Last year Australian lighting brand Mirabella launched a range of smart lightbulbs and smart switches at Kmart. Now Mirabella has expanded their Genio smart home range to include a very affordable $39 3-metre smart wi-fi colour changing LED strip light, motion sensor, window/door sensor and IR Controller.
None of the Mirabella Genio devices need a special hub, just Wi-Fi. All the Mirabella Genio devices can be controlled via the Mirabella app or by voice using Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and IFTT.
Kmart chose to rebrand the 3 new Mirabella video security cameras (Indoor Pan and tilt, Indoor fixed and Outdoor) under their Anko brand but these still work with the Mirabella app.
Specifications for the new Genio products as well as photos, manuals and setup videos can be found at the Mirabella Genio website.
Mirabella Genio LED Light Strip Specifications
- Length: 3 Metres with total of 180 LEDs.
- Dimensions: 10mm Wide PU Coated IP65 Strip with 3M double sided backing tape
- Total Lumens: 900-1000 across the strip in Cool White mode.
- LED type: 5050 RGB + 5050 Cool White 4000K.
- Power: 12V 1A Adaptor with 1.5 metre power cord.
Setup Process
The setup process for the Mirabella Genio light strip sample we were sent to test was easy. After it was connected to Wi-Fi it appeared in the Genio app on my phone where it’s possible to turn on/off manually or via schedule, change the brightness, colour or use editable scenes.
The most important part of the setup process was connecting it to my 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi frequency, not my 5Ghz Wi-Fi frequency. Mirabella makes this very clear on all their Genio product packaging, manuals and in the app setup process.
Almost all smart home internet of things devices will work more reliably on 2.4Ghz. If you use a Wi-Fi router that merges 2.4 and 5Ghz under the same Wi-Fi name the Genio setup process will probably not work.
In terms of power use the Genio light strip pulled 0.2-0.3 watts when idle and waiting to be turned on, at full brightness cool white it used about 4.5 watts.
Smart Home Control
The light strip also appeared automatically in my Google Home and Alexa apps as I’d already enabled the Genio connection to setup my smart plugs months before.
Controlling the Genio smart light via Google Home and Alexa apps and by voice was easy. Genio lights can be controlled individidually or as a group of lights via Google/Alexa regardless of how many smart light brands are mixed in the group. See the range of available commands below.
Should You Buy the Mirabella Genio Light Strip?
Compared to a Philips Hue Light Strip Plus capable of 1600 lumens in the same room the Mirabella Genio light strip is noticeably less bright at 900-1000 lumens. If both are set to peak brightness the Genio strip outputs about 60% of the light that the Hue strip does.
However if you compare the relative retail prices the Genio strip at $39 is about 1/3rd of the cost of a Philips Hue Light Strip Plus.
If you have plenty of money to spend on smart home lighting buy a set of Philips Hue or LIFX Z LED light strips.
On the other hand if the $100 plus price tag of Philips and Hue light strips is way over your budget then while it isn’t quite as bright the $39 Mirabella Genio light strip offers very good value for money and many of the same smart home control features.
It would be a great fit for accent lighting under the edge of kitchen or bathroom cabinets where you’d like some ambient lighting.
All the Mirabella Genio smart home lighting and devices can be bought at Kmart under the Genio and Anko camera brands.
Disclosure Statement
Mirabella allowed Ausdroid to keep their LED light strip to compare how reliable it is over time vs Hue and other competitors
These have been out of stock at most Kmart stores for a while now, does anyone know if/when they will be available again? Or perhaps an alternative place to buy them?
I’m wondering if you could change the wall plugin, to a battery-powered setup…
Thanks for this review, I’ll certainly be checking this one out. Just wanted a little more light on a bench in the kitchen, this will be perfect.
That brightness and price is really good for behind TV lighting, you don’t need bright there and cheaper the better because you will be cutting it short.
Awesome! It looks like it’s compatible with other strip-LEDs that use that addressable 4-pin strips? I’m going to try it out.
Well done Mirabella on bringing out affordable smart products.