So, for now, which bulb is now can connect directly to ST hub ?
Well, looks like every time there is a new kid in town, we all get so excitedā¦ And then always comes the damperā¦ 
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Wow thatās higher than Iāve heard. Hope it comes down across the board.
Theoretically, any ZHA or ZLL certified bulb should be able to. However once you do connect a ZLL bulb directly to the smartthings hub (which uses that the ZHA standard), you may not be able to release it back to a ZLL controller like the Phillips hue bridge. It all depends on what zigbe frequency your particular smartthings hub uses, and that is randomly assigned when the hub is manufactured, and you canāt change it for the generation one hub.
So itās a complicated question. There are definitely some people using GE Links, Cree connects, and Osram Lightify directly with the smartthings hub who have never owned a Phillips hue bridge. But there is a risk in doing so that those bulbs could never again be released to a secondary bridge. That risk may be meaningless if you donāt intend to add any of the other bridges. At my house, we have exactly one Zigbee bulb, a GE link which is controlled directly by the smartthings hub, and works fine as a dimmable switch.
Thatās all I know from a device protocol side. Someone like @Sticks18 , @smart , or @jody.albritton , or @allison who have much more lighting experience with smartthings than I do could say more. 
Wait till June 15th and the price is less at $47.95 including shipping.
But I suspect the price will go up and down which is common for Aeon products.
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Itās more complicated when using zigbee I think. I just know about connecting bulb directly will make the bulb canāt connect to another controller.
Do you think this aeon bulb is also like that ? canāt change the controller when we already connect it to controller
Hopefully Smartthings will fully support this bulb
Just to clarify. Most zigbee bulbs have a reset sequence that is accomplished by manually turning the bulb on/off several times with 3-5 sec in between each change. That will reset the bulb and allow it to be paired with any hub capable of discovery. For some reason the Hue bulbs do not work that way and they require a special procedure that the ST hub canāt do. Thatās why it is risky to directly connect a Hue bulb to ST. WeMo may be similar, but all the other zigbee bulbs (Cree, GE Link, Osram) are easily reset to be paired with any hub.
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Here are my thoughts in the order of liking:
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Hue(59$) & Lux(19.99$) ->Hue Hub required (donāt link it directly to ST hub) ->Extremely flaky ST integration ->Tons of third party apps which works really good (OnSwitch, iConnectHue, QuickHue, stock Hue app). Have 8 hues, 2 lightstrips, 1 bloom, 9 luxās. BEST.
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GE Link (14.99): Looses connectivity to ST for no apparent reason. Gets hot like crazy (at least in my house). Donāt like the quality of light emitted. Lux can beat the crap of this thing with 5$ more. Have 2 and trying to get rid of them.
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Cree connects (14.99): Okā¦ Flickers really bad on some of my fixtures (may not happen to you). Dimming has issues. Lux can beat the crap of this thing with 5$ more. Have 2 and trying to get rid of them.
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LinearLinc Zwave (36.31): Paired easily as a switch. Turning on and off is weird as if it is doing it in slow motion. I did a zwave repair and the same behavior. Brightness level at 100% is too dim for any use. Occasional flickering when plugged in a simple table lamp. I tried it on a pull string socket in the basement with same result. Returned it back to Amazon.
Havenāt tried Osram or TCPās. Will stick to Philips.
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The Aeon bulb is zwave. You may have to exclude it before you can include it to a new zwave hub or controller but it shouldnāt be a problem. You will not be able to join the aeon bulb to a zigbee controller like the Hue bridge.
So, another standalone bulb that not require special hub or controller (like hue) is able to do reset procedure to make it able to use by different controller ?
Hmm,ā¦ nice. Because I want to try some direct bulb, and may need to move it to my friend ST Hub. I need to plan ahead if bulb is unable to change the hub or controller.
So there will be no problem
I see
Yes, Iām using hue right now, and since using hue, Iām not planing to connect it directly to hub.
I want to find another bulb thatās not require a special hub.
My wife says the color Hue makes her feel she is in an aquarium when white. You canāt seem to get a true white color. Aeon seems to address this with this new bulb. If they pull this off, it is a winner for me.
If she wants white, get her a plain white LED bulbā¦ Heheheheh! Just kidding!
Hahaha I donāt know what youāre talking about but that made me laugh.
I wanted to post an negative review on Amazon for that price, but I donāt want to be that guy.
It looks like a good price to me for a quality bulb with RGB (red green blue) controls. Pretty close to the zigbee Yee Sunflower.
The less expensive price category is typically white only.
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Great point! I didnāt get to read too much about it at work earlier.
Both appear to be RGB and not RGBW. Without white, youāll never get a true white color.
That is why I like this Aeotec bulb. Of course it may take SmartThings some time to fully embrace the white channel functionality without custom code.
The Hue can actually do white pretty well but you have to tweak it. Iāve spent a bunch of time on this.
If you want to just put your Hues on Soft White or Bright White, etc. Donāt use the default SmartThings apps ā they are wrong. At least up until recently they were converting RGB into HSL, which is not the same as HSB.
Here is a SmartApp that may renew your faith in color changing bulbs:
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I keep seeing that people are having issues with the GE Link. I have been using three of them for about 4-5 months and havenāt had one problem. Maybe Iām the exception?
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