In recent months, Tapo, the new name of the home automation arm of TP-Link, has unveiled many products that are easy to install in your home. Bulbs, socket, LED strip: everything goes through Wi-Fi to enter the connected home even more easily.
Tapo relies on wifi to facilitate the handling of its connected products // Source: FRANDROID
Change of name, but no change of desire to offer a simple and complete offer. TP-Link Smart Home has become Tapo to be better identifiable among the brand’s routers, CPL and other Mesh systems. But the wide range of products to connect your home is still there. And she even gets richer.
At the end of the year, Tapo has unveiled new devices to facilitate the adoption of home automation by the greatest number. At a lower cost and less headache in the installation.
Quick and easy installation without a hub thanks to Wi-Fi
For that, exit the need for a hub to control everything as is often the case with the competition, in particular Philips Hue. Whether connected bulbs, LED strips or mini sockets, it goes through the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi in your home to which devices connect directly using the Tapo application. Simply.
Smart Wi-Fi Light Bulb Multicolor connected bulbs // Source: Tapo
The Mini WiFi Connected Socket // Source: Tapo
The configuration is quite fast and intuitive. All you have to do is plug in your device, ask the application to detect it and connect it to your Wi-Fi. You can then, for example, adjust the brightness of your multicolored smart bulbs (L530E) or choose the light atmosphere. This is a fairly classic LED bulb in E27 format (60 W equivalent) and which promises to be particularly economical (classified A +), for a light up to 806 lumens. Tapo announces a life cycle of 15,000 ignitions.
But above all, you can control your lights by associating them with your favorite voice assistant from the app and thus control them by voice. However, you must have a compatible device other than the application of your smartphone Alexa or Google Assistant for this. This will also be valid for devices plugged into a Tapo Wi-Fi connected mini plug which make it possible to manage unconnected devices more easily (starting, stopping, programming, away mode to make people believe in a presence, etc.) .
The application has different modes to trigger a timer before shutdown, plan activations and shutdowns, put an away mode and make it look like you’re there, etc.
And the light was … tailor-made
Among the novelties of the range, there are also trendy connected LED strips. They allow all the installation and decoration tips, behind your TV, in a window, under a shelf, etc. This 5 m strip is easily cut to fit your environment and your needs, and above all, is easily installed thanks to its adhesive strip. It offers 16 million colors to create all kinds of atmospheres and even synchronize with your music.
The connected LED strip allows you to define 50 different zones of colors // Source: Tapo
The multicolored LED strip benefits from a PU coating which makes it more resistant and easier to maintain // Source: Tapo
And it now comes in two models: a single-color model on which you can only choose one color at a time; a multicolored LED strip which is divided into 50 independent zones to vary the lighting and colors at the same time (but also obviously choose the same if you wish). Thanks to its PU coating, it is very resistant and easy to clean. But it also appears to be better protected than the basic LED strip, the small LEDs of which can be touched with your finger.
Source: Tapo
Note that the Tapo range also includes contact sensors and connected radiator valves to manage its heating. However, this requires the use of a Tapo hub (H100), as well as the installation of connected switches, without any rewiring, however, in place of your current switches or the motion sensor.
The Tapo LED strip installation kit // Source: FRANDROID
Prices and availability
The pack of 2 Multicolored WIFI connected bulbs (Tapo L530E) is advertised at a price of 19.99 euros instead of 28.99 euros on Amazon, the only current reseller of the products. A pack of two connected warm white bulbs is also available (37.24 euros).
The Tapo LED Strip 5m WiFi RGB Connected Light (Tapo L900-5) is sold for 34.99 euros on Amazon. There is a Tapo LED strip version Multicolored WiFi Connected Light Strip (Tapo L920-5 – you can differentiate the colors according to the zone) at the price of 44.90 euros (discounted at 36.90 euros currently).
The WiFi connected Mini Socket (Tapo P100) is available individually (28.82 euros) or in a pack of two (42.38 euros).
Connected bulbs are often the first step towards home automation. If you want connected lights at home, it’s very simple! Here is a comparison of the available solutions.
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