WiZ Luminaire Mobile Portable Light Review
A smart, portable LED light
Verdict
Built to be carried around, the WiZ Luminaire Mobile Portable Light is a fun battery-powered lamp that you can use pretty much anywhere (just don’t get it wet). Its dual lamps provide some fun dynamic effects, while the controls on top let you control it even when you don’t have your phone to hand.
It’s not the brightest light (think ambient rather than utility lighting), and the app doesn’t give quite as much control over colour selection as I’d like, though.
Pros
- Some nice effects
- Simple manual controls
- Good battery life
Cons
- Power button needs a bit of force
- Not that bright
Availability
- UKRRP: £79.99
Key Features
- Light typeThis is a portable LED smart light.
- ConnectionThis light connects via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.
- Battery lifeThe battery will last up to a maximum of 10 hours.
Introduction
Most smart lighting focuses on the inside, but the WiZ Luminaire Mobile Portable Light is built to let you take your light with you, adding ambience around your house, outside or even when you go camping.
It has a great design, lots of scenes to choose from and lasts for up to 10 hours on a charge, but the app can be fiddly to use in places.
Although listed as the WiZ Luminaire Mobile Portable Light on the WiZ website, the lamp is also known as the WiZ True Portable Type G Table Lamp on John Lewis and the WiZ True Colour Smart Lighting Portable Table Lamp on B&Q, which does make it quite tricky to find.
Design and features
- Works via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi
- Integrates with other WiZ lights
- Integrated battery
Thanks to its flip-up handle, the WiZ Luminaire Mobile Portable Light looks and feels like a lantern.
In fact, it’s pretty much impossible not to pick it up, hold the light out at the end of a stretched hand, and imagine that you’re walking through a stormy night. Or maybe that’s just me.
What’s ultimately important is that this is a portable battery-powered light, so it’s free to go where you go. Well, to a degree. The IP20 rating of this lamp means that it’s touch-proof and resistant to dust, but it has no protection against liquids. If you do take it outside, just be aware that you’ll need to bring the lamp back in if it starts to rain.
Its handle does make it easier to carry around than, say, the Philips Hue Go light, making this one a slightly better choice for situations where you may want to move it, such as when camping.
The internal battery is charged via the USB-C port on the back, which can also be used to power the lamp permanently. If you place the WiZ Luminaire Mobile Portable Light next to a power socket, it makes sense to have it plugged in, ready to go portable on a full charge.
As a portable device, the WiZ Luminaire Mobile Portable Light has more physical controls on it than you’d typically find on a regular smart light. There’s a mode button that cycles through four scenes (configurable via the app), a brightness slider and an on/off button.
I found the mode and brightness controls very responsive, but the power button needs a firm press to make it work. There’s also a physical power switch underneath, which cuts off the battery and disconnects the lamp from Wi-Fi/Bluetooth.
For more control, the WiZ Luminaire Mobile Portable Light has to be connected to the WiZ app. The lamp uses Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, so it can be controlled over your home network if it’s in the house, or locally if you’re out and about.
The WiZ app is the same as for other WiZ lights: it’s a little more limited and a touch harder to use than the Philips Hue app, even though both products are made by the same company, Signify.
WiZ lights can be grouped into rooms, including with the WiZ Luminaire Mobile Portable Light. That makes sense if the light is going to be static, but it makes more sense to keep this lamp separate, as it can move around, so I suggest placing it in its own room.
As with other WiZ lights, you can associate a WiZ Remote with the room that the lamp is in, and use its buttons to recall four different scenes. These are also the same scenes that are programmed into the lamp, available via its mode button.
Rooms also have settings that let me set the fade-in and fade-out time when the lamp is turned on or off. It can be handy to set a fade-out time, so that you’re not plunged into darkness when turning the lamp off.
The WiZ Luminaire Mobile Portable Light can be set to a static colour, or colour temperature. There are preset modes, such as Daylight and TV Time, but you can set your own. The WiZ Luminaire Mobile Portable Light can display two different colours at the same time, but you can’t choose two colours manually, which is a shame.
The only way that I could get the lamp to show two colours was to use one of the dynamic scenes.
For all colour modes, there are sliders to change the brightness, and the balance between the top and bottom lights. For dynamic scenes, there’s also a speed selector that governs how quickly colours change, moving from tortoise to hare.
If you’d like the lamp to match the sunlight colour, there’s a Circadian Rhythm option, which automatically adjusts colour temperature throughout the day. However, the change is based on when you set your bedtime and wake-up times, not adjusted based on the length of the day through the year.
Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant are supported, with voice control over colour, scene and brightness. HomeKit is not supported, but the app does support Siri Shortcuts.
Performance
- Some brilliant effects
- Colours can be a bit off
- Not that bright
At its best, the WiZ Luminaire Mobile Portable Light is brilliant fun. Turned onto a dynamic scene, it’s like a modern-day lava lamp. Effortlessly blending and cycling through colours, this is a nice statement piece to have on a table, or in a child’s room.
Switching to static colours, the WiZ Luminaire Mobile Portable Light is a bit more mixed. I found the red and green very good, but I couldn’t get a deep blue, with the lamp often veering towards a violet colour or a lighter shade than I’d want.
Regular colour temperatures, from cold to warm, are better, but this lamp isn’t that bright. At just 400-lumens, it provides more of a gentle glow that provides ambience, rather than something you can work by. It’s fine for walking around a tent, but if you want a brighter light that rivals a regular light bulb, this isn’t for you.
WiZ says that battery life is up to ten hours on a charge. That does depend on how bright the lamp is and what mode it’s in. Expect to save a few hours of this on full brightness and with a dynamic mode.
Overall, the lamp will last for 25,000 hours, which is pretty standard for smart LED lighting. At this level, the WiZ Luminaire Mobile Portable Light should last for years before it needs replacing.
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Should you buy it?
If you want a fun light with dynamic effects that you can take practically anywhere, then this lamp could be for you.
If you want brighter, more utility lighting, this lamp probably won’t suit your needs and an alternative will do.
Final Thoughts
The WiZ Luminaire Mobile Portable Light is a fun bit of kit, adding dynamic lighting to any setting, indoor or out. The fact that it can integrate with other WiZ lights is good, but I feel this is more of a standalone product. In this guise, the Bluetooth connection and mode button on top ensured it could be controlled no matter where I was.
It’s not the brightest of lights, but if you want something that’s easy to carry around with a degree of versatility, this is a good choice.
How we test
We test every smart light we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
Used as our main smart light for the review period
Tested for at least a week
We test compatibility with the main smart systems (HomeKit, Alexa, Google Assistant, SmartThings, IFTTT and more) to see how easy each light is to automate
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FAQs
This lamp has touch buttons on top, plus it can be remotely controlled using the WiZ app via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connections.
It’s rated to last up to ten hours, although expect less depending on the mode and brightness you use it in.
Full specs
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
