The LIFX mini bulb has an output of 800 lumens, rated 9 watts, and displays 16 million colors and can dim 1% to 100%. Photo by Marcus Siu

Article and photos by Marcus Siu

When I was at a recent getgeeked press show in San Francisco last month, I came across the LIFX booth displaying a gorgeous light display showing a few of their latest products, including the LIFX mini.  Since it was an evening event, it demonstrated how lighting can really contribute to how it can create moods and atmosphere and be a critical component in your home.

Creating the mood by just dimming the lights with a dimmer switch and a regular light bulb just doesn’t cut it anymore once you see how dramatic your lighting can be anywhere in your home.  I toyed around the idea of buying one a few years ago, but never thought it was necessary.

Boy, was I wrong.

After becoming frustrated with my 3-way incandescent bulb on my bedroom lamp over the years, mainly due to the elements burning out in the bulb in a few months and eventually becoming a “1-way bulb”,  I decided it was time to “upgrade” my lighting needs.  I switched my old drab GE bulb for a LIFX mini smart bulb on my old 15 year lamp.

In less than five minutes after I downloaded the LIFX app, I was in awe of the many modes and options that the bulb has to offer through the very intuitive app on my smartphone.

Not only could I turn the bulb on and off with a touch of a button through my smartphone, which was a pretty big thrill to me at the time, but I was able to dial up 16 million colors to choose from.  No longer will I need to buy multi colored lights for holiday parties, which is another big plus.

The app has a “themes” function, which creates various moods.  This is appropriate for various holidays, as it includes a “Santa”, “Holly”, “Hannakkah”, even “Halloween” and “Independence Day”.  For non-holidays, if you’re in a certain mood, you can choose from “Mellow”, “Intense”, “Peaceful”, “Relaxing”, “Energizing”, “Soothing”…etc.

The app also has an “effects” function, as well.  My favorite one is “flicker”, as though a candle was burning in the room, which can definitely set the mood for a romantic evening.   With the “Spooky” setting, you can even scare the bejesus out of little kids on a Halloween night with outdoor lighting.  Or perhaps, you might want to use the “Strobe” effects setting, if you want a DJ nightclub “trance” atmosphere,  which also lets you speed up the tempo in milliseconds.

You can even set it to “Music Visualizer” and match to the music you are listening to.   I have yet to put on Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon” or the “Wizard of Oz” soundtrack, but will definitely try it soon.

Other effect options are “Pastels” , “Color Cycle”, or “Random.

Along with your smartphone, you can use this with Amazon Alexa, Nest and Google Home, which makes it super easy to switch the mood to all of your lights in seconds.

What is great is that you can add and control as many lights in many rooms as you want, all at your fingertips through the user friendly app, which makes me want to get more of them.  It is also nice to know that I no longer will need to scrunch out of bed after going under the covers and having to physically touch my lamp switch to turn off or on the lights.

“Alexa” – turn off the lights.

The LIFX mini lists at $44.99 and is available at retailers, such as Best Buy and Amazon.

In addition to the LIFX mini, the LIFX Tile Kit (left) is the latest product that are mounted on the walls of any room.  The first batch of these have been sold out and won’t be available until February 2018.   Photo by Marcus Siu.