thats my only complaint on the Hue bulbs -- still too dim. they work for accent lights but id really like my main lamps to be brighter than the equivalent of 60w.
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Philips Hue Ends Support for Some Third-Party Bulbs Amid 'Interoperability Issues'
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thats my only complaint on the Hue bulbs -- still too dim. they work for accent lights but id really like my main lamps to be brighter than the equivalent of 60w.
What you don't realize is that the reason you can even get a $15 Hue bulb is because of competition from the other bulbs.
You're gonna be missing out when other people are getting $5 connected bulbs with better color and range, and last longer, because you think "this issue is overblown".
Note that the 800 lumens is the max output at 4000K color temperature, which is a pretty orange amber light. If you run yours at, say, 6500K daylight level instead, the output is only around 550 lumens. And from everything I've read, the difference between the older and new version isn't really noticeable to the naked eye.
They really need to come out with much brigher bulbs approaching 1200-1500 lumens at daylight color temperature. I fear, though, that the heat generated at that brightness in combination with the heat from the electronics inside would greatly shorten the lifespan of the bulb.
DRM on light bulbs.
I think I'm just going to wait out on converting my home into a "smart home" until some of this tech (and their companies attitudes) mature a little.
I think I'm just going to wait out on converting my home into a "smart home" until some of this tech (and their companies attitudes) mature a little.
This is why I am walking away from my Hue bulbs and only buying Lutron Caseta from now on. And yes, I know that the Caseta is a hub that uses a proprietary protocol. But once the switches are in I can use whatever bulb, ceiling fan, lamp or whatever I want.
Yeah, yeah, great. Whatever. When are they going to fix the Siri voice control problem with the Hue app and their own Hue bulbs? I thought this article was announcing an app update, but it's not in the App Store. Bought the new hub expressly for Siri voice control and have been waiting for the update (which their techs claim is coming) for a month.
Philips needs to get their software act together.
Philips needs to get their software act together.
I also had good luck achieving some of the same things with the Elgato Eve app (I don't have any Elgato devices, but even Philips suggests it for setting up HomeKit rooms and zones): https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/elgato-eve/id917695792?mt=8
I solved that problem in a different way. The (latest, 800lumen bulbs/HomeKit compatible bridge) Hue Starter Kit replaced the ambient/reading lighting in my small living room (along with a Hue Lightstrip Plus attached in a loose spiral to the back of the TV - an LCD screen in a corner - behind a layer of tracing paper; gives a wonderful smooth even light on the wall).
The light that the Hues couldn't replace was an old 300 watt Halogen torchiere, that got used only when I wanted the living room REALLY BRIGHT, for cleaning, craft projects, and such. I solved that by getting a StudioPRO S-600B Bi-Color LED Lighting Panel that I mounted on top of a bookcase, just below the ceiling, aimed roughly 45 degrees up.
It uses the smaller, lower power 5mm LEDs, rather than the newer Cree 1-watt to 5-watt LEDs, but it uses 600 of them (a 24 by 25 matrix, about 16 inches square) - 300 "warm white" (3200K) and 300 "daylight" (5600K) LEDs in alternating rows. There are two dials on the back so you can vary the brightness of each set, to achieve the color of light you prefer, or crank them both up for maximum output. With all of them running full blast, it's claimed to put out over 6,000 lumens, and I suspect that's not far off. And it does that for around 50 watts (checked with a Kill-a-Watt). It's designed for professional video and still photography lighting, so it puts out a nice, even, bright light.
I plugged this panel into the electrical outlet through an iDevices Switch, which connects to your WiFi network (WPA2 and everything) and works with HomeKit, with no hub involved.
So, I can tell Siri, "turn on my torch" and a couple seconds later the whole room is lit up BRIGHT. I can use the Home app to incorporate it into HomeKit scenes, but the Hue app / ecosystem doesn't know about it.
Home is a $15 app, and it's worth the money. It's pretty nearly the app that Apple should have released as "the" HomeKit front-end app (I'd be happy if Apple bought it and released it as such). It'll let you see how everything is actually set up. Aside from it and the Hue app, the other one I'd recommend is the free iDevices Connected app. You don't need to have any of iDevices' hardware to use it, and it knows more about HomeKit setup (homes, rooms, service groups, etc.) than the Hue app does.
The problem with the Hue app is that it is very good at talking to the Hue hub directly (turns out it's a simple HTTP REST protocol using JSON-formatted text data), but isn't very good at speaking HomeKit (because that was bolted on after the fact); it only has the barest minimum to submit lamps and scenes. In my particular setup, something corrupts the scenes in HomeKit every once in a while (I suspect the Hue app itself), but I can fix this by using the Home app to delete the scenes from HomeKit, then go into "Siri" settings in the Hue app and click each of the scenes to re-export them from Hue to HomeKit.
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Thank god for my 3rd party Wink Hub. I don't have to care what brand of bulbs or what not I buy, it integrates them all. I especially appreciate that my GE Link bulbs work directly with it without needing their own hub. My Chamberlain MyQ Connected Garage door works with it as well. I did end up going with Philips for my under cabinet lighting because the crappy WeMo Osram Lightify ones were absolute junk (the WeMo sending unit kept timing out. WeMo is junk). The only advantage I have of the Philips lights and the GE Link is that that I have the 2.0 Bridge and can do Homekit Siri commands. My GE Links are either app controlled, timer controlled, or function controlled (i.e garage door opens after sunset then the lamp inside the house turns on, that sort of thing)....
I used it at first, too, and I like it. It was better than the Hue app for controlling my Hue bulbs. But when I brought my girlfriend's place on line I saw no way to set up both places on each of our phones. Plus the Home app allows for triggers, which lets me set up geofencing scenes.
Looks like Philips listened to the tweets, emails, and phone calls: http://www.developers.meethue.com/documentation/friends-hue-update
I'm a bit surprised that they're just straight-up reversing it. If I had been them, I think I would have put in a toggle - by default it doesn't support other devices, to avoid any possible instability for the masses who won't use is anyway, but if you go into the settings and flip a switch, then it would allow the previous behavior, after warning that some instability could happen. Hardcore users get their capabilities back, and casual users are less likely to see trouble (and anyone who opts-in has gone through a warning screen).
Hue has the cheaper bulbs 20% off I bought enough to replace my wink bulbs. Anyone want a bunch of bulbs for shipping let me know
I didn't realize they dropped down that much. I'm still on the fence though with the 80 CRI. I'd be all over it if they were 90+
Really late to the party as I don't check the forum often, but wanted to reply anyway since this was a response to me.
First, no, it's not like the $2 eBay Lightning cable knockoff. CREE is one of the most well-regarded manufacturers of LED products and GE is another major player in LED lighting (and certainly not a small company in any regard). Second, the *problem* here is that Philips built on top of a home automation standard, sold products which worked across that standard, and later ended support for that standard after customers had purchased their products and extended their network using the standard exactly as intended.
(Philips actually rolled back this change after customer outcry, but still).
One of the biggest problems with home automation is the assortment of standards and communication across them, even though the situation is slowly improving. It's obnoxious enough with incompatibility or frustrating/multiple-device workarounds to communicate across standards even without these *unnecessary* 'works with' certifications. HomeKit's is somewhat tolerable because it it includes stringent security and encryption requirements—and because it's a communication standard—but it's far more obnoxious when it's happening on a basic device level such as with lighting. It was a bad move and it's nice to see customers' voices were heard.