Wiz launches a new application and completes its lighting offer

While several new products were presented under the Philips Hue banner at the last IFA, Signify preferred to let the news calm down before mentioning those of its other lighting brand, perhaps for fear that they would not receive deserved attention. Because it is a small revolution which is preparing at Wiz for this end of the year. The brand is preparing not only to launch many products, but also an app that will replace the current one.

A smooth transition

Born with the brand in 2016, the Wiz application had since undergone few changes, and should therefore not know more in the future – the brand preferred to start from scratch. It must be said that almost everything had to be redone as the interface had aged, but Wiz also wanted to give its users time to make the switch and get used to the new interface. The current application should thus be maintained for several months after the launch of the new one, scheduled for the end of September.

The new Wiz app therefore benefits from a new interface, much more in tune with the times. Exit the austere menus of the old: they give way to more colors for a slightly warmer appearance. Of course, Wiz didn’t just revamp the form. The bottom has also been revisited around three axes that the brand says it has defined based on user feedback: accessibility, lightness and fluidity.

Concretely, this new application has a home screen from which the main settings are only one or two clicks away. This includes a new system of tabs, but also the integration of Quick Actions (understand customizable shortcuts). The user will have the choice to add as many as he wishes, but be careful since they will be displayed by six. It is therefore better to limit yourself so as not to have to juggle too many panels.

A more refined and customizable interface

Wiz has also revamped the presentation of rooms and lights with large tiles on which you just have to slide to adjust the light intensity, while the most used colors and effects can be added to the Quick Control shortcut strip added at the level of the rooms. Something new is also to be expected on the stage side, starting with the possibility of excluding one or more light(s) from the room during creation. It also becomes possible to modify the scenes already created.

Finally, Wiz has also provided a sharing system with QR Codes and several levels of access (local/remote) to give a hand to guests or, for example, AirBnB tenants. Itou, the energy consumption monitoring tool has been given a facelift. Other new features are still in development, particularly on the widget side, but they have not yet been finalized and should therefore be deployed later.

Lots of lights along the way

In the meantime, the brand will also add several references to its catalog, starting with a light garland. With a length of 14.8 m, it has 12 colored bulbs and, above all, benefits from a weather-resistant design for outdoor use. Wiz thus puts a foot in the garden, which he had never done before.

Being able to also go outside, but only occasionally in the absence of suitable protection, the new Wiz Mobile is a battery-powered lamp. It is announced with an average autonomy of 10 to 12 hours and is easy to carry thanks to an integrated handle. It also has the particularity of offering two independent light zones to combine colors and create light effects… predefined for the moment. The ability to choose colors yourself should only come later. Since we are talking about control, let’s highlight that a control panel is integrated on the top and that it allows registering up to three shortcuts.

Different in its shape, but a little less in substance, because we find the same Dual Zone system, the Wiz Pole is a long bar of 1.50 m which is reminiscent of the Gradient Signe of Philips Hue. It comes with a foot to keep it horizontal, but Wiz also mentions the possibility of sliding it under a sofa, for example, horizontally. In any case, it is not recommended to direct it directly towards the center of the room: it was designed for indirect lighting, just like the Squire or, another novelty, the Bar.

Again, it’s hard not to make the connection with a reference from the Philips Hue catalog, and more precisely with the Philips Hue Play. However, the Wiz Bar does not intend to synchronize with a television. Its thin and elongated design should above all allow it to project soft and colored light on a wall or a bookcase without being too visible. It will be sold alone or in a pack of two. The second then plugs into the first and uses the same power supply.

In addition to these table lamps, Wiz is launching a Rune ceiling light comprising a round LED panel bordered by a ring of light for Dual Zone lighting, as well as a so-called bidirectional wall light. It is above all a support accommodating two GU10 spotlights oriented in opposite directions. They are controlled independently and can be replaced individually in the event of a breakdown. New spotlights are also announced, as well as XXL filament bulbs with a diameter of 16 cm for the Edison model, and 20 cm for the Globe.

Finally, the Wiz Smart Button switch will also make its debut soon with commands allowing you to activate two scenarios to choose from, as well as a magnetic support offering to detach it to use it as a remote control.