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Review: The Philips Hue Festavia Lights Are Expensive, But Perfect for Christmas Trees and Holiday Decorating
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Actually, they can't. 🤣 The included product literature says it is for temporary installation only, not to exceed 90 days at a time.
(Pretty much the same warning you see on lots of holiday lights, which I believe stems from an NEC requirement pertaining specifically to temporary decorative lighting.)
If you need gas to commute, then you need gas to commute. What exactly is staring at the price on the sign and acknowledging it going to accomplish? It ain’t gonna make the price any lower.
We've got Hue lighting as good as throughout our home. Whenever a bulb breaks again we replace it with a hue equivalent. The quality of light difference is huge, the impact of daylight simulation during these grey dark months is huge. The comfort of home control and integration is very good. I'd have loved to get these for our Christmas tree but unfortunately its sold out nearly everywhere...
The Hue light don’t have the mapping feature, nor does it have all those animating patterns the Twinklies do. The gradient across the tree is achieved by following the instructions and winding the lights from the bottom of the tree up to the top!
I have both Hue and Twinkly sets and it’s definitely a features vs quality comparison. Out of the box the Hue is much more than ‘slightly nicer’. If you already have Hue lighting your home then the difference is night and day.
I like the idea of Philips Hue but most of them make annoying high frequency sounds and have rather bad PWM dimming that flickers and makes real life look like stop motion to people who can perceive it. Great color saturation though.
Most other Philips light products are fantastic though, just get those and put stage light color gels in front of it.
Most other Philips light products are fantastic though, just get those and put stage light color gels in front of it.
Interesting, I've not heard high frequency sounds, nor PWM dimming that flickers. Doesn't show up with our audio/visual recording equipment either.
We have it throughout our home, outside and in the studio. Never heard anyone ever making such comments.
However if they have that effect on you then it's clearly not for you. I wish you good luck finding other LED's on the market that have this kind of light quality and don't have this effect on you.
160$ for Christmas tree lights...hand manufactured by the finest school boys and girl at Chinese sweatshop.
Do you find you often have to comment on things you don’t like with unsubstantiated generalisations?
They aren't just any old Christmas tree lights, they are Philips Hue ones...Anyone experienced in using Philips Hue would appreciate the quality of the light compared to your average tacky led set. It's actually rather difficult finding any proper tungsten warm lights nowadays and personally don't miss the game of hunting the bulb that is broken and breaks the chain
The time saved there alone for one year should be way more valuable than the purchase cost of set of quality lights...Nah, these are just led lights, cable, power brick and led controller. Nothing special. Just branding and some gimmick feature to justify price. You can purchase 10meters led lights from Aliexpress for less than 5$ and these will definitely serve you for some years. Ofc, everyone is free to buy anything they like. My Christmas tree would remain a poor bastard with standard budget lighting.They aren't just any old Christmas tree lights, they are Philips Hue ones...Anyone experienced in using Philips Hue would appreciate the quality of the light compared to your average tacky led set. It's actually rather difficult finding any proper tungsten warm lights nowadays and personally don't miss the game of hunting the bulb that is broken and breaks the chain
Sure they are just led lights, cable, power brick and led controller just like an iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, Google Nexus are all just some chips, a display, power brick and gsm controller nothing special...
Keep kidding yourself that they are all the same, doesn't make it true though
An iPhone or anything similar is very delicate and complex piece of electronics that is powerful tool for so many things. Christmas tree lights are Christmas tree lights. Let's not exaggerate implying that Philipps created anything special, when we are just talking about overpriced leds on a cable with some nice effects made for people who just feel it is right to spend 160$ for their Christmas decoration. I don't say it is the same thing as other Christmas tree lights. Personally, I would rather tip my waitress 160$ and make her day/week, rather than purchasing this product. But again, this is just me.Sure they are just led lights, cable, power brick and led controller just like an iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, Google Nexus are all just some chips, a display, power brick and gsm controller nothing special...
Keep kidding yourself that they are all the same, doesn't make it true though
I am 100% convinced without even looking at these in detail that they're great quality, will last forever no matter how short the warranty might be, and that they cost an arm and a leg, especially considering most people would only use them once a year.
My entire house uses Hue lights exclusively with a bridge that I blocked from updating so it still has the full functionality back from 2018 before the firmware was worsened. None of the bulbs have died yet and the oldest are from 2015. I only ever got the biggest color packs on sale so pricing was always high but never as absurd as full retail price. Considering the old lights were incandescent bulbs, the energy savings over soon-to-be a decade make up for the higher initial cost.
I have an app on MacOS as well as the Philips light switches that still have the battery from 2015 in them and still work.
That being said, I consider Christmas tree Hue lights a waste of money. Part of the problem is I already have Christmas lights with LED bulbs, so unless they unexpectedly break I doubt I can justify throwing them out.
In fact I only invested in really good ones from GE a couple years ago, and they were nowhere near as pricy as Hue lights:
My entire house uses Hue lights exclusively with a bridge that I blocked from updating so it still has the full functionality back from 2018 before the firmware was worsened. None of the bulbs have died yet and the oldest are from 2015. I only ever got the biggest color packs on sale so pricing was always high but never as absurd as full retail price. Considering the old lights were incandescent bulbs, the energy savings over soon-to-be a decade make up for the higher initial cost.
I have an app on MacOS as well as the Philips light switches that still have the battery from 2015 in them and still work.
That being said, I consider Christmas tree Hue lights a waste of money. Part of the problem is I already have Christmas lights with LED bulbs, so unless they unexpectedly break I doubt I can justify throwing them out.
In fact I only invested in really good ones from GE a couple years ago, and they were nowhere near as pricy as Hue lights:
The quality Christmas lights in the above youtube video were dirt cheap from costco. And making them "smart" with a microcontroller was a fun project over the Christmas holidays as well. Though every year I realize I forgot everything about how it works so I am sure you are correct that the Hue lights save time.
Different strokes for different folks but your statement is incorrect. I don't have tons of money but all my (98%) bulbs are Hue. Why? Because they JUST WORK. NEVER had an issue with them, ever. Some of my lights are on Eve Energy switches because I don't need Hue bulbs in them. I bought my Hue products on sale, over many many years.
I also just tap and fill up because what option do I have when it comes to paying for gas? I don't hunt around for gas but I do go to a select few locations. Gas is gas and I need it for my car. Period. So yes, I fill up without a care in the world because it's a NEED. What are you going to do.. gas is $4.50 - not buy it because it's too expensive? No, you need it. But you don't need the Hue Christmas lights.
Even as a die hard Hue person, I will not be purchasing them. Too expensive for what they are, I use my Christmas lights for 1 month and I want them on or off. I don't want color changing, sparkle, glow, fireplace or anything else. On or off. But that's MY opinion. Others may want the things I don't and the option is there for them.
In short, what everyone else does with their own money is their choice. Just because you can't see a use case for yourself doesn't mean it applies to all.
Yup. I don't like how dim it looks and most people will buy 1 or 2 strands and that's it. Not enough for most trees
The price isn't really that much of an argument here I think, people who spend 160 bucks before tax on Christmas lights that are just enough for a small tree probably buy them in the dozens anyways and brighten up their entire house. It's something people like that retired Microsoft engineer with his Dave's Garage youtube channel would get, and I am sure he'd find a way to use them all year round.
Then the remote control might well pay off when you have literally thousands of bulbs that can all be controlled individually.
I don't think this is targeted at someone putting a single strand on their tree and calling it a day. In that case the only benefit you really get is that you don't have to plug them in yourself every evening. But that can be had far cheaper with remote controlled power sockets.
Then the remote control might well pay off when you have literally thousands of bulbs that can all be controlled individually.
I don't think this is targeted at someone putting a single strand on their tree and calling it a day. In that case the only benefit you really get is that you don't have to plug them in yourself every evening. But that can be had far cheaper with remote controlled power sockets.
Hue appeals more to people already in the hue ecosystem. It’s great. I’ve tried Nanoleaf / govee / Tuya nothing comes close to hue And that’s all I use now.
This is hilarious😂 good description
Hahahaha Amen to that! They are the best lights I’ve used. It’s hue or bust for me.
And I was thinking this is great as an under bed solution cheaper than the lightstrips.
True that, what’s the point. It doesn’t matter.
Not enough for a 2.1m tree? Seriously? Are you both called Buddy Hall? 1,000 lights in my opinion is ridiculous in a domestic Christmas tree, way too much to remain classy.Yup. I don't like how dim it looks and most people will buy 1 or 2 strands and that's it. Not enough for most trees
How is turning "normal lights . . . on and off with a smart plug" remotely the same thing? Do the lights match your scenes? Can a smart plug do gradients or even change the lighting colors? Can normal lights sync with your surrounding content?
You can think whatever you want about Philips Hue pricing, but at least understand what those products do.
At first glance the Hue lights seemed way less impressive than Twinkly ones (the main thing being mapable lights missing) but one thing I didn't like about the twinkly videos is they move way too fast for me and that "sparkle" setting is exactly what I would want so if Twinkly can't do that it makes the decision easier for me...of course if/when the time comes.
Also whoever think hue lights are for out of touch rich people are even more out of touch. If you don't need smart features don't buy it but for what they are they work great.
Also whoever think hue lights are for out of touch rich people are even more out of touch. If you don't need smart features don't buy it but for what they are they work great.