Kasa bulbs provide quality light, but the Kasa app needs some improvement.
There are a variety of bulb types, for different fixtures. I believe that most people are familiar with the standard screw type bulb that is known as the E26 (Edison style) bulb. You may also be familiar with the ceiling fan like bulbs known as candelabra bulbs. In addition to larger spotlight style bulbs, there are smaller bulbs designed for spotlight/recessed lighting options. The GU10 may thus be a little more obscure. These types of bulbs are used in smaller spotlights and track lights. They have the name GU10 due to the gap between the connectors spanning 10mm in distance. They tend to be safer as all of the electrical components are hidden and the connectors twist to make a connection. Additionally, this type of bulb/lighting system works well for direct illumination/showcasing purposes.
I have had the pleasure of testing a variety of smart light bulb options from Kasa, the LED light strip, and the E26 bulb. The bulbs are fantastic, limited only by their 15000-hour life. Unfortunately, many bulbs on the market claim up to 50,000 hours per bulb. So 15,000 hours seems a bit low. The limiting factor of the bulbs has been the app. It is not home kit compatible and you must use their app to run the bulbs. If you desire to have a simple on/off bulb, there are cheaper options than the Kasa. Again, these bulbs are bright and they do not produce much heat. For quality, I really cannot complain. My complaint is the weaker app that controls the lights.
The Kasa GU10 smart bulb seems to be designed to fit into track lighting systems, at least this was the best option I found at my local Home Depot. This is not a standard bulb, and thus will not work in a regular lamp, ceiling fan etc. There are some recessed lighting kits that use GU10 bulbs, but mostly these are going to be used for track lighting. If you are not familiar with a track light, these are typically hardwired into your homes electrical system and they have hubs on a metal/plastic track that are positionable. Some of the track kits are motorized and some are fixed. This review is not aimed at the pros/cons of track lighting systems. To test the bulb, I purchased a standalone mount kit and lamp cord to create my own light.
The bulb arrived in a small black cardboard box. I definitely appreciate that the company provides a small image of the bulb on the front. You will immediately notice that the shape has a 2 prong connection point, known as bayonet connections. You will also see the Low Energy Smart Bulb title, GU10 bulb type, and 5W energy consumption. Turning the packaging onto the side clockwise, you will notice additional information: low energy, 24/7 app scheduling, mood settings, 16 million colors, room grouping, dimmable and 15,000 hours of life. The bulb can accept 85-240V at 50/60Hz and uses 5W power during use and 0.4W in standby.
When you plug in the system it will illuminate and it is bright directional light. The white light is full and does not cast any yellowish hue. As a directional bulb, this bulb is great. Once installed, download the Kasa app from the IOS or Google Play store. When you open the app, you will be greeted with a spinning orange icon with a lightbulb in the middle. Below this, you will see the word Scanning. The app, as stated in previous reviews, has a beta feel to it. There is a smart power icon that does not work. This will not redirect you to any site, it is a feature to be added at a later date. IN the top left you will see an icon named smart lighting. Select this and it will take you to the features of the bulb.
From there, you can rename the bulb, I named it “Track light.” You can set up moods based on individual bulbs or group them according to the room. From that screen, you can set the brightness with the slider (dimmer) and you can change the color using the color wheel. If you dim the light, you will notice that 4 LED are colored and 8 are white (4 soft white and 4 warm white). The bulb is responsive while in the app the first time. When you add multiple bulbs to the system and add alarms etc, the app feels quite weak. If you have a switch on the bulb and you turn it off, it will not return to your preset setting but will turn back on to bright white. You will need to go back into the app, it will rescan and find your bulb and then you can re-adjust. This is not as helpful for a room or museum etc as you would have to reset each time the light was turned off.
Of all of the Kasa app features, I was most excited about the alarm feature. This worked sometimes but unfortunately was not reliable. It seemed that as long as I stayed in the same Wi-Fi, I had a little issue. It was a bigger issue when I left home and returned from work at the end of the day. I certainly do like the ability to link bulbs into networks/groups and I feel that the bulbs are quality. I wish that the app was more reliable and less clunky. If I was going to rate the bulb, indecently from the app, I would give it 5/5. I feel that the overall Kasa experience is rated at a 3.5/5.
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