Hue vs Innr vs Trafri - Why pay more?

StormHD

The Tradfri Warm White bulbs (used in my hall) have a nice colour to them. The White Spectrum ones in the kitchen can be adjusted how you like (fully bright, cold light to a nice soft warm white, and anything in between.  I’m incredibly pleased with them.

Harkon321

@StormHD
Do you use hue motion detectors?  I prefer the look of the hue switches as I've seen people 3D print a holder that'll fit over the existing switch, in essence replacing the bulb.

Once they are connected to the hue hub does the hub just treat them as hue bulbs?

Bl4ckGryph0n

I really don’t like how the light spread. Don’t find it pleasant at all. I find it harsh and not feeling luxurious.

StormHD

Yes, motion triggers the lights in the hall and the kitchen.

I use a Hue motion sensor in the kitchen and a SmartThings sensor on the hall.

Both react quickly. The Hue offers the advantage of assessing ambient light levels. However, it doesn’t connect to SmartThings so you can’t use it to trigger any event other then the lights.

The Samsung is £5 cheaper, lacks the light sensor, but I can also use it to trigger other things.  I’ll probably end up using a mixture of both as I roll the lighting across the house.

StormHD

Definitely an “each to their own” then, as I’ve got zero issue in that regard. The Ikea E27 come in frosted and non-frosted glass. I avoided the latter as I did expect that I wouldn’t like the pattern.

Put it this way, after covering most of the downstairs with Tradfri a few weeks back, I went back to Ikea this week and bought enough bulbs to cover the top floor of the house also. Not an insignificant investment, but it does demonstrate how impressed I am.

Harkon321

Are you having to update with the tradfri hub first or are they all now the latest firmware?

Bl4ckGryph0n

It is why I went for a different overall controller - that is really where controllers like Vera, Fibaro & Athom really come into their own with the flexibility of items that can be connected and how they all work well together.

It does if you can compare it to the alternative otherwise it merely demonstrates how you like one product not how it compares to others....

StormHD

Mine all needed updating. Didn’t take long, but it was another step. I’ve kept the Ikea gateway as it’s only £25 so I can push out further updates if needed.

Jamie

So did you buy some and try them at home?

I'd find it really hard to judge them in store.

I've just installed 13 GU10s in my kitchen, I have a mixture of various bulbs (3 colour Hue, 2 white tuneable Hues, 4 tuneable Innr and 4 warm white Innr)
The Innr whites both perform very well, if anything they do go slightly brighter than the Hue equivalent. I was very happy to start with.

However to a greater of lesser extent the Innr GU10s all buzz slightly, including when off. I don't particularly notice it but it's driving my wife bonkers (we're both the same age but I've ridden motorbikes for 30 years which might explain it)

The other Innr bulbs (E27 both white and colour) all seem to be OK

I've not tried the Ikea versions because they're out of stock, do they buzz at all?

So I'm happy to recommend Innr but not in GU10 size.

It's turned out OK though as I discovered Amazon are doing 3 for 2 on some hue bulbs today, so 4 x white ambience twin packs actually worked out slightly cheaper than the 8 innr they're going to replace.

Bl4ckGryph0n

No I didn’t try the Ikea ones at home. They looked so bad to me in store that I didn’t want the hassle of having to go back again.