Phillips Hue Review. A Brilliant Connected Smart Lighting System.
/Phillips Hue, A Brilliant connected Smart Lighting System.
Today we are reviewing the Phillips Hue
Since starting Crux of Tech, I have sold my house and moved into a rental. I previously had a write up on the Lutron Caseta, which I will miss.The Lutron works with actual switches and that sends the information to the bridge. In a rental it can be a bit more challenging in modifying things like outlets and switches.
I needed another solution, I started researching and saw the plugs, the ones you plug into the outlets and then you plug your lamps into. I, personally didn’t like that. Not really my style. I did some more research and came on the Phillips Hue.
This seemed like the perfect solution for what I needed. I did not need to alter or adjust any existing outlets or switches. The technology is all in the bulb. I can set scenes, dim the lights and turn on using the app as well as Alexa and a multitude of other apps and devices.
Phillips offers 3 different light color options
· White
White and Color Ambiance gives the ability to control normal white color schemes as well as up to 16 million plus colors.
White gives you a light temperature of 2700k, which is warm white. Normal indoor lighting that most of us are used to.
White Ambiance ranges from 2200-6500k which is warm white to cool daylight.
I ended up buying the White kit from Amazon for $61.89. The kit included;
· Bridge
· 1 Ethernet Cable
· 1 Power adapter
I also purchased a 3 pack of Phillips Hue LED bulbs for a total of five. That was $39.97 also on Amazon.
They also have a starter kit with the Bridge and 4 LED Smart Bulbs for $88 right now on sale, typically it is $99.99.
Set up.
You start by screwing your bulbs into your lighting fixtures and turn on the light switches. Plug your bridge in and connect it to your router using the Ethernet cable. Wait for the three lights on the top of the bridge to come on. Then download the Phillips Hue app and connect it to your bridge.
Once you have the app, you can start configuring it to your liking. Name each room and each bulb individually. I have one in my bedroom and one in my son’s room.
I also have three in the living room. I created a room set up called “Living ” to control all three at once. I can also control each one individually as well.
To control them individually, tap the room you want to control, then tap lights and you will see each light there individually. Tap whichever you want and it will turn on or off. You can also dim them as well.
Each Bridge can connect up 50 bulbs, which is a good amount and gives you room to scale your set up.
Turning the lights on and off is pretty easy as well. You can use the Hue app, Alexa or various other compatible formats.
Let’s start with the App;
· Open the app
· Tap the light you want to control by tapping on the little sider to the left,
· You can also tap the light and it will bring you to scenes, you can have it bright, dimmed or in nightlight.
Quite straightforward.
Chances are you have an iPhone and you guessed it, you can use Apple Home to control the Phillips Hue. Once you have connected the bridge to Apple Home you can use Siri to turn your lights on and off. You can also use the Apple Home app to control the lights.
I have Alexa connected to the Phillips Hue. I say a command such as “Alexa, turn on Living ” and she responds with an “OK” if she understands the command, if she does not she will say “I cant find (enter name of light here). That happens when either she didn’t understand what you said and interprets something different or you said the wrong name that is associated with the light or grouping.
For example, initially my son’s room was called Niko. I would say Alexa, turn Niko on” and she would respond I can’t find Nicole. She would have a hard time understanding that we were actually saying “Niko” not “Nicole.” That became frustrating so we changed the name to “Whale.” I figured Whale would be a bit harder to miss and so far it has worked well.
Now for the other mix up where she says “ I cant find X”, usually that happens when you say the wrong name. An example is you say “Alexa, turn on Living Room” but the name she knows is actually “Living.” The lights will not go on or off unless you say the actual name.
I recommend naming the lights something easy and perhaps one word names. It will make the experience much easier and enjoyable. Instead of naming the light(s) Dining Room name them Dining.
The Phillips Hue is a solid wireless smart LED lighting system. It is easy to set up, implement and use. The basic ingredients for technology to make our life easier.
I have included some links to get your own Hue Phillips
If you have any questions or commments, let us know below.
