Tested: Linkind’s Matter smart light bulbs reliably work with Apple Home at a shockingly low price

I bought my first smart light bulb well over a decade ago now. Over time, I’ve tried countless brands of smart bulbs, smart plugs to control lamps, and have even swapped out light switches for smart ones. Now my home has a mixture of all those things, and I would have it no other way. I’ve generally leaned on Philips Hue for smart bulbs because they’re one of the most platform-agnostic solutions out there, but the arrival of Matter has changed the game. This paved the way for me to eventually try out a 4-pack of Linkind Matter-enabled smart light bulbs at an incredibly low price. Continue reading for my hands-on impressions as part of the latest entry to the Tested with 9to5Toys series.

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Hands-on with Linkind’s Matter-enabled smart light bulbs

While Linkind has many variations of light bulb to pick from, I went with a 4-pack of its RGBTW light bulbs because there was a deal I could not pass up. In fact, there’s a similar discount right now, too. After logging into a Prime account and clipping the on-page coupon, you can score four bulbs for under $5.50 each. That’s a fraction of what I have been spending on Philips Hue bulbs, so I was very happy to give these a go.

Take a closer look at the specs:

• Linkind Matter smart light bulb is compatible with all Matter platforms. You can control all your smart home devices with a single app certified by Matter, reducing the need for multiple apps for different devices and upgrading your privacy security without cloud services.
• Linkind smart light bulbs have millions of colors, from warm white to cool white (1800K-6500K), and multi-dynamic scenes, that change your mood, including romantic dates, happy parties, quiet reading, etc. When your phone microphone senses sound, our wifi smart bulb will dance with the sound/music.
• Linkind color-changing bulbs can last for about 15 years if used 4 hours a day and offer 2 years warranty. 9W is equivalent to a 60W incandescent light bulb, saving energy and money. One 9W a19 smart bulb covers a room of about 54ft².

9to5Toys’ Take

Having recently refurnished my office, I added a lamp and wanted a smart light bulb for it that would be compatible with Apple Home. Not only that, I wanted something that would work on any platform since I have a tendency to try out all sorts of different devices across various ecosystems. With Linkind offering Matter smart bulbs at such a low price, I had no problem rolling the dice and giving them a chance.

Upon receiving them, I was admittedly a bit underwhelmed by the packaging. If you’ve ever opened Philips Hue packaging, you’ll know why. It’s a premium unboxing experience while Linkind’s is just average. The cardboard used for the box was super thin, marginally better than what you would expect for standard light bulbs purchased at the grocery store. I’m happy to say that once I actually got to the actual product inside, that didn’t matter anymore.

I immediately put one of the bulbs in my new lamp, scanned the Matter code, and was up and running in about a minute. I was then able to quickly group the bulb accordingly to my office in HomeKit and any corresponding scenes. It was comparable to the process of setting up other smart bulbs, if not a little bit easier given the easy-to-scan code for Matter right on the bulb itself.

The next thing I did was swap out two Philips Hue White bulbs for these. I originally bought the Hue bulbs for $16 each, which is so much pricier than the Linkind bulbs I was about to swap them out with. As with the lamp, it took only a minute or two to get both bulbs added. Since then I have been able to enjoy colorful lighting as opposed to the basic white lighting offered by the much more costly Philips Hue White bulb.

Overall, my experience has been a great one. Outside of Philips Hue setting unrealisticly high expectations for unboxing a light bulb, I have just one gripe with Linkind’s bulbs: they top out at 800 lumens. I always go for brighter bulbs that surpass 1,000 lumens. In fact, the bulbs I swapped out were 1,100 lumens. As a result, it has been a bit dimmer in my office than I was used to, but after a few days, it all seems normal now. That being said, I do hope to see brighter bulbs offered by Linkind going forward, because I plan to keep buying from them and I recommend you give them a shot as well given the incredible value they offer.

Buy Linkind’s Matter-enabled smart light bulbs

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