Smart lighting continues to grow and mature past the run-of-the-mill light bulb. TheNanoleaf Umbra Conois a unique offering that can provide lighting almost anywhere you want thanks to its built-in rechargeable battery. But while the lamp can be added to any of the major smart home platforms, including Matter, its high price is a turn off.
Nanoleaf Umbra Cono
The Nanoleaf Umbra Cono is a portable, smart lamp that provides a touch of lighting anywhere in your home. A built-in battery provides up to 4 hours of operation away from a power outlet. Along with using in a smart home, you can use it away from a Wi-Fi network with Bluetooth and the Nanloeaf app. The lamp is compatible with all of the major smart home platforms—Apple HomeKit, Google Home, and Amazon Alexa—using Matter. With the unique stand, you can place the lamp in a number of different positions.
What Is the Nanoleaf Umbra Cono?
Instead of a smart bulb or other type of lighting product that requires a full-time power source, the Nanoleaf Umbra Cono is a bit different. The top of the Cono is the actual smart lamp. It’s connected to an X-shaped base. You can select from a version with a sierra or gray color.
The entire device is small, clocking in at a little less than 6 inches wide and tall. That small size makes it perfectly portable. You can just grab it by the base and take it anywhere you want around the home, including small places like a nightstand or desk.
On the side of the lamp is a manual control button and the USB-C charging port. Nanoleaf includes a 5-foot USB-C to USB-A cord. Unfortunately, no power supply is provided. So you’ll likely need to provide your own if you’re looking to keep the lamp plugged in. I used my own, longer USB-C cable and power adapter without any issues.
A small light on the map will turn red when charging and turn green when the battery is fully charged. Away from the power source, the battery can provide around 4 hours of light. I was able to meet and even exceed that time, especially if the light wasn’t at the full brightness level.
Compatible With All Major Smart Home Platforms, Thanks to Matter
Similarly to previous products I’ve reviewed from the company, like theNanoleaf 4D TV backlighting system, getting the Umbra Cono set up and ready takes just a few minutes.
If you haven’t already, you’ll need to download the companion Nanoleaf app for eitheriPhoneorAndroid. Open up the app and chooseAdd Deviceafter making sure the Umbra Cono is turned on. You’ll need to scan the QR code on the lamp or enter it manually.
Follow the instructions on the screen to name your light, add it to a room, and choose your smart home platform. Thanks to compatibility with the Matter smart home protocol, you can easily add the Umbra Cono to Google Home, Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit.
Just ensure that you have both a Matter-compatible smart home hub and Thread Border Router already in your smart home. Many modern smart home hubs, like the HomePod mini Amazon Echo smart speakers, and the Google Nest Hub, offer both.
Using Thread has many advantages with the Umbra Cono including using less power and more.
While you can always start by adding the Umbra Cono, using the Nanoleaf app first provides several advantages. Along with being able to update the firmware, adding it to the Nanoleaf app will allow you to choose scenes that will automatically change the lamp’s color and control the lamp away from home using Bluetooth. I used the lamp away from my Wi-Fi network, and the Bluetooth option worked just fine.
Another fun feature found just in the Nanoleaf app was Magic Scenes. That allows you to create a scene with the Umbra Cono and other Nanoleaf lights using just a word prompt.
There is also a button on the side of the lamp for some manual control options. A single tap will turn the lamp on and off. Double tap to cycle through warm white, cool white, and four different RGB colors. Being able to have simple control of the lamp without needing smart home control is a nice feature.
A Fun Way to Use Lighting Around Your Home
I’ve been using the Umbra Cono for a few weeks around my home and have liked bringing a dash of light almost anywhere. The X-shaped base provides a ton of different options on where you may place the light.
Just place the base on a table or something else to have the light shine up. you may also turn it on its side or even upside down for different looks.
I used the lamp in my Apple HomeKit set up, and it responded quickly and easily. Even though it won’t show multiple hues at the same time, you’re able to select from more than 16 million colors along with tunable whites. It can also dim from 1 to 100 percent.
One of my favorite ways to use the Umbra Cono was in my kitchen as a nightlight to help me see where I’m going when I needed to let my dogs out in the middle of the night or if I needed to grab a quick glass of water. In a completely dark room, the lamp provides a nice amount of illumination, especially when placed on its side.
Even though I enjoyed using the lamp, there were some downsides. I’ve used several similar, portable smart lamps in the same price range like the Elgato Eve and Philips Hue Go, and the Umbra Cono lacks in a number of departments.
The Umbra Cono has more lumens than the Eve Flare—130 to 90—but the Flare features a unique globe shape that does a better job casting light around a room. It also offers wireless charging, better battery life, and is easier to move with a carrying handle. The Eve lamp is just $5 more than the Umbra Cono.
If you’re a fan of the huge Philips Hue lineup, the Hue Go shines bright with 520 lumens but less battery life. It retails for $5 less.
For me, the Umbra Cono would be a much better value, priced significantly less than those options.
Should You Buy the Nanoleaf Umbra Cono?
I always enjoy using smart lighting around my home in various situations. Whether it’s to set the scene for a movie night or bring some ambiance to different parts of my home, smart lighting can pretty much do it all. TheNanoleaf Umbra Conodoes a great job providing a portable and unique light source for your smart home setup, no matter what platform you use.
Even with those positives, the high $95 retail price makes the Umbra Cono too difficult to recommend for most people. You can find a wide variety of similar, portable lamps that aren’t smart for less than a quarter of the Umbra Cono’s price. Instead of buying this smart lamp, the same money can take you much further with other smart lighting.
