Havells Glamax 9W Smart Bulb Review: Where a Smart Bulb Beats a Smart Plug
A smart bulb and a smart plug solve overlapping problems, and the cheaper option is not always the right one. This bulb is a good place to look at where the line falls.
What it is
| Power | 9W LED |
|---|---|
| Base | B22 (bayonet) |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi |
| Colours | 16 million |
| Extras | Music sync |
| Assistants | Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant |
Bulb or plug?
A smart plug switches power. A smart bulb changes the light itself.
| Smart plug + normal bulb | Smart bulb | |
|---|---|---|
| On and off remotely | Yes | Yes |
| Dimming | No | Yes |
| Colour and warmth | No | Yes |
| If the wall switch is off | Nothing works | Nothing works |
| Controls other appliances too | Yes | No |
Both share the same weakness, and it is the thing that frustrates people most: the wall switch must stay on. Someone flipping it off out of habit takes the device off the network entirely, and no app will bring it back. Our guide to what smart plugs can and cannot automate covers the same trap.
B22 is the right base for India
Worth stating plainly because it is the commonest ordering mistake: B22 is the bayonet fitting — push and twist — which is standard in most Indian homes. E27 is the screw fitting. Check your holder before buying; adapters exist but add length the fixture may not have.
The practical things
- 2.4GHz Wi-Fi. Almost all smart bulbs are 2.4GHz only. If your router broadcasts a single combined network, setup can fail in a way the app will not explain. Temporarily separating the bands, or using the 2.4GHz network during pairing, is the usual fix. It is also the better band here — it travels through walls more reliably than 5GHz.
- 9W is a normal room brightness, comparable to a standard LED bulb. Colour modes are noticeably dimmer than white, which is how all RGB bulbs behave — the coloured LEDs simply produce less light.
- What happens if the internet drops. Many Wi-Fi bulbs route commands through the manufacturer's servers, so an outage means the app stops working even though you and the bulb are in the same room. Worth testing on day one so you know what to expect.
- Music sync generally uses your phone's microphone rather than the audio stream, so it responds to the room. Fun for a party, not a daily feature.
Where these genuinely earn their place
Less in the colour effects than in scheduling and warmth. A bulb that comes on gently before an alarm, or shifts to warm light in the evening, is a change you notice every day — while the 16 million colours get used a handful of times a year.
Buy this if
- You want dimming and colour temperature, not just remote on/off
- You already use Alexa or Google Assistant
- Your fitting is B22 and your Wi-Fi has a 2.4GHz band
Buy a smart plug instead if
- You only want to switch the light on and off — a plug is cheaper and can control other appliances later
- The fixture takes several bulbs; one plug beats four bulbs