It seems like each day brings us closer to a future where anything and everything around us features integration with Amazon’s virtual personal assistant, Alexa. Today, it’s GE that inches us toward that future with a product like you’ve never seen before. It’s called the Sol, and it features a modern design reminiscent of Dyson’s bladeless fans. That’s where the similarities end, of course, because the Sol doesn’t throw any air. Instead, it’s a sleek smart lamp that isn’t just controlled by Alexa, it has Alexa voice control built right in. On top of all the nifty smart features and automation capabilities, the Sol can answer all your questions and even control other devices, with access to more than 20,000 Alexa skills.
As a lamp, the Sol is very cool. Built-in touch controls let the user make on-device adjustments, but the real action takes place in the free C by GE companion app for the iPhone and Android devices. With the app, you can adjust the color temperature, create scenes and schedules, and even enable or disable a built-in clock that uses red and blue lights on the inner part of the ring to display the current time. Those inner lights can also count down timers that you set using an Alexa voice command.
I really enjoyed testing the Sol. I streamed music, got help with a recipe, ordered something on Amazon, got the weather, and even opened the lock on my front door all by speaking commands to Alexa on the lamp. Then I moved it upstairs and used a very cool smart sleep feature that automatically sets the lamp to a wonderful warm hue at night to help you sleep, and then shifts to a cool hue in the morning to better illuminate the room and help wake you up.
The GE Sol is the first of its kind, and I’m a big fan. The smart lamp features alone are worth the $199.99 asking price, and the fact that it doubles as an Echo device is an added bonus. The GE Sol is available beginning Monday on Amazon and on the GE website.
