Back in the spring, many people, including myself, had heard rumours that Yeelight were bringing HomeKit support to their light bulbs, only to subsequently find out that Yeelight were due to release 1S versions of the current bulbs that were already on the market – the Colour bulbs, and the Tuneable white versions. It then seemed that it was a misunderstanding and that the 1S was the HomeKit bulbs. Happily, in July Yeelight announced updates to their bulbs and light strip plus that would indeed bring the rumoured HomeKit functionality. So what of the 1S versions?

Well, these bulbs did actually appear in the Mi Home app months ago, which is quite a common occurance, but nothing else besides. Now the company have finally unveiled the new 1S version of the colour bulb, and as expected, it looks pretty much the same as the current generation. However, there is a subtle difference that will make those of us who are energy conscious happy. The bulb’s lumen count stays at 800lm, although the energy draw is only 8.5W compared to 10W for the current version, which allows the company to make the 1S 15% more efficient, thus saving money on your energy bill.

Unlike the current generation colour bulbs that require a firmware update to bring HomeKit functionality, these new 1S versions will come with HomeKit out of the box, which should also mean they come with the requisite HomeKit code, meaning you won’t need to use either the Mi Home or Yeelight apps if you prefer not to, although you would still need one of these apps for any subsequent firmware updates, as is the case with other HomeKit manufacturers.

If you’re not familiar with Yeelight, they’re one of the companies that are a part of the Xioami Smart Home ecosystem, focussing mainly on lighting products. They have their own brand of lights and lamps, some of which we’ll be reviewing soon, as well as making lighting for Xiaomi’s own Smart Home Brand Mijia/Mi, including the Mi Desk Lamp 1S, Mi Desk Lamp Pro and the Mi Bedside Lamp 2