Review: Meross Smart Lightbulb - MSL120

I've previously reviewed other Meross smart home devices, so now on to their MSL120 - an E27 screw cap bulb. The bulb has dimming and colour changing functions. Let's crack on with a video!

The app

The Android app looks good - although a little rough around the edges, but it's easy to set up a bulb and control it.

Controlling the colours and brightness is a little odd. You have to slide your finger over the whole screen. Vertical for brightness and horizontal for colour.

There's also the option to set "scenes" - the ability to toggle multiple actions at once. You can also set timers.

There's also a widget which can also control other Meross devices.

Voice to bulb

The Alexa integration is tricky to set up - same as all Alexa skills - but works quickly. Very handy as you walk in to the house to ask your virtual butler to switch on lights.

With the Alexa app, or voice, you can set colours and brightness. Again, as is normal for Alexa's Artificial "Intelligence", you have to be precise in the commands you give it.

The downsides

These bulbs are around £24 - which is half the price of LIFX bulbs - but you do have to compromise a little on quality.

• The bulbs are slightly larger than the LIFX, which may make them tricky to fit into tight areas.
• More disappointingly, the colour and brightness transition isn't smooth. There's a noticeable "jump" between the states, which you can see in the video.
• The app is quick to respond, but it isn't as intuitive as the LIFX service.
• Finally, there's no API that I could find. Although there is a comprehensive set of IFTTT services for the Meross range.

Verdict

A nice little addition to the smart light family. The Alexa integration is good, and the app is solid, if not particularly great.

There was a firmware update waiting for me once I switched it on, so hopefully there'll be more in the future.

As with any smart home device, you should check that it works easily for all your household members and stay vigilant around security.

You can buy the MSL120 for around £24 on Amazon. Readers of this blog can get 20% off using the code GIYT2HRO until 2018-10-4 23:59.