🏅▷ Comparative: Philips intelligent LED lamp x Positivo

The Philips Hue and Positivo Smart Smart lamp models have similar specifications, but we see considerable contrast when using them at different times and environments.

At the end of 2019, we saw two models of smart LED lamp here in Brazil: the Philips Hue Bluetooth, with a version already sold abroad months earlier, and the Positive Smart Lamp, another line investment smart of brand. In this comparison, we put both products to the test and tell you the differentials of each one to help you decide which one best matches yours home, your profile it's yours pocket.

Highlights of the Philips smart LED lamp

Art of the Phillips Hue Bluetooth smart LED lamp on a blue background

THE Philips Hue Bluetooth an intelligent LED lamp with a range of 16 million colors and 800 Lmens, available in the official store for R $ 360. The connection is made directly with the app and the bluetooth of your cell phone or integrated speaker with assistant (as Google Home or Amazon Echo).

What has been known as the great highlight of the entire line the management center called Hue Bridge. The manufacturer calls it “the brain of the system ”, and not by chance: it is possible to synchronize and control 50 devices on a single Bridge. You plug into the outlet and internet (via cable) and Philips smart products including up to one outlet are recognized.

Thus, it is possible to turn on your lights and program routines even when you are not at home, since the equipment is connected via Internet .

Another differential is the connection of Bridge to the system Razer Chroma and the application Hue Sync: while the first makes the lights responsive to games, Sync itself for audio sync and any video displayed on the chosen screen. Particularly, having already witnessed and tested the power of LED strips and well distributed lamps in one room (responding to images), I calmly state that something is almost as immersive as a good audio system.

Image showing the Hue Sync application screen

Most of the functions and personalizations of the smart LED lamp, which absurdly differentiate it from the Positivo model, are Bridge exclusive. In other words, for Hue to “really appreciate”, the essential center. As expected, there is an additional cost: the latest generation of the product can be found for around R $ 500 on the official website.

If you think that this is just a device that works as a switch, the price is quite salty. Now, if your focus is to invest in a smart LED lamp kit, an excellent solution.

Highlights of Positivo's Smart Wi-Fi Lamp

Art of Positivo Smart LED lamp Wi-Fi lamp from Positivo on a wine background

With a luminous flux of 806 Lmens and also with a range of 16 million colors (virtually identical competitor), the Smart Wi-Fi Lamp from Positivo, despite its very objective name, makes its differential clear right away: it works via a direct connection to your router. And a detail that she can be found for R $ 99.90 in the official store.

If you have a very specific routine and would like your lights to be turned on in a programmed schedule, Smart Lamp can do that for you. If you are on your way home, you can ask for a assistant (Google or Alexa) turn on or change the color, and there is also how to ask if you forgot the kitchen light on, for example.

Example of user commands for Positivo's smart LED lamp via Google and Alexa wizards

Positivo has three items main features of its automation line, being a smart plug (socket), the Universal remote control and the smart LED lamp itself. It is possible to find the “connected home” and “efficient home” kits, with a discount of approximately 15% at full price, which pays off if you want to create a smart home without blinking. The great strength of the brand's smart line (Positivo Casa Inteligente), however, are the security devices, such as cameras, alarms and sensors.

Universal remote control, lamp and smart plug (socket) Positive. Featured peas on white background

Even without a unification of your virtual environment (there is no single hub to control all “smarts"), one Spotlight the fact that the smart LED lamp itself works on its own via a Wi-Fi connection, without the need for a third-party app or additional cost. The conversation from your cell phone or smart speaker 100% connected directly to the product.

Connection and setup

Because I am used to a smart home environment thanks to the Echo Dot 3rd generation (thanks Black Friday), my experience with smart lamps was just a small step. Therefore, the whole setup was progressed together with Alexa.

Even if you don't have a speaker like Amazon Echo, you can still download apps for iOS and Android and enjoy at no extra cost. The only difference in use is always having to keep the app open, however, if you have a device Android, you can opt for easy Google Assistant shortcuts by saying just “Ok, Google”.

Starting at Philips setup, I came across the physical mini-manual (which is straight to the point) giving only two instructions: connect the lamp to the socket and download the app. From that, it is assumed that the other instructions will be in the app, which is no problem. The first intuio to download the application Philips Hue, right? For when opening it, we see a request to pair the third device Bridge, mentioned earlier, that I don't have.

Image with 3 screens for configuring the Phillips Hue Bluetooth application

Instead, you need to download the Philips Hue Bluetooth, which works without Wi-Fi. That is, the smart LED lamp bluetooth only until you have Bridge, and it does allow you to control the lamp via Wi-Fi.

In Alexa pairing mode, as suggested by the app, the phrase Alexa, discover my devices failed. To work properly, I had to add a skill within the Alexa platform. Then it was necessary to register via Philips website and guess what: he asked (for the second time) to pair with Bridge. After turning off the light on the switch, I opened the app again, gave the command to Alexa to discover a smart LED lamp and, yes, finally she detected. I was then able to control the lamp by voice.

Image showing Phillips Hue application screen, left, Positive; in the middle; and Tuya, right

J when opening the app Positive, immediately there is a prompt to enter the password of the router, which is no problem with the connection of the smart LED lamp. At login, it was necessary to paste a verification code sent to my email remember this detail.

For synchronization, there is a “trigger” to activate it: turn the switch off and on three times. It blinks as if to say it’s ready to pair, just like any speaker common bluetooth of the past decade. At first, the recognition failed, even with a percentage bar being displayed (ranging from 0 to 100%). I tried two more times and yes the app connected.

Screen showing four steps of setting up the Positive lamp application

When trying to pair Positivo within the app Alexa, I had the biggest headache of the whole experience. As with the Hue connection, I selected “add smart LED lamp” and there are two options: open an app or add a skill Smart Life. Clearly, I chose the easiest path (the skill) where the login via SMS, which did not work said that my cell phone number did not exist, even inserting variations of the area code. I tried to sign in via Twitter and apparently my username doesn't exist.

After giving up the skill and going the long way, downloaded the third app that was recommended by Alexa: one such Tuya Smart. To my surprise, I received one more verification code in my email. The recognition process, at least, exactly the same as the Positivo app (on and off switch). Not by chance, Tuya redirects back to Positivo.

In the end, I had four applications open simultaneously for a single sync (Alexa, Positivo, Gmail and Tuya Smart). Only then did the control with Alexa work as planned.

In recommendation Positivo official to Showmetech, the head of Positivo Casa Inteligente, Jos Ricardo Tobias, indicates the use of the skill brand to control the smart LED lamp. Even with the indication of downloading Tuya in the period of our tests, just follow the 10 steps indicated by skill Positive Smart Home on the Alexa app that the product works without the need to download an extra app. "Our usage experience centered on our app and skill, and we recommend using the entire Positivo Casa Inteligente platform for the best experience“, Jos says.

Appearance and customization

Two images, side by side, showing the fitting part of the Positive lamps, left; and Philips, right

When we talk about the appearance of both, it is worth being detailed before we discuss the lighting itself. The Philips smart LED lamp has an Anatel seal and a few lines of text around its body and a QR Code, just below the lamp, which is very noticeable in the daylight and a “denunciation” of there being something special with that Hue. On the opposite side, we still have the Philips logo. Positivo displays only a minimalist logo, standard of the Smart line.

Without Wi-Fi or bluetooth connection, they work as a normal white lamp. I didn't notice a difference in lighting between the “100% white” of both. In both cases, the change in LED color it also impacts how much they will illuminate, so the end of the colored spectra is nowhere near the power of white light. That normal when dealing with colored LED lighting tapes and PC peripherals work the same way.

When it comes to applications, there is a common feature called “scenes“. To those unfamiliar, as if it were the simulation of a predefined environment. So when selecting something like “late afternoon in Paris”, indicated with a miniature in purple-pink-orange gradient, those colors (in theory) will be selected in order to bring that atmosphere to your smart LED lamp environment.

At Hue, personalization of scenes minimum. You can only edit the color / intensity of presets and rename them. Alexa becomes a hub, so you don't need to keep your phone's bluetooth 100% of the time on only when you control it via the Philips app, which is completely dispensable outside of the initial setup.

In researching the functionality of Bridge, I noticed that the scene function only makes sense if you already have an environment with multiple lamps. Otherwise, instead of the light change the colors shown in the thumbnail, citing the example of Paris with purple-pink-orange, only one displayed.

At Positivo, the scenes work (as it was meant to be!) And you can even personalize them. Unlike Hue, the Smart Lamp also remember the last color that you configured, even changing the socket and internet, that is, even changing the room or home. However, if you open the app after resetting the device, it recognizes the previous color that you defined in it itself. So, to get back to working properly, you need to select the white light until it recognizes (and changes the color). Otherwise, the system does not recognize it.

a shame the color setting give a certain problem when changing the default colors. Occasionally, it is possible to see that a color has not been configured: for example, I left only cool colors in smooth transition and suddenly a red in the programmed blinked at short intervals. When creating a scene from scratch, the same problem did not happen.

Smart home

Echo Dot 3rd generation photo of a table with calendars in the background

Want to make your home smart? A good step to start using just a lamp and a speaker. As already said, I used an Echo Dot to communicate with the lights. At the Alexa app, by default, the command of the first lamp simply configured first lamp. To facilitate the voice command, I renamed one of them to a lamp and another to “light” and went on to the next tests.

The system recognizes the percentage of brightness and color, which is very useful for not having to change apps. it is also possible create a routine with the lamp. At night, the lights can be turned on automatically. Likewise, you can program them to call in orange in the morning, simulating the sun and dispensing with an alarm clock (which is great if you don't have natural light in your room, early on).

The curious that one command overlaps the other no problem, so when you say voice commands or open through the respective application (Positive or Philips), the lamp recognizes immediately and synchronizes all systems simultaneously.

Both Positivo and Hue were well recognized immediately, after being renamed. Alexa is unable to activate reminders in sync with the lights. For example: you need to add manually a routine if you want to turn off the lamp for a certain period of time, or if you want “every day at 18h it will be turned on, turning off 0h” Therefore, it is not possible to say Alexa, turn on the light in 20 minutesbecause it ignores the mentioned time and call in the same second.

The assistant recognizes minimalist phrases as lamp at 50% and light blue lamp. If the light is off, when giving the voice command it turns on and executes the action. A “50% blue light bulb” combo is not recognized; you need to give two separate commands.

Hue application screen, in the color and saturation tabs

Dealing with connection: no secret to anyone that the Brazilian internet infrastructure is not the most stable, as stated in an article Abranet, and this is especially notable to gamers of online games that, for sure, have at the tip of the tongue at least one frustrating experience due to the famous "lag". The internet can be quite quick no problem, but when thinking about installing appliances to make your home smart, shared internet can be a stumbling block.

Thinking that cell-lamp or cell-assistant-lamp communication, any interruption in the path of remarkable delay. So a lamp bluetooth may be a better option if you don’t trust the current one stability your network. Direct communication with the cell phone is immediate, and on / off or change the color instantly.

When switching both places and Wi-Fi (disconnecting from the assistant), the connection with Positivo was deleted by Alexa. In contrast, Philips in the remembered the profile name, as well as not remembering the last configuration done (yellow light, 50%). There was also a connection problem with Positivo when minimizing the application, since the reconnect takes about 10 seconds. Thus, the light flashes white, even when set to a specific brightness / saturation.

Positive application screen looking for network signal

In the finalization of tests of this comparison, when checking for the last time the light of Positivo in a different socket (in the same house, same internet), the connection it didn't work. When trying to “forget” the device and reconnect via the app, the connection to the lamp failed again, even though the app has successfully logged on to Wi-Fi. Hours later, with the switch off in this interval, the reconnection finally happened.

The same sync error (prints setup, shown in one of the previous items of this publication) appeared when opening and closing the Positivo application, but fortunately, the connection with Alexa still remained. I soon discovered that the problem was with the app and not with product. No doubt about it and, ironically, the app less optimized to control the lamp the exclusive / original that fails a little in the task of being “intelligent“.

And in the long run?

Image showing the time setting for lamp to light

With both cases, one of the situations that I found myself doing the most simple act of turn on the lights on the switch as soon as I go to the room where they are installed or when I get home, without thinking. For them to work, the switch must be on. So, when the light is off and you press the switch (wanting to turn it on) the closed circuit. So just click for a second time and the lights turn on in white, with 100% brightness, in the "standard mode" of both.

If I didn't have an Amazon Echo, I would really miss one light switch that works with the “smart“, Because imagine s having to open an application and activate the lights every time I change a room? It was out of the question, even though I already had my cell phone in hand.

In this case, Philips sells a switch for about R $ 150, which can be detached from the base and become a control, as a way to solve this problem. With the Positivo app, an exit program a routine in the "Agenda" tab to turn the lights on and off, without worrying about always picking up the cell phone.

Image of a female hand squeezing the philips dimmer with one finger

Thus, it was a “bad habit” learned in this test period: when entering the room, it was necessary to speak in a loud and good tone “Alexa, light bulb“. For anyone in transition in normal home for smart, and is used to pressing switches (as expected!), it is really a challenge to go through a door and remember to ignore the switch.

As my standard home switch does not have dimmer, I realized how adjusting the lighting percentage (0-100%) extremely usefulEspecially when dealing with lighting in the bedroom for reading at night, the orange light at 50% is perfect. Another situation, when you need to see something in detail or photograph an object indoors, changing yellow to white light it has become a comfort that, when getting used to it, becomes necessary.

Final verdict

Taking into account the whole experience of setup and my routine use, the Philips got the better. Bridge becomes unnecessary with Amazon Echo, but lamps and other additional devices (such as the dimmer) to integrate in a single virtual environment sounds like a very attractive idea.

Art with the two lamps evaluated: the Phillips model highlighted

So, choose the Philips Hue Bluetooth if you: are ready to invest in a connected smart home center; already have a speaker with a personal assistant or if you prefer to play a remote control with dimmer and you don't have to care about your cell phone.

Choose the Positive Smart Lamp if you: want a more affordable product; trust the stability of your Wi-Fi and just want a product line smart devices connected at home (in this case, multiple lamps in different rooms).

Tell us: which of these models smart LED lamp will improve the lighting in your home?

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