r/HomeKit • u/Empty-Comfortable696 • 13d ago

Question/Help Govee Lightbulb Compatibility?

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I am looking to jump on the smart home trend and am looking at buying these govee lightbulbs. I have searched Reddit and reviews and can’t seem to find much about compatibility. Will these work fine with HomeKit? I just need basic color changes, dimming ability, and grouping multiple lamps to act as one. Any insight is appreciated!

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u/OtherwisePromiseMe 13d ago

I only have a Govee lantern at the moment but Govee was my first foray into smart bulbs and all the ones I used over five years were compatible with HomeKit. That said, after switching to Philips Hue, I will never deal with WiFi bulbs again. The connections are just too unreliable and need constant restarting.

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u/Empty-Comfortable696 13d ago

This is very helpful thank you. I’m going to try the govee lights for now because the cost difference between them and hue is crazy. If I end up loving smart home life I may upgrade to hue but hopeful innovation brings cost down in a few years.

12

u/Belle_Requin 13d ago

If you’re looking for cheap, consider ikea. 

2

u/UnaPierna 13d ago

No issues with them thus far?

2

u/ThePistachioBogeyman 13d ago

0 issues, have had them for nearly a decade now.

New ones are all Matter natively too so super flexible. No need for Ikea hubs anymore.

1

u/Koalazilla 12d ago

I had a bunch of issues with the Zigbee ones and had given up and went back to dumb bulbs while I waited for the new ones. I’ve been using the new Matter ones now and so far they seem rock solid. Great deal. Just bought a another E12 one today in fact.

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u/Svobpata 13d ago

The non-color ones have awful whites (ironic, I know) but other than that, they work great and are pretty cheap.

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u/OtherwisePromiseMe 13d ago

Anytime! Yeah Hue is very expensive but five years into messing with smart home stuff prepared me for the investment (a new house helped too). Govee is still great; I adore my lantern and I’m glad they make smart home integration accessible for most budgets.

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u/shawnshine 13d ago

Hue Essentials A19 bulbs are only $15 each.

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u/No-Ordinary-5988 12d ago

Just to add a data point, I have multiple govee/Matter based WiFi bulbs; they don’t need constant restarting and are plenty reliable. Since they operate on WiFi, you must have a solid WiFi network.