Tapo L535E

An easy way to try color

Tapo's US store lists a single L535E at about $18 before discounts, and the four-pack's list price works out to under $13 a bulb. Either way, it is an easy way to experiment with colored lighting in a lamp you already own. You get color, adjustable white light from 2500–6500 K and a claimed 1100 lumens in the US E26 model. Those specifications offer more flexibility than a basic warm-white smart bulb without a large initial spend.

The attraction is strongest for bedside and living-room lamps. It uses 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, so there is no Tapo lighting hub to buy, and the four-pack is the cheapest way to equip four of them.

The wall switch is the awkward part

L535E needs continuous power for smart control and cannot be used with a conventional wall dimmer. That is manageable in a lamp whose switch you leave alone. It becomes frustrating as a design choice for a shared room where people naturally reach for the wall switch: cut the power and the bulb disappears from app control.

One welcome Tapo feature is the ability to choose what happens when power returns. For a bedside lamp, configuring it to remain off can avoid an unwanted light after a power interruption. That setting addresses a practical annoyance more directly than another advertised color count.

Tapo also has its own lighting effects. Matter makes everyday control available elsewhere, but it does not turn every Tapo effect into the same feature in each home app. Nor does the specification sheet establish how pleasing the colors or low-level dimming look in person; we have not tested those qualities.

Choose the network you already use

L535E is a convincing budget choice for a dry indoor US lamp when Wi-Fi control suits the home. If you already have Thread hardware, compare the color E26 version of IKEA KAJPLATS, which offers a similar claimed brightness over Thread and costs less than a single L535E.

Choose L535E for Wi-Fi control without a hub and for Tapo features. If the real problem is controlling a whole room from the wall, solve that control choice before buying a box of bulbs.