The L535E provides energy usage reports and offers two customizable special effects (called themes). The Party theme will quickly cycle through colors at a pre-specified speed (one to three seconds), and the Relax theme slowly transitions between colors at a pre-specified speed (one to three seconds). In comparison, the Linkind Matter Smart bulb offers more than a dozen customizable effects, including a Christmas theme and one that reacts to music.
The bulb uses the same Tapo mobile app as other Tapo devices, such as the Tapo D225 Video Doorbell Camera and the Tapo SolarCam C402. Its panel on the Home screen shows the bulb’s name and current brightness level, and there’s a button to turn the light on or off.
Tap the panel to open a Device screen where you can turn the light on and off, select a color preset, adjust the brightness, and switch between color and white mode. In color mode, you can choose any color in the spectrum, and in white mode, you can choose any white color temperature between 2,500K (more yellow) and 6,500K (more blue).
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Below the mode settings are tiles labeled Theme, Schedule, Timer, and Away. The Theme tiles let you select one of the above-mentioned effect themes, and the Schedule tile lets you create on/off schedules. Use the Timer tile to have the bulb turn on and off after a set period, and use the Away tile to configure it to turn on and off at random times while you’re away.
(Credit: TP-Link)
At the very bottom of the Device screen is a panel that displays how long the bulb has been running (in hours) and how much energy it has used (in kWh) with daily, weekly, and monthly readings. Below the energy panel is a Smart Actions panel where you can have the bulb turn off at night or turn on when you arrive home. Here you can enable scenes like Movie Night to have the bulb change color or brightness while watching TV, and to slowly dim as you prepare for bed. You can also create scenes to have the bulb interact with other Tapo devices, such as cameras, doorbells, and smart plugs.
Tap the gear icon in the upper-right corner to access settings that let you edit the bulb’s name, add it to a group, use the Matter Setup code to add it to your home automation platform of choice, and update the firmware.
