Does anyone here have any? I have been wanting a set for a while and got a new in box 3rd gen for 126 bucks just now off ebay, I am looking forward to trying them out. If you have them is it worth it in your opinion and how do you find yourself using them?
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Home Philips Hue lights
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Gav2k
macrumors G3
If you have a decent play and set up scenes etc there great. They do what they say on the box and more.
tbayrgs
macrumors 604
They work just fine--have a few scattered in lamps around the house. My issue is that unless you purchase additional hardware controls, the only way they can be controlled is by voice or smartphone/tablet. This doesn't bother me but drives the rest of my family nuts.
I actually prefer the Lutron Caseta dimmers I installed in much of my home as it provides both the wireless control AND hardware controls yet also allows you to use your light bulbs of choice (usually far cheaper than the Phillips Hue bulbs). Tradeoff is I just don't have the mult-color options or any of the syncing options to movie/music playback. None of these interest me so I don't see any tradeoffs.
I actually prefer the Lutron Caseta dimmers I installed in much of my home as it provides both the wireless control AND hardware controls yet also allows you to use your light bulbs of choice (usually far cheaper than the Phillips Hue bulbs). Tradeoff is I just don't have the mult-color options or any of the syncing options to movie/music playback. None of these interest me so I don't see any tradeoffs.
I dont care about syncing lights to movies ect, I mainly want them for temperature and dimming/brightness controls
tbayrgs
macrumors 604
They work just fine for that...again, as long as you're OK controlling them exclusively with a smartphone/tablet or Echo/Google Home.
If you install them in ceiling fixtures, be prepared for people accidentally turning them off via the wall switches and you won't know until you try to turn them on using your phone and see they're unavailable.
I have three Philips color bulbs and they work flawless. I use them with Siri, Google Assistant, and Google Home. And of course the Hue app for settings and fine tuning colors. They even have an AW app for presets. I plan on getting Hue light strips to put in back of my TV soon.
Crazy Badger
macrumors 65816
I've got 6 in my living room, and it's nice being able to change the mood of the room, although we don't do it that often.
Not sure they are worth the money, but work perfectly using the iOS app, through Alexa, or using my Harmony TV remote. My home is full of GU10 bulbs, which cost about ~£200 to convert them all to LED. If I'd replaced them all with Hue bulbs would have been closer to £2500 😱
Not sure they are worth the money, but work perfectly using the iOS app, through Alexa, or using my Harmony TV remote. My home is full of GU10 bulbs, which cost about ~£200 to convert them all to LED. If I'd replaced them all with Hue bulbs would have been closer to £2500 😱
I use the Connected Bulb Remote for my Hue lights. I just have them wired as always "on". Works like a charm for me though.
I currently have a bulb in the bedroom, and 4 bulbs in the family room. I don't mind using Siri/Homekit to turn the lights on or off but for my family it's become quite inconvenient. I ended up buying the switch that has the on/off/dimmer buttons and it's solved most of the issues with the family and works great.
i actually have 28 in total lol
i also have 2 hue strips as under cabinet lighting in the kitchen. 12 of the lights i actually have outside and i have a routine setup so they turn on when it's dark and turn off when it gets light out again. If you are someone wanting to save money or just want led lights, then these are not for you. You can't be price sensitive and want to run this setup. I love tech stuff and home automation so have no issues with the price.
The thing you may find annoying like another person mentioned is people have been trained to turn the lights on and off by a switch. If you don't buy a philips hue switch/dimmer to pair with these, you will find it annoying as people will turn the lights off, making them unavailable. We have several of these in the main rooms that we frequent and they can even be taken off the wall and use from the bed etc. You will also realize that telling siri/google/alexa to turn and turn them off is actually fairly slow then just hitting the switch.
These lights are capable of some pretty cool things though. We have multiple logitech harmony smart control hubs in the house and hue connects to them. So you can make an activity to where it turns off your main lights and turns on a lamp when you watch tv. It can obviously also change the colors as well.
I have found that siri/homekit doesn't work as well with hue as google home or echo. I had issues trying to set up routines and now do all of them via the hue app instead.
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We have several Hue bulbs. They work great, but if you're looking for persistent control from within either the Hue app or Home app, you'll have to learn to leave the actual on/off switches in the on position. Hue dimmer switches can help with this.
ohms12
macrumors 6502
You have to make sure you buy the Lutron Connected Bulb Remote. It is separate from their Caseta series. I am using them in my kitchen and living room, but I think in my bathrooms and bedrooms, I'm going to just use Cree LED bulbs and use the Caseta switches. I don't really have a need for the Hue bulbs in my bathrooms and bedrooms, and having my switches wires to always "on" worries me a tad.
Hope someone can answer this for me. I’ve just added 4 Philips Hue to my home and all works well so far including asking Siri to do things
So here’s the question.
Part 1 - If someone is staying at my place (I rent it from time to time) can they, if they are connected to my wifi network, use Siri to adjust and turn lights on/off? I realize they'd need an iPhone/iPad.
Part 2 - Same as 1 above. Could they control using Siri through the HomePod?
Part 3 - I have Apple TV 4. Can it assist with Hue at all?
So here’s the question.
Part 1 - If someone is staying at my place (I rent it from time to time) can they, if they are connected to my wifi network, use Siri to adjust and turn lights on/off? I realize they'd need an iPhone/iPad.
Part 2 - Same as 1 above. Could they control using Siri through the HomePod?
Part 3 - I have Apple TV 4. Can it assist with Hue at all?
The Game 161
macrumors Nehalem
As long as they have the phillips hue app and know the wifi password yes they will be able to. hey siri will work with anybody saying turn the lights on or off.
apple TV can't assist with hue no.
StumpyBloke
macrumors 603
My Apple TV 4K works fine with my Philips Hue lights… I can control them all including scenes by using the remote (just talk into it)
The Game 161
macrumors Nehalem
My Apple TV 4K works fine with my Philips Hue lights… I can control them all including scenes by using the remote (just talk into it)
I stand corrected then didn’t realise it worked
Thanks for the help. More comments/advice welcomed.
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Does this require an app to be on the Apple TV? Like Hue or HomeKit?
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My Apple TV 4K works fine with my Philips Hue lights… I can control them all including scenes by using the remote (just talk into it)
Does this require an app to be on the Apple TV? Like Hue or HomeKit?
The Game 161
macrumors Nehalem
I'm guessing it will just work via your icloud like you could say on your watch/iphone/ipad to turn off your lights. So I imagine it would sync through your icloud account
SigEp265
macrumors 6502a
If you already have a hub, there are other cheaper alternatives for bulbs. I personally have a Samsung SmartThings hub (i got it refurbished) and CREE LED smart bulbs .. they are about $15 each. LIFX is also another brand I like that has colored bulbs. The hub allows my lights to turn on when I arrive at home. It's great!
StumpyBloke
macrumors 603
It just integrates with Apple HomeKit, no extra TV app needed. Same Apple ID of course.
