Meross Launches Modular Smart LED Floor Lamp With HomeKit Support

Go up to lamp, switch it on

I don't have to do that for some time now. Automation is the word.

I won’t trust it. I have a house full or Meross switches and have an unsolvable issue where they periodically decide to reboot themselves and whatever is attached loses power for a moment. Freaks the dog with lights cycling, resets the TV and clocks if connected, etc. I love how they respond so much faster and have more range than the BT HK devices but support is unresponsive about this problem.

Looks like a dental lamp.

I think some things should just stay dumb. Go up to lamp, switch it on, change the brightness or color or whatever, but having to connect it, pair it, unpair it, reboot it, firmware update it, get the app, sign in, sign out, sign back in again, forgot your password, restart your router, say a prayer... just to turn on a lamp is a bit silly.

Heh, you make that sound a lot more complicated than it is. While there's a pairing process to set up a new HomeKit accessory, once you've done that it pretty much just works.

In my case, the ability to use those lamps as part of scenes and scheduled routines is where the benefit really comes in. For example, I can know that all of my lights will be properly switched off when I leave my house, or go to bed at night, without having to patrol every room and see if I forgot to turn something off manually.

Plus, I have two bedside lamps in my bedroom that are paired with a wall switch and a motion sensor (Hue bulbs, Hue Dimmer, Hue Motion), so that I can easily turn them on and off when I enter or leave the room, rather than either needlessly turning on the ceiling light or stumbling to the other side a darkened room just to find the manual switches on each lamp.

That said, I rarely use my actual iPhone to turn things on or off — especially when I'm near them — and I've always insisted that all of my HomeKit accessories be paired with a manual option. For instance, that's why I use Lutron wall switches for my light fixtures, rather than putting in Hue bulbs. People have been turning on light switches the old fashioned way for 50+ years. Automation can be a great enhancement to that, but it's not a replacement.

Why on earth is a smart lamp a thing? I really, really, don’t understand this

Me neither. All my lamps are dumb but have smart bulbs. Bulb blows: buy new bulb, not a whole new lamp.

I think some things should just stay dumb. Go up to lamp, switch it on, change the brightness or color or whatever, but having to connect it, pair it, unpair it, reboot it, firmware update it, get the app, sign in, sign out, sign back in again, forgot your password, restart your router, say a prayer... just to turn on a lamp is a bit silly.

What's the benefit? If you're using a lamp you're near it anyway, chances are your phone or Amazon thingy will be further than the lamp itself. It's just complexity (and cost) for the sake of it. You can get a lamp like this in IKEA for the price of lunch.