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Is Philips Hue worth it?

Deleted member 44371

Banned
Jun 1, 2018
4,523
Just bought a starter set wie 2 ambience color lamps and a bridge.

Is it worth it?

Any cheap alternatives or will i always need to buy philips lamps now? Are lamps from other companies also compatible with the hue bridge and app?
 

Deleted member 4034

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
26,560
Yes. Great mood lighting and they last years. I'd say this even if they weren't on sale.

The 4 gen 3 bulbs and the bridge going for $134 on Amazon (not even a sale) is a fucking steal. I bought 3 bulbs and the bridge for $200 almost three years ago.

Speaking as someone in an apartment.

It's a different story and a larger investment for a homeowner.
 
Supercrap

Supercrap

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,352
Oakland Bay Area
It's up to you if u want every fixture to be hues bulbs.

We have some other smartplugs in the house as well as a 4 pack of hues bulbs. I'll probably invest in smart switches someday
 
Kyuuji

Kyuuji

The Favonius Fox
Member
Nov 8, 2017
32,005
I love it. If you can afford it comfortably, it's a fun bit of kit. Changing colour and brightness, on and off through Alexa is nice too.
 
NewDust

NewDust

Visited by Knack
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,586
I believe IKEA bulbs (at least the new ones) are Hue compatible. If you just want dimmable whites, those would probably be fine.
 
Bjomesphat

Bjomesphat

Member
Nov 5, 2017
1,819
Personally I think the color bulbs are a waste. Sure it's a cool novelty at first, but unless you're syncing your lights to music or movies, the novelty wears off quick.

HOWEVER, white ambient bulbs are a game changer. The hue ones are the nicest I have, but I also have a Sylvania one and a few Ikea ones that work well. I have all of my smart lights connected to smart things, and use an app to gradually change my bulbs color throughout the day in line with circadian rhythm. So in the morning, my bulbs start at around 3000k, and by noon they're up to about 5000k, then when the sun sets in the evening it goes all the way down to 2700k.
 
lt519

lt519

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,064
If you are looking for just smart lights, there are a few models coming out now that don't require hubs. I use the GE C-life and they work fine with Google Assistant and no hub. Full dimming range and plenty bright. I hate clutter so it was important to me to not have another hub around. You don't get the color but that seems like a novelty to me unless in a home theater.

Otherwise can't really go wrong with Hue.
 
Keikaku

Keikaku

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,768
Xiaomi yeelight is a much better value.

Personally I'm not interested in coloured lights and am not bothered about turning lights on manually.
 
Parthenios

Parthenios

The Fallen
Oct 28, 2017
13,601
Our ceilings are like 14 feet high, so it's difficult to pull the string to turn out the lights as we lay down for bed. It's pretty dope to say, "Alexa, turn out the lights" from bed using our Hue. It's also good when I have to be up 2 hours before my wife, so I turn on the lights at 1% brightness, enough for me to get dressed but not enough to disturb her sleep.

We plan to outfit the whole house in them but they're pretty expensive so it's a slow process.
 
Book One

Book One

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,813
marzoo said:
Just bought a starter set wie 2 ambience color lamps and a bridge.

Is it worth it?

Any cheap alternatives or will i always need to buy philips lamps now? Are lamps from other companies also compatible with the hue bridge and app?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

There are other bulbs that are compatible with the bridge I believe.

And you will likely go from 'is it worth it' to 'I have added four more bulbs' about six months from now
 
Slackerish

Slackerish

Member
Oct 25, 2017
465
Michigan
I bought the 4 color bulbs+bridge last year as an option until I could have someone come out to install all of these Insteon switches I have. Been fun playing around the color settings., doing holiday themes. No real issues with Google/Alexa or my home automation software. Probably going to order some more soon.
 
ManaByte

ManaByte

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
11,087
Southern California
I replaced 90% of the lights in our house about two years ago with Hue. There really are only two rooms without it. Use Alexa to control the lights.

Also the LEDs pull less power, so the power bill has been a little less.
 
Book One

Book One

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,813
marzoo said:
thats awesome! thanks, i want to make every lamp in my appartment smart.
i only paid 45 bucks for the ambience lightbulbs and the bridge
Click to expand...
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The setup bundles go on sale fairly often. Best thing is you can just sell the hubs on eBay and make a little money back, so if you find the right deal you can pay a lot less for bulbs.
 
peppermints

peppermints

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,654
Absolutely worth it. Slowly outfitting my house with them. Best feature for me so far has been scheduling the two lights on the front porch to go on and sunset and off at sunrise.

What's the best Hue/Homekit compatible alternative bulbs?
 
StrangerDanger

StrangerDanger

Member
Jul 18, 2018
5,853
I got it as a gift, so I can't complain about price + investment regarding it. They are great for mood lights especially kitchen countertop area for guests and such.

However one problem I have is that's it's a hit or miss with Alexa. Sometimes works flawless, sometimes have to ask over n over. I haven't had same problem with it compared to a WiFi light switch I have for other LEDs
 
Teiresias

Teiresias

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,211
I enjoy them for my living room lighting and my outdoor lights. Just being able to have all the outdoor lights on a schedule is great (they're regular white hue bulbs that technically aren't supposed to be used outdoors, but they seem to be surviving in the fixtures).

I still prefer regular old bulbs in the lamps by the bed though.
 
peppermints

peppermints

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,654
StrangerDanger said:
I got it as a gift, so I can't complain about price + investment regarding it. They are great for mood lights especially kitchen countertop area for guests and such.

However one problem I have is that's it's a hit or miss with Alexa. Sometimes works flawless, sometimes have to ask over n over. I haven't had same problem with it compared to a WiFi light switch I have for other LEDs
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
For me it takes less time to whip out my phone, pop open Control Center (iOS) and control from there than it does to fiddle with Alexa. I've all but given up on that. Homekit is truly underrated. Not sure how seamless integration can be on Android.
 
El_TigroX

El_TigroX

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,208
New York, NY
Absolutely not "worth" it, but totally awesome, and I have bought far too many of them.

It's such a dumb thing, but I love playing with color in the house, and though it drives my gf crazy, I change them to fit the activities going on. Christmas decorating? Green and red all over.... we throw huge tiki parties at our place, so I use a variety of colors, and have bought a bunch of the third party apps to do things like lightning storms and such... It's silly.
 
StrangerDanger

StrangerDanger

Member
Jul 18, 2018
5,853
peppermints said:
For me it takes less time to whip out my phone, pop open Control Center (iOS) and control from there than it does to fiddle with Alexa. I've all but given up on that. Homekit is truly underrated. Not sure how seamless integration can be on Android.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Yea Android has Gideon app as Homekit alternative. I too have just stuck with using the phone to control the lights, luckily it's all for an apartment, so I don't have to manage many things
 

sAbobo

Member
Dec 1, 2018
2,389
Older house with no neutral in the switch boxes, well worth it. If you have neutral wires available and care about dimming but not color go a nice dimmer switch like tp link. Ceiling fan, hue are nice, I tend to use sonoff switches to control both fan and light. All said and done I have 12 hue bulbs, 10 smart switched and three sonoff fan controls in use with my Google assistant.
 
KnightOwl

KnightOwl

Member
Oct 25, 2017
170
I want to put recessed lighting in my basement, this thread has now made me consider smart recessed lighting, has anyone added recessed, any suggestions on what to get? Dimmable and color changing would be preferable for the theater room in basement.
 
MadScientist

MadScientist

Member
Oct 27, 2017
917
We have a huge living room and the light switch only turns off one plug which all of my entertainment equipment is plugged into. No in ceiling lights, so Hue lights were essential for putting bulbs in all of the living room lamps. Plus with alexa, I can just say turn on the lights and they all turn on. I say good night and they all turn off.
 
corn_fest

corn_fest

Member
Oct 27, 2017
323
They're nice (and just high quality LED bulbs in general), but I hated having to use an app or voice assistant to manage them. I gave in and bought the wireless lightswitches, which makes the entire venture seem like kind of a cyclical waste of money, but eh.
 
OP
OP

Deleted member 44371

Banned
Jun 1, 2018
4,523
El_TigroX said:
Absolutely not "worth" it, but totally awesome, and I have bought far too many of them.

It's such a dumb thing, but I love playing with color in the house, and though it drives my gf crazy, I change them to fit the activities going on. Christmas decorating? Green and red all over.... we throw huge tiki parties at our place, so I use a variety of colors, and have bought a bunch of the third party apps to do things like lightning storms and such... It's silly.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
thats awesome. can you name some of those apps?
 
El_TigroX

El_TigroX

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,208
New York, NY
marzoo said:
thats awesome. can you name some of those apps?
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Totally -

  • Lightbow is good, gives you a little more finite control over the colors and setting up "scenes." I use that as my default app for the lights. You can also add music to specific configurations. So when I do a tiki party, I make certain drinks trip off an effect when I press a button and lights animate and music plays - it's stupid fun
  • Hue Thunder is the thunder scenes app, which is really just super rad to play with.
 
Xbox Live Mike

Xbox Live Mike

Prophet of Truth
The Fallen
Oct 29, 2017
2,434
USA
I got some for cheap and I really like them. I had it hooked up to my apple stuff to turn the lights on and off but there was a delay or my iphone would tell me it couldn't connect. So I connected it to my Alexa dots and now it works fast and perfect.
 
Pelicano

Pelicano

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
865
Bjomesphat said:
Personally I think the color bulbs are a waste. Sure it's a cool novelty at first, but unless you're syncing your lights to music or movies, the novelty wears off quick.

HOWEVER, white ambient bulbs are a game changer. The hue ones are the nicest I have, but I also have a Sylvania one and a few Ikea ones that work well. I have all of my smart lights connected to smart things, and use an app to gradually change my bulbs color throughout the day in line with circadian rhythm. So in the morning, my bulbs start at around 3000k, and by noon they're up to about 5000k, then when the sun sets in the evening it goes all the way down to 2700k.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
What app is that?
 
Walter White Walker

Walter White Walker

Member
Oct 27, 2017
21,514
Dimming lights can be worthwhile for certain purposes. The rest of it is a gimmick as far as I'm concerned. Changing the color would lose its novelty in about five minutes and I have light switches if I want to turn a light on or off.
 
Chan

Chan

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
5,334
All my main lights in my studio are Hue bulbs, next on my list is to get the Hue Play Bars and attach them to the back of my TV.

If you live in a densely populated area with congested WiFi you definitely want to go with Hue.

Also they're great for setting up routines when you're away from home such as randomly turning on lights and crap to make it seem like you're home.
 
MMBosstones86

MMBosstones86

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,174
Bobo Dakes said:
Yes. Great mood lighting and they last years. I'd say this even if they weren't on sale.

The 4 gen 3 bulbs and the bridge going for $134 on Amazon (not even a sale) is a fucking steal. I bought 3 bulbs and the bridge for $200 almost three years ago.

Speaking as someone in an apartment.

It's a different story and a larger investment for a homeowner.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

3A19 Bulbs plus Hub for $60

Just picked it up today.
 
RetroMG

RetroMG

Community Resettler
Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
6,722
My wife thought they were a dumb gimmick until we had our first child. It's really, really convenient to be able to dim the lights remotely using an app or a voice command when you're stuck in a chair or a bed quieting a crying child.
 
raYne_07

raYne_07

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,205
Love mine.. My entire house, other than closets and boiler room which are on motion detectors use Hue bulbs. Haven't touched a lightswitch in years. Even if we weren't going to make use of the color options (red/blue/purple/whatever), the ability to change between soft, warm and natural daylight is amazing. Soft white for normal lighting, warm white to chill and wind down, natural daylight when we're cleaning, doing work around the house etc. Then there's setting routines for simple stuff: Our "Good morning" command turns on the bedroom lamps, bathroom overhead lights, kitchen and pantry. You know, the areas you're gonna use when you wake up lol.

We make use of the color options all the time. Setting scenes, flooding rooms with different color tones and the like are incredible.

Can't speak for other brands though.
 
Last edited:
OP
OP

Deleted member 44371

Banned
Jun 1, 2018
4,523
Chan said:
All my main lights in my studio are Hue bulbs, next on my list is to get the Hue Play Bars and attach them to the back of my TV.

If you live in a densely populated area with congested WiFi you definitely want to go with Hue.

Also they're great for setting up routines when you're away from home such as randomly turning on lights and crap to make it seem like you're home.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
How can I activate randomly turning on lights when I away automatically? Any tutorial? Also is it possible with a motion sensor to detect when a thief breaks in?
 
Felt

Felt

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
3,210
Apartment life so I have 7 hue bulbs for all the lights... It's pretty awesome having exact control of all of them from my phone.
 

Vagrant

Member
Oct 27, 2017
65
I bougth a couple ones when our first baby was born and they were a game changer. The ability to turn them on/off from the cellphone and dimm them helped to not wake the other one up when the baby woke up at night.
 
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raYne_07

raYne_07

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,205
marzoo said:
How can I activate randomly turning on lights when I away automatically? Any tutorial? Also is it possible with a motion sensor to detect when a thief breaks in?
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Open the Hue app > Routines on the bottom > Other routines. From there you can select the timeframe you wan them to start, how long they stay on, which rooms or have it do it randomly etc.

And as was stated, yeah you can have motion detectors set up.
 
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