Customer Reviews

Philips 818566 LivingColors Translucent Changing LED Lamp with Remote

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I've been waiting for this lamp to come out in North America for over a year now. I first saw this while visiting friends in Hong Kong. I was smitten at first sight and purchased one for myself. On a subsequent trip, I bought a second one and I use them on each of nightstand alongside my bed. These lamps are just plain sexy. My best friend, who is a designer, loved it at first sight and she's a picky one. Two of them are almost bright enough to read by but not quite. However, just one lamp can drastically change the mood of a dimmed room. These are not bright enough to have any impact during normal daylight hours. It's more of a subtle device.

For a sense of scale, these lamps are about the size of a volleyball.

I recently purchased my THIRD lamp (that's how much I love this product) on Amazon.com but it was defective and had to be swapped out. However, I can tell you that there are subtle differences in the Asian and North American lamps.

1) the faceplate with the bulbs is a bit sturdier and has a few plastic dimples
2) the function which continuously cycles the colors is very gradual v. the rapid-fire changes in the Asian-market lamps
3) These lamps ARE NOT the new Generation 2 lamps that are currently out in Europe. Amazon.uk has these lamps but will not ship to the USA for some incredibly stupid reason even though the AC transformer can handle US voltage with a simple three prong adaptor. Gen2 lamps have SEVEN bulbs and are 50% brighter. These are the Gen1 lamps with 4 bulbs but they are still plenty bright.
4) There are some theorized mounting accessories in the works for these lamps but I have not seen any yet

Now, all this being said, I also recommend this over the mini-lamp due to the RF remote which can operate up to six lamps simultaneously. The remote, by the way, uses a touch-wheel similar to an iPod and it also allows a dimming function and an intensity function which means you can change the illumination to a white light, if so desired.

The only drawback I have with this lamp is that it's pretty easy to roll off of its infinity-shaped base-plate (which actually, now that I think about it may not be part of the US-release), or the flattened area at its base where the cord inserts. This is not a lamp that you want to have near a high-traffic area or in a home with kids, pets, or clumsy folks.

Bottom line? This is a spendy, but endlessly pleasing product with killer looks, and a "wow" factor that will amuse even the most demanding consumer. You won't need to paint your walls anything but white and with a couple of these installed you'll be able to change the entire look of the room with just swipe of the remote. Now some people will argue for LED bulbs with a remote, and it's true that they are much cheaper, but the aesthetic of this product can't be beat.


Buy one. Buy two, actually.

We purchased this lamp purely cause we are early adopters and thought it was cool. We like the lamp but the LEDs are too few. It doesn't really have enough power to fill a normal sized room but is better suited to a smaller one or a hallway.

There's rumors of a stronger set of LEDs in a future version. I would wait until that happens before buying this lamp.

I love this lamp! It produces a huge range of colors and can set the mood in a small, dimly lit room. I bought this lamp for my living room bar in my apartment, and everyone loves it.

I would give it a 5-star rating but there are a few things that could be improved:
- Seems overpriced (if you are OK with the price, it's definitely worth it)
- Could be brighter (a single lamp is only bright enough for a small room or corner at night)
- Remote control range should be longer (it seems like it's 10 ft. or so)

There is a 2nd generation version of this lamp which is supposedly 50% brighter, but it is not available in the US yet.

What a lamp!!! Believe me when I say it has made some great changes to my decor at home. Worth every nickel and dime folks.. If you have a flat screen tv and a DVD aquairum, place the Philips lamp on the tv stand (facing the wall) play the DVD aquarium and set the lamp color to a tranquil "green". Then check out the results!! The Philips lamp creates this illusion like your flat screen is a giant size aquarium tank. When my guests sees it, they don't want to leave!! Also, if you own a small or large liquor bar, place the Philips lamp on the side facing the wall and set it to a nice smooth lounge color like (purple or blue). It will transform your bar into a Hollywood hang out lounge. I have this feature hooked up to my bar and I feel like I need to start charging my friends for just the ambience of it all.. so now I have a hard time getting them to leave!! If you like to entertain, then baby Philip's color lamp is for YOU!! Remember to be very creative once you have this (there are millions of ways you can use this). But the bar feature will pay off folks as well as placing it behind your flat screen to give it a dramatic theather look. Just awesome folks.. simply awesome.

I had been eyeing the Philips Living Colors Generation One unit for some time, and I was glad when Amazon restocked the item after being sold out for some time. My experience with ambient LED bias lighting began with a Philips HDTV (2007) with built in Ambilight which projected colored light or white light on the wall behind the flat screen TV. The fact that Philips once produced and sold these premium hdtv's for the American market heavily influenced my decision to purchase this brand. Skip to 2010, and Philips no longer sells or manufactures any ambilight sets for the U.S. market; they are still available in numerous models in the U.K. and Europe.

I was seeking a solution for the same type of ambient bias light effect for my new Samsung HDTV. Several solutions exist, including LED strip kits that can be applied specifically to the backs of HDTV and home theater products.

However, the portability and clean, simple design of the Living Colors lamps was appealing, as is the fact that Philips has a lot of experience in LED lighting research and sales worldwide.

Bottom Line:
1. I am very pleased with the performance and quality build of the Living Colors Generation 1, despite its high price. The product is flawless in its design (simplicity and clean design) and quality control; it comes well packaged with its own satin cloth cover bag and plenty of protective packing.

2. The remote control, which is RF (radio frequency), allowing placement behind objects, is a design coup in its own right. This remote functionality makes the purchase of the larger Living Colors lamp over the much cheaper Mini-lamp a no brains decision.

3. There is significant research to show that bias, or ambient lighting, eases eye strain when watching HDTV, and it "extends" the scope of the picture beyond the borders of the tv bezels.

4. The deep, solid colors effect when wall washing behind the home theater provides a dramatic and beautiful effect.

Considerations:

1. As mentioned by another reviewer, the unit initially will not recognize its remote. It must be paired with the remote for first time use, by pointing the remote directly into lens cover of the lamp towards the Philips logo for 3+ seconds. After that, it works fine.

2. The unit does have a built in automatic color changing mode. This can be activated by pressing the Power On button for five seconds or more. The speed of color changing is adjustable.

3. The dramatic effects are more effective in a dark or semi dark room than in a room flooded with light.

4. A reflective surface, preferably a white wall, is required.

5. Amazon is now listing the Generation 2 version of Living Colors as coming soon, no date announced. Since Gen 2 provides 50% brighter light, and contains 7 LEDS rather than the 4 offered on Gen 1, it may well be worth the wait for the new improved technology, which has been on sale in Europe for some time.

Overall, I am very pleased with the product and this purchase. The item is pricey, but it is a unique product in the market place and thus worthy of the price if you want it.

For more detailed information, look at the the following United Kingdom sites...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-LivingColors-Colour-Changing-Control/dp/B002YK5N38/ref=pd_cp_light_1

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This lamp is the perfect house accessory that everyone should have. With its 200+ different color wheel it can provide just the right mood lighting for any occasion.

This indoor lamp can be tuned to one of millions of colors. A single lamp is bright enough for coloring a smaller room.

Change color by tapping the touch sensitive remote control. You control the intensity of the light and the level of white to add to your chosen color from the remote, too.

I like the lamp point away from me. Not that the lamp is not too bright to look at directly, I simply found the lighting effect more stylish when the lamp is pointing towards the wall. I recommend turning all other lights off for the best effect.

The body of the lamp is translucent and the power cord stretches about seven to eight feet or so.

For larger rooms, you can link up a few more Living Color lights to one remote control, which is an option I am considering since I want to color a larger room.

I was comfortable buying this pricey product, since I learned that Philips is the top LED maker in the world, at present, in a class project.

The living color lamps are definitely on the pricey side, but after you set it up, it's a lot of fun to play with, and they're very cool. My main complaint with them is that it's not as bright as I had hoped. I wanted to replace a standard lamp with lampshade and 70watt bulb with one of these lights. But there's no way. Maybe if I made a shade for it to diffuse some of the light. But even that would be questionable. It all comes down to the fact that the pictures of the lamp are a bit misleading. When you look at the photos, it looks like one big bulb. But it's not. It actually has 4 large, LEDs (a red LED, a green LED, and two blue LEDs), with a diffuser (opaque piece of plastic) over top of the LEDs. It simply doesn't have the brightness of a normal light bulb.

That being said, it's still not too bad. Put two of these on opposite sides of a room, and you can create a very romantic setting. Just don't expect to replace standard lamps/lights in an office or similar room with one of these.

I heard/read comments about the remotes being fragile. I haven't experienced that. The remote seems fairly sturdy to me. I was a little disappointed that when I circle my finger around the color spectrum on the remote, the colors don't cycle as you would expect... at least not accurately. You really have to tap on the color wheel where you want in order to get the true color for that point on the wheel. Also, the remotes don't seem to have a very good distance. I'm thinking they may be using bluetooth in these things, which is only good for 30 feet (and usually not even that). I've noticed that the further I get from the light, the less responsive it gets. 15 to 20 feet away, and I find I'm tapping a couple times to get the light to change.

Still, these are all pretty trivial things. The lights are extremely cool, and basically work as advertised. I'd highly recommend them to anyone who enjoys mood lighting and can afford the price tag!

Design: The lamp has a beautiful "bowl" like design and is well suited to a modern room. It would be hard to place it in a more traditionally furnished room unless you place it away. The remote is a beautiful piece on its own.

Lamp: Very bright. Play with the remote to get a ton of colors. You can also adjust the intensity of the color from white - pastel - rich saturation. Independently, you can also adjust the brightness of the lamp. The lamp remains cool to touch irrespective of the brightness.

Packaging: is excellent. The lamp itself is packaged in satin finish soft cloth cover. It makes for a great gift.

Pros: Very unique lamp. Very clean, beautiful modern aesthetic, long battery life, color your life, changes your expectations from a lamp :)

Cons: Pricey

Opinion: Though pricey, well worth it for a low volume and well designed product. Highly recommended.

It's dirt simple - coooool way to light up your (albeit small space). I'd recommend using it for small room or up against corner walls to expose the light as much as you can. It's not too bright, but enough to make a huge difference. Remote is pretty easy to use... have to watch out for battery drainage - once it goes, you're out of luck controlling the light... no other ways to control the light.