rate limited and fails if my family accidentally send two commands after each other or brighten/dim using remotes I have setup in HA... has that improved since or is there a better way of doing it now?

I cant get over how much more expensive these are compared to a ATHOM WLED controller and some WS2812B you can get like 5 of these for 1 of them options listed

Hello paul I watch channel all the time I have a question I have a few smart home items in my home all have their own hub and as you are my smart home guru I am looking for one hub that will control all of them any help would be greatly appreciated

I've had LIFX for quite a while, and they've mostly been fine, the colours are great - but since the takeover & collapse a few years ago I've avoided buying any more.
Regarding other suppliers, currently matter support seems to be fairly limited, you generally have to use the supplier's app or cloud to get full functionality.

This made my day! LIFX is garbage. And your video was entertaining as always. Keep up the great work.

You’re female followers (*insert number here), would like a guide to smart Christmas decorations please.

Anyone know what HDMI box based activlight system Paul uses? I've been looking at Govee or Nanoleaf, but they're both camera based and I'd prefer HDMI. The ones I've seen are suspect Facebook advertised Chinese knockoffs.

Paul, please figure out how to get the Aqara strip to recognize extensions when directly added to Home Assistant in ZHA!! The full strip lights up when selecting color temperature, but not an RGB color..

I generally dislike wifi smart home products and go full ZigBee, but lifx bulbs through home assistant have been very reliable for me, and have yet to be beaten for max brightness, minimum brightness and colour. They easily beat out other expensive brands like Philips hue, which for me have been unreliable and have a much too high minimum brightness.

prefer white led strips cause it helps diffusion more for my white furniture and PC components. Hey Paul, did you notice the extreme price change with the Govee AI box Kit with light bars? The Kit used to be $400 on Amazon Canada when it first dropped but now its like $150. I mean what the hell is up with that bs? Did Govee try to Gouge us with that ridiculous pricing? They tried to pull a Philips Hue!

So basically LiFX are the best at being a light and the others are better at the other functions?
Asking because I bought 2 heaps of lifx downlighting a few and few more years ago but haven’t got an electrician to install them yet...

Hi Paul,

As you know, LIFX UK went into liquidation on August 17, 2022. LIFX UK does not continue to sell products to consumers without warranty as you have claimed in several of your videos. Products being sold on retailer websites, were sold to retailers prior to liquidation. It is the responsibility of these retailers to support customers based on local regulations. Any legacy LIFX products being sold in Europe should (in our opinion) be sold as clearance stock with a limited retailer warranty only.

Feit Electric Company did not buy the LIFX businesses, it acquired the brand, technology, and other assets only. This is common practice when a business falls into liquidation. The receivers sell assets of value in order recoup as much as possible for its major creditors.

Feit Electric Company has worked hard to relaunch LIFX in our core markets in North America and Australia and hope to re-enter the European market once the business is in a stable and sustainable position.

We note from your comments that you are using a Unifi HD router; we are actively investigating an issue where Unifi routers have dropped support for a Wi-Fi power saving mode that is a core part of the Wi-Fi spec. That issue might be resulting in the connectivity issues that you've been seeing with your LIFX bulbs.

We understand the negative sentiment in this market caused by previous management will be difficult to rebuild. Until then, we will continue to support LIFX users with cloud services, firmware and app updates and customer support.

Cheers,
LIFX Team (not Jerks)

I hope you thoroughly enjoy the 'these are my exes' section, because it gets a chuckle out of me every time :)

Wyze color bulb is on par. It's my hidden gem

It must be nice to wake up with those lights simulating sunrise, or with Switchbot’s curtains moving super slowly, but with 3 dogs I get to wake up when it’s still dark and cold outside 😅 maybe someday

I’ve had 2 1100 watt RGB bulbs for a couple years now with zero issues. Would I buy LIFX again? No, as setting up new devices is now a nightmare, but these have been solid

Got to admire Mr. Sockie's ventriloquism skills. The Hibbert dummy's lip movements are completely realistic!

bought a LIFX smart bulb years ago and could never get to to remain connected to my WiFi. Been using cheap chinse bulbs for a third of the price which work effortlessly. Not surprised to hear they went bust.

Because it is a strip you could have just shaped it into a penis then have the strip at the end turn white

Hi Paul could we challenge you to "create" diy solution with Wled and addressable led and then compare with all those strips? Your are famous at DIY... 😂

I use WLED

The black substrate makes the LEDs look darker, possibly because the lighter substrate will help reflect light back.

We are missing Hue.... Why are we missing Hue?

I can do with the review minus the cringe disney channel antics

Jelly Belly!!!!

Obsidian Pour Homme is a cracking perfume name.
Someone call Yves Saint Laurent...

I have so many issues with Lifx z strip.
I’m thinking of building my own controller.

I wonder how the nanoleaf strip stacks up against these...

Shame you don't get along with razer synapse software. It has a feature that I believe yeelight software does not.
While yeelight software allows you to choose one of the 4 screen borders, razer allows you to select an actual part of the screen. I used one of the yeelight bulbs with razer, selected a specific area where a space game was showing a loading bar for "warp speed", and it gets very immersive to see the bulb increasing color intensity as the bar fills, and going dark again (if I am facing empty dark space) or whatever color it picks from the screen (if I am facing a bright star, or a planet). Also can pick each screen border individually as the yeelight software and also can use full screen capture to replicate it somehow (using this feature for keyboard).

How do LIFX get away with this? Not sure about UK, but in Australia it is illegal not to honour the warranty.
Saturation and brightness have tradeoffs with LED's. By pushing the LED's that hard, their life span is reduced. I'd rather have a slightly less bright strip that will work properly, and last longer.

Thank you for your ever so cheerful, yet informative videos! :)

LIFX has been horrible.. spent hundreds on lights that just aren't reliable.........

Why'd you have to go and bring up Harold and Madge?