RGB and W?

Anyone have good and current RGB or RGBW wifi bulb that works well with esphome that they’d recommend?

I’m using bulbs from Athom
You can order them preflashed wit ESPHome.

I was looking at them right after posting this. How do you like them? Have you changed the config at all say to add MQTT control?

I like them Ok. I use mostly BR30 bulbs and for the price I find them - well OK. I’ve bricked 2 out of 10 bulbs which of course is not good but with a yield of 80% it’s still way cheaper than the LIFX bulbs that I replaced. I found LIFX very unreliable in my setup though I didn’t brick any.
With the Athom you can’t go from a cold or warm light to a colored light without a brief moment where the lights turn off and then comes on in either the color or the temperature you requested.
I have changed the default esphome programming because I want a particular naming convention in my setup. Also For some of the lights I want them to turn on automatically when power is applied.
I also noted ( not scientifically) that the warm white light of 500 Mired didnt appear to match what I consider Warm White so I changed max to 800 (500 is what was programmed in the default yaml code)

I control the bulbs from HA but also from Landon L8 switches which I’ve used in place of normal light switches. The combination of these smart switches with smart bulbs (in my case Athom) allows me full control of light brightness, color and more from the switch as well as from my HA platform and because I don’t turn off power to my bulbs ( I set brightness to zero) even when lights are turned off at the switch I still have full control of the light remotely because the esp-chip in the bulbs are still powered.
As mentioned I don’t turn off power to the bulb but I actually still have that option with the Lanbon switch so if you pick other bulbs that work with HA but do require a power cycle to reset in case of crashes (like the LIFX bulbs) you can still do it.

One more answer…
I have not added MQTT to the bulbs. I don’t know why I would do this given they “speak” ESPHome. The Lanbon L8 which runs openHasp does use MQTT and the two (Athom and Lanbon) works well together all the same.

I’ve been experimenting with the Kaufman bulbs for a couple weeks. I have one in their standard espHome config and one flashed with Tasmota (in a couple different configs of the PWM control of the 5 channels RGBCW). I like that they are available in US via Amazon, I like their support. How to ‘best’ control a bulb with RGBCW remains something I am exploring. This is a challenge. It is nice to be able to configure the Kaufman bulbs with 5 raw PWM channels in Tasmota and explore what the mixing of the channels look like. I have a test rig with a Kaufman bulb with Tasmota, a Hue 100 watt, Cree Max 100 watt and a Kaufman bulb with its stock espHome side by side. Trying to compare their light ‘ambience’ vs. cost. Not sure there is a ‘right’ answer, other that than your ‘significant other’ will probably make the call :wink:

https://kaufha.com/blf10/

Thanks guys. Yes, re the WAF. For now I’m just using RGB bulbs in fixtures outside. Debating indoor utility. Perhaps notifications or just the kids rooms, not sure yet. Think I’ll get on of each to play with. The Kaufman site does make it sound like they’re more current/well integrated with esphome than Athom but we’ll see.

Re the question about why I’m looking to add MQTT to them, I use that as my comm and control “bus” for as much as I can. I don’t like to rely on HA for much of anything aside from UI and a couple integrations that I haven’t gotten a local option for yet. My automations and logic tend to be node red based - not to start any wars here… :wink:

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I have not tried the Athom device, but I would not bet against that they are the same hardware as the Kaufman units. The hardware longevity is an issue to consider, I find that the cheaper the device and the ‘more’ work to replace it is drives me to buy backups of the cheaper options, often yielding a price point equal to the expensive option :upside_down_face:. It has been very easy to flash the Kaufman bulbs with both espHome and Tasmota various configs using OTA, that makes exploring easier. At the end of the day, while for my use case the RGB functions are less useful then the light quality of the whites, having both is nice. I completely agree with your abstraction using MQTT for devices, I have been most successful this route. That said, responsiveness of lights is a factor to consider.