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Wyze will sell you a smart light bulb for $8

Unlike most inexpensive bulbs, this one requires no hub. Plus: Save big on refurbished Sonos speakers (quick, before they're gone!).

Rick Broida Senior Editor
Rick Broida is the author of numerous books and thousands of reviews, features and blog posts. He writes CNET's popular Cheapskate blog and co-hosts Protocol 1: A Travelers Podcast (about the TV show Travelers). He lives in Michigan, where he previously owned two escape rooms (chronicled in the ebook "I Was a Middle-Aged Zombie").
Rick Broida
3 min read
wyze-bulb-in-hand

Say hello to the Wyze Bulb, an 800-lumen smart bulb priced at just $8 -- less if you buy a 4-pack.

Wyze

Wyze is on a roll. Just last month, the company introduced the Wyze Sense, a seriously great home-security add-on for its great Wyze Cam cameras. Now, say hello to the Wyze Bulb.

Read more: Wyze Cam Pan review

It's an 800-lumen (so, equivalent to a 60-watt incandescent) A19 white LED bulb, one that's packed with the kinds of smarts you find in, say, a Philips Hue.

The good news: a single Wyze Bulb will cost you $7.99 (plus shipping), while a 4-pack sells for $29.99. The bad news: Only the latter is available for the moment, and it's for preorder -- with an expected ship date of late June. Oh, and that preorder is available only via the Wyze app, which currently shows a limited supply and about 27% of that supply already sold.

Thankfully, by the end of June, it should be readily available for all. Will you want one (or four, or more)? All signs point to yes.

The Wyze Bulb is controlled via the aforementioned app, which will let you change brightness and color temperature, set up schedules, create "scenes" (like dimming all the lights for movie night), enable "vacation mode" and much more.

You can also control the bulbs with voice commands via Alexa or Google Assistant, and they're compatible with IFTTT as well. The bulbs connect to your Wi-Fi network, but there's no hub required.

Needless to say, this pushes all the right Cheapskate buttons. I'll be test-driving the Wyze Bulbs first chance I get.

Don't want to wait? The Sengled Element Classic LED bulb is available now for $10 -- but it requires a hub. Read about that option and others in Ry Crist's roundup of the best cheap smart bulbs.

Watch this: Smart lightbulb tips and tricks

Bonus deal: A rare shot at Sonos savings

Sonos speaker deals tend to be few and far between, and in most cases you're lucky to save 10%. Today, if you hurry over to the company's Certified Refurbished Sale, you might score a pretty darn good deal.

For example, the refurbished Sonos Play:1 is on sale for $119. Regular price: $199. The Sonos Play:5 is $399, regularly $499. The Sonos Playbar : $549 (save $150). All these refurbs are certified to be good as new and come with a full one-year warranty. There's even a 45-day money-back guarantee.

Just be prepared for a rapid sellout. The first-generation Sonos One is already gone, and I suspect the Play:1 won't last much longer.

Philips Hue, Lifx, GE, Ring and more: Lots of new smart lights coming in 2019

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