GE Announces Line of 'Link' Smart LED Light Bulbs, Starting at $15 [Updated]

General Electric has unveiled its new line "Link" smart LED light bulbs, which can be controlled by an iOS device and start at $15 for individual bulbs and $49 for a starter kit complete with two bulbs and a link hub. The product is being developed in collaboration with design company Quirky, which will make the smart LED bulb accessible in a future update to its Wink [Direct Link] app.

GE Link2

The GE Link will be available in three variations:

- 60-watt replacement soft white (2700K) LED bulb, or A19 shape, commonly used for general lighting in table and floor lamps.
- Indoor soft white (2700K) floodlight LED, or BR30 shape, installed as downlighting found in dining room, living room or other entertainment spaces.
- Indoor/outdoor-rated bright white (3000K) spotlight LED, or PAR 38, used for outdoor security or spotlight.

The Wink app will allow users to adjust brightness settings and create settings for specific environments and situations. Users will also be able to turn specific lights remotely at any given time, useful for vacations or extended periods away from home.

GE's Link enters a growing market of smart LED lightbulbs that is led by the Philips Hue, which was introduced two years ago and has expanded to a wide variety of products. The Philips Hue Starter Pack retails for $199 and comes with three bulbs in addition to a connection bridge, while the GE Link's starter kit is being sold for $49.

A number of companies are also creating home appliances that can be controlled by iOS devices under Apple's new HomeKit initiative, which allows products and their apps to work with iOS services using a unified protocol. Apple itself is also rumored to be developing smart home products for HomeKit.

Interested customers can pre-order the GE's line of Link smart LED lightbulbs from Home Depot's official website.

Update: As noted by some, GE's Link smart LED lightbulbs require a link hub. The link hub and two Link bulbs are being sold as a starter kit for $49.97.

Top Rated Comments

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Chrjy

61 months ago

Now that's a more sensible price, hopefully that will force Philips to start looking at their own pricing model.

Rating: 21 Votes

RedTomato

61 months ago

Can't wait for this to come to the UK. Money waiting here.

Agreed, I almost bought into Phillips, this is defiantly a better price.

GE: [shakes fist] DAMN YOU PHILLIPS, DAMN YOU TO HELL, YOU AND YOUR OVERPRICED BULBS!

Rating: 9 Votes

RedTomato

61 months ago

What's with the grey fingernails?

Space Grey to you man, have you no culture?

Rating: 7 Votes

err404

61 months ago

Im assuming that these aren't colored LED light bulbs right?

These look like regular white bulbs. That said I don't really get the comparison to Hue since these don't compete in the area Philips is targeting. Nobody buys Hue solely to replace white lights.
Frankly if you just want wifi lighting, get a wifi switch, instead of wifi bulbs. At 60watts most rooms need a lot of bulbs.

Rating: 4 Votes

jayducharme

61 months ago

Now that's a more sensible price, hopefully that will force Philips to start looking at their own pricing model.

I hope so, especially since Cree is selling 60 watt LED lights at Home Depot for just $5 each. I can understand "smart" lights carrying a $10 premium over that, but not a nearly $200 premium.

Rating: 4 Votes

err404

61 months ago

I know LEDs are supposed to last an extremely long time, but still.

Frankly the bulb will probably outlast your wifi network. And good luck finding replacement part after even a few years, yet alone the life of the bulb.
Besides the wifi portion of the device probably doesn't add much "real cost" or complexity of the hardware. Making it modular would just increase the size, points of failure and probably increase the cost as well.
Due to the nature of the device they would be nearly all sold as bundles, there would just be no market to ever sell the replacement bulb without the controller.
If you want a modular solution, get a wifi wall switch instead and then use any bulb you want.

Rating: 4 Votes

mw360

61 months ago

Not trying to purposely pick on you but what's with the sudden influx of people spelling definitely wrong? Doesn't anyone sound out words? Defiantly means boldly resistant or challenging.

And yes, these prices are more reasonable.

That's what autocorrect does when you accidentally put the a before the n. It deletes the e for you and removes the wavy red line that would have alerted you to the error.

Rating: 4 Votes

err404

61 months ago

Hue are great as accent lights, but they cost far to much for general lighting. I was hoping Philips would sell the new Lux line in the 15-20 dollar range, but If homekit works well I should be able to mix Hue and GE bulbs into a single scene with the one UI.

Rating: 3 Votes

unplugme71

61 months ago

Agreed, I almost bought into Phillips, this is defiantly a better price.

Rating: 3 Votes