Philips Hue Line Gains Brighter A21 Bulb, Bluetooth Lightstrip and Revamped Bloom Lamp

[RMo]

a Bluetooth version of the popular Hue Lightstrip Plus that connects to WiFi.

Just to clarify, no Hue products connect to Wi-Fi. The Bridge/Hub is a wired LAN device, and the wireless protocol between the devices and the Bridge (and each other) is Zigbee, not Wi-Fi (though, of course, you can control them with a Wi-Fi device if it's on the same network, e.g., using the Hue app or a third-party integration).

Further, the article didn't mention one of the best parts of the new Lightstrip: you could always cut it, but then officially you lost the part of the strip that you cut. Now they're including official connectors (there have always been third-party connectors and unlit "extension cables" of varying quality with or without soldering required--I'm curious what theirs will look like) so you can re-use these pieces.

 

[chinito77]

That's nice and all but pretty useless when they have an app that doesn't work. I've been a long time Hue user but sadly, the app has gotten so bad that I can't even register bulbs anymore because it just quits. There was a time when you could control the lights without any fuss, now, it's a mess. They need to focus on the app!

 

[rmariboe]

That's nice and all but pretty useless when they have an app that doesn't work. I've been a long time Hue user but sadly, the app has gotten so bad that I can't even register bulbs anymore because it just quits. There was a time when you could control the lights without any fuss, now, it's a mess. They need to focus on the app!

I have had zero problems at any point with iPhones 6S, 7, 8 and Xs (currently using 8 and Xs).
Maybe it’s your device that’s broken?

 

[LumbermanSVO]

It seems overpriced at first, but the bulbs last practically forever, so in the long run it doesn't matter.

I bought all my Hue kit about for years ago and have spent $0 since then. Everything is still working great.

The hue lights have proven to be the most reliable and smoothest operating electronics in my home.

 

[Onelifenofear]

The whole smart lighting idea is nice. Too bad the lights themselves suck so badly. All the Philips Hue lights are rated CRI80 at 4000K. When dimmed and set to a warmer 2700K the CRI drops way below 75. Even fluorescent produce richer colours than this! Whenever I visit friends that have these Philips Hue lamps it looks like everyone ate some bad mussels or something.

The Philips master line have much cheaper GU10 lamps that are rated CRI97 at 2700K. Osram has a Clear retro look E27 lamp that is rated CRI90 at 2700K. Both of these are just a few bucks and produce much nicer light. Even when dimmed heavily. Why on earth would you want to mess around with these Philips Hue crap?

So this is really outdated information. Go Have a look at the exceedingly boring LED testing sites and all the newer ones have CRI > 90. Hue only say that all their lights are over 80.

The first gens bulbs and fixtures from 2012 - 2015 were a bit rubbish Granted. Especially the 1st gen strips. Bit all that’s changed Now. The latest GU10s and Bulbs have been tested at 92 CRI ( that is a pretty awful metric anyway )

For me the most important thing is the flicker rate and that fantastic with hue. Some other brands can cause some people sensitive to flicker Headaches.

Oh and the other lights are either not colour / temperate changeable or smart.
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That's nice and all but pretty useless when they have an app that doesn't work. I've been a long time Hue user but sadly, the app has gotten so bad that I can't even register bulbs anymore because it just quits. There was a time when you could control the lights without any fuss, now, it's a mess. They need to focus on the app!

Zero problems here on any phone / device. If you are a long time user do you have the newest hub? The old hub was a bit shonky - certainly when you add the newer lights to them. People complain about this but there are dozens of new hubs for like $£20 On eBay.

 

[x-evil-x]

That's nice and all but pretty useless when they have an app that doesn't work. I've been a long time Hue user but sadly, the app has gotten so bad that I can't even register bulbs anymore because it just quits. There was a time when you could control the lights without any fuss, now, it's a mess. They need to focus on the app!

Something is up either with your phone or maybe the hue hub you have might be bad. I’ve never had a problem with the app. Have over 30 bulbs and strips.

 

[Onelifenofear]

Philips Hue products only work with the bridge device. Philips offers bulbs under Wiz branding that don’t need the bridge, but the lineup is limited: https://www.usa.lighting.philips.com/consumer/smart-wifi-led

I’ve been tempted to pull the trigger on a Hue setup but I’m scared it’ll be a pain to use without installing switches or using a voice assistant.

Ok - so the new hue stuff has Bluetooth as well as the Zigbee connection and connects to Alexa etc. Personally I’d alway connect via the the hue hub. 50 devices and they all act as zigbee repeaters and are very reliable.

My entire new house going to be hue. Inside and out. Sure it‘s expensive but the electricians Bill is way Cheaper as you don’t have to do 2/3 way wiring For stairs / bedrooms etc - 1 simple switch and stick the remotes whereever you want

 

[MiamiC70]

About time they made a 100W equivalent. 60W doesn't cut it for most of our lighting needs.

Just add more bulbs Or fixtures. Problem solved.

 

[name99]

Question...do you need a hub for the bulbs, or can an Apple TV act as one? I have two bulbs from a different brand, that run through my Dot. I’m fixing up my place, and was thinking of going with Philips bulbs.

The newest Hue bulbs supposedly come with a BT radio and so can connect directly to HomeKit. (Older bulbs come with a Zigbee radio, so you need some sort of hub that speaks Zigbee to talk to them, and the Hue hub is probably the easiest choice.)

More generally, although I can't say I know anything better, IMHO Hue is a disappointing brand. For the price level you are paying, I think the level of compatibility is hard to justify. Every range of Hue bulbs (dimmable only, white but variable color, and full color) seems to offer different Zigbee specs, and is treated differently. This means that interop between devices is garbage -- eg half the IFTTT routines for handling Hue only work on the full color bulbs, or if you get a remote that's supposed to be able to dim, change color temperature, or change color you will find that
- it won't even pair with the white dimmable bulbs
- it will pair with white variable color, but neither dimming nor changing color temperature work.

Hue programming directly to their API is a total PITA, but their IFTTT support is even more useless; realistically you're limited to what you can do easily via HomeKit. And the supposed value-add Hue features like Hue Labs are almost uniformly useless gimmicks.

Of every ecosystem I've made some attempt to invest in, I'd say Hue is the most disappointing, the biggest gap between the quality level I expect and what's actually delivered.

But, like I said, I don't know a better alternative :-(

I have not been too disappointed by my Wyze bulbs (and they are cheap) BUT
- they require a WiFi connection, and I'm getting sick of devices like this. They're just too damn fragile to having to maintain a particular WiFi environment forever, not to mention they may require some random server somewhere to run forever, so that when it dies the device dies.
- they are only white variable temperature, not full color, if you need that
- to get HomeKit support you need to run HomeBridge or similar, which is not a great option for most people.

 

[x-evil-x]

The newest Hue bulbs supposedly come with a BT radio and so can connect directly to HomeKit. (Older bulbs come with a Zigbee radio, so you need some sort of hub that speaks Zigbee to talk to them, and the Hue hub is probably the easiest choice.)

More generally, although I can't say I know anything better, IMHO Hue is a disappointing brand. For the price level you are paying, I think the level of compatibility is hard to justify. Every range of Hue bulbs (dimmable only, white but variable color, and full color) seems to offer different Zigbee specs, and is treated differently. This means that interop between devices is garbage -- eg half the IFTTT routines for handling Hue only work on the full color bulbs, or if you get a remote that's supposed to be able to dim, change color temperature, or change color you will find that
- it won't even pair with the white dimmable bulbs
- it will pair with white variable color, but neither dimming nor changing color temperature work.

Hue programming directly to their API is a total PITA, but their IFTTT support is even more useless; realistically you're limited to what you can do easily via HomeKit. And the supposed value-add Hue features like Hue Labs are almost uniformly useless gimmicks.

Of every ecosystem I've made some attempt to invest in, I'd say Hue is the most disappointing, the biggest gap between the quality level I expect and what's actually delivered.

But, like I said, I don't know a better alternative :-(

I have not been too disappointed by my Wyze bulbs (and they are cheap) BUT
- they require a WiFi connection, and I'm getting sick of devices like this. They're just too damn fragile to having to maintain a particular WiFi environment forever, not to mention they may require some random server somewhere to run forever, so that when it dies the device dies.
- they are only white variable temperature, not full color, if you need that
- to get HomeKit support you need to run HomeBridge or similar, which is not a great option for most people.

I don’t own any white bulbs only color as I like to have the full range of whites and colors available so I wouldnt know this issue really. I barely use ifttt and I couldn’t really ask for more from HomeKit and the hue app to want to use something more. I like my scenes and quick controls from control center. What other things do you want control over really?
I agree that WiFi only bulbs is problematic I also have Lifx and they lose connection a lot and have issues I have to reset sometimes and it’s just a hassle. The hue’s system I’ve have for over 4 years and growing and never had an issue. I won’t get anything that’s not Homekit compatible Anymore since it’s basically all I use. I don’t care for color cycling or changing of colors automatically as I find it distracting unless it’s an accent light I don’t look at all the time.

 

[dsdevries]

So this is really outdated information. Go Have a look at the exceedingly boring LED testing sites and all the newer ones have CRI > 90. Hue only say that all their lights are over 80.

The first gens bulbs and fixtures from 2012 - 2015 were a bit rubbish Granted. Especially the 1st gen strips. Bit all that’s changed Now. The latest GU10s and Bulbs have been tested at 92 CRI ( that is a pretty awful metric anyway )

Could you give me any reference to these test results?

 

[MHenr]

I’ve been tempted to pull the trigger on a Hue setup but I’m scared it’ll be a pain to use without installing switches or using a voice assistant.

It's definitely something to get used to. It's great for certain spaces, but I would never change all my bulbs with them.
The motion sensor is very handy though and a lot of stuff is programmable based on available light or schedules.

You'll still be able to use your switches by the way.
The lights will just come on on the last setting you used.
If you turn them on/off/on with your regular switch they'll soft reset to their brightest setting.

 

[Tech198]

I guess that's what they really mean when people say "blinded by the light"

I think its about as bright as the Lume Cube umm.. actually these Huees are better..

 

[alexandr]

So now have a Bluetooth-controlled light bulb to save us the trouble of walking approx. 33 feet (Bluetooth range) to turn on a light. For $20.

yea, and those damn tv remotes...

 

[Unregistered 4U]

yea, and those damn tv remotes...

And that gosh darned Wireless Fi. Walk your butt over to the ethernet port on your router, why dontcha? /s

 

[fhall1]

Just add more bulbs Or fixtures. Problem solved.

Not really - Sometimes you need one 100w bulb, not a group of 60w bulbs that still aren't as bright. Putting two 60w bulbs next to each other doesn't make the light thrown any brighter.

 

[x-evil-x]

Not really - Sometimes you need one 100w bulb, not a group of 60w bulbs that still aren't as bright. Putting two 60w bulbs next to each other doesn't make the light thrown any brighter.

Does for me. I have multiple lamps that have two in them. With one on max brightness it isnt as bright as two on. Explain that to me.

 

[fhall1]

Does for me. I have multiple lamps that have two in them. With one on max brightness it isnt as bright as two on. Explain that to me.

After some research, there's some complex physics involved, but you are correct. The downside is it takes more energy to power two 60w equivalents, than one 100w.

 

[alexandr]

And that gosh darned Wireless Fi. Walk your butt over to the ethernet port on your router, why dontcha? /s

seriously, what is this "alarm" thing and why do i need to install it on my horse?!

 

[Baymowe335]

Do these have the ability to change color? Sometimes I want like a 3000k, other times up to like 5000k.

 

[x-evil-x]

After some research, there's some complex physics involved, but you are correct. The downside is it takes more energy to power two 60w equivalents, than one 100w.

Well maybe. I mean if you’re using an incandescent 100w than two led bulbs will be way way less.
you also don’t need both of them at max 100% to get to equivalent 100w output. More like 80/80%. So something 8 watts at 80% power x2.

 

[MHenr]

Do these have the ability to change color? Sometimes I want like a 3000k, other times up to like 5000k.

No. Hue has 3 types of bulbs:
- Hue white: just warm white, but dimmable (like the new one this article is about)
- Hue white ambiance: from cool to warm white and dimmable
- Hue white and color ambiance: 16 million colors and dimmable