I'm looking for a recommendation of a non-Philips Hue RGBW light strip that is Zigbee or Z-Wave and can remember its last state in case of a power failure (I don't want this turning back on at full brightness at 3am if the power goes out, etc.). I have a few of the Sylvania Lightify + strips and I like them, but they do not support this feature to my knowledge.
I know the Philips Hue strips will do what I am looking for, but I am considering that my last resort simply because of how pricey all their products are.
Inovelli is considering making some, but it looks like the price won't be that much lower than Hue, and they recently put a poll up in their forums to see if users still think is a good idea. That may or may not be an option in the future.
I have a Gledopto RGBCCT controller controlling a couple light strips (also Gledopto, I think, or LEDENET, but the controller is really what matters here) and it does remember the last state on power restore. It's a bit of a DIY lightstrip but not too hard: just pair the correct type of controller (RGB, RGBCCT, CT, white/single-channel only, etc.) with the same type of lightstrip, then add a power supply that matches your lightstrip (12V or 24V; check amperage to make sure it is at least the minimum required), then put it all together. Unfortunately, I still really wish I'd gone with Hue instead--they do warmer whites (think: Hue's "Relax" scene) much better, and the Gledopto seems a bit slow to respond to commands, especially the 2-ID one I have to control white and color components separately. As I usually end up concluding, I wish I had just gone with first-party Hue. Also, they don't remember the entire state: they'll turn on when power is restored, just to the last settings. If they were off, they will not remain off. This is another advantage Hue has here (where this is all configurable).
For more off-the-shelf options, the Sengled lightstrips behave similarly to the above, so they're a good option if that is your only criterion. (But unsurprisingly, I am again not a fan of their light.) I'm not sure about the Quotra or the Eria, but those are both other, cheaper options you might want to look into. It seems pretty common on everything except the original Hue behavior nowadays, so I'd almost be surprised if they didn't...
@bertabcd1234 what did you use to adapt the RGBW strip to the controller? I have lots of extra Sylvania light strips and would be good to find a use for them.
The controller just has terminals you push the individual wires from the strip into. The easiest thing to do is use strips that come like that, which is what I did. For the Sylvania, I'm not sure what your options are beyond soldering wires to the strip yourself, unless you can take apart their "extension" cord easily to reveal individual wires or if there's another off-the-shelf solution I'm not aware of--and there likely is, since I haven't used these in a while (again, they are something I rejected in favor of Hue ).
When I came over to HE, I was already using some LED Light Strips I bought from Amazon. I believe these are generic Chinese strips, and they use the Magic Home App. When I came to HE I found that HE has a Magic Home WIFI driver for these and it seems to work very well. These strips are probably not the best, but the wife likes them and that is all that matters. If you search Amazon for WIFI LED Strip you will find a lot of these. Just make sure they use the Magic Home App as you have to set them up on their App first. I Think. You guys can correct me if I am wrong.
As you noted, that was two years ago now. To sort of answer the question, mine were connected to the Hue Bridge. To truly answer the question, I finally did what I hinted that I wished I did in the first place and replaced them with Hue Lightstrips, which respond faster and do super-warm color temperatures better.
Inovelli also did end up releasing and then discontinuing the lightstrips I mentioned in that post as well. They still have a bunch in stock, and they actually are cheaper now at their closeout price ($50 USD). I'm not about to fill my whole house with Z-Wave lights, but these work well in the couple places I use them. This is probably a Z-Wave limitation, but I also wish there was a way to specify an on/off or level transition time in a number of milliseconds rather than the fastest two options being either instant (a bit too fast for me) or 1 second (way too slow for me). Again, Hue wins with their 400 ms default, but most Zigbee lights can do that, too. (Including these Gledopto controllers, I think, but they were just a bit slow to respond still in my experience...)
I appreciate the response.
Maybe I'll just have to give in and go the Hue bridge route. Then I'll see if I eventually follow in your footsteps with Hue strips.
Interesting note on the z-wave stuff. Although shy away from z-wave anyway, being in Australia means gear on the right frequency is in shorter supply.
To sort of answer the question, mine were connected to the Hue Bridge. To truly answer the question, I finally did what I hinted that I wished I did in the first place and replaced them with Hue Lightstrips, which respond faster and do super-warm color temperatures better.
