Colorful and easy to control, but overpriced

The Globe Electric Wi-Fi Smart 10-Watt Multicolor LED Light Bulb doesn't require a hub and produces rich colors, but it lacks support for many third-party integrations and costs more than competitors.

Globe Electric’s Wi-Fi Smart 10-Watt Multicolor LED Light Bulb ($30.99 for a pack of two) offers an easy way for you to add colorful mood lighting to any room. In addition, you can use its intuitive companion app to create usage schedules and customize various lighting effects, and you can control the bulb with your voice via Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri. We like that it doesn’t require a hub, but it’s more expensive than our Editors’ Choice winner, the Wyze Bulb Color ($20.99 for two), and it doesn’t integrate with nearly as many third-party devices. 

The Globe smart bulb is an A19-shaped bulb with an E26 base that fits most standard lamp and fixture sockets. The dimmable LED bulb carries a brightness rating of 800 lumens, roughly equivalent to a 60W incandescent bulb in terms of output. Rated to last up to 15,000 hours, it is capable of displaying millions of colors and has an adjustable white temperature range of between 2,000K and 5,000K. For comparison, the Wyze bulb (1,100 lumens, 1,800K to 6,500K) is brighter and capable of showing a wider range of white light.

Like the Wyze model, the Globe bulb doesn't require a hub. Instead, it connects to your phone via Bluetooth and to your home network via the onboard 2.4GHz Wi-Fi radio. It works with Alexa and Google Assistant voice commands; Siri voice shortcuts; and SmartThings home automation systems. Additionally, you can configure the bulb to interact with other Globe devices via the Smart Scenes feature in the companion app. Unfortunately, it doesn't work with either the Apple HomeKit or IFTTT platforms.

The bulb appears in a dedicated tab on the main screen of the Globe Suite app (available for Android and iOS). The screen has a small power button that glows green when the bulb is on and gray when it is off. It also displays the brightness level, as well as either the white color temperature or RGB value.

At the bottom of the screen are Home, Smart Scenes, and Profile buttons. The Home button takes you back to the main screen from any place in the app. The Smart Scenes button enables you to set the bulb up to interact with other Globe smart devices. Here, you can also specify usage schedules; instruct the bulb to react to environmental conditions (weather, sunrise, or sunset); configure a geofencing perimeter; and create a shortcut button. Tap the Profile button to edit your information; link to Alexa, Google, and SmartThings accounts; and enable notifications and alerts. 

Back at the home screen, you can tap on the bulb’s panel to open a Light screen where you can set the bulb’s white color temperature and brightness. Alternatively, you can select one of seven color temperature presets. Tap the Color button at the bottom of the screen to switch to a color dial that offers brightness and saturation sliders in addition to the seven color presets.

Also on the bottom of the Light screen are Mood and Routine buttons. Use the Mood button to select a scene such as Volcano (which transitions from red to orange to yellow and back to red), Jungle (which transitions between various shades of green), or Ocean (which transitions between various shades of blue). You can create custom mood profiles using color, speed, and fade sliders, too. The Routine button lets you set timers and create bedtime, wake-up, and vacation schedules.

Installing the Globe bulb was painless in testing. I downloaded the Globe Suite app, created an account, and tapped OK when the Add Device screen appeared. I screwed the bulb into a lamp socket, tapped Add Device, and allowed my phone’s Bluetooth radio to search for the bulb. Once the bulb began to flash, the app immediately recognized it and prompted me to provide my Wi-Fi SSID and password. After a few seconds, the bulb connected to my Wi-Fi network, thus completing the installation.

The Globe bulb responded quickly to changes from the mobile app (switching between the white and color RGB modes, for example), Alexa voice commands, and Siri shortcuts. Colors are rich with good saturation, and white color settings look appropriately warm and yellowish at lower temperatures and cool and bluish at higher settings. The bulb followed my schedules without incident, as well as my Alexa routines. A Smart Scene I set up for the bulb to turn on at 50% brightness when a Globe smart plug turned off performed fine as well. 

With the Globe Electric Wi-Fi Smart 10-Watt Multicolor LED Light Bulb, you can create custom mood lighting or use one of the preset scenes to add color to any room in your home. It worked well in testing and we like how easy the app is to use, but it's a bit pricey. Competing models such as the $12.99 Treatlife Smart Wi-Fi Color Bulb and the aforementioned Wyze Bulb Color are more affordable, and the Wyze Bulb offers substantially more third-party integration options, making it the best buy for the price and our Editors' Choice winner.

The Globe Electric Wi-Fi Smart 10-Watt Multicolor LED Light Bulb doesn't require a hub and produces rich colors, but it lacks support for many third-party integrations and costs more than competitors.

Sign up for Lab Report to get the latest reviews and top product advice delivered right to your inbox.

This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.

Your subscription has been confirmed. Keep an eye on your inbox!

As a Contributing Editor for PCMag, John Delaney has been testing and reviewing monitors, TVs, PCs, networking and smart home gear, and other assorted hardware and peripherals for almost 20 years. A 13-year veteran of PC Magazine's Labs (most recently as Director of Operations), John was responsible for the recruitment, training and management of the Labs technical staff, as well as evaluating and maintaining the integrity of the Labs testing machines and procedures. Prior to joining Ziff Davis, John spent six years in retail operations for Federated Stores, Inc. before accepting a purchasing position with Morris Decision Systems, one of New York's first value-added resellers of the original IBM PC. For the next five years, he was responsible for buying and configuring IBM PC, XT and AT desktops for many of New York's financial institutions. He then worked for the now defunct ComputerLand chain of PC dealers before joining PC Magazine in 1987.

PCMag.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering Labs-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services. Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.

© 1996-2022 Ziff Davis. PCMag Digital Group

PCMag, PCMag.com and PC Magazine are among the federally registered trademarks of Ziff Davis and may not be used by third parties without explicit permission. The display of third-party trademarks and trade names on this site does not necessarily indicate any affiliation or the endorsement of PCMag. If you click an affiliate link and buy a product or service, we may be paid a fee by that merchant.