Verdict
The Linkind Wi-Fi Matter Smart Light Bulb is one of the best-value smart lighting products you can buy right now. At just over $5 per bulb in a 4-pack, it's shockingly cheap - and yet, it delivers Matter support, vivid colors, strong app features, and reliable performance that easily competes with bulbs two or three times the price. There are a couple of setup quirks to be aware of, but once you're past those, it’s a rock-solid addition to any Matter-powered smart home.
Pros
- Incredibly low price
- Works with Matter over Wi-Fi
- Packed app features: presets, DIY, music sync
- Impressive color and white temp range
Cons
- Each bulb added separately in Matter
- Full features require AiDot app and account
- Not the brightest bulb on the shelf
Linkind Wi-Fi Matter Smart Light Bulb review: Introduction
Cheap smart bulbs, by their very nature, are a dime a dozen, but very few manage to be as affordable and genuinely decent as the Matter-compatible Linkind Wi-Fi Matter Smart Light Bulb without cutting major corners.
Linkind’s Matter Smart Light Bulbs come in various shapes and sizes but, on test for this review, we’ve got the cheapest of the Matter bunch – they go for just over $20 / £20 for a 4-pack.
In the UK, where I’ve been testing them, they go by the moniker Linkind Wi-Fi Matter Smart Light Bulb A60 RGBTW, whereas it’s Linkind Matter Smart RGBTW A19 Bulb Stateside.
That’s because countries that use the metric system will refer to their bulbs as being A60 as opposed to A19, and there are voltage differences between them too.
But both variations are the 800 lumens ones.
They’re Wi-Fi-based, support all the major platforms, and deliver serious lighting customization through the AiDot app.
They’re not the brightest on the market, but they more than make up for it with features, reliability, and that eye-popping price tag.
Read on for my full review.
Design and setup quirks
You get a 4-pack of standard A19-style LED bulbs with an E26 base and there’s nothing flashy here, just your classic light bulb look.
Each bulb is rated at 800 lumens, equivalent to a 60W incandescent. They’ve got a wide beam angle of 230°, making them suitable for most rooms, and they’re rated to last 25,000 hours (about 23 years if you use them three hours a day).
Adding them to your Matter setup is a bit of chore; because each bulb operates independently, you’ll need to add them one by one. It’s a bit tedious, but the upcoming Matter 1.4.1 update will smooth this out.
There’s also a small catch in how you pair them. If you add the bulbs to Matter first, you may hit a wall trying to connect them to the AiDot app afterward. Resetting was required for me, which involved turning them on and off at the switch six times.
For the smoothest experience, start with the AiDot app and link them to Matter later.
Features and app experience
While the basic controls work across Matter ecosystems – turning on/off, dimming, adjusting color temperature – you’ll need the native app for the full feature buffet; as is always the way (currently) when dealing with Matter and smart lights.
With Linkind lights, that means the AiDot app. And, annoyingly, it does mean creating an account to get started; but once you’re in, the options are impressive.
Inside AiDot, each bulb has its own dashboard with a full color wheel, brightness slider, and access to the multitude of lighting modes.
It’s easy to switch between whites (1,800K–6,500K) and 16 million shades using either a slider or by using one of the many pre-defined presets.
You can choose from over 100 dynamic lighting scenes, with categories like “Christmas,” “Modern City,” and “Natural Landscape” all on offer. If you don’t fancy any of them, you can create your own effects.
You can also use your phone’s mic to sync lights to music, with both synchronized (all bulbs match the beat) and asynchronous (each one dances independently) options.
There’s also scheduling, routines, geofencing (think lights turning off when you leave), and power recovery options to define what the bulbs do after a power cut.
There’s also some basic energy monitoring baked in.
Performance
For the price, performance is genuinely impressive. The bulbs respond quickly, reconnect to your network in under five seconds after a power outage, and support both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, so you’re not left in the dark if your router hiccups.
The CRI (Color Rendering Index) of 90+ means colors look rich and accurate, whether you’re setting the mood for movie night or just reading a book.
That said, at 800 lumens, these aren’t the brightest smart bulbs out there.
If you’re lighting a large room or need serious brightness, you might want to pair two together or look at something beefier.
But for general use in bedrooms, lamps, and smaller spaces, they’re fine.
Final thoughts
If you’re looking to add Matter-compatible lighting to your home without spending a fortune, Linkind’s smart bulbs are an absolute steal. They’re not without a few setup quirks, and full functionality requires using the AiDot app, but the payoff is a surprisingly capable, customizable lighting experience for the price of a fancy coffee.
For just over $20, you get four bulbs that play nicely with Apple, Google, Alexa, and SmartThings, offer rich color effects, and even sync to your music.
How we test
When we publish our reviews, you can rest assured that they are the result of “living with” long term tests.
Smart lights usually live within an ecosystem, or a range of products that – supposedly – all work in harmony. Therefore, it’s impossible to use a connected light for a week and deliver a verdict.
Because we’re testing smart home kit all day, everyday, we know what matters and how a particular light compares to alternatives that you might also be considering.
Our reviews are comprehensive, objective and fair and, of course, we are never paid directly to review a device.
Read our full guide on How We Test Smart Lights to find out more.
Linkind Wi-Fi Matter Smart Light Bulb review: Specifications
| Light type | LED |
| Bulb shape | A19 / A60 |
| Base type | E26 |
| Wattage | 9W (60W equivalent) |
| Color temp | 1,800K – 6,500K |
| Dimmable range | 1% – 100% |
| Brightness | 800 lm |
| Beam angle | 230° |
| CRI | ≥90 |
English