In this review, I’ll be sharing my experience with Lumary’s smart landscape lights – from unboxing to installation, and of course, the final results.
Lumary Smart Landscape Lights (6 pack)
-6 RGBW color changing lights
-Individually adjustable brightness and color temperature
-Wi-Fi connectivity
-2W and 200 Lumens per light
-Weatherproof with an IP65 rating
-Use app to set lights to preset patterns or create your own custom pattern
My backyard is nothing special to look at. For that reason, I didn’t think it was worth it to spend any money on lighting to try to make it look fancy. Fortunately for me, Lumary was kind enough to send over a box of their landscape spotlights for me to review.
Let me tell you, it was a game-changer. With the addition of Lumary’s smart landscape lights, the transformation was nothing short of magical. The lights didn’t just illuminate the yard; they breathed life into it. Okay, maybe it wasn’t quite THAT dramatic. But, they do look really cool and it definitely adds a pleasant bit of ambience to summer nights sitting around the fire.
Target Audience
Lumary’s landscape lights are designed for homeowners looking to add a modern, tech-savvy touch to their outdoor spaces. These lights are perfect for enhancing garden parties, quiet nights on the patio, or even providing extra security.
You can be a complete smart home novice and still use these lights. The only requirements are a WiFi connection and a smartphone.
Design and Build Quality
The lights are constructed mostly out of metal. Each fixture has an adjustable angle aluminum mounting bracket, a sturdy aluminum case, and metal internal pieces. Honestly, when I saw the price of the lights, I was expecting the housing to be made of plastic so I was quite surprised by the quality of build.
They come pre-wired together with about 8 feet of wire between each light fixture. There is a low voltage (12V) receptacle that plugs into landscape wiring. Or, if you’re like me and don’t have any landscape wiring, you can connect it to the included AC adapter and plug it into an outlet.
The IP65 rating promises durability and resistance to weather elements. So far they’ve held up just fine through a full summer filled with intense sunshine and heavy downpours. Just a quick cleaning and they still look brand new.
Installation and Setup
The hardest part of my installation was deciding where to put them. Since Lumary sent me these lights for free, I hadn’t really thought about where I would put them. Ultimately, I decided to install all six lights in a line along my fence.
The installation process is straightforward, requiring minimal tools and effort.
Each light has a preinstalled bracket that has a hole so that you can use a screw or bolt to attach the light to an existing fixture. Alternatively, you can also use the hole to attach the included plastic stakes to the light. Using the stakes makes for a more versatile and less permanent installation method.
In my case, I used a screw to attach the lights to my wooden fence. The lights shine upward to create a cone of light reflected on the surface of the fence pickets.
The Lumary lights connect via WiFi and setup is simple using the Lumary app. Like most WiFi smart home devices, it uses 2.4gHz WiFi only. You can use the Lumary app. Or, if you already use the Smart Life app, you can use that and avoid downloading another app. As far as I can tell, using the Lumary app doesn’t give you any special functionality beyond the Smart Life app. It does however come with the added “benefit” of constantly bombarding you with notifications about Lumary’s latest products and deals.
Performance
The lights perform admirably, casting a vibrant, adjustable glow that beautifies an outdoor space. They respond almost instantly to the app controls and voice commands with smooth transitions and rich colors.
Lumary calls these lights RGBAI. I’m not sure exactly what this means, so I read this post from Lumary which made it clear as mud. As far as I can tell, the lights are RGBWW (RGB with warm white) and the “AI” part refers to an internal controller that helps to more smoothly and accurately mix colors. Apparently it works really well because the color transitions are quite good. There’s no jerky transitions or weird color mixing. For some patterns, the transitions are so smooth and subtle that you have to stare at the lights to notice the colors changing.
Each of the lights puts out only a maximum of 200 lumens, which is roughly equivalent to a 25W incandescent light. That’s not very much, and I was worried that these lights would be too weak to create an impressive effect. Fortunately, you don’t need much light if you are simply trying to provide a nice accent in a night-time outdoor setting. I found that these lights had plenty of lumens to spare. In fact, most of the time, I operate the lights at 50% power.
In my case, I have the lights mounted directly to my fence. They shine upward and are slightly angled towards the fence. The light only has to travel 1 to 5 feet before it hits the fence and provides the desired ambiance. If you are trying to spotlight an object that is significantly further (10-15 feet), I think the limited brightness of these lights might become a problem. This would be especially true if you have other ambient lighting in the space.
User Experience
Setup is simple using the Lumary, but actually using the app to control the lights could be better. Other than the main functions like on/off and brightness, it isn’t very intuitive. I figured out how to use it basically by just pressing buttons and then watching to see what they do.
The most confusing part is trying to figure out how to program a custom pattern for the lights. I fiddled with it for a bit, then decided it wasn’t worth the effort to figure it out because there’s already a huge variety of patterns built-in to the app that are ready to use.
The WiFi connection has been strong and reliable even though the receiver is in my detached garage and my router is in my house. The lights respond reliably and nearly instantly when a change is made.
That said, I only occasionally open the app to control the lights. Most of the time I rely on a preset schedule that turns the lights on at dark and turns them off at our typical bed time.
Comparisons to Similar Products
On the low end of the price spectrum, I don’t think you will find a much better light than these Lumary lights. If you’re a hardcore bargain shopper, you could probably find similar lights for slightly less. But, it would probably be from a brand you’ve never heard of, with no history, and 2 reviews on Amazon. Given how low cost and how surprisingly good quality these lights already are, I much prefer to stick with a brand I know in Lumary.
On the high end, there are plenty of landscape spot lights that are significantly more expensive than these Lumary lights. The main thing you get from the more expensive models is a brighter light. Specifically Lumary also sells a “Pro” version of these lights (see here) that shines at 500 lumens per light instead of the 200 lumens per light like the “regular” version in this review. In the right situation, the extra light could be nice. But, it doesn’t come cheaply as the “Pro” version is currently triple the price of the “regular” version.
Support and Warranty
Lumary backs their product with a standard one-year warranty and offers comprehensive customer service support. Lumary is a legitimate company (not some fly-by-night Amazon brand), so you can expect someone to be there when you have a problem.
Final Thoughts
If you’re looking to add a little ambiance to your backyard at a really great price, you will be hard pressed to find a better option than these Lumary lights. After a 1-2 hour investment of time, you can have these lights installed and set up with a schedule and voice control for mostly “hands off” operation. The last step is to invite some friends over so you can impress them with some really cool effects that can make any outdoor space look nicer than it actually is.
