LIFX Color A19 Review: The Smart Bulb That Doesn't Need a Hub

What Is the LIFX Color A19?

The LIFX Color A19 is a Wi-Fi smart LED bulb that connects directly to your home network without requiring a separate bridge or hub. At 800 lumens (equivalent to a 60W incandescent), it's a full-brightness smart bulb with access to 550 billion colour combinations through RGBW LEDs — and it costs £42.99 for two in the UK, working out to around £21 per bulb.

In a market where Philips Hue dominates the premium segment but requires a £50+ hub before any bulb works, LIFX's hub-free approach is a meaningful differentiator for anyone starting a smart home from scratch.

Design and Build Quality

The A19 bulb uses an E27 screw fitting — the standard large fitting used in most UK floor lamps, table lamps, and pendant lights. The bulb itself is slightly larger than a standard LED because it houses the Wi-Fi chip and RGBW LED array, but it fits most lamp shades and pendant housings without issue.

Build quality is solid — LIFX bulbs feel more substantial than budget smart alternatives. The rated lifespan of 25,000 hours (approximately 22 years at average UK usage) is a genuine engineering claim backed by LIFX's quality reputation.

Performance

Setup requires the LIFX app (iOS or Android), a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi network, and about two minutes per bulb. There's no hub to configure — screw in, power on, open the app, and follow the prompts. Once paired, the bulb responds quickly to app commands, and the sub-second response to voice commands via Alexa or Google Assistant is comparable to Hue.

The 800-lumen brightness is genuinely bright — noticeably brighter than cheaper smart bulbs that claim similar output but measure lower. In a standard UK room, one A19 provides comfortable ambient lighting; in larger rooms, two or more give fuller coverage.

The colour quality is where LIFX outperforms most competition: the dedicated white LED chip (in addition to the RGB LEDs) means white light quality is clean and true rather than the slightly muddy or cool-shifted white you get from bulbs that mix RGB to simulate white. The 1500K–9000K range covers everything from candlelight warmth to crisp daylight.

Key Features

No Hub Required: Direct Wi-Fi connection saves the hub cost and setup complexity. If your router provides stable 2.4GHz coverage, LIFX works out of the box.

RGBW LEDs: A dedicated white LED chip alongside the colour LEDs ensures genuine white quality. Most competing colour bulbs rely on RGB mixing for white, which never quite matches a real white chip.

Full Voice Ecosystem: Works with Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit/Siri, and Google Assistant. No proprietary bridges required for any of these integrations.

25,000 Hour Lifespan: At UK average usage rates, that's roughly 22 years. The higher upfront cost versus a £5 bulb is amortised over a very long service life.

Who Should Buy the LIFX Color A19?

Buy them if you: want smart colour lighting without buying into a hub ecosystem; already use Alexa, HomeKit, or Google Assistant and want seamless integration; want genuinely high-quality white light alongside full colour.

Skip them if you: have a 5GHz-only network (LIFX requires 2.4GHz); already have a Philips Hue hub installed and would benefit more from Hue's wider fixture range.

Verdict

The LIFX Color A19 is the smart bulb for people who want to avoid the hub tax. Hub-free setup, genuine white quality, 800 lumens, and full voice assistant support at £21 per bulb makes this the most practical all-round colour smart bulb for UK homes starting from scratch.

Rating: 4.3/5 — The best hub-free colour smart bulb in the UK market in 2026.