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Philips Hue to Launch Brighter Bulbs and Expand Filament Range

Can anyone comment on the new version 4 of the iOS app? I read an article here saying they redesigned the app and thankfully before it had a chance to update I went to read the reviews. They were all very negative so I turned off automatic updates. That was about a month ago. I keep checking the reviews to see if things have turned around but all the reviews are all still very negative on the new UI, timers, widgets gone and replaced with shortcuts....

Long story short, does the new Hue IOS app still suck or is this a non issue?
 
josebus said:
I've made the same argument before, and even though I have hue products already (and obviously the bridge) every time I have purchased a non-hue smart light, I've ended returning them, as I usually had connectivity issues like delayed response, constantly disconnecting and so on.

You do talk about a specific product, the Nanoleaf, so I would understand if from just a single product need/want POV, a non-hue light could have a lot more benefits.
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I have found that the Nanoleaf bulbs give a much faster response since I got a HomePod. Prior to that, they were spotty in terms of response time when operating on Bluetooth alone.
 
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MrFootery said:
I have found that the Nanoleaf bulbs give a much faster response since I got a HomePod. Prior to that, they were spotty in terms of response time when operating on Bluetooth alone.
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Makes sense since they start using the Thread tech instead of BT once you have a Thread hub like the homepod. My Nanoleafs are amazing compared to my old LIFX bulbs, and much much cheaper.
 
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BrentD said:
Those are just white bulbs without color or even color temp control. These new ones they're teasing are full color bulbs.

I tried the actual bulb you linked, but the lack of color temp tuning made me return them. They were super bright (almost too bright, honestly), but the color temp they use wasn't one my wife could stand.
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i agree — the color temp could improve, but they still work for me in some places. i also mix them with the color ones. i'm all for making their entire lineup brighter!
 
6dudes said:
Long story short, does the new Hue IOS app still suck or is this a non issue?
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Sucks even worse than the previous version. Same stupid layout, and they removed the widget.

You now have to create shortcuts, and bear in mind the size of those in Apple's shortcuts widget and the fact you'll need separate ones to turn your lights on and off, and ... sucks even worse than the previous version.

You're better off not using it and using the Home app and (if necessary) something like Hue Essentials.
 
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MrFootery said:
The relatively high cost of each hue bulb, and the (now ended) need for the additional “bridge” to make them operational, pushed me towards the Nanoleaf Essentials.

The enhanced brightness talked about in the article is appealing, admittedly.
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I'm currently trying to decide between Hue and Nanoleaf. I have C by GE bulbs with their bridge but the connectivity is sometimes very frustrating.
 
Phillips offered a 1600lm A21 bulb years ago (I bought mine in October 2020).
It's disappointing, far too yellow in my opinion, and as a result doesn't "feel" bright.

Honestly if you want a bright white bulb with variable color temperature, Wyze or Ikea bulbs feel like a much better deal to me. They're both low enough in hassle to be usable without crying. (Or to put it differently, Hue isn't good enough in terms of NEVER generating hassle to justify its price.) Both can easily be bridged to HomeKit via HomeBridge. And both can range from yellow-white to blue-white as your tastes demand.

And if Phillips aren't going to include the magic words "Thread and Matter support", even for a totally new line, well, yet another reason not to pay their prices...
 
NorCalZman said:
I used LIFX for a few years but they eventually started to become unreliable with HomeKit commands and one even had its case crack (not a rare occurance according to my internet search)! My neighbor uses hue bulbs without HomeKit and says his have become annoyingly unreliable too. He does all sorts of conditional programming with them and his smart home so he is very tech savvy. He is going to switch away from Hue as a result.

I recently got the nanoleafs with Thread support and I will say now: I will not buy any smart home devices without Thread going forward. The response time is instant and reliable with HomeKit, way better than LIFX bulbs were even when they were working great. The LIFX bulbs had a very slight advantage in light/color quality but it is not worth the extra $30 PER BULB (nanoleaf are 20) and the less reliable Wi-Fi connections.

Thread is the future.
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I really wanted to like LIFX when they first came out but the ones I had were plagued with connectivity issues and eventually they died. (Flashing red color) Back to Amazon they went.
 
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H3LL5P4WN said:
Crap… that’s ten bulbs I’ll have to replace.
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These are likely still gen 4 bulbs, just brighter.

These are the equivalent of 75w old bulbs. That's pretty bright for most fixtures. Most fixtures I feel people don't put in more than 60w (the max rating of the current gen 4).

Are you sure you really need that much more light? (Yes, I realize you can dim them)
 
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Do these bulbs have PWM type flickering? Anyone who's very sensitive to flickering wanna chime in with firsthand experience seeing these type of color bulbs?
 
SigEp265 said:
I really wanted to like LIFX when they first came out but the ones I had were plagued with connectivity issues and eventually they died. (Flashing red color) Back to Amazon they went.
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I can't speak to LIFX but across my (variable) range of bulbs, Hue have been by far the worst. I have 3 (out of about 8) that have to be treated specially otherwise they flicker -- all three have to be kept at below 85% brightness because they will flicker, one also flickers at below 50% brightness (so the usable range is about 50 to 85%).
FWIW my Ikea's and Wyze (and traditional non-smart LED bulbs) have not developed this problem.

So anecdotes are tough for evaluating longevity. I don't doubt other people who say their Hue's have lasted forever; all I can say is mine have not, and they have fared poorly compared to alternatives I've also used.
 
One can also assume they will be upgraded to support Matter since hard to imagine existing customers replacing al their lights with brighter bulbs knowing they will have to a year or two later again for matter. And imagine few new customers would want to buy lights for the whole house knowing soon everything will support matter.
 
name99 said:
I can't speak to LIFX but across my (variable) range of bulbs, Hue have been by far the worst. I have 3 (out of about 8) that have to be treated specially otherwise they flicker -- all three have to be kept at below 85% brightness because they will flicker, one also flickers at below 50% brightness (so the usable range is about 50 to 85%).
FWIW my Ikea's and Wyze (and traditional non-smart LED bulbs) have not developed this problem.

So anecdotes are tough for evaluating longevity. I don't doubt other people who say their Hue's have lasted forever; all I can say is mine have not, and they have fared poorly compared to alternatives I've also used.
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As hopefully you aware flickering like that is certainly not normal behavior so hopefully your returned for working ones or was it past the warranty period and hue said they wouldn’t cover? Also had poor experiences with LIFX which on paper looked better but without a hub (which I thought was a plus) resulted in reliability issues compared to hue which have been working flawlessly. But if you get a bad batch of LIFX or hue or anything just be sure to return or get replaced via warranty or check to see if your home wiring might be causing an issue.
 
alexandr said:
just out of curiosity — did you happen to find some kind of a "transport" case for bulbs? when i was moving i ran into this issue and wasn't able to find anything...
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I know it’s crazy, but I keep 99% of my tech boxes, so when I move (or sell them), everything goes back in the box.
 
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6dudes said:
Can anyone comment on the new version 4 of the iOS app? I read an article here saying they redesigned the app and thankfully before it had a chance to update I went to read the reviews. They were all very negative so I turned off automatic updates. That was about a month ago. I keep checking the reviews to see if things have turned around but all the reviews are all still very negative on the new UI, timers, widgets gone and replaced with shortcuts....

Long story short, does the new Hue IOS app still suck or is this a non issue?
Click to expand...

It sucks if you prefer the old style of widgets. Shortcuts are a lazy version of the same thing.

I upgraded because I don't use widgets any more, got my lights on motion sensors or smart buttons now.
 
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YES! I’ve been waiting for this. Might go with Wyze anyway though. Smart lightning can be life-changing
 
btrach144 said:
These are likely still gen 4 bulbs, just brighter.

These are the equivalent of 75w old bulbs. That's pretty bright for most fixtures. Most fixtures I feel people don't put in more than 60w (the max rating of the current gen 4).

Are you sure you really need that much more light? (Yes, I realize you can dim them)
Click to expand...

I have light shades made of a thick paper to scatter light evenly. This cuts the brightness a bit but avoids the spotlight effect. The new bulbs might be useful for something like that, otherwise the current bulbs are bright enough for me. I prefer more bulbs at lower brightness though to make the light more even.
 
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SigEp265 said:
I'm currently trying to decide between Hue and Nanoleaf. I have C by GE bulbs with their bridge but the connectivity is sometimes very frustrating.
Click to expand...
I had Hue. They were slow to respond...a lot. I replaced a couple of them with Nanoleaf, and those were a little more reliable. Then, I got a HomePod Mini, and they responded a lot faster. I replaced the rest of my Hue bulbs with Nanoleaf. That was my experience between the two.
 
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collin_ said:
YES! I’ve been waiting for this. Might go with Wyze anyway though. Smart lightning can be life-changing
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The Wyze bulbs are really nice. I have quite a few, paired with their motion sensors. There are several areas of my home where I just want the lights to turn on when there is motion, and turn off when there is not. I also use Homebridge so that I can control them with Siri. So far, Wyze color bulbs do not work with Homebridge. (I guess a few people have found a way, but I'm not that skilled with Homebridge.)
 
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