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Wyze might be known for its smart home gadgets, but the new and unimaginatively named Floor Lamp isn't exactly "smart." There's no Assistant support, and controls are Bluetooth only (via the app and bundled remote). For a smart light, it's honestly pretty dumb. But, while I wish I could tell Google to turn it on and it could be taller, I actually like it.

THE GOOD

Bright and dim enough

I can't get you any nice, quantified metrics (lighting is a whole can of worms with dozens of measurements, see r/flashlights), but this gets bright enough and dim enough for use as task lighting for me.

Remote

It could be heavier to stay in position better, but the included remote with clicky rotary encoder is nice and works well.

Design

Simple and modern, should fit in for most folks.

Gooseneck

It could yet wear out, but the free-positioning neck is both easy to adjust and strong enough that it doesn't sag over time.

"AI" light level

Tune the light as you like, and over time, it adapts to your preferences. I never noticed the feature working, but that could be a testament to how well it works.

Replaceable bulb

Some LED task lamps have everything built-in, but the bulb in this is still replaceable.

Decent color rendering

Some LED bulbs wash things out or make rooms look awkward with a low CRI, which can throw off the colors of objects. This doesn't do that; things look fine.

THE NOT SO GOOD

Not that smart

No Assistant or other ecosystem integration for controls, just the Wyze app.

Bluetooth only

No Wi-Fi connectivity.

Some buzzing

Once in a while, my bulb intermittently makes a just-barely-audible noise from a few feet away at my desk, which can be annoying.

No adjustable white point

I know task lighting is usually cooler or a more neutral white, but I simply prefer warmer lighting, and this can't provide it.

Could be taller

Not quite tall enough for a standing desk at full height, for example.

It's a lamp with a remote

Lämp

When I volunteered to take a look at Wyze's new Floor Lamp, I was assuming (as most of our readers probably did) that it would be a smart connected device like the company's prior lighting products. But whatever white-label product Xiaomi of the west Wyze grabbed to sell in the US, you shouldn't think of this as a "smart" product at all. It's just a lamp with a remote control and some automatic controls.

In form, it's your usual modern adjustable task lighting lamp. You've got a weighted base — which could be weighted a bit heavier, I think — a gooseneck to position it, and the bit that the tightly-focused light comes out of. Point it at things you want to see. There's a power switch at the cable, which sticks out of the bottom of the upright support.

Other than the slightly too-light base, the only physical thing I'm not a fan of is the height of the lamp itself. Ostensibly it's 5' 11" tall, but that's if you point that gooseneck straight up, which precisely no one will do. Contort it to shine down on anything and the lamp is a bit too short to work at, say, a standing desk. I wish it were either taller or came with an extra screw-in span to add an extra foot of height.

The bundled, battery-powered, magnetized Bluetooth remote is the star of the show and the bit you'll touch most often. It's a simple round puck a few inches in diameter with a raised and clicky knob you rotate to adjust the lamp between 11 brightness settings. Push in and it turns on and off, and there's a button on the side for pairing, plus an LED to indicate commands being sent.

The remote is pretty nice and generally works as you'd expect. I like having it on my desk just above my mouse pad so I can flick it on when I sit down to do work, but I do have a few complaints. The on/off command can randomly be delayed by a few seconds, just long enough you might hit it again thinking you made a mistake. The knob could also be heavier, increasing both the feeling of quality and its ability to stay in one place — while it's magnetic, my desk isn't. Still, the rubber feet do an okay job. But, the light plastic doesn't have enough force to really stay in one place very well. If you have a messy desk (as I do), it can get bumped and jostled around a bit.

The lamp uses a 9w PAR30 E26 bulb which can be user-replaced. It's rated for 800 lumens and a center brightness of 1,400lx at 4' 7" away, all at a 4000k "cool white" temperature. That more neutral white is ostensibly better for task lighting.

The quality of lighting itself is fine. Anecdotally, the light was both bright enough and dim enough for indoor use, didn't flicker, and was a perfectly fine color — though I do prefer warmer lights generally, and wish the white point were adjustable.

"Smart," but pretty dumb

Of course, the Wyze app does support pairing the lamp to your phone, and there are a few added features like schedules and a delay timer, as well as the expected basic on/off and brightness level controls. However, I'm almost convinced it's not even worth doing. Bluetooth means limited range, and your phone needs to be nearby. I really wish Wyze had gone with Wi-Fi and given it the ability to connect to the Assistant for genuine smart home controls and integration.

Note we used a testing/beta app. These features aren't live yet in Stable and may look or behave differently when they land. 

The lamp also has an AI-powered feature to adjust the lamp's brightness over time based on how you set it yourself. I'm told it also works without the app, but if you do choose to use it, it's more granular there, as the app supports 100 levels of brightness control while the remote only does 11. I honestly can't quite tell how well it works — and that could be a good thing? After the last couple of weeks using and adjusting it, the lamp just sort of seems to be set to the level I need it to be, and I don't have to pay much attention to turning it up or down. I guess that means the feature works pretty well?

You can also set up schedules for lighting at specific times, but I didn't find that feature very useful for my workflow — you might.

I was fully prepared to dislike the Wyze Floor Lamp once I realized it wouldn't connect to the rest of my smart home gadgets. I've been critical of several of the company's recent actions, and a lot of its recent products have felt low-effort. But, honestly, I've been enjoying the Wyze Lamp. Having a task lamp next to my desk with controls conveniently right above my keyboard that I can adjust as the day goes by (and which adjusts itself based on my habits) is actually pretty dang nice.

Wyze originally advertised the lamp as being $30, but it's really $44 with shipping, and it plans on bundling together these costs into a single price going forward, so expect something closer to the latter when it's in stock again.

Good for some, but not everyone

I'm hesitant to offer a blanket yes/no recommendation for the Wyze Floor Lamp. On the one hand, I actually do like it and like using it, but the lack of Assistant support is a bummer — though I'd argue it's not a deal-breaker for everyone since the remote works well and you can put it wherever you need. Still, in this era of smart lighting, this is hardly "smart," and I want my Assistant-integrated controls whenever possible. But, if you were already in the market for some dumb task lighting and the idea of a remote control appeals to you, I think this is actually a decent choice.

At $44 with shipping, it's a little expensive for what is essentially a dumb lamp, but I think the remote makes it a fair value. Of course, you can spend a whole lot more on lighting and consider it a deal. This lamp is closer to IKEA quality than Herman Miller, and you can get some much cooler adjustable floor lamps/task lighting for the same price or less. (Hell, pair that with a Wyze Plug, and arguably, you've got more smart functionality than the Wyze Floor Lamp has.)

I'm very happy that Wyze has plans going forward to be more honest with pricing as well, because this lamp was a prime example of how disingenuous its prior policy was: Wyze claimed this cost $30, conveniently ignoring that the cost of shipping for the lamp was almost an extra 50% on top of that. It's one thing if you're paying whatever rate the shipper wants to charge at checkout, but I've always felt that Wyze's policy crossed a line, and I'm glad the company is just going to bundle the cost of shipping for a flat $44 — though the price is set to rise.

Even if you fully write off connecting it to your phone (as I think you should), it's a functional lamp. You turn it on and off, it makes light, and it even has a convenient remote control. It's not for everyone, and it's not really "smart," but the Wyze Floor Lamp isn't a bad buy.

Buy: Wyze