For the last few years, I've been buying Zigbee bulbs for both interior and exterior use. Lately, it seems as if they're disappearing and I'm seeing more and more WiFi and Bluetooth bulbs. The INNR Zigbee A19s I been using are no longer available on Amazon or the INNR site. The Sylvania exterior Zigbee PAR38s that I've used for years to light the driveways and the back yard are only available on eBay and I can't find an exterior Zigbee equivalent. As an old guy who hates change, I'm wondering what's going on? Should I be looking at other standards? Is WiFi the wave of the future?
In the words of Paula Cole, where have all the Zigbees gone?
Where are you looking? I'm able to find the ones I bought in 2020 here still: https://www.amazon.com/Philips-SmartThings-Required-Dimmable-Equivalent/dp/B08428JSDZ. Innr's site just links to Amazon, so I'm not sure they have their own storefront. I do see the white-only model is out of stock (but the color ones are also $10 less than when I bought them), so it's possible they are trying to simplify their line.
I also see some Zigbee bulbs from Sengled with a search, and Hue is a popular product that has several different bulbs and other devices available (though unless you have a Hue Bridge, I'm not sure I'd recommend them over other options, as good as they are with one).
There are a lot of Wi-Fi and some Bluetooth bulbs. Not all are bad (LIFX integrates natively with Hubitat and seems to be well-liked around here, though I'm not about to switch from Hue...), though many are meant to work only within their manufacturer's walled garden, often cloud only, and I don't blame you for avoiding most of them. If Matter catches on, it's possible that situation may change, or perhaps there will be more Thread bulbs and fewer Zigbee ones in the future (also more likely if Matter catches on, IMHO). But Zigbee bulbs don't seem to be disappearing from what I can see! Z-Wave bulbs, on the other hand...
I should have been more specific. I don't use RGBW bulbs because the white color temperature can be weird. When I use Amazon's reorder option, the link actually takes me to the RGBW bulbs you posted instead of the white bulbs I used to buy.
I'm not sure what bulbs you've tried, but in my experience, most RGBW bulbs usually don't have worse CTs than CT-only bulbs. For example, with Hue and Inovelli (I have some RGBW and CT of each), I can't really tell the difference in range, brightness, etc., between the two when in white, which all of my bulbs are using the majority of the time in different CTs.
Maybe not Sengled...they did odd things for me when dimming, and I don't think their range seemed as wide as the others, no matter what the specs claimed. It's possible price pays a role. In the case if Innr, I don't have any of their CT-only bulbs and rarely use the RGBW ones I do have, but I don't recall any oddities off hand. Of course, your preferences may vary, but if quality is the only concern, I wouldn't consider that a universal experience.
Yeelight also integrates natively, though I've never used and I'm not sure it's one I would, either, haha. WiZ also has an integration, to name the two other Wi-Fi options that do that I am aware of. But LIFX is likely the best of that bunch.
If you have an Ikea near you and are willing to change bulb manufacturers, they have a bunch of Zigbee bulbs with different bases, sizes, and light output. I have a couple paired to my Hubitat and they work without any problems.
Yeah, I just noticed that myself. went to the Innr site and saw buy now. I didn't notice it was a bad link to Amazon.
Humm, I have been considering replacing some Innr white with RGB's. maybe I should get those before those become scarce as well?? I don't have much Zigbee, but I really like these Innr bulbs.
What I've gathered is the market I was buying in stopped making their lines. RGBW or CT, they just aren't there like they used to be and it's disappointing.
I have no neutral wires, so I was having to do everything directly on the bulbs. About 8 of them have failed so far, and I can't find replacements that aren't way too much.
I was actually there last night and grabbed the single one left in the shelf. It doesn't work. They've definitely pulled out a lot too. Two years ago their section was much less sad and empty
@sil3nc3rxr - one other option you may have to explore if you want automation w/bulbs is going via Hue - Hue bridge running Hue bulbs, connected to HE.
There may also be some Zigbee or Z-Wave relays that you could wire into your switch boxes behind your switches, but not sure if there are any that don't require a neutral and work reliably w/LED bulbs w/out the flickering issue...
The one thing about Hue is they are rock solid. You do have the extra expense of the Hue bridge, and depending on which Hue bulbs you want to use they aren't cheap.
Another way to go is the built-in Lifx integration - brings in Wi-Fi bulbs for local hub control. Bulbs are also fairly expensive. Also, Lifx were bought out by another company (I forget the details) and there was some initial concern/lack of info on whether the bulbs would be continued to be manufactured/supported.
One thing i have to do with them with Room Lighting & modes is to use them as dimmers instead of CT mode.
They don't work the way i expected in CT mode.
Yup, the two have are still plugging along. They're in two different closets along with a couple door sensors so that the closet lights automatically come on when you open the door and turn off when you close it. All this is connected to Hubitat, although I use Home Assistant as my main automation hub, so all the logic is handled there.
You do have to do a little song and dance to get them paired to Hubitat. IIRC, you have to turn them on and off three times in quick succession to get them into pairing mode. After that I had no problem getting them connected.
I have all type of ikea bulb, old and new. The old one were only 2700K but they still work. The new ones are CT.
Something I notice: To have them go in pairing mode you have to flic them Off and On quickly EXACTLY 6 times. If you go over (like 7 times) it wont do.
I got the Ikea bulbs to work. I hadn't realized that losing so many of the Sylvania/LEDVance bulbs would cause such holes to appear in the mesh, but it makes sense because they were known to act as repeaters as well and I had literally 24 of them all over. I spread which ones still remain around a bit, added Ikea's USB charger/repeater thing and put a couple plugs in the rear rooms. The space I was trying to pair them was in a hole. They do work though, pretty well actually, but they don't have them in stock. Their lumen ratings are also lower than I was used to. BUT... I found a pack of Sengled RGBW on sale finally and pounced. Now I'm back up after so many Ledvance bulbs died. I saw Ledvance wants about 5x what I paid for these 4-packs now, which is ridiculous considering their failure rates. Glad to see Sengled, I hope they keep making Zigbee products because they're really good at it.
In the case if Innr, I don't have any of their CT-only bulbs and rarely use the RGBW ones I do have, but I don't recall any oddities off hand. Of course, your preferences may vary, but if quality is the only concern, I wouldn't consider that a universal experience.
