As a fervent admirer of Philips Hue, I’ve devoted a lot of the previous 12 months to reviewing their merchandise. Initially, I solely bought a few bulbs, doubting I might ever lengthen past that. Nevertheless, because of my obsessive tendencies and propensity for impulsive spending, I’ve considerably broadened my Hue system all through my residence.
For those who’re aware of my evaluations, you will know that I often concentrate on a product’s value. I am not towards investing a considerable sum right into a product, however I are usually hypercritical in terms of premium costs. Conversely, with extra affordably priced merchandise, I am extra forgiving of their imperfections.
Given the premium value of Philips Hue, one may assume I might scrutinise them extra rigorously, and maybe I ought to. Nevertheless, in my expertise, no different sensible lighting model matches Hue’s high quality. It isn’t solely concerning the lights themselves, but in addition contains the sensors, switches, the Hue app, and the model’s strong help throughout third-party methods.
Regardless of being fairly frugal – a trait widespread in us Northerners – I have never absolutely dedicated to Philips Hue. As an alternative, my sensible residence expertise is an assortment of assorted manufacturers, together with Aqara, TP-Hyperlink Kasa, TP-Hyperlink Tapo, and Wiz Linked.
Whereas it’s miles from supreme, most of my house is now smart-enabled, incorporating mild switches and plug sockets.
Converging all the things into one system
As my Hue system has expanded just lately, I’ve began contemplating the prospect of consolidating all the things right into a single system. Initially, I deliberate to utilise Homey for controlling all gadgets. Whereas the Homey Bridge is superb, it necessitates a continuing web connection. I subsequently encountered difficulties buying the brand new Homey Professional, main me to lean in the direction of correctly organising Dwelling Assistant.
As well as, I am toying with the thought of giving SmartThings one other go, on condition that the V3 hub is suitable with Matter and operates as a Thread Border Router.
Can Philips Hue Management Different Bulbs?
A realistic resolution for my sensible lighting necessities may be to combine all the things into Philips Hue. Whereas most of my major lights utilise Hue, those in much less frequented rooms and spotlights would want changing. I am additionally contemplating sensible mild switches.
The Philips Hue system is able to controlling different sensible bulbs which might be suitable with the Zigbee protocol, the wi-fi communication expertise that Hue employs. This might incorporate bulbs from manufacturers resembling Innr, IKEA (Tradfri), Cree, Sengled, and OSRAM/Sylvania.
Caveats of utilizing different bulbs with Philips Hue?
There are, after all, some caveats when utilizing third get together bulbs:
- Not all options could also be obtainable with third-party bulbs, resembling sure color settings or synchronisation with music or motion pictures.
- Some third-party bulbs might require further configuration steps to work with the Hue system, and others will not be recognised in any respect.
- Philips has sometimes up to date their software program to dam third-party bulbs from working with the Hue system, citing high quality management and consumer expertise points.
- Utilizing third-party bulbs can technically void your Philips Hue guarantee.
- Non-hue bulbs might show a barely completely different shade of color than anticipated when chosen on the app. They might additionally react to on/off/change color at a distinct tempo.
- Some bulbs don’t dim down in addition to Hue.
One particular person on Reddit made a helpful remark stating that they really feel like:
Osram @1% is brighter than Innr @1%, which is brighter than Hue @1%.
Due to this fact, you most likely don’t need to combine bulbs when in the identical room and utilizing them multi functional scene, as this may occasionally trigger inconsistencies with lighting.
What third-party bulbs work with Philips Hue?
I’ve compiled this listing as a UK purchaser. Many of those choices will probably be obtainable to US consumers, however not all. Similarily, US consumers will possible have lots of choices that are tougher to get within the UK.
Ikea Trådfri
Instance Merchandise:
Ikea Trådfri lights are suitable with Amazon Alexa, Google Dwelling, and Apple HomeKit. They make use of Zigbee for connectivity and could be instantly linked to the Hue Bridge. Nevertheless, the setup course of for these lights isn’t as easy as it’s for Hue bulbs. With the intention to join IKEA bulbs to the Hue system, one should change the bulbs on and off six occasions to permit the hub to detect them. Whereas the brightness of their white bulbs is roughly equal to Hue’s, their color bulbs should not fairly as vibrant. Moreover, it isn’t potential to replace the firmware of third-party bulbs, resembling these, through the Hue system.
Lidl Livarno Lux
Good bulbs from Lidl, below the model title Livarno Lux, could be synchronised to operate with Hue. The white bulbs are distinctive and often emit brighter mild than their Hue counterparts. Nevertheless, the color bulbs from Lidl might not reproduce colors as precisely because the Hue bulbs do.
With these being from Lidl, availability could be inconsistent. You possibly can’t purchase them on-line, and Lidl will randomly inventory down their center aisles. Because of the reasonably priced nature of them, many sensible residence fans will probably be all of them up.
Innr
Instance Merchandise:
Innr seems to be a extensively favoured selection. Based by a former Philips worker, it isn’t stunning that Innr, a European firm, boasts wonderful compatibility with the Hue bridge. Innr bulbs, obtainable in a broad vary of codecs, permit one to equip most areas of a house at an affordable value. Regardless of each Hue and Innr offering 805 lumens of sunshine, the Innr bulbs are inclined to shine brighter. Moreover, each manufacturers supply related color accuracy, boasting 16 million colors and a color temperature vary of 2000K-6500K.
Innr Caveats
I’ve seen just a few criticisms of Innr lights which I feel are value mentioning:
- You can’t replace the firmware of the bulbs with out an Innr hub.
- Sluggish transitions, resembling residence assistant circadian lighting, are noticeable as step adjustments on the Innr GU10s, whereas on the Hue bulbs, they aren’t.
- The colors do not align completely, resulting in a mismatch when three Hue bulbs and one Innr bulb have been utilized in the identical room.
- The Innr E27 bulbs do not appear to dim as a lot because the Hue bulbs. When the lounge lights have been set to steadily brighten at sundown, the Innr bulbs appeared noticeably brighter than the Hue ones.
- It is unsure whether or not Innr bulbs function as successfully on the mesh community. The GU10s within the lavatory beforehand required a number of presses from a Hue distant to change, and sometimes one out of 4 would not reply in any respect. Nevertheless, this challenge appeared to resolve itself as soon as Hue GU10s have been put in within the hallway, between the Innr lavatory bulbs and the Hue hub. It is unclear whether or not it is a particular challenge with Innr, as these signs have not been skilled with Hue bulbs.
Linkind
Instance Merchandise:
Linkind has a variety of dumb bulbs, however in addition they have a smaller vary of sensible bulbs. They’ve each Zigbee and WiFi bulbs, so if you wish to use Philips Hue, you have to to pick out the Zigbee bulbs.
On the time of writing, they solely have one possibility that can be purchased, the Linkind Good E14 LED Candle Bulbs.
Osram Good+
Instance Product:
Osram are one other firm with a variety of lighting merchandise which incorporates each conventional dumb bulbs and sensible bulbs. You, due to this fact, need to search for the Osram Good+ bulbs and it would be best to ensure it’s listed as being Zigbee (some are Bluetooth solely it appears).
Osram Good+ bulbs are suitable with Hue in Europe. Nevertheless, if these bulbs have been imported from the USA, they utilise a distinct Zigbee commonplace (ZHA), which is not suitable with the Hue system.
Random Manufacturers on Amazon
As I’m certain you’re aware of, Amazon will typically have lots of random manufacturers that make appealing-looking merchandise which might be attractively priced. These are sometimes Chinese language manufacturers with some weird names, they’ll typically be well-reviewed however because of the nature of Amazon, you’ll be able to’t all the time belief the evaluations.
They’re value attempting although, and I might advocate studying any evaluations correctly, you’ll be able to usually simply inform the distinction between actual and pretend evaluations.
Some choices embrace:
I’m a UK tech blogger and have been within the trade for over 10 years now, working Mighty Gadget and its sister websites and contributing to different websites across the net. I’m captivated with all tech, together with cellular, wearables, and residential automation. I’m additionally a health fanatic, so I cowl as a lot health tech as potential.
