LIFX LUNA Lamp Review

LIFX LUNA Lamp: Introduction

• Lighting type: Smart lamp
• Connectivity: 2.4GHz Wi-Fi
• Ecosystem: Materials, Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, Smart Tings, Homely, Other…

Back in January with CES 2025, LIFX officially took the cover from the Lifx Luna, the first ever smart lamp.

The $70 Penny shy Lifx Luna is at face value, priced at its price with desktop alternatives like Philips Hue’s Bloom and Govee Smart Table Lamp 2.

But even at its rather affordable price, it can bring the same vibrant colour technology that Lifx has pioneered into its fantastic super-coloured ceiling lights, but requires smarter light action in a more compact, versatile form factor that can stick to desks, nightstands or other places.

Luna also features built-in device binding technology. This allows four physical buttons to control not only the lamp itself, but also other LIFX or material-enabled smart home devices. It works effectively as a smart button without requiring an internet connection.

I’ve had Luna on my desk for the past few weeks, please read my full review…

Design and Build

• Can be mounted on the wall
• Can be flipped over for night light
• Smooth design with 4 physical buttons

The Luna has a compact tablet-shaped design measured at 205 x 130 x 56mm. The white surround is soft plastic, with a rubbery trim on the back that matches the feel of the four buttons on the top. This is a pair and power button that cycles through the preset FX scene, which increases and decreases brightness.

In fact, these buttons have much more to do than their default functions, but I’ll go a little further about that.

It is designed with a desktop or bedside table in mind, but Luna can also be mounted on the wall. It uses a simple bracket that clips onto the round plus-shaped gloves on the back.

The provided wall hooks already have 3M adhesive pads attached, but they can also be screwed using screws and wall plugs on the box.

If you want to do wall mount, note that you only have a wire notch on the horizontal edge (you can flip it up to place the button up or down). So if you want to mount it vertically, the finish is not beautiful.

The front of the light is covered in clear plastic, with a small gap between where the white surround ends and where it begins. This means that if you turn it over just the light is facing, you can create a lovely night glow light effect.

Setup and Features

• Material Overwiffi
• LIFX Light Problem Binding
• The button can be the starting point for a smart home routine

When I reviewed the LIFX Super Colour ceiling lights earlier this year, I had the problem that the devices were synchronized through material and ended up using the traditional HomeKit route, but the good news is that those connection issues look like they’re being ironed on Luna.

After running the “Add Device” process in the LIFX app, I just scanned the QR code on my iPhone and it paired in a few seconds.

Of course, I was able to pair it natively with my smart home ecosystem and the smart home ecosystem of choice, but the experience taught me that the path is often at risk.

After a quick firmware update I jumped back to options to see inside the Apple Home app, but this did not happen automatically. The iPhone has a dedicated button to add to HomeKit, but if you’re adding it to another system, consider SmartThings, Homey, Alexa, and more. You will need to tap the button to generate the problem QR and number code.

Since this is a problematic Wi-Fi device, you don’t have to worry about thread border routing or any of its nonsense (I understand that Luna has thread radios that are not yet used, but many people need it to get more to sync devices with Echo smart speakers, HomePods, Nest Hubs, or other substances.

This means it is compatible with all major smart home ecosystems. I’m also sure you can simply pair it directly with your LIFX account, just like non-material devices, and control it via “old” methods like Alexa, Google Assistant, and more.

This means you miss every bell or whistle the button offers. – The most exciting aspect of Luna…though I’ve explained a little bit.

Problems etc.

The button above is clearly intended to perform the action on the Luna lamp itself (on/off, up/down brightness, selecting scene), but it actually offers a lot of things including binding of matter.

Previously only seen in Eve Thermocontrol, material binding is a much-anticipated aspect of the emerging smart home standards. Something that allows material devices to communicate locally and to devices without the need for additional hubs/controllers, apps, or Internet connections.

The problem is that Lifx is a little ahead of the game alongside Eve. As the major smart home ecosystems still don’t support the binding force of issues, there is no brand-independent direct-connect utopia away from the cloud yet. It should come, we promise it will come…but it is not here yet.

What this means in the case of the Lifx Luna button is that the problem coupling is limited to local control of other LIFX material bulbs, such as the aforementioned ceiling light and E26 tube light.

However, that doesn’t mean you can’t control non-LIFX smart home devices using the buttons at the top.

This is because the button above can be mapped to other devices. Not only problems, but some devices are synchronized with the problem ecosystem that you map.

I configured it using HomeKit as mentioned before, but using the Matter Code method to share Luna with Alexa, opening up a world of infinite possibilities for buttons.

Essentially, the daily or automation possible within the smart home ecosystem can be mapped to buttons.

For example, you can press the + button on Luna to open all smart shades, and your favorite station, coffee maker, and turn on radio power with the disarming alarm system.

Alternatively, you can press the power button to turn on Netflix, the lights dim, AC, and the SoundBar powers on at movie time.

Like I said… infinite possibilities.

Certainly, it’s not local, cloudless or hub-independent, but it worked well and the results were pretty instant.

However, there are some quirks. When setting up via HomeKit, it’s a bit confusing to pull on the light itself, what’s called a button, and another switch that can actually configure the four buttons. The button doesn’t seem to do anything.

The button order is also a bit confusing. HomeKit 1 is plus, 2 is yen, 3 is cycle FX, 4 is negative, and it is slightly different on Alexa.

And when you press the button it still performs the action with the light itself. I think this can be changed, but I couldn’t understand how to do it.

We also found out that HomeKit provided us with the option to map each button. This gives you 12 mapping options, including single, double, and long presses, but Alexa only allows a single press configuration.

But overall, it’s an incredibly useful feature, and the Luna is not only a smooth looking smart light, but also a rather comprehensive smart home controller.

The buttons are configured to map to control the various actions of the LUNA itself, or to synchronize with non-material LIFX bulbs on the cloud.

performance

But back to the light itself, with 26 controllable color zones and brightness of up to 1000 lumens, Luna can create both immersive lighting effects and a cozy surrounding glow.

It’s surprisingly bright, so if you look directly at it while firing at 100% brightness, your eyes hurt.

In fact, it has enough lighting power to create mood lights in the face of walls if you wish. However, the back is not that aesthetic, so if you want to go down that route, you might want to hide it.

To get the most out of LUNA and the many many lighting options it presents, you need to use the LIFX app. Options are quite limited among HomeKit and Alexa. Adaptive lighting works with the home kit, but consider color choices, dimming and white temperatures.

The LIFX app gives you access to a wealth of scenes and color profiles that take advantage of these 26 addressable zones.

The app has a wide range of proposed effects called “themes.” Great names like Stardust, Ghosts, Meteors, Fire, etc., and holiday-specific names such as Halloween, Christmas, Diwali etc.

There are also plenty of preset themes for US sports teams.

If you can’t find a preset scene that tickles your fantasies, you can always create your own. There are handy tools that actually raise 26 zones, so you can customize it to suit your mental content.

Luna Light boasts Polykrome technology with a grid in the lighting zone and adjustable white light in the 1,500k to 9,000k range.

Final Thoughts

The Lifx luna is more than just an astmart lamp. It is a clever and colorful controller for your smart home.

With shining lighting and innovative and customizable buttons, this versatile trick box brings both atmosphere and control to your fingertips.

Highly recommended as a neat upgrade for any desk or nightstand.

Testing method

When publishing reviews, you can reassure them that they are the result of a long-term test “live.”

Smart lights usually live in ecosystems, or in a variety of products where everything works harmoniously. Therefore, it is impossible to use a connected light for a week to provide a verdict.

As you test your smart home kit every day, you know what’s important and how a particular light compares to the alternatives you’re also considering.

Our reviews are comprehensive, objective and fair, and of course, you will not be paid directly to review your device.

Check out our guide to learn how to test your smart light and see more details.

LIFX LUNA Lamp: Specifications