For many readers the name Nanoleaf will sound familiar, in the past years we have tested several products of Nanoleaf. In most cases Nanoleaf designs their own products, but in collaboration with Umbra they have launched a new portable lamp, the Umbra Cono.
The design of this smart portable and rechargeable lamp is designed by Umbra, but contains the smart technology of Nanoleaf. The best of both worlds you would say, but whether that is true, you can read in this review.
Nanoleaf and Umbra
Nanoleaf is a company that designs smart lighting solutions, including modular, energy-efficient LED light panels that are easily controlled via an app or your smart home. These panels can be arranged in different shapes and patterns and offer a wide range of colors and effects to illuminate and decorate any space.
Umbra, on the other hand, is a design company that focuses on creating stylish and functional homewares, such as furniture, storage systems and decorative accessories. They are known for their innovative designs and use of modern materials.
The collaboration between these two companies has currently produced two lamps: the Cup Lamp and the Cono Lamp. In this review we will discuss the latter.
Umbra Cono
The Umbra Cono is a portable smart lamp designed by Umbra in collaboration with Nanoleaf. This table lamp has a unique design that allows it to be used in multiple orientations, such as upright, on its side, or even upside down. The base also doubles as a handle, making it versatile enough to even use this lamp as a flashlight.
The Cono offers over 16 million colors and has a brightness of approximately 130 lumens. The lamp can be controlled manually or via the Nanoleaf app. The lamp is also compatible with various smart home ecosystems via Matter and Thread. The Cono has a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that provides up to five hours of light and can be easily charged with a USB-C cable.
In the box
When purchasing the Umbra Cono Lamp, you will receive a USB-C to USB-A cable to charge the device in addition to the smart lamp. You will also find a quick guide in the box. An adapter is not included.
Connect Umbra Cono to Nanoleaf app
In principle, the Cono works straight out of the box thanks to the touch button on the lamp itself. This allows you to turn the lamp on and off (single tap), choose between warm white, cool white and 4 RGB colours (double tap) or long press to adjust the brightness level. If you want more freedom, it is recommended to pair the Cono with the Nanoleaf app or a Matter hub.
Connect to your smart home
Turn on the Cono and open the Nanoleaf app to pair the portable lamp. Then you can use the application to control the lamp. It is possible to control the lamps directly via Bluetooth or via Thread in combination with Matter.
Matter is an IP-based connectivity protocol that allows smart home devices from different brands to work together. This means that you can also connect Nanoleaf lighting directly to a Matter hub without using the Nanoleaf app. This can be done, for example, to a HomePod or Apple TV 4K.
Personalize Nanoleaf via the app
The lighting of Nanoleaf is unique in its kind and ensures that you can make your house, garden or balcony even more personal. The Cono Lamp can be provided with special effects, all this is made possible with the help of an app for the iPhone, iPad or Android device.
The application allows you to give the lamp a fixed colour or effect. The Cono has a few bright and colourful scenes as standard. This allows you to automatically change the colour of the lighting, whereby you can determine the speed and intensity yourself.
With the extremely advanced app, the possibilities are almost endless. For example, you can activate different scenes and compose them yourself, so you can give the lamp its own color, brightness or effect. At first, the application is busy and confusing, but fortunately, after a few days you will quickly find out how the app works exactly.
Don’t want to use the app? Then you can also connect the lamp directly to a Matter hub and access it via the associated application. In the case of Apple, this is the Home app. Please note that you cannot play effects, but you can adjust the colors and brightness. In addition, you can also include the Cono in automations and operate it with speech (Siri).
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Bright and full colours
Not many people like the colorful LED lights, but the Nanoleaf lighting is not comparable to traditional RGB lighting. The lights are fuller in color and anything but standard blue, red, green LED light, the colors match Philips HUE lighting. For example, the lights can also display soft pink, purple, green, yellow, warm white, etc. This allows every family member to set their favorite mood lighting.
Design Umbra Cono
The design of the Umbra Cono is striking. It looks like a coffee funnel with a cross as a base. This combination allows you to use the Cono in multiple orientations, such as upright, on its side (90º) or even upside down. Unfortunately, you cannot place the lamp at an angle (45º), which causes the light to fan out more. They could have solved this by providing the base with three legs instead of four.
Furthermore, the Cono lamp is made of plastic with clear seams and could have a nicer finish. The lamp is also less solid than you would expect. The rubber ring on the top can be removed quite easily and there is some play on the base. This makes the lamp feel cheap, which it is anything but. For the price of € 110 you can expect a little more quality.
Controlling the Cono lamp
The Cono lamp can be operated in various ways, where you mainly have the choice between manual and via an app. Manually, the lighting responds quickly, with the app you are dependent on the Bluetooth connection. This can cause the lamp to respond more slowly or be temporarily unavailable. Have you connected the lamp to Matter? Then there is a good chance that it connects to your smartphone and smart home via Thread, after all, there is no WiFi available because otherwise the battery would be empty too quickly.
Rechargeable lamp
The biggest advantage of the Umbra Cono lamp from Nanoleaf is the fact that it is portable and equipped with an internal battery. This allows you to use the lamp anywhere for about 5 hours at maximum brightness. Of course, you can also choose to always supply the lamp with power and disconnect it if you want to use it elsewhere. In the box you only have a USB-C cable and no charger.
Conclusion: Umbra Cono Lamp
REVIEW SCORE
The collaboration between Umbra and Nanoleaf has resulted in a special lamp that can be used multifunctionally. You can adjust the colours and provide the lamp with beautiful effects via the lamp itself, the Nanoleaf app or your smart Matter home.
The design is striking, but also versatile. You can use the Cono Lamp in multiple orientations, such as upright, on its side or even upside down. Unfortunately, the design also has some disadvantages, for example the lamp always shines upwards or 90º to the side, an intermediate solution of 45º would have been much better to illuminate a wall for example. Of course you can put the lamp against something, but that is not always a nice solution.
The Cono has an internal battery that lasts five hours at maximum brightness. To function as energy-efficiently as possible, the lamp works on Bluetooth and connects to your smart home via Thread (Bluetooth).
- Rechargeable design lamp
- Bright and full colours thanks to Nanoleaf integration
- Multifunctional design for placement in multiple orientations
- Matter support and energy efficient via Thread
- Can be operated manually, but also via Nanoleaf app or smart home
- Finishing leaves much to be desired: seams and rubber ring easy to remove
- Can only be placed horizontally or vertically, not independently at an angle
- No adapter included
- Battery lasts only four to five hours at maximum brightness
Buy Umbra Cono Lamp
The Umbra Cono Lamp by Nanoleaf is available in the colors gray and Sierra with a suggested retail price of € 110. They also sell the Umbra Cup lamp, a table lamp for on a desk with a holder for office supplies. The Umbra Cup lamp has a suggested retail price of € 150.
In addition, we have an extra tip, the lights can also be purchased via the Nanoleaf webshop. They have a points and friends system there. By purchasing products, posting a review, liking messages, etc. you can save points that you can then exchange for a gift voucher for their webshop. So be sure to make a Nanoleaf account before you order your products because every euro is worth 10 points.