The Philips Hue Smart bulbs welcomes you home and lets you control your lights from your bedroom to your backyard.
Light bulbs have grown exponentially smarter in recent years.
You can now replace your standard incandescent bulb with a variety of connected solutions you can control with just a few taps on your smartphone or tablet.
But with so many options flooding the smart home market, which one is right for you?
what are smart bulbs?
Smart bulbs use light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and a variety of technologies to work, so they are more expensive than traditional bulbs.
That’s important to keep in mind, especially if you want to upgrade your entire house.
But smart bulbs also use less energy and last a lot longer—meaning you can save money in the long run.
Smart bulbs offer a degree of control and interactivity you just can’t get with traditional bulbs, like scheduled timers and remote control options.
They’re also more convenient; it’s easier to tap on a smartphone screen than to get up and trudge over to a wall switch.
The Phillips Hue Smart Bulbs
Philips Hue welcomes you home and lets you control your lights from your bedroom to your backyard.
Multiple people within a home can use the Hue app (or Siri, if you have an iOS device, or Alexa, if you have an Echo) to quickly turn lights on or off, change their color, or dim them.
The Philips Hue was the first major brand smart color lighting system to gain popularity
BASIC SPECIFICATIONS: THE BULBS
800 lumen output (about equivalent to a 60 watt incandescent bulb)
16 million colors
All shades of white, from warm to cold color temperatures
Beam angle of 160 degrees, plus or minus 20 degrees
25,000 hour lifetime
0.5 second start up from standby
2 second start up from AC power
Software upgradeable
The Gen 3 with Richer Colors bulb should last you up to 25,000 hours
BASIC SPECIFICATIONS: THE BRIDGE
Supports up to 50 lights and 12 Philips Hue accessories using the Hue App
1.5W max power draw on standby
3.5″ x 3.5″ x 1″
Apple HomeKit compatible on iOS 9.0 or later
2 year warranty
Software upgradeable
A good smart lighting system is easy to install, easy to use, and gives you plenty of options for how to set up your home.
SmartThings is a compelling option if you’re certain you want a more advanced lighting setup and may even want to expand beyond that in the future.
