At some point, LIFX surely heard the complaints one too many times: Your bulbs are great, but they’re too big, too heavy, and—well—they just look weird. Clearly bowing to consumer sentiment, LIFX has introduced a second series: LIFX Mini. As the name implies, these three bulbs are indeed a bit smaller and easier to fit into most fixtures. One of them takes home TechHive’s Editors’ Choice award.

Michael Brown / IDG

Updated February 11, 2019 to report that LIFX has released a firmware update to patch a significant security vulnerability identified by a blogger who goes by the handle Limited Results. If you own LIFX bulbs, turn them on and launch the app. If you need the patch, the app should notify you that a firmware update is available for download. Click OK in the app to download and update the firmware for all the LIFX bulbs on your network. (More info from LIFX here.)

Ejecting the cylindrical design of its earlier smart bulbs, which remain on the market, the bulbs in the Mini line look a bit more traditional. But it’s still not perfect: The overall appearance of the bulbs is more akin to a Lite-Brite peg than an Edison bulb, but it’s a step in the right direction. These bulbs are about 0.4 inches shorter and 2.4 ounces lighter than the LIFX A19.

The shrinkage, however, comes at the expense of power. These bulbs put out a rated 800 lumens, compared to the 1,100 lumens the A19 emits. On the other hand, they consume just 9 watts compared to 11. The difference in brightness is noticeable in all three bulbs in the series—the Mini Color, Mini Day & Dusk, and Mini White—but the bulbs are otherwise functionally identical to the A19. The setup process is also the same, and they connect directly to your Wi-Fi network without need of a hub.

LIFX Mini Color

LIFX

The Mini Color delivers the same range of color production as the A19, and those colors all look fantastic. The bulb is just as speedy to switch colors, dim or brighten, or activate any number of fun party modes, including a music visualizer and a strobe light.

The bulb is compatible with Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple’s HomeKit platforms. While the Mini Color isn’t as bright as the larger A19 smart bulb, it’s still in line with most of the market, and the shape of the bulb allows for more light to be delivered to the sides of the bulb rather than emitting most of it straight up—a perennial issue with the A19.

The smaller bulb is also cheaper than the color A19—$40 versus $54—and it’s even less expensive than its prime competitor: the $45 Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance. Yes, you’ll find even less-expensive bulbs from lesser-known brands, but given the depth of features and quality of the light the LIFX Mini Color produces, this bulb is easily worth the additional cash.

LIFX Mini White

If you don’t need any color-tuning features—or really any tuning features at all—the LIFX Mini White offers a solution. It’s the same bulb as the LIFX Mini Color, producing 800 lumens max, only it’s locked at a color temperature of 2700K (though you’ll note that the LIFX app incorrectly displays the temperature as 3500K).

Christopher Null / IDG

While the bulb is set up and managed the same way as other LIFX bulbs, it lacks many of the features of its brethren. The color wheel is not available, and the white color-temperature wheel is grayed out. Many of the special party mode effects aren’t available here, either, although you can still use the candle flicker, strobe, and music visualizer effects. The bulb can be dimmed in software, too.

LIFX

The bulb worked fine in my testing, with the exception that when I scanned the HomeKit sticker, the camera picked up a 9 instead of a 4, causing me to have to reset the bulb before it would connect to my network.

The biggest selling point here is price: At $25, this is the cheapest Lifx bulb on the market by far, though it’s still a modest premium in price over other manufacturer’s non-tunable, white-only smart bulbs. While the bulb has the advantage of tying in seamlessly to the LIFX network, given that many of the LIFX app’s best features simply aren’t available on this stripped-down model, it’s probably best reserved for users who’ve already made a significant LIFX investment.

LIFX Mini Day & Dusk

“Day & Dusk” is LIFX’s shorthand for a white smart bulb with tunable light. This bulb is effectively the same as the LIFX Mini White, only instead of being locked to a color temperature of 2700K, it can shift through a modest range: 1500K to 4000K. The gimmick is that the LIFX app can automatically tune the light for you over the course of a day, starting with “energizing” cool light in the morning, then fading to more soothing, warm light after hours. Overnight, the bulb can be used as a very low-brightness nightlight.

LIFX

As with many bulbs of this ilk—the C by GE kit, for instance—I found the default temperature settings to be imperfect: too warm in the morning, and much too cool in the evening. Also, the default brightness settings run at around 80 percent for all times of day (except the nightlight), which didn’t make much sense to me considering the 9-watt bulb puts out only 800 lumens at full strength. You can change all of these settings in the LIFX app, but, unlike the other functions of the otherwise well-crafted app, it’s not terribly intuitive.

LIFX

The bigger issue here is that the bulb simply doesn’t have a broad enough color temperature range. 4000K is fairly middle-of-the-road when it comes to temperature; most competing bulbs stretch up to 6500K, which is considered a “true daylight” temperature. While the Day & Dusk’s ability to reach all the way down to 1500K is unique, I don’t find that anything below about 2500K—where the light takes a cartoonish, bright orange color—is all that useful.

You can, of course, turn the Day & Dusk feature off altogether and use the app to manually tune the light and brightness as you see fit. Four special-effects modes are also included. At $30, the bulb is roughly in line with the competition, but the limited range of color temperatures ultimately make it something of an also-ran in this category.

The Beam is LIFX’s answer to the Nanoleaf Aurora: A series of colorful panels designed to adhere to a wall, this is lighting designed to be more decorative than it is functional.

Michael Brown / IDG

Updated February 11, 2019 to report that LIFX has released a firmware update to patch a significant security vulnerability identified by a blogger who goes by the handle Limited Results. If you own LIFX bulbs, turn them on and launch the app. If you need the patch, the app should notify you that a firmware update is available for download. Click OK to download and update the firmware for all the LIFX bulbs on your network. (More info from LIFX here.)

True to its name, the LIFX Beam is a series of six translucent, beam-like rods, each a foot long and filled with LEDs. Each Beam module has a magnetic connector on either end. When you snap them together, they draw power from the previous module in the line. You can customize the Beam modules however you like, though the base package only allows you to make a single 90 degree turn, in the form of a small square piece that has a magnetic attachment on two adjacent faces.

In other words, straight out of the box, you can either use the six modules to make a straight line, or an L shape of some variety. A controller unit attaches to either end of your construction via a cable with a magnetic connector (and dangles unfortunately from the end of the Beam). The system supports a maximum of eight Beam modules and two corners per controller—though extra components are not sold individually, so you must mix and match from a second kit if you want more pieces.

LIFX

Like the Aurora, the Beam is a lot of fun. It’s easy to lay out the pieces and stick them to the wall. They even work for accent lighting (inside or atop a long bookshelf, for example), but you can do that job more cheaply with adhesive LED strips. What LED strips don’t typically get you is the range of color control that the Beam offers. Like the Aurora, the Beam is stuffed to the gills with special modes that cycle through colors, dim and brighten, or pulse in time with music.

These are the same special-effects modes that standard LIFX color bulbs support; but in a six-foot-long bar, these modes execute differently. Color themes can change the entire color of the Beam at once, or slide various colors along the length of the Beam instead, like a spray of rainbow. Most of these features can be tweaked in the app’s Effects tab, but it takes quite a bit of trial and error to get the hang of it all, requiring some shifting back and forth between various tabs and effects (which can often be run concurrently).

LIFX

Beam is very bright and its colors are rich and vibrant. It consumes 27 watts of power with all six Beam modules activated, putting out about 1,200 lumens at maximum brightness. Aurora panels each emit only 100 lumens at full brightness, and side by side they aren’t nearly as powerful. Beam is painful to look directly at when you dial it all the way up.

All controls are managed via the LIFX app; although the unit supports HomeKit like other LIFX bulbs, the iOS Home app has virtually none of the settings that appear in the full LIFX app, making it largely useless.

At $200, the LIFX Beam is priced the same as the Nanoleaf Aurora, and which you choose will largely come down to what kinds of shapes you want to make with your lights. The Aurora panels consume a large chunk of wall space, but the Beam can fit into tighter spaces. If you’ve standardized your home on other LIFX gear, Beam probably makes better sense, too.

Otherwise, if decorative lighting is on your shopping list, you really must ask yourself one question: Are you a triangle person, or are you more into straight lines?

Macs may be a far less tempting target for malware and viruses, but they’re not immune from attack. Even if you don’t care about adware or being used as a means to infect users on other platforms, it’s still possible to fall victim to ransomware, password theft, or stolen iPhone backups.

Accordingly, good antivirus software will protect your Mac on all of these fronts. It’ll catch malware that’s still spreading or in circulation; block ransomware; protect older systems with out-of-date software from security vulnerabilities; prevent your Mac from acting as a carrier for malware aimed at other operating systems; and keep infected files off of any virtual machines you’re running.

Many antivirus suites provide a decent level of protection, but a few rise above all others by providing the very best in performance. Our top contenders dominate by posting perfect (or virtually near perfect) scores from security research labs, passing our own malware detection tests with flying colors, offering well-designed interfaces, and even throwing in extra features like a firewall or password manager.

Updated 02/11/2019: Added a link to our ESET Cyber Security Pro review. To read the full review, click here.

Looking for Windows antivirus recommendations? You can read about the best antivirus suites for PC on our sister site, Haveaheartsavealife.

Latest antivirus for Mac news

• More than $1.1 million was lost to cybercrime every minute in 2018. That’s the key takeaway of the latest RiskIQ Evil Internet Minute report. In total, more than $600 billion will be lost to cybercrime and nearly 980 million people will be attacked in 2018
• North Korea’s alleged state-sponsored hackers, the Lazarus Group, has launched its first known malware attack against Mac computers, Kaspersky Labs reports. Kaspersky says a third-party “trojanized cryptocurrency trading application … compromised several banks and infiltrated a number of global cryptocurrency exchanges” to steal digital currencies like Bitcoin.
• Enterprise security firm Cylance is launching its first consumer-grade package: Cylance Smart Antivirus. The new software claims to use advanced, predictive AI to kill threats, all with a consumer-friendly interface and minimal penalties to device performance. 

Best overall antivirus software

Sophos Home Premium has it all: Effective malware protection, ransomware monitoring, protection against potentially-unwanted-apps, and additional features that often require separately licensed software. Its cloud-based configuration and generous licensing (up to 10 Macs and PCs) also make it easy to shield friends and family from threats, no matter where they live. (Full details available in our review.)

Best free antivirus software

Though Sophos does offer a good free version of its software, Avast Free Mac Security edges it out as the best free antivirus software for macOS. In security lab tests, Avast detected 99.9 percent of macOS malware, and 100 percent of Windows malware. However, if you want more advanced protection (like ransomware detection), you’ll need to upgrade to paid software.

What to look for in antivirus software

By our reckoning, antivirus software should be able to neutralize a threat before it can begin wreaking havoc. That means preventing the download, installation, or execution of malicious software.

Since you can encounter threats by visiting compromised or malicious websites, receiving virus-laden attachments, or accessing USB drives with malware, good AV software should scan on a continuous basis unless you configure it otherwise. And ideally, files identified as malicious should be quarantined into a special storage area managed by the AV software, with the option to automatically delete files known to be malware or repair normal documents that also carry devious payloads.

Great AV suites also will monitor the filesystem for certain kinds of changes. Ransomware—which is malware that will rapidly encrypt user files like documents and mailboxes and then delete the originals—has become a huge moneymaker on other platforms. As a prime opportunity for attackers, it’s the greatest danger Mac users likely face as a category.

Haveaheartsavealife

In addition to visiting malicious websites, downloading known malicious software, and even running said malware, we also reference the most recent reports from two labs that regularly cover macOS malware: AV Comparatives and AV-TEST. These laboratories test AV software against sets of known malware as well as products that are grouped as potentially unwanted applications (like adware).

The latter doesn’t damage or expose your computer or its files but may consume power and CPU cycles. Because the testing effectively looks at a combination of virus databases and behavior, they remain good gauges even after many months. When an antivirus software package lacks a rating from a known security research lab, we do more extensive testing with real malware.

Finally, while we gave props for a lot of different features and behaviors, we marked products down if they lacked any or all of the following:

• A nearly perfect score on macOS malware detection
• Ransomware monitoring
• Native browser plug-in or system-level Web proxy
• A high score on Windows malware detection

Privacy concerns

Using an anti-virus product, especially any that includes tools to also improve your online privacy, may lull you into believing you’re safe from personal and private information leaking out. That’s not quite the case. While there’s no reason to panic, you should consider a few reasonable issues.

First, an antivirus product may upload the complete text of files flagged to the cloud, where it can be analyzed by separate tools hosted there. This practice is normal and sensible: Some malware can detect when a running process may examine it, and will then engage in subterfuge. Antivirus software makers also can access their massive databases to examine files with characteristics that trigger their algorithms—certain elements that match known malware. As a result, security researchers discover new viruses, worms, Trojans horses, and the like.

Haveaheartsavealife

However, helping the greater good means you’ll have to be comfortable with trusting a third-party with your file contents. Where appropriate, we noted privacy policy issues in individual reviews.

Second, this software may also rely partly or entirely on cloud-based checks of URLs, malware, and the like. Accordingly, an AV package might upload every URL you visit, metadata about files, signatures of files, information about your computer’s hardware, a list of running or installed applications, and more. Companies vary on their disclosure of such policies, and may not let you opt out of this kind of sharing. We note issues in each review as available.

Third, anti-virus software makers also get a sense of what behavior is happening on your computer that’s being monitored or blocked, and may use that information for their own purposes. In some cases, you can opt out of this information gathering.

All of our antivirus for Mac reviews

If you have specific requirements or just wish to see other options, below is a list of all the antivirus software we’ve reviewed. We’ll keep evaluating new and refreshed software on a regular basis, so be sure to come back to see what else we’ve put through the ringer.

LIFX has taken its top-notch Wi-Fi color LED smart bulb and added a terrific feature to create the LIFX+: Infrared LEDs that illuminate the surrounding area even when the bulb is turned off (via software, that is). You can’t see this with your naked eye, but it will help your home security camera see in the dark.

Michael Brown / IDG

Updated February 11, 2019 to report that LIFX has released a firmware update to patch a significant security vulnerability identified by a blogger who goes by the handle Limited Results. If you own LIFX bulbs, turn them on and launch the app. If you need the patch, the app should notify you that a firmware update is available for download. Click OK to download and update the firmware for all the LIFX bulbs on your network. (More info from LIFX here.)

“Night vision” cameras—of which there are many on the market—can’t really see in the dark. What they have is a sensor that can detect light in the infrared spectrum, and most models have a small infrared LED on the front to help light up the surrounding when the sun goes down. Infrared light is invisible to our eyes, but it makes a huge difference in what the camera can pick up. The catch is that those infrared LEDs aren’t typically very powerful, which is why nighttime footage from most of these cameras looks fuzzy and muted.

Solution: Light up the scene with an external infrared light source, courtesy of bulbs you already have installed. The LIFX+ throws out a ton of light—far more than your typical IR camera—really brightening up nighttime footage no matter which IR camera you’re using. The before and after sample photos above give you a much better sense of this: Note how you can make out individual books on the far-right bookshelf in the after picture; in the before photo, they’re little more than a gray blur.

It’s a vivid scene… and yet, to the human eye, the lamp positioned in the picture is actually turned off in the right-hand photo (via software, that is. If power to the lamp itself was shut off, this trick wouldn’t work). The LIFX+ IR feature activates when you dim the light to 10 percent or below, or if you turn the bulb off in software; there’s otherwise no way to manually control just the infrared light or its power level.

This new model uses the same control app and is identical in size and weight to the LIFX Color 1000 we reviewed in October. The only visible difference is a very slight bump in luminosity, from 1055 lumens to 1100. Apart from that, this bulb functions the same as the less-expensive Color 1000, and it delivers the same rich colors, scheduling, and other smart-bulb trappings.

That means you have a single $20 question to answer if you’re considering one of these bulbs. Obviously, if you don’t have a night-vision camera in the vicinity of the bulb, stick with the cheaper model. But if you aren’t happy with the clarity of your video shot at nighttime, this is actually a reasonable way to solve that problem without adding additional hardware (or upgrading your camera).

This story, “LIFX+ color LED smart bulb review: This light bulb helps your security camera see in the dark” was originally published by

TechHive.

Smart light bulb pioneer LIFX continues to innovate in the space, with its Frankenstein’s-head-shaped bulb continuing to lead the pack on everything from build quality to software features.

Michael Brown / IDG

Updated February 11, 2019 to report that LIFX has released a firmware update to patch a significant security vulnerability identified by a blogger who goes by the handle Limited Results. If you own LIFX bulbs, turn them on and launch the app. If you need the patch, the app should notify you that a firmware update is available for download. Click OK to download and update the firmware for all the LIFX bulbs on your network. (More info from LIFX here.)

Little of physical significance has changed with the bulb in the last couple of years, as it retains its somewhat odd, oversized cylindrical design. Responding to concerns that most of the light emits upward from the bulb (or downward, if installed in a ceiling can) instead of to the sides, where it is needed in a typical lamp environment, LIFX has seemingly chosen a brute-force solution: Now packing 1,100 lumens of power, the LIFX A19 stands as seemingly the most powerful smart light bulb on the market. And in my testing, its brightness was unmatched by the competition.

In simple terms, the LIFX A19 is essentially the same bulb as the LIFX+, which adds an infrared nightlight to what is otherwise a standard, color-tunable smart bulb. Here, the night vision feature is simply stripped out. Compared to the LIFX+, the bulb is the same shape, size, and weight (both are a hefty 0.46 pounds), and it carries the same luminosity. It is slightly smaller, a bit brighter, and a few bucks cheaper than 2016’s LIFX Color 1000, which has been discontinued.

The other new trick with the 11-watt LIFX A19 is HomeKit compatibility. Bulbs can be set up manually over Wi-Fi, using the standalone LIFX app, or through HomeKit, if you have an Apple TV working as a HomeKit hub. If you do use HomeKit, you’ll find that bulbs appear within the iOS Home app and behave like any other color bulb, with dimming, color tuning, and scheduling features all within easy reach. That’s not a requirement, though; as with all LIFX bulbs, no hub of any kind is required to use the A19. You can also control any of LIFX smart bulb with voice commands via an Amazon Echo, Google Home, or Apple HomePod.

Christopher Null / IDG

The LIFX app is, as usual, more powerful than HomeKit can give you, and it was revamped last year with usability clearly at top of mind. Separate panels let you switch between color tuning and white color temperature tuning, with a simple dial giving you an easy color wheel to choose hues from and a dimming slider in the middle of the circle. The app offers several prebuilt themes, ranging from “blissful” to “Halloween,” plus eight specialty modes that range from a music visualizer to candle flicker to “spooky” mode (which you can pair with “Halloween” for best results).

LIFX

LIFX’s “Day & Dusk” system, which automates lights turning on to an energizing cold light in the morning and slowly fading to a relaxing warm light at night, is also enabled for this bulb. With years of testing under its belt, the LIFX app worked flawlessly in my testing and is intuitive enough for novices while offering plenty of features for power users.

While LIFX bulbs remain on the expensive side, that gap has closed enough to make LIFX a top-tier bulb worth considering for any environment where tunable color is on the menu.