An stellar successor to one of the best budget-friendly smart bulbs

The budget-friendly Wyze Bulb White boasts several upgrades over its already excellent predecessor, including an easier setup process, longer life expectancy, and a wider dimming range.

From motion-sensing night lights to mood-setting light strips, we've rated many of Wyze's lighting products highly, including the original Wyze Bulb. Its successor, the Wyze Bulb White, is another winner. The price remains the same (starting at $14.99 for a pack of two) and it still puts out a maximum of 800 lumens, but the new version has a 25,000-hour life expectancy (up from 20,000 hours) and you can now set up multiple bulbs in the Wyze app at the same time. With these upgrades, the Wyze Bulb White outshines its excellent predecessor, though the Wyze Bulb Color (starting at $20.99 for two) remains our Editors' Choice winner for smart light bulbs, offering a wider color temperature, a higher maximum brightness, and the ability to change colors for just a bit more money.

You can get a pack of two Wyze Bulb Whites for $14.99 or a pack of four for $31.99; the price per bulb respectively works out to $7.50 and $7.99. For comparison, Wyze sold the original Bulb individually for $7.99.

Like its predecessor, the Wyze Bulb White is a dimmable white LED that puts out up to 800 lumens; that's equivalent in brightness to a 60-watt incandescent bulb. It has the same white temperature range as the original (2,700K on the warm side to 6,500K on the cool side), but you can dim the new version down to just 30 lumens, whereas the original could only go down to 80 lumens. As such, the Bulb White works better as a night light than its predecessor.  The Wyze Bulb White also scores higher on the color rendering index (CRI) than its predecessor, at 90+ vs. 82. The higher the CRI rating, the closer a bulb gets to natural sunlight.

While the original model was meant for indoor use only, Wyze says new light is "suitable for damp locations," with the caveat that it shouldn't be used in fully enclosed light fixtures. 

Perhaps the best upgrade of this new bulb, however, is the 5,000-hour jump in life expectancy to 25,000 operating hours. To put that estimate into perspective, this bulb will last you close to 23 years if you leave it on for three hours a day, each day. Given those same parameters and with a life expectancy of 20,000 hours, the older bulb would last slightly over 18 years. 

Other specs remain unchanged. The Bulb White has a classic A19 shape, uses a standard E26 base, and measures 4.8 by 2.3 by 2.3 inches (HWD). And because it has a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi radio, it doesn't require a hub.

You can control the bulb from your phone via the Wyze app (available for Android or iOS) or with Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant voice commands. It also supports IFTTT, so you can easily program it to run automations and work with third-party apps and devices. With IFTTT for instance, you can program the bulb to automatically turn on or off based on your phone's location. 

For slightly more money, Wyze also sells the Bulb Color ($20.99 for a pack of two or $39.99 for a pack of four), which can shine in 16 million different hues. That capability is useful for creating colorful mood lighting for game days, movie nights, parties, and other occasions. The Bulb Color also has a wider white color temperature range than the Bulb White, from 1,800K (warm) to 6,500K (cool), offering even warmer light when set to its lowest white temperature. It can also get brighter, at a maximum of 1,100 lumens.

On a cost-per-bulb-basis, the Bulb White and Bulb Color are the most affordable models we've tested in their respective categories. 

Setting up the Wyze Bulb White is seamless. If you have a fixture with several sockets (or just a bunch of different lamps), you can set the bulbs up at the same time and group them. After creating a bulb group, you can then control all of them at once or individually. 

To set up your bulb, just screw them into a socket and turn on the fixture. The bulb should begin to pulse white, which indicates that it's in pairing mode. Next, open the Wyze app or download it and create an account if you don't already have one. Then tap the plus sign at the top left corner of the app > Add Device > Power & Lighting > Wyze Bulb > Wyze Bulb White. If your bulb isn't pulsing at this point, turn the fixture on and off three times to put it back into pairing mode, then press Next. 

From there, select your Wi-Fi network and enter your password. The app will begin to search for your light bulbs; when it finds them, just select the bulbs you want to set up, press Next, and wait for the app to connect them to your Wi-Fi. 

By default, the app gives your bulbs generic names like "Wyze Bulb 1" and "Wyze Bulb 2," but you can change the names to something more descriptive such as "living room lamp." If you're setting up multiple bulbs at once, they will all shine at a different color temperature at this point in the setup process so you can differentiate them. After you finish naming the bulbs, the app will ask if you want to create a group. If so, press Create New Group, then enter a group name (such as "living room ceiling") to complete the process.

I set up three of the bulbs at once in my living room ceiling fan and grouped them in the app. I then set up another bulb in my living room standing lamp. I didn't hit any snags in the setup process, which only took a couple of minutes altogether. 

The Wyze Bub White retains all of the original model's smart features. In the Wyze app, you can set up Sleep Routines, custom Scenes, and Timers, as well as enable the Vacation Mode and Sun Match features. 

When you turn on Sleep Routines, the bulbs automatically simulate sunrise or sunset to help you wake up and fall asleep. I set up this feature for the bulb in my living room lamp, just in case I forget to turn it off at night. 

The Scenes feature lets you save your favorite white color temperatures for one-tap access. With Timers, you can program your bulbs to turn on and off after a certain amount of time. In Vacation Mode, the bulbs automatically turn on and off so it looks like you're home. And with the Sun Match feature, the bulbs automatically adjust throughout the day to mimic natural sunlight. 

In testing, the bulbs paired effortlessly with both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. If the Wyze skill in in the Amazon Alexa app on your phone is already on, the bulb will automatically connect to the virtual assistant. As such, when I connected the bulbs to my Wi-Fi network via the Wyze app, I got a pop-up notification from the Alexa app informing me that I could control them with voice commands. 

I also already had my Wyze account linked with Google Assistant from when I tested other Wyze devices, so the bulbs automatically paired with Google's voice assistant, too. I then assigned the bulbs to my Living Room group in both the Amazon Alexa and Goolge Home apps. 

The Wyze Bulb White works well with both voice assistants, quickly responding to commands such as, "Alexa, turn on my living room lamp." When you add multiple bulbs to a room group, you can control them at once with commands like, "Hey Google, turn off my living room lights." Before I started testing smart light bulbs, the ability to control my lighting with voice commands is a convenience I didn't know I needed, but now don't ever want to live without.

The Wyze Bulb White improves upon it predecessor with a longer lifepspan, a wider color temperature range, and an easier setup process. At under $10 per bulb, it's the best smart white LED we've tested, and second only to the slightly pricier Wyze Bulb Color, which gets brighter, has an even wider color temperature, and, of course, supports up to 16 million colors. As such, the Wyze Bulb Color remains our Editors' Choice winner, but if you're looking to save a couple of bucks per bulb and have no need for color-changing lighting, the Wyze Bulb White is a terrific alternative.

The budget-friendly Wyze Bulb White boasts several upgrades over its already excellent predecessor, including an easier setup process, longer life expectancy, and a wider dimming range.

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I'm PCMag's expert on fitness and smart home technology, and I've written more than 6,000 articles and reviews in the 10-plus years I've been here. I unbox, set up, test, and review a wide range of consumer tech products from my home in Florida, often with the help of my pitbull Bradley. I'm also a yoga instructor, and have been actively teaching group and private classes for nearly a decade. 

Before becoming an analyst in 2020, I spent eight years as a reporter covering consumer tech news. Prior to joining PCMag, I was a reporter for SC Magazine, focusing on hackers and computer security. I earned a BS in journalism from West Virginia University, and started my career writing for newspapers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

Smart fitness machines: rowing machines, stationary bikes, strength training equipment, treadmills, and workout mirrors

Wearables: fitness trackers, heart rate monitors, and smartwatches

Smart home devices: air purifiers, kitchen appliances, light bulbs, robot vacuums, smart scales, and more

Pet tech: connected cameras and GPS trackers

My little Florida beach bungalow serves as a test bed for the latest smart home tech, and I constantly cycle through products I'm reviewing. 

I have a smart speaker or display in every room, allowing me to control other connected devices by voice. The Nest Hub on my bedside table lets me set wake-up alarms, control my Wyze Light Bulbs, and set the temperature on my Nest Thermostat. I use the Amazon Echo Show 8 on my kitchen counter to browse recipes, reorder protein powder, and check the weather. 

Because I suffer from allergies, air purifiers are essential. I use the Dyson Purifier Cool TP07, which doubles as a fan and continuously sends indoor pollution data to its companion mobile app. 

A good floor-cleaning robot is also a must. I currently use an Ecovacs X1 Omni and an Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra, two premium models that can both vacuum and mop, empty their own dustbins, and wash their own mop cloths. 

For fitness, I generally have about three large workout machines in rotation at a given time. At present, that includes the Echelon EX-8S stationary bike, the NordicTrack iSelect adjustable dumbbells, the NordicTrack Vault workout mirror, the Peloton Guide strength training camera, and the Tempo Move weight training system. I've also had a Tonal mounted on my wall since 2020. 

Finally, I cycle through wearables like it's my job—because it is. In heavy rotation at the moment are the Garmin Venu 2, a favorite for its bright screen and stylish design, and the Apple Watch Series 7, which I often use as a control device when testing other models.

On the weekends I love riding e-bikes like the rugged, beach-friendly Aventon Aventure for fun and fitness.

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