Price: £39.99
Rating: 9
Smart lightbulbs are the latest addition to the smart home, but what about when you're away from home? We love this Lava BrightSounds smart lamp and portable Bluetooth speaker, and reckon it's one of the best gadgets you'll take camping this year. Also see: All Bluetooth speaker reviews.
(Okay, so the Lava BrightSounds is not strictly a smart lamp in the same sense as some smart lightbulbs, which can be controlled via a mobile app to switch on and off at various times, change their colour to suit your mood and so forth. But it's dimmable, portable, waterproof, rechargeable, takes phone calls and plays music, and it uses an LED- rather than traditionalincandescent bulb, which makes it longer-lasting and more energy-efficient. And that makes this the smartest lamp we've ever seen.)
A good-looking all-in-one Bluetooth speaker and LED lamp, the Lava BrightSounds offers great value, just £39.99 atAmazon. Roughly three quarters of the tall, rectangular unit comprises the lamp component, housed in plastic and adjustable through everything from a soft glow to bright white light. The top quarter is a wraparound speaker mesh, available in grey or teal, which seems to fire out sound in every direction. Four control buttons lie flush up top, along with the status LED and Lava logo.
For a Bluetooth speaker it's pretty big, but not so much when you consider that the Lava BrightSounds replaces both the camping lamp and Bluetooth speaker in your backpack. And it's still easily portable.
A useful rubberised carry handle lets you cart around camp the BrightSounds without smothering lamp or speaker, but this Bluetooth gadget isn't great only for camping. IPX4-certified water-resistance (splashproof - or festival mud-splatter-proof - rather than fully submergible) makes it perfect for sunbathing on the beach or chilling out in the garden; and its dimmable LED lamp makes this the ideal kids' nightlight - able to allay their fears of the dark and play them lullabies as they gently fall asleep. Going camping? Also check out our best power banks round-up.
With a lithium-ion battery inside, this Bluetooth speaker and smart lamp can offer up to eight hours of music playback, or up to 10 hours use as a lamp, all off a three- to four-hour charge from empty. There's no auto-off function, which makes sense given the lamp, so the flashing blue LED that signals successful Bluetooth pairing serves as a handy reminder to switch off the speaker when you're done.If you're using the Lava BrightSounds in the home you can also use it while plugged into the mains via a USB charger (none is provided, but you can use the same one you use for your phone, along with the supplied Micro-USB cable).
One drawback of devices such as this is that you can't separate lamp and speaker should one become faulty. However, LEDs offer much longer life than incandescent bulbs, and the two function independently of each other in any case.
Lava doesn't specify the Bluetooth standard used by the BrightSounds, but we found good range as we walked from room to room with a paired smartphone. It will pair with any phone, tablet, laptop or PC with Bluetooth connectivity, and for those devices that lack such connectivity there's a 3.5mm AUX input.
Once paired those four buttons at the top can be used to skip tracks or, with a long-press, adjust the volume, answer or reject calls when used with a smartphone, or turn on and off and dim the light. These are tactile, which aids finding them in the dark, although it can be tricky to then read their legends. That's a very minor gripe.
We tried the Bluetooth hands-free calling, and found the music would automatically pause and resume during and after the call. We had to speak up to ensure our recipient could hear us, but at our end the call was clear and perfectly audible. A short press of the Bluetooth button answers a call, while you can long-press to reject or double-press to reconnect with the last caller.
It's not just call quality that's good from the Lava BrightSounds either. We had its 5W ultra-wide speaker on full whack and didn't hear a hint of distortion. It's loud enough to fill a room with sound, and for a budget Bluetooth speaker audio quality is more than acceptable. No matter what we threw at it, the Lava BrightSounds coped admirably.
Read next: If you like the sound of a lamp that plays music, also check out the Olixar Light Beats Bluetooth Speaker Bulb.
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Buying Advice
We're pretty taken with the Lava BrightSounds. It won't appeal to everyone, but if you're planning a camping or festival trip, a BBQ party in the garden, or even just fancy a cool reading- or night light, this all-in-one Bluetooth speaker and LED lamp is worth a look.
