Hue first impressions. The box arrived a few minutes ago and it felt heavier than I expected it to, but maybe, I thought, that was because of the included bridge. Upon opening the box I found three bulbs packaged beside each other. I removed the upper cardboard piece and below it was the fourth bulb along with the bridge, power supply, cords, and instructions. This was where I realized that the weight wasn't only the bridge: these bulbs are wonderfully heavy! I have a pack of four Fovaa bulbs and the whole pack doesn't weigh as much as a single Hue bulb. I haven't even put power to a Hue bulb yet and I already feel confident in what I have purchased. Next I opened the instruction booklet; and as professional as everything else in the box feels, I was disappointed with the instructions. They are basically a collection of stick drawings with no textual guidance whatsoever. I was not daunted, though, since there is so much help available online.

The Hue bulbs are more expensive than the bargain brands and I wondered why until I began researching them. Philips uses Zigbee radios in their bulbs and bridges which increases the cost significantly. And after holding one of the bulbs in my hand I could actually feel the difference in quality compared to the other bulbs that I own (Fovaa). Until I actually put these bulbs into service I can't comment on their function, but I expect to be very satisfied with them. My Fovaa bulbs work very well, although when set to blue or green they are not as bright as I think they should be. I am expecting much better brightness with the Hue bulbs. I have read that Wyze makes some really good bulbs in terms of color output that rival the Hue bulbs. Still, the Hue bulbs are constructed differently and are able to do some things that the others evidently cannot do. Once I have these lights going and I have a chance to put them through their paces I will report back with some updates. I'm anxious to try a simulated fireworks display and am hoping that four bulbs are enough to do it. Some of the scenes and animations require more than four bulbs to get the color mixtures right, but I think that a fireworks display could be done using white plus three other colors. At least a small fireworks display. I'll let you know when I have tried it.

Edit 2-12-2024

OK, I have the lights up and running and I can give you a little more insight now. First of all, if you look at the many photos of Hue lights you will know exactly what to expect in terms of color. These bulbs have colors that are full and rich yet are mellowed a bit as they are made to provide ambience to a space instead of producing stark coloring. You can get very deep blues, greens, and reds, and still have good brightness. A word that comes to mind is pastel, and yet the colors can be much deeper than pastel; in fact, the room color can become very red, very blue, very green, and yet still maintain some small bit of pastel quality. Again, I'd say look at a lot of the available pictures and you will know. In contrast to this, my Fovaa bulbs give very dark blues, reds, greens with no mellowing at all. There is no way to brighten the Fovaa bulbs when those colors are cranked to the maximum and maybe that is as it should be. Then again, I have read articles that claim Wyze bulbs have more intense colors than Fovaa bulbs (in fact they are ranked close to the top of all bulbs in that category) and also have more brightness; so it may be more a matter of design. If you want absolute, saturated, bright colors with no compromise you might want to try the Wyze bulbs; however, if you want lights that are tailor made for enhancing the atmosphere of your living spaces I can't imagine a better choice than Hue lights. I want to reiterate here just how good the bulbs feel in the hand, and after screwing them in and setting them up how good they look in action. Something else to touch on is that there are numerous apps available in addition to the official Hue app that can add to the functions your Hue lights can perform. The fireworks display I referred to above is in one of those apps: the app is called "hueDynamic" and the fireworks is under the Experiences heading. The fireworks display cycles your bulb colors mimicking real fireworks. The colors ramp on and off at speeds that seem realistic and your room is bathed in a frenzied display of light. Now that I have tried it I probably won't ever use it again, but hey, these lights can do that! Some other, more restful effects on the menu are flickering candles and a fireplace. If I actually had a fireplace I could see myself using that to enhance the natural flicker of flames. The candles...maybe I will use that one, maybe not. The animations can actually be rather distracting. The ambience settings are probably the most useful, but I should tell you that it is better to have the bulbs located next to walls so that the reflected light can add to the overall effect. I have mine temporarily in a ceiling fan in the middle of the living room and looking up at the light you can see all four bulbs with different colors and it doesn't look so good. Eventually they will be relocated to individual lamps around the room where they should provide a much better experience.

If you buy any bulbs other than Hue bulbs you will be tied to one single app: the official app from the manufacturer of the bulbs. Or you may be limited to tying in to Alexa and the set of skills available because your choice of bulbs doesn't even have an app. With Hue bulbs you have many choices of apps, and you will find that Hue apps, even the third party apps, have a level of professionalism not found in apps for other bulbs. Yes, Hue bulbs cost more...but you will get what you paid for. Top quality, great looking light, an almost endless list of ways to use them; Hue bulbs are probably the very best you can buy.

This are by far the best smart lights on the market as far as I'm concerned. I've tried other brands such as one with N and L in the name and there's just no comparison. The other brands wouldn't stay connected or flicker. In addition, I couldn't ever get the other brands to be bright enough and the color ranges they claim aren't as you would think. Deep colors couldn't be achieved if that was the desire and they always seemed to have a pastel looking tint. The Phillips Hue lights can be very bright or very dim and everything in between.

Adding the bridge really gives you a lot of flexibility with schedules, randomness (nice when you want it to look like you're home), color schemes and more.

Works great with Apple Homekit. Also, the bridge works with the Phillips Essential bulbs nicely and I can now control the lighting throughout the house.

It took me a minute to sort out the instructions but once I understood, setup has been a breeze.

I'll be buying more bulbs for all lamps and overhead lighting, including outdoors.

Very expensive, but a worthy upgrade to my smart home lighting system. I have Apple Homekit, and these work great. They control instantly using the Apple Home app or Philips Hue app. I had a little trouble connecting the hub to my Apple Home, but eventually got it to work by adding it directly to Apple Home vs trying to go through the Hue app. I wish the box lights turned off or had the option to turn off, I just don't like the blue lights shining all the time. Easy to install and no issues with connectivity for 6 hue bulbs. Lifespan TBD.

I’ve owned Philips Hue lights for years with almost zero issues, so when my mother’s birthday approached, this starter kit was an easy choice. The order arrived quickly, and she was absolutely ecstatic when she opened it.

She loves how easy the setup is and how many features the system offers. Being able to have lights turn on and off automatically when she comes and goes gives her a real sense of convenience. Even better, she can control the lights while she’s out of town, which helps make the house look occupied and gives her added peace of mind.

Overall, the product works flawlessly, and my mom couldn’t be happier. If you’re looking for a reliable smart lighting setup or a thoughtful gift that’s actually useful, this starter kit is perfect.

Best color of all the smart bulbs I’ve used

Product works as expected, app functionality is good. Integration with smart home features also work well. Important to note that this product does not connect to apple HomeKit without the presence of an Apple TV or HomePod to act as a hub.

TLDR Review: Buyer beware if something seems off out of the box or doesn’t work as expected, trust your instincts and return it immediately. Don’t assume it can be fixed.

Full Review:

My husband and I have been using Philips Hue lights (various models) for the past 7–8 years, integrated with Amazon Alexa, and have rarely had any issues. On the few occasions we did, we were always able to troubleshoot and resolve them ourselves without much trouble.

Unfortunately, that has not been our experience with this particular set.

I purchased these lights in January as a birthday gift to myself, since my home office was the only room in our house without Hue lighting. It’s now past the return window, which makes this even more frustrating.

For the past 2.5 months, my husband and I have tried everything to fix the issues with these lights…no exaggeration. We’re both very tech-savvy and thoroughly researched every possible solution. We attempted each fix multiple times before moving on, including hard resets, setting up new or multiple bridges, updating software, changing light locations, adjusting Zigbee channels, unlinking and relinking our Amazon Alexa integration, removing automations, and more.

What’s especially concerning is that when we tried connecting these four lights to the same bridge as our older, fully functional upstairs' lights, the older lights began behaving unpredictably as well. All of our other Hue lights continue to work perfectly otherwise.

At this point, it’s clear these lights are defective. Unfortunately, because we spent so much time trying to troubleshoot instead of immediately returning them, we’re now stuck with a product that doesn’t work.

I want to note that the packaging appeared used and scuffed despite being sold as “new,” which should have been a red flag.

Wow - what a great product - easy to install, a ton of features and just works... I have heard how good these were over the years but finally tried one myself.. Love it and the pre-configured scenes are amazing..

I cared about HomeKit so I got the units with the bridge... Perfect!!

El sistema Philips Hue es muy confiable y práctico. Es caro, pero obtienes la calidad por el precio pagado. Las luces son muy buenas, con colores hermosos. El sistema funciona de forma muy estable y cumple perfectamente su función. Las luces se configuran muy rápidamente, sin complicaciones. La aplicación también es muy fácil de usar. Mi pregunta siempre ha sido: ¿realmente es necesario instalar luces "inteligentes" en casa? Para mí es más fácil usar un interruptor normal para apagar y prender las luces que pelearme con Alexa para que las encienda y las apague. Sin embargo, con estas luces multicolor, creo que tener una espacio donde puedas crear ambientes a tu gusto, hace que valga un poco más la pena instalar luces inteligentes.

Increíbles, responden super rápido, amplíe mi ecosistema hasta 22 focos hasta el momento, se integran perfecto con Alexa y las escenas son increíbles

Mis queridos amigos de la tecnología y el estilo, permítanme presentarles las Phillips Hue Multicolor, el toque mágico que ha convertido mi hogar en un escenario de vida colorido y emocionante. 😄

Desde que instalé estas luces en mi casa, la vida cotidiana se ha vuelto un espectáculo de luces digno de un show de Broadway. No importa si estoy en una reunión de trabajo virtual o en una cita en casa, puedo ajustar la iluminación para que se adapte a cualquier ocasión.

La instalación es tan fácil que incluso mi gato podría hacerlo (si tan solo tuviera pulgares). Atornillé las bombillas, conecté el puente y, voilà, mi hogar se convirtió en una paleta de colores digital. Cambiar la luz es tan sencillo como tocar una aplicación en mi teléfono.

El poder de las Phillips Hue Multicolor reside en su versatilidad. ¿Quiero una luz brillante y fresca para trabajar desde casa? ¡Listo! ¿Quiero una luz suave y cálida para una cena romántica? ¡No hay problema! ¿Quiero que la habitación se convierta en una discoteca para una fiesta en casa? ¡Por supuesto, y que comience la música!

La integración con asistentes de voz es como tener un mágico genio digital en casa. "Hey, Google, pon la luz en modo 'Atardecer en la Playa'", y la habitación se ilumina con los tonos adecuados. Es como vivir en una película de ciencia ficción (pero con menos robots rebeldes).

En resumen, las Phillips Hue Multicolor son un toque de magia moderna en mi hogar. Hacen que cada día sea un festival de colores y diversión. ¡Nunca supe que necesitaba luces de humor hasta que las tuve! 🏠🌈💡😄

Si ves este paquete en oferta, no dudes en comprarlo. Si bien se trata de un accesorio costoso, vale la pena su valor. Es un buen paquete de inicio: la calidad de la luz, el color y la sincronización con los dispositivos le den un toque de sofisticación a tu casa. Un foco te permite iluminar correctamente una recamara sencilla, solo es cuestión de ajustar las escenas que tiene la aplicacion Hue. Su plus radica en el hub que viene incluido, a futuro, te da la posibilidad de agregas mas elementos.

Excelentes la verdad es que todo el sistema Philips Hue es de muy buena calidad, si son un poco caros pero 10/10 la verdad. Una súper variedad de colores y combinaciones.