Twinkly C9 Bulbs Review – Smart Outdoor Christmas Holiday Lighting

The Twinkly C9 Bulbs had been introduced in the beginning of November and pad out the rising vary of out of doors sensible festive lighting that Twinkly has turn into well-known for.

I’m posting this evaluate a bit too near Christmas than I initially deliberate. Sadly, as a consequence of issues on my finish, the lights had been returned to Twinky and needed to be despatched out once more. So, this evaluate is maybe not of a lot use to anybody who has been searching for sensible Christmas lights this yr, however these are effectively value contemplating for subsequent Christmas, and I believe they might work effectively for year-round outside use.

Specification

Associated Evaluations

Options

The Twinkly C9 Bulbs has the identical function set as a lot of the different Twinkly bulbs, which incorporates:

• App managed: Management all of your decorations with simply the Twinkly cell software.
• Mix just about: Just about mix a number of Twinkly lights into one lovely set up.
• Map your lights: Like all Twinkly merchandise, C9 Bulbs could be mapped, and each single LED could be managed individually to allow you to create and reproduce distinctive results, gradients, and color animations.
• Prompt setup: Simply arrange Twinkly lights with Bluetooth & WiFi connectivity.
• Voice management: Twinkly works with Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, and Apple Residence Equipment.
• Sync with music: Make all of your decorations dance to the rhythm of your music with superb synchro capabilities.
• Sync with gameplay: Get the last word multi-sensory gaming expertise with Razer Chroma RGB & Omen Mild Studio.

Twinkly Out of doors Lighting Choices & IP Ranking

Twinkly have the very best vary of sensible outside lighting for the vacations.

Choices embody:

• Festoon Multicolour or Gold & Silver
• Curtain Multicolour & White
• Icicle Multicolour & White, Multicolour or Gold & Silver
• Strings Multicolour & White, Multicolour or Gold & Silver

All of the Twinkly outside bulbs are rated for IP44, which signifies that the lights will probably be shielded from strong particles which might be over 1mm in measurement and from low-velocity sprays of water from each path.

You’d assume that’s not splendid for an out of doors mild, however it’s a frequent ranking, and most Philips Hue outside lights have the identical ranking. Many outside video doorbells are usually not rated in any respect! Govee claims their outside lights are IP65-rated.

Design

The Twinkly C9 Bulbs have a primary underlying design just like a lot of the Twinkly lights.

These use a Kind G plug with a screw-in connector for the lights, which presumably helps with the IP44 ranking. You then have the controller that’s constructed into the sunshine cable, adopted by the sting of bulbs.

I used to be despatched the 80-bulb pack, which has a really lengthy 24.2m cable, and there may be additionally a 40-bulb choice that’s 12.2m lengthy.

What differentiates these from all the opposite outside Christmas lights I can discover is the design of the bulbs, which is a pinecone form with multifaceted texture that’s designed to diffuse mild in a glowing show. The lights are a bit smaller than the festoon-style design.

Being smaller than the festoon lights, you could have a better density of bulbs with 40 on a 12m cable vs 20 on a 10m cable for the Twinkly Festoon.

Set Up & Twinkly App Options

The set of those C9 bulbs is equivalent to the opposite Gen 2 lights. With the lights powered up, it’s essential to go into the gadget part and the higher left icon to seek for new gadgets on the community. You then want to pick out Gen 2 and maintain down the button on the controller to enter pairing mode.

These use Bluetooth for the onboarding course of, so there is no such thing as a faffing round with connecting to an open SSID. You simply present the SSID credentials, and it ought to join.

Once more, identical to all the opposite Twinkly lights, the general performance is mainly the identical.

You have got primary sensible controls the place you possibly can set a timer, management the brightness and choose both a single color or results.

The massive function that makes Twinkly stand out from all different manufacturers is the power to map the lights and mix totally different units of Twinkly lights into one massive design. This clearly works greatest when you could have a whole lot of Twinkly lights and many individuals.

Beneath the gallery, you could have a variety of pre-defined lighting results, together with rainbow, snake, beat, Christmas spirit and plenty of extra.

The highest left icon on the gallery web page means that you can design your individual results, which you’ll draw along with your finger or begin with a  predefined sample.

You possibly can then obtain a variety of results, and plenty of of those have complicated designs, reminiscent of a sweet cane dance or Santa run, which might require a lot of lights for an efficient sample.

Third-Celebration Integration – HomeKit & Residence Assistant

The Twinkly Candies formally assist Alexa, Google, Apple HomeKit, and Homey. You can too combine them with Razer Chroma, and in the event you pair them up with a Twinkly Music Dongle, you possibly can sync the lights along with your music.

I don’t use Apple HomeKit, however I can affirm that they combine completely with Residence Assistant, Homey, Google Assistant and Alexa.

With Residence Assistant, they’re routinely found, and also you simply have to click on configure and add them to your required room. With Homey, it’s essential to add the lights by trying to find Twinkly, and this works with the Homey Bridge as it’s a native integration somewhat than a group.

In Use

As a result of these arriving later than I had deliberate, I didn’t have the time to set them up outdoors, so I made a poor try and make our kitchen extra Christmassy.

The lights work precisely as anticipated. As I used to be despatched the 24.2m size, these would be capable of cowl a considerable space round my backyard or in my tree. The lights have a superb density, not being too far aside or too shut collectively.

The brightness can also be glorious, and the textured/faceted floor does give them a little bit of a twinkle compared to easy, festoon lighting.

I don’t have sufficient lights to create a fancy design, however I’m keen on all the usual results.

In fact, in the event you plan to make use of these open air, then you definately want entry to a plug socket, and the ability cable has a 1.5m size, so you will have a plug socket comparatively near the place you might be establishing the lights. For outside plugs, additionally, you will have to think about ensuring the plug shouldn’t be uncovered to the weather.  

Worth and Options

The Twinkly C9 Bulbs can be found in two choices:

• 40 Bulbs / 12.2m / 40ft: £100 RRP
• 80 Bulbs / 24.2m / 80ft: £190 RRP

Twinkly additionally has the Festoon lights priced at:

• 20 LED / 10m / 32.8ft: £100
• 40 LED / 20m / 65.6ft: £170

By way of various choices, there aren’t any bulbs with a design just like the C9, however there are numerous outside festoon-style lights.

The most effective various choice seems to be from Govee with the Out of doors 48ft LED String Lights, 15m RGBIC WiFi Backyard Lights for £60 RRP, however on the time of writing, there was a £20 off voucher.  

Whereas this feature is less expensive, it’s value noting that there are solely 15 bulbs, and these are festoon-style bulbs, so they’re bodily bigger.

If you happen to don’t thoughts a random model, there may be the Popotan Globe String Lights, priced at simply £10 for 5M of lights with 25 G40 bulbs. They’re low-cost, however at 5M, they appear a bit quick to be sensible for outside use.

The Frankever LED Fairy Lights are 50ft/15m with 25 RGBCW G40 bulbs.

Each of those choices are Bluetooth solely, so probably not sensible in the identical method because the Twinkly or Govee choices.

Total

I’ve grown to turn into an enormous fan of Twinkly. I could also be a die-hard Philips Hue fan for my sensible residence lighting, however you possibly can’t actually beat Twinkly in terms of sensible Christmas/Vacation lighting.

They’ve the widest vary of vacation lights, they usually have the very best options if you wish to create a formidable show with all of the lights working in unison to create elaborate lighting patterns.

The Twinkly C9 Bulbs are yet one more glorious addition to the Twinkly line-up. The smaller pinecone design of the bulbs with the faceted floor provides a little bit of sparkle to the lighting and is a gorgeous various to the festoon or globe-style outside lights.

The pinecone design isn’t too Christmasy both, so these are a viable answer for all-year outside lighting.

Total, these are glorious sensible outside Christmas lights, and I can extremely suggest them.

I’m James, a UK-based tech fanatic and the inventive thoughts behind Mighty Gadget, which I’ve proudly run since 2007. Captivated with all issues know-how, my experience spans from computer systems and networking, to cell, wearables, and sensible residence gadgets.

As a health fanatic who loves operating and biking, I even have a eager curiosity in fitness-related know-how, and I take each alternative to cowl this area of interest on my weblog. My numerous pursuits enable me to deliver a novel perspective to tech running a blog, merging life-style, health, and the newest tech traits.

In my tutorial pursuits, I earned a BSc in Data Methods Design from UCLAN, earlier than advancing my studying with a Grasp’s Diploma in Computing. This superior examine additionally included Cisco CCNA accreditation, additional demonstrating my dedication to understanding and staying forward of the know-how curve.

I’m proud to share that Vuelio has persistently ranked Mighty Gadget as one of many high know-how blogs within the UK. With my dedication to know-how and drive to share my insights, I purpose to proceed offering my readers with participating and informative content material.