Nanoleaf, the brand behind the famous geometric modular luminaire, has just enriched its catalog with a host of new products for the connected home. With smart switches and a customizable ceiling light, the brand seeks to dethrone the essential Philips Hue.
Nanoleaf took advantage of CES 2023 to lift the veil on a host of new connected objects. Asked by The Verge, the Canadian brand says it wants ” advancing smart lighting to intelligence ». In fact, Nanoleaf has put focus on automation and the interaction between the different objects in its catalogue.
With this in mind, all new products announced are compatible with Matter, the new standard that promises to unify all connected home devices. An object compatible with the protocol works with HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, Google Home or Samsung SmartThings, as well as with all other Matter accessories.
The icing on the cake, Nanoleaf is committed to deploy Matter on accessories already on the market. The Shapes, Elements, Canvas and Lines ranges will be compatible by the end of the current year. No need to checkout again to update.
Read also: Top start for Matter, the standard that wants to revolutionize the connected home
An infinitely customizable ceiling light
In Las Vegas, the connected lighting specialist announced the Nanoleaf Skylight, a modular ceiling light. Composed of several LED panels, it uses the principle of one of Nanoleaf’s first products, the famous wall panels. The accessory works exactly the same way.
With the Skylight, you can shape the ceiling light of your dreams, placing them in the shape of a rectangle or a square, or by forming a letter for example. Everything is possible. You can place a myriad of panels in the rooms that need the most lighting, such as the kitchen or the dining room, and settle for a few elements for more intimate places, such as the bedroom.
Nanoleaf says the ceiling light is capable of producing over 16 million different colors for a maximum brightness of 3,000 lumens. Unsurprisingly, it’s easy to adjust the intensity or hue through an app, connected switch or smart speaker.
The ceiling light can be used as a Matter-compatible bridge and will come out in the third quarter of 2023. Two starter kits are provided: one containing two squares, the other with four panels. No price has been announced yet, but we can expect a high price. For example, the Canvas starter pack, which uses the idea of light panels, is sold for 99 euros. It includes four LED squares.
Smart switches…really smart
Another major addition to the brand’s catalog: the Nanoleaf Sense+. This is a connected switch allowing you to control your lights, the old-fashioned way, by pressing a mechanical button. Several well-known brands, such as Eve and Philips Hue, already market equivalent solutions, which replace the traditional switch.
Full of ambition, Nanoleaf wants to go even further by offering a system capable ofautomate daily actions observing your habits. For example, the system can automatically dim the light in your living room from a certain time, or if another home automation object is on or off. If you turn on all the lights in your kitchen every night at 6 p.m., an automatic program will take care of it for you.
“The more you interact with the switches, the higher the level of reliability will be”says Nanoleaf CEO Gimmy Chu.
Please note that your connected home will not impose automatic settings on you without your consent. Before automating any lighting adjustments, the Nanoleaf app will suggest automations for you.
We find the same logic in Apple’s Home application. Within the interface, intelligent automations, based on your uses, are offered to the user. On paper, Nanoleaf’s solution doesn’t look much different from Apple’s. Nevertheless, the ecosystem seems to want to do well thanks to the finesse of the recommendations. Nanoleaf plans in particular to adapt to the movements of the inhabitants within the house, thanks to motion detectors and other lights. The new Nanoleaf accessories are also all equipped with infrared movement and light sensors.
To make its luminaires intelligent, Nanoleaf relies on Nala Learning Bridge, the bridge that allows all the accessories to communicate with each other. It is this element, presented as an intelligent assistant, which will supervise the entire connected house and offer automations.
Nanoleaf offers a wireless switch, which can be detached from the wall and used as a remote control, and a switch intended to remain fixed. The bridge and switches will also be released in the third quarter of next year. The brand mentions a price of around 20 dollars for a Sense+ and 50 dollars for the Nala Learning Bridge.
An alternative to Philips Ambilight technology
Finally, Nanoleaf continues to walk on the toes of its rival Philips Hue. The firm has indeed presented the Nanoleaf 4D TV Kit, a product similar to Philips Hue Play, which serves as an alternative to Ambilight. In both cases, the accessory makes it possible to adapt the ambient light to the images displayed on your television screen.
It takes the form of a light strip, to be placed behind the television, and a tiny camera, which follows the movements on the screen. This camera is connected to a small discreet box. The LED ribbon, hidden on the back of the TV, measures 5 meters and offers 50 distinct lighting zones, in order to best reproduce the atmosphere of your films and series. As with Philips, all other Nanoleaf products can be linked together to create a huge immersive experience with your lighting. Behind your television, you can install several Lines wall panels.
The kit will come in two sizes, depending on the size of your TV. Nanoleaf will launch a pack for 55-65 inch TVs and another for 70-80 inch TVs. The starting price should be around 100 dollars, for an exit in the second quarter of 2023.
At CES 2023, Nanoleaf also unveiled the arrival of more anecdotal products, such as a new range of E27 or GU10 bulbs, luminous adhesive tapes and spheres.
The Verge
