Sylvania starts preorders for new HomeKit bulb and light strip

Sylvania has now started taking preorders for two additional products in their SMART+ lineup. A new soft white LED bulb, and a full-color LED light strip. Similar to the color LED bulb (that we recently reviewed), they require no hub or Wi-Fi to operate, are HomeKit compatible, and can connect directly to your device.

Sylvania, owned by LEDVANCE, announced their first SMART+ product, the A19 color bulb, back in August, and started shipping soon after. They also teased the soft white bulb, light strip, and smart outlet. While the soft white bulb and light strip are now available for preorder, the smart outlet is still unavailable.

The soft white bulb, like the colored version, is 800 lumens in brightness, and connects over Bluetooth. It is available for $25.99, which is only $12 less than the colored variant. With prices so close, it seems Sylvania is really encouraging people to go with the full color option.

The light strip is 400 lumens, Bluetooth connected as well, and retails for $59.99.

The color bulb and the light strip are both very competitively priced, about 30% less than the Philips Hue line. The soft white is slightly more expensive than the Hue white bulbs, which can often be found for around $14, however they still require no hub.

The HomeKit market has been expanding significantly lately with many new products being released, and existing products being updated. Apple’s updates with iOS 11 brought many new features, as well as loosened manufacturer requirements.

If you are interested in the color bulbs, or preordering the soft white bulb and light strip, you can find them over on Amazon. They start shipping next month.