• Philips is launching a ceiling light that mimics the look of a real skylight
• It automatically adjusts daylight temperature as the day goes on
• The skylight looks very realistic, but lacks smart home support

Philips is one of our favorite home lighting brands, and it’s launching a new ceiling light that mimics daylight and creates the effect of a skylight — and it looks spectacular.

The Philips Skylight is designed to replicate natural lighting and outdoor environments indoors, using a blend of advanced LED and Philips’ NatureConnect technologies. Signify, Philips’ manufacturer, says the skylight is “inspired by the natural brightness, depth and rhythm of sunlight”.

It’s a great option for windowless rooms if the design of your roof doesn't allow you to fit a skylight, or you want to save yourself the hassle and expense of having one fitted.

Before now, Signify limited the Philips Skylight to professional settings (offices, medical environments, and so on), but now the ceiling light will be available for everyone when it launches later this month in most regions (Signify says the Skylight be available in the US in September).

The Philips Skylight comes in four models: the Philips Skylight Medium, Philips Skylight Large, Philips Skylight VitaUp Medium, and Philips Skylight VitaUp Large, with prices starting at 499.99 euros (about $580 / £430).

Each variant comes with a slim ceiling profile for mounting, a remote control, five preset lighting scenes, and Philips’ Day Rhythm tool which automatically adjusts color temperature and brightness throughout the day. All models have an IP44 rating, meaning the Philips Skylight can be fitted in bathrooms and other humid environments.

The VitaUp models come with an integrated UV-B module built to support the body’s natural vitamin D production indoors. This also includes a handful of safety measures, including automatic shut-off which happens after eight hours.

In images shared by Philips, the Skylight's outdoor light imitation looks surprisingly convincing, and there are obvious benefits for wellbeing. More people are spending more time indoors and out of natural daylight, so devices like this are becoming increasingly sought after.

However, despite its cleverness, the Philips Skylight is not a Hue product. Philips produces some of the best smart lights out there, but its new ceiling light doesn't offer smart connectivity. This means it doesn’t connect to Wi-Fi or work with Matter over Thread, so you can't integrate it into your existing smart home setup, and you’ll have to use the included remote to control it manually.

Given how impressive the Philips Skylight looks, and its price tag, that's a shame. Let's hope Philips adds smart home connectivity to a future version.

• Philips Hue are getting a new Sports Live feature for the World Cup
• It will sync Hue smart lights to the action during games
• You don't need any extra hardware, just the lights and the Hue app

As a long-time Philips Hue user, and a big fan of this brand of smart lights, I'm looking forward to trying out a newly announced Sports Live feature during the World Cup — as long as it doesn't signal goals before they've actually happened.

Philips Hue lights have long been able to change color and brightness based on what's happening on a TV screen, but you need a compatible television or an HDMI Sync Box to get the feature. With Sports Live the lights change in real-time based on "live match data", with no additional hardware required.

That's according to the announcement from Philips Hue parent company Signify. Apparently the lights will shift for "key moments" such as goals, yellow cards, and red cards, during the soccer World Cup 2026.

"Easy to set up and in time for the world's biggest football event of the year, soccer at home has never felt so real," says Signify, though it sounds as though the feature is only going to be available for this one upcoming tournament, which starts on Thursday, June 11. That's a disappointment.

No spoilers please

It's also going to be interesting to see how this works. The live match data comes straight from the web to the Hue app, so presumably you'll need to tell the app when you've actually started watching it – and give your smart lights a heads up if you decide to pause or rewind the action at any point.

I don't want to be in a situation where my smart lights are flashing to tell me England have scored (or conceded, which is perhaps more likely), while the action on my TV screen is still several seconds behind.

"The system allows users to fine-tune timings to account for minor broadcasting delays," according to Signify. "If users choose to pause the action, lighting effects are also paused and — upon resuming — sync to current, live match events for a consistent and accurate real-time experience."

Sports Live will support an unlimited number of smart lights apparently, and there will be a certain level of customization on offer: you'll be able to select your favorite team, and its main strip color will be used as part of the suite of smart lighting effects.

Philips Hue Omniglow: one-minute review

The Philips Hue Omniglow is the best Hue lightstrip yet. It's a classier kind of LED strip: where other models have visible LEDs, the Omniglow delivers seamless color gradients and smoothly moving light effects. The results are very impressive and the Hue app makes it easy to select, edit or create scenes either solo or as part of a wider Hue setup. If you've already got a Hue system you can add it in seconds and then include it in your scenes and automations. As with other Hue lights you'll need a Philips Hue Bridge or Bridge Pro to access advanced features such as custom scenes and smart home integration.

The Omniglow is easy to install and set up, although if you're mounting it up high you might curse the short power cable. The only real downside is the length: you can shorten the Omniglow but not extend it, and longer versions are not widely available in the UK or US. While European customers can choose between 3m, 5m and 10m models, the US and UK are currently limited to the 3m model only.

Philips Hue Omniglow: price and availability

• On sale from November 2025
• $139.99 / £119.99 / AU$279.99 (3m)

The Philips Hue Omniglow was announced in September 2025 and went on sale in November 2025. There are three sizes, but only the 3m model is available everywhere. That has a recommended price tag of $139.99 / £119.99 / €139.99 / AU$279.99.

Europe and Australia also get a longer 5m version, which costs €199.99 / AU$399. And in Europe there's a 10m version with a price tag of $349.99. The same 10m version was listed with a UK price of £349.99 but at the time of writing it's showing as as "not currently available" on the Philips website.

Philips Hue Omniglow: design

• RGB, warm white and cool white
• Seamless color and gradients
• Cuttable but not extendable

The Omniglow is a RGBWWIC design, which means it combines RGB, warm white, cool white and independent control in a single light source. Unlike other Hue lightstrips you can't see the individual LEDs; it's designed to deliver seamless whites, colors and gradients, which it does very well. That makes it look much more classy than lesser lightstrips.

The strip is 17mm wide and 8.5mm high and consists of multiple 12.5cm sections, each of which has 6 LEDs that can be individually controlled – so you can get twinkly lights and motion effects as well as solid color and gradients.

This lightstrip can be cut shorter at pre-defined 12.5cm spaces but any bit you remove can't be re-used or replaced later. Unlike previous Hue lightstrips the Omniglow can't be (officially) extended with additional sections, although inevitably some Hue fans have come up with warranty-voiding DIY solutions.

There are double-sided adhesive strips along the full length of the Omniglow, but you may want to use something more permanent if you're putting the strip in a place where it'll have to battle gravity; in my experience the adhesive that comes with Hue strips tends to be rather weak, and this lightstrip is quite heavy. The power supply is also very short, with just over 1m between the plug socket and the beginning of your lightstrip, and you're going to want to support the weight of the power brick.

Design score: 4/5

Hue Omniglow review: features

• Three-stage gradients
• Moving and flickering lights
• Great integration with other Hue lights

The Omniglow delivers the promised seamless gradients, and it also brings a feature across from the Festivia string lights in the form of moving lights. That enables you to pick a moving scene such as a fireplace, candle glow or looped color change, and you can tweak those scenes in the Hue app to adjust their speed or intensity. It's very smooth and very impressive.

The app offers very basic control via Bluetooth but for access to advanced features such as syncing and smart home integration you'll need a Hue Bridge or Hue Bridge Pro. That gives you the full range of customization, per-light settings and the ability to create your own custom moving gradients and flickering effects.

Features score: 5/5

Philips Hue Omniglow: performance

• Up to 2,700 lumens
• Seamless color
• Beautifully smooth transitions

If you're familiar with Hue lightstrips the first thing you'll notice about the Omniglow is how bright it is. It's much brighter than standard Hue lightstrips, delivering up to 2,700 lumens of brightness compared to the 1,700 lumens of a Hue Solo of the same length.

If you can get the 5m or 10m models they are more powerful still, putting out up to 4,500 lumens. That means the Omniglow isn't just a decorative lightstrip. You can also use it to illuminate spaces such as stairs or feature walls.

Performance score: 5/5

Philips Hue Omniglow: should you buy it?

Buy it if

Don't buy it if

Philips Hue Omniglow: also consider

There are multiple lightstrips for Hue, some of them much more affordable – so for example the Hue Gradient Lightstrip is much cheaper. Govee is the main rival in this space with very affordable products including the bendable, cuttable COB Strip Light Pro, the very cheap RGBIC LED Strip and several rope light models.

How I tested the Philips Hue Omniglow

I've been all-in on Hue lights for more than a decade, and my home currently features a mix of smart lights including two Hue gradient lightstrips, various Hue bulbs, a Hue motion sensor and Hue Festavia string lights, all controlled via the Hue app, Apple Home and Siri. I added the Omniglow to my living room setup and Hue Bridge and used it as both decorative lighting and functional lighting, controlling it alongside my existing lights and scenes.

First reviewed March 2026

• The IKEA Skaftsärv is an LED gradient light costing $6.99 / £4 (about AU$8)
• It looks similar to the Philips Hue Play Gradient Light Bar, but can't mirror colors from a TV screen
• The WiZ Gradient Light Bar is an affordable alternative that can sync to a TV

IKEA has just launched a new lamp that looks strikingly similar to a popular Philips Hue light, but at a tiny fraction of the price. The IKEA Skaftsärv is available in the UK for just $6.99 / £4 (about AU$8), and each one has three lighting zones that can cast a colorful glow onto your walls or shine into the room.

As our colleagues at T3 note, it bears an uncanny resemblance to the Philips Hue Play Light Bar, and if you like the idea of making your home cinema system more immersive but have been put off by the price tag, you might be tempted to snag a pair of Skaftsärvs instead — but there's something you should know first.

Although the Skaftsärv can shift colors in response to music, and is dimmable, there's no way to connect it to your TV or PC monitor to extend the colors from the screen. It's impressive considering how little it costs, but it's only a decorative lamp, not a smart light.

By contrast, the Philips Hue Play Light Bar can be used to add ambience to a room, or to create an Amblight-style effect around and behind your TV when connected to a Philips Hue HDMI Sync Box. Up to three Light Bars can be connected to the same power supply.

You can control your Light Bars via the Philips Hue app, and like all Philips Hue devices, they are compatible with all the major smart home ecosystems so you can operate them with voice commands, connect them to your other smart devices, and use them in automations. Take a look at our Philips Hue Play Light Bar review to find out more.

Lighting for less

If the Philips Hue light is outside your budget, but you want something that will provide a similar experience, take a look at the WiZ Gradient Light Bars, which cost just $59.99 / £54.99, and work in a very similar way when linked to a WiZ HDMI Sync Box.

Although they use different technologies, both Philips Hue and WiZ smart lights are made by the same company (Signify), so you can be confident that you're getting good quality. In fact, our reviewer Abigail Shannon gave the WiZ Gradient Light Bars a near-perfect four and a half stars out of five thanks to their ease of use, versatility, and smooth color gradient. Check out our full WiZ Gradient Light Bars review for more details.

It's hard to overstate the usefulness of smart lights, and once you have one at home, you'll start to see dozens of different ways to use it— from simply creating a schedule to changing the light temperature to suit the time of day, or even making it blink when someone presses your doorbell.

Smart lights don't have to be expensive either. Sure, outfitting your whole home with top-end Philips Hue color bulbs would be an expensive endeavor, but that's not your only option. There are (literally) brilliant bulbs from other brands that offer impressive features and quality for much less cash, and even Philips has a collection of lights at an entry-level price these days.

Below you'll find the top three smart light bulbs I recommend for your home. I've opted for Hue Essentials in my own apartment, but I'd happily fit either of the other options as well — particularly if I was in a party mood.

Best cverall

Philips Hue Essential

Philips Hue is the biggest name in smart lighting, and has sat at the top of our roundup of the best smart light systems for years, but it's always had one significant drawback: it's expensive. That's where Philips Hue Essential comes in.

Hue Essential, which launched last year, is a more affordable alternative to the standard Philips Hue White & Color Ambiance series, with fewer bulb options and a much lower price tag. You don't get to pick from such a huge array of sizes and styles (at launch, there were only three bulbs and a light strip available), but during my tests, I was thoroughly impressed by how well they performed compared to their full-price counterparts.

Like regular Hue bulbs, Hue Essential lights can be controlled individually via Bluetooth, or through the Philips Hue app. Using the app unlocks a lot more features, including the ability to assign a set of bulbs to a particular room or area and control them together, create automations, apply Scenes (themed color palettes) and link them to other devices such as sensors and switches.

The more advanced features also require a Philips Hue Bridge, which is an extra expense you'll need to consider when budgeting for your new smart lighting system, but it's worthwhile if you're adding them to more than one room, particularly since it also allows you to connect your lights to virtually any smart home ecosystem.

Colors are bright and bold, and in my tests, the Hue Essential bulb proved just as responsive as a White & Color Ambiance bulb costing twice as much. The two bulbs use different color technologies. meaning the more expensive bulb offers a wider palette, but in everyday use, you'll be hard-pressed to tell the difference.

The only real downside of choosing Hue Essential bulbs is that they can't be dimmed quite as low as regular Hue bulbs. That won't matter for most situations, but if you want to use your smart lights to wake you gently in the morning, or for subtle lighting in your home theater, the more expensive bulbs may be the better option.

For everything else, though, Hue Essential bulbs offer a staggering array of features, excellent quality, a well-designed app, and the most extensive compatibility of any smart lights you can buy today.

Read our full Philips Hue Essential review

Party lighting

GE Cync Lighting Dynamic Effects

Philips Hue Essential lights are excellent, but GE Cync Lighting Dynamic Effects bulbs offer something Hue ones don't: the ability to assign multiple colors to a single bulb so you can set the mood with just one light. Better yet, these party-ready smart lights can shift their multiple colors in response to music without the need for extra sensors and accessories. It's a party on your ceiling, and everyone's invited.

"The dynamic effects available here are a treat, especially the ones that respond to audio, and set it apart from the competition," said our reviewer, James Holland. "Get enough of these, and you could probably throw your own rave."

These bulbs link directly to Wi-Fi, so unlike Philips Hue lights (which use the Zigbee wireless protocol), there's no need for a hub to use all their features. If you're planning to equip your whole house with smart lights, then a Zigbee mesh network makes more sense (each light effectively acts as a repeater, giving more range), but if you just want fun lighting for one or two rooms, Wi-Fi will be fine.

During testing, we found GE's bulbs refreshingly simple to connect, and the accompanying Cync app is much better designed than many others we've tried over the years.

"The GE Cync Lighting Dynamic Effects bulb might be a little spendy compared to other models, but its connectivity is rock solid," said James. "In fact, the closest I‘ve had to any issue is a second or two of lag when turning off through the app, but that’s only if the light’s been on for a while."

Want to take the party further? There are also Dynamic effects wall light panels, LED strips, and string lights so you can design a setup to suit your room. These bulbs aren't widely available outside the US though, so if you want to have fun with smart lighting elsewhere, scroll on for my next recommendation.

Read our full GE Cync Lighting Dynamic Effects review

Budget

Nanoleaf Matter Essentials

Nanoleaf has carved a niche for itself in smart lighting for gamers. If you want an illuminated pegboard to hold your headphones and controllers, flexible rope lights that sync with the on-screen action, or stackable light-up storage cubes to show off your collectibles, Nanoleaf has you covered.

It does have a more sensible side, though, including some excellent smart light bulbs that are particularly bright and bold, and are great paired with Nanoleaf's decorative lighting or used alone.

As you can tell from the name, these particular bulbs are Matter-compatible, meaning you can use them as part of a mix-and-match smart home comprising devices from different brands — a significant advantage over many similarly-priced smart bulbs.

We experienced a few connectivity hiccups during setup, but once we got our Nanoleaf bulbs set up, we were very impressed. We particularly liked the way you can easily sync your Nanoleaf bulbs with what's happening on your screen, and the Circadian Lighting feature, which changes the color temperature and brightness throughout the day to help you feel energized when it's time to work, and wind down in the evening. Creating custom color scenes is a breeze, too (and you can even share them with other Nanoleaf users if you're feeling generous).

Like the Hue Essential series, Nanoleaf's budget bulbs don't give you a huge range of shapes and styles to choose from — there's a screw fitting, bayonet fitting, spotlight for recessed ceiling lights, and that's it — but the fact that you can use them with any major smart home platform opens up a world of options if you want to extend your smart lighting further.

Read our full Nanoleaf Matter Essentials review

• The Philips Hue Lucca lights are tipped to get an upgrade
• These models are set to get brighter and more colorful
• At the moment, prices and launch dates aren't clear

In recent weeks we've seen Philips Hue upgrade some of its existing products, like its Hue Flourish lamp. And it looks like another refresh is on the way for the Lucca series of products, which comprises a wall light, a path light, and a pedestal light.

According to the usually reliable Hueblog (via Notebookcheck), the Lucca lamps are getting a bulb upgrade. These products will soon be fitted with the E27 smart bulb, just about the best that Philips Hue makes at the moment.

Not only will that boost the maximum brightness of these devices from around 800 lumens to around 1,100 lumens, it will also enable a wider range of color effects. Some of the current Lucca models only offer white lighting, but the bulb upgrade should put these devices among the best Philips Hue lights out there.

It seems as though the rest of these products will be unchanged – specifically the design and dimensions. Philips Hue is just upgrading the bulb that's fitted inside, which is after all the most important component in a smart light.

Pricing to be confirmed

At the moment it's not clear if this is going to affect pricing, and we don't know when the refresh is actually going to happen either. Given that the update has now leaked, however, it shouldn't be too long before its made official.

The availability of the current Lucca series seems to be rather limited right now: the Philips Hue US store only has the wall light on sale for $109.99, while the UK store has the wall light for £89.99 and the pedestal light for £114.99. None of the products are showing up on the official Australia store at the time of writing.

That's another indication that a refresh is on the way, together with the previously rumored updates for the Turaco lights and the Flourish table lamp – all getting a boost from the same E27 Philips Hue bulb.

Meanwhile, the Philips Hue Bridge and Bridge Pro hubs continue to get updated with new and improved features, including easier access to automations. Note that you need a Bridge or Bridge Pro in order to make use of the Lucca lights.

Philips Hue bulbs and lamps are among the best smart lights around, and there's a dizzying array to choose from. As TechRadar's smart home tech editor, I've had my hands (and eyes) on all of the main products, and have put together this guide to help you decide which ones are right for you.

If you're new to the world of smart lights and just want to try replacing a few of your existing bulbs, I recommend the Philips Hue Essential series. These are entry-level versions of the brand's standard color-shifting smart bulbs, and are much more affordable. If you want to add ambience to a room or create an Ambilight-style home-theater effect without the hassle of fitting light strips behind your TV, I recommend the Philips Hue Wall Washer, and if you want string lights that will be fun and functional throughout the holidays and beyond, Philips Hue Festavia gets my seal of approval.

Bear in mind that to unlock all the features of your smart lights, you'll need a Philips Hue Bridge. This links to your Wi-Fi router and connects all your Hue lights (plus switches and sensors) in a mesh network. For more details, take a look at our guide about what is a Hue Bridge and how important is it.

Best smart light bulbs

Philips Hue Essential

Philips Hue is the biggest name in smart lighting, but the price can be daunting if you're thinking about trying it for the first time, or like the idea of having smart bulbs in every room. That's where the Hue Essential series comes in. It doesn't include as many different types and styles as the original Hue range, but it covers all the basics with screw, bayonet, and spotlight options – and they're excellent.

I tested a Philips Hue Essential bulb against its premium White and Color Ambiance counterpart, and I could barely tell the difference between the two in most situations. Color reproduction was excellent for both, they're equally responsive to commands from the Hue app, and their maximum brightness is almost identical.

The only significant difference involved dimming, with the regular White and Color Ambiance bulb capable of dropping to a much lower level than the Hue Essential bulb. That might be an issue if you want subtle lighting for your home entertainment area, or you want to fit a smart bulb in your bedroom to wake you gently with a sunrise effect, but for most rooms, it really won't matter.

Hue Essential bulbs work just like any other Hue lights in other respects. You can control them via Bluetooth or use a Philips Hue Bridge to connect them to other devices, including switches, sensors, and smart speakers.

That's all very impressive considering they're less than half the price of standard Philips Hue bulbs, and means they're easy to recommend.

Check out my full Philips Hue Essential review

Best smart table lamp

Philips Hue Play Wall Washer

The Philips Hue Play Wall Washer is the most versatile smart lamp I've tested. Rather than shining light directly into the room, it has a stack of three bright LEDs on the back, which cast a striking, even gradient of color onto a wall – hence the name.

Much like Philips Ambilight, you can use a pair of Wall Washers to enhance your home-theater setup by extending the colors from the edges of your TV screen. Just connect them to a Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box, follow the setup instructions in the Hue app, and settle in for a more immersive viewing experience. Color-matching was impressive during my tests, and each Wall Washer has a surprisingly long throw, so they will even work with larger TVs.

You can also use it to add ambient light to any room (the further away from a wall it is, the more diffuse the glow), and link it to any other Hue smart lights and devices in your home.

Personally, I like to use it as a wake-up light (similar to the Philips Hue Twilight, but not quite as expensive). The Wall Washer casts a warm glow onto your bedroom wall that gradually brightens and shifts from dark blue to red, orange, yellow, and eventually white to rouse you from slumber gently. It's less of a shock to the system than an audible alarm, and beats even the best wake-up lamps when it comes to color and dimming.

Read my full Philips Hue Play Wall Washer review

Best smart string lights

String lights aren't just for the holidays, as Philips Hue Festavia proves. This string of tiny smart LEDs looks stunning gracing your tree, but can also be strung anywhere in your home to add ambient lighting all year round.

Using the Philips Hue app, you can apply themed Scenes to your Festavia lights, and even group them with other Hue bulbs and lamps to create a cohesive theme throughout a space. Thanks to a new feature called Hue SpatialAware, the app can even apply Scenes differently depending on where the lights are positioned, so your Festavia strings add to the ambiance in a way that makes sense for your room.

You can also control them using automations or switches and sensors. For example, you could have them illuminate only when someone enters the room, or on a timer so they shut off automatically at bedtime.

You can even use them to create a welcoming glow around the front of your home when someone approaches. Unlike most string lights we've tested over the years, standard Festavia lights are suitable for use indoors or out, and are rated IP54, meaning they won't be damaged by rain.

As with all Hue lights, you'll need a Philips Hue Bridge to get the most out of them, but if you already have a Hue setup, then they're a great option if you're shopping for lights for the holidays and beyond.

See our guide are smart string lights worth it?

• An update to the Philips Hue Flourish table lamp is on the way
• The lumens will be boosted from 806 to 1,100
• It's not clear when the lamp is going to go on sale worldwide

The newly unveiled IKEA donut lamp, part of the Varmblixt series, has been turning heads in recent weeks – but Philips Hue looks set to counter with a new product of its own, based on the existing Hue Flourish table lamp.

Based on a listing seen on Amazon Germany (via Hueblog), the lamp is going to get an upgrade from 806 lumens to 1,100 lumens. That should mean a higher maximum brightness for the Flourish lamp when it's sitting in your home.

If you're new to the product, the lamp doesn't actually have a light fixed inside it, like the Flourish pendant light or the Flourish ceiling light. Instead, it comes with a Philips Hue E27 bulb for full color illumination, which can be replaced as and when needed.

It's that bulb that is driving the upgraded lumens in the new version, and the rest of the lamp looks to be the same: it still measures 26.1 centimeters wide and 17.5 centimeters high, so make sure you've got enough room for it before buying.

The price is right?

Based on the Amazon Germany listing, the upgraded Flourish table lamp is going to be available for roughly the same price as the previous version launched at – though the older model no longer available to buy direct from Philips Hue.

The previous version would have cost you $153.99 / £129.99 (roughly AU$225, though it's not clear what the original price in Australia was). Remember that includes both the E27 bulb and the surrounding lamp, made from glass.

The IKEA Varmblixt donut will set you back $99.99 when it goes on sale in April – that's about £75 / AU$145, though international pricing is to be confirmed – so if you're going for the cheaper option it seems as though IKEA is still the way to go.

Of course, a lot depends on what else you've already got set up in your smart home: if you've already heavily invested in Philips Hue lights and perhaps a Hue Bridge to connect them all together, then the Flourish table lamp makes more sense. Well, either that, or buying a different IKEA light and using a Philips Hue bulb inside it.

• A new Hue Bridge update lays the ground for an automations tweak
• Automations will soon be visible alongside rooms and scenes
• There's no sign yet of the SpatialAware feature we saw demoed at CES

Update: We've had a response from Signify, the parent company of Philips Hue. Its representatives told us –

"Automations aren’t disappearing or being replaced. Instead, we're making them more accessible by surfacing them directly where they're most relevant. Automations will live alongside lights, scenes, and accessories within rooms and zones, so users can interact with them in the context of the space they’re controlling."

Scroll to the bottom for the rest of the statement. Our original story continues below.

--

If you have a Philips Hue Bridge or a Philips Hue Bridge Pro set-up at home, be on the lookout for a software upgrade that's rolling out now, which lays the foundations for upcoming improvements to smart-light automations.

As spotted by Notebookcheck, the notes accompanying the version 1975104000 update (Hue Bridge v2) and version 2071193000 update (Hue Bridge Pro) mention showing automations "within the screens of the rooms and zones they control".

Currently, if you open up the Philips Hue app on your phone, you'll see there's a separate Automations tab where you'll find them all listed – timers for waking up and going to sleep, motion-sensor triggers, preset color cycles, and so on. These automations are why Philips Hue devices are some of the best smart lights in the business.

In the near future, it sounds like these automations will also appear on the same screens where you can access the rooms and zones you've created for your lights, making it much easier to see what's what with a quick glance.

Coming soon

The latest Bridge update doesn't enable this change – but it's apparently arriving "in the coming weeks". We've reached out to Philips Hue parent company Signify to see if it has anything extra to add, and will add an update here if we hear back.

In addition to making preparations for this automations tweak, the update release notes say there are "several small changes behind the scenes" that make the Bridges work better than ever – so expect faster responses and fewer problems in the future.

Though it's not mentioned in this update, we're also patiently waiting for the SpatialAware feature, announced at CES 2026 and exclusive to the Hue Bridge Pro. When you set scenes in a room, it tweaks the output from each light, based on its position – for example, for a sunset scene, the artificial sun effect will set on one side of the room.

You can manage Hue Bridge updates by tapping Settings in the app, then choosing Software update. To make life easy, enable Automatic update, which means your Hue devices will update themselves, without you having to do anything else.

And the rest of that Signify statement in full –

"From those room and zone screens, users will be able to create, edit, delete, enable or disable, and start or stop automations – without having to navigate away. This makes it much easier to find the right automation at the right moment.

At the same time, the Automations tab will remain available. This gives users flexibility: they can either browse automations by context (room or zone) or view and manage the full list of automations across their home in one place.

We're also introducing more personalization in how content is displayed within rooms and zones. Users will be able to reorder sections – for example, placing scenes or automations first, followed by accessories and individual lights – based on how they prefer to control their space.

The change is focused on reducing friction and making everyday actions quicker, especially for users who rely heavily on scenes and automations rather than individual light controls. We'll share timing details closer to rollout."

We're on the show floor at CES 2026 in Las Vegas, where all the biggest names in tech are showing off their latest consumer products, and smart home brands are vying for a place in your living room.

There have been some interesting developments in the world of smart lighting (such as IKEA's donut-shaped Varmblixt LED Lamp), but one that really caught my eye was a new line of budget-friendly smart light bulbs from Lifx.

These have been on sale for a couple of months already, but this is the first time Lifx has demonstrated them at a major trade show.

We've tested various Lifx products over the years here at TechRadar and been impressed by their performance. However, they tend to lean towards the expensive side, with premium prices more in line with Philips Hue's best smart lights than affordable rivals Govee or Nanoleaf.

Last year, Philips launched the Hue Essential series – a collection of everyday bulbs that work in just the same way as its regular lights, but with more modest specs and much lower prices, so it makes sense that Lifx is following its lead with a more accessible range of entry-level bulbs.

Opting for a cheaper bulb doesn't necessarily mean missing out on features or quality. I put a Philips Hue Essential E27 bulb to the test against a regular Philips Hue White & Color Ambiance one, and was surprised how well the cheaper model compared in terms of overall brightness and color reproduction. The biggest difference was that the regular Hue bulb could be dimmed to 0.2% of its maximum brightness, whereas the Hue Essential one could only drop to 2%.

Depending on how you're planning to use them, that might be something you don't even notice – particularly if you're not mixing the two bulb types within the same room.

So what does the new Lifx Everyday series bring to the table (or ceiling) compared with Hue Essential, and which smart lights should you pick if you're on a budget?

Significant specs

The table below sums up the key similarities and differences between a Philips Hue Essential and a Lifx Everyday bulb. In the interest of simplicity, I'll be comparing the standard E27 screw-fitting bulb in both collections.

I should also point out that although Hue Essential bulbs can be bought individually, Lifx Everyday bulbs are only available in packs of two, so here I'll be comparing the list price for a twin-pack of each.

As you can see, while both these bulbs are in the entry-level price bracket, the Philips Hue Essential is considerably more expensive. If you want to make the most of the Hue Essential bulb's features (beyond simply adjusting the brightness and color) then you'll also need to factor in the price of a Philips Hue Bridge, which connects to your router and links all your Hue devices in a mesh network using the Zigbee wireless protocol.

Using Zigbee does have some significant advantages over Wi-Fi though, and is ideal for low-powered devices like smart lights and switches. Connecting multiple smart lights directly to your Wi-Fi router can cause congestion, and although you can theoretically connect dozens of bulbs to a single router, doing so is likely to slow down other connected devices.

Zigbee-enabled devices also act as repeaters, which can dramatically extend their range compared to Wi-Fi connected devices.

The Hue Essential bulb has a slightly higher max brightness and the Lifx Everyday, plus a wider white light temperature range. The Lifx bulb offers deeper dimming, however, which may be helpful if you want to use your bulb as a wake-up light in the morning.

Into the apps

Both thje Lifx and Philips Hue apps let you choose from a collection of preset lighting scenes or create your own to set a particular mood. However, the Hue app also has an AI-powered assistant to make bespoke scenes for you using typed or spoken commands. Both the Philips Hue app and the Lifx app let you set custom schedules and automations.

Both apps let you connect to their respective brand's switches without using a third-party platform, but the Hue app also offers native support for the brand's huge range of sensors, cameras, doorbell, and other devices. You can not only control your lights, but also create and arm a home security system through the same app. There are also more third-party integrations for Hue products via services like IFTTT.

Conclusion

So which entry-level bulbs are right for you? The answer depends partly on your budget, and partly on what you're planning to do in the future.

The Lifx Everyday bulbs are cheaper to buy outright, and have the advantage of not needing an additional bridge to unlock features like customizable scenes and scheduling. If you want smart light bulbs for one or two rooms, they're a very reasonably priced option, with brightness, dimming, and colors to compete with premium options.

Philips Hue Essential bulbs, on the other hand, are intended as an affordable entry point to the Hue system. If you'd like to gradually change all your lights to smart ones and can see yourself building a system spanning multiple rooms with different sensors and security devices, Hue Essentials will be a better investment in the long term.

• Your Philips Hue lights are getting a new feature called Hue SpatialAware
• It applies scenes differently depending on the location of lights in a room
• There's also a long-awaited update coming to the Philips Hue Bridge Pro

Your Philips Hue lights are getting an upgrade that's going to make your rooms look a lot more cohesive. It's called Hue SpatialAware, and it will apply lighting scenes differently depending on the location of smart lights within your room, resulting in a more natural-looking effect.

Lighting scenes are palettes of themed colors that you can apply to all the lights in a particular room or area. They're great for setting a mood, but until now each color in the scene could be applied to any light bulb or fixture, regardless of its location. The result could be somewhat jumbled, as you can see on the left-hand side of the images above and below.

That's about to change though, because now you can use your phone's camera to scan your room and log the location of each light. Hue SpatialAware will then apply the colors within your chosen scene in a way that makes sense. For example, the lights on one side of the room might have a bright, warm glow to represent a sunset, while those on the other are darker. You might also find the lights towards the top of your room are brighter than those lower down, simulating a sunny sky.

Hue SpatialAware is currently available for about half the remastered scenes in the Hue app's scene gallery, and is most effective with nature-inspired palettes. It requires Philips Hue Bridge Pro, which went on sale in September last year, and SpatialAware will be available early this year.

More bright ideas

SpatialAware isn't the only new feature rolling out today. Anyone who currently has multiple Philips Hue Bridges will be pleased to learn that they can now port all their lights to a single Bridge Pro. A single Bridge Pro can support over 150 lights and 50 accessories, and you can transfer data from as many Hue Bridges as you like provided you don't exceed those limits.

The Philips Hue AI assistant is getting an upgrade that will let it create automations based on your requests. For example, you can ask it to wake you at a particular time every day, except for Mondays. The assistant is currently only available in English, but support for Dutch, German, and Spanish will arrive over the next few weeks.

There's good news for Apple Home users too. The Hue Secure camera, video doorbell, and contact sensors will soon work seamlessly with Apple's smart home platform, with support for live streaming via picture-in-picture mode on Apple TV, and real-time alerts in the Apple Home app. This will be available very soon as well.

• Govee unveiled three new smart light products at CES 2026, including the new Floor Lamp 3 and two new ceiling lights
• The new Ceiling Light Ultra encourages you to create your own animated color gradients, while the Sky Ceiling Light leans into natural lighting
• As well as new hardware, Govee announced a slew of new software upgrades including DaySync, which changes your smart lights based on the time of day

Govee’s showcase at CES 2026 showed that not only is the company focussed on evolving its range of smart lighting, but it's dedicated to making the technology even smarter through its new era of smart lights and software updates – and Philips Hue should watch out.

Known for making some of the best smart lights out there, three new products are joining Govee’s range of lighting products. These include the Floor Lamp 3, the Govee Ceiling Light Ultra, and the Govee Sky Ceiling Light – each offering Matter integration and compatibility with Apple's HomeKit smart home platform.

While we don’t have any pricing details for the new range, the new Floor Lamp 3 succeeds the Govee Floor Lamp 2 packing an upgraded LuminBlend+ color system. Its advanced new features now allow you to control a staggering 281 trillion colors and an extensive spectrum of temperature lighting ranging from 1,000K to 10,000K – a feature that’ll be coming to other Govee smart lights this year.

With that said, the Ceiling Light Ultra, and Sky Ceiling Light are new to the Govee family, both of which are 21-inches in size, but offer different, unique functions.

The Ceiling Light Ultra is a more playful take on the smart light, packing a detailed 616-pixel LED matrix which can display intricate animated scenes and gradients with 5000 lumens of brightness. You can even take it a step further and design your own patterns in the Govee app “with up to eight distinct layers of motion, color, and shapes” – or you can select from the 20+ presets that are included – something that even the Philips Hue Datura ceiling light has yet to achieve.

When it comes to the Sky Ceiling Light, this model is designed to emulate natural daylight, with 5200 lumens of brightness and edge-mounted LEDs that mimic the effects of a real skylight window. While the Ceiling Light Ultra provides a more creative experience, the Sky Ceiling Light leans more towards the well-being side of smart lighting, offering realistic blue-sky effects during the day and warm sunset tones in the evening with the help of DaySync – a new lighting feature introduced by Govee.

Govee catches up on customization

We’re very fond of Govee as a budget-friendly smart lighting brand, but until now one of its drawbacks has been the lack of advanced features offered by rivals like Philips Hue. With the new DaySync and AI Lighting Bot 2.0 functions, that could all be about to change.

At CES 2026, Govee announced its new DaySync functionality alongside its range of new hardware. As its name implies, DaySync can alter the brightness and color of your smart lights based on the time of day. It can also pick up on sunrise and sunset times and local conditions and change your lighting accordingly – which is native to the Sky Ceiling Light.

Additionally, Govee unveiled its AI Lighting Bot 2.0, an upgraded version of its scene-changing chatbot feature that adjusts animated scenes in its pixel and graphic smart lights. Instead of using fixed commands, it can now alter your smart lighting by using natural conversations.

Like we’ve stated earlier, we don’t know how much Govee’s new Floor Lamp 3, Ceiling Light Ultra, or Sky Ceiling Light will cost, nor when they’ll be available to purchase. That aside, this is a huge step for both Govee’s smart lighting hardware and software, and 2026 is already looking to be a bright year for one of our favorite smart home brands.

Philips Hue Essential: two-minute review

Philips Hue Essential bulbs are a more affordable version of the company's standard smart lights, and they perform incredibly well considering they're less than half the price. There are a few limitations, though. For example, Philips Hue Essential bulbs offer a maximum brightness of **803**CHECK*** lumens, whereas standard Philips Hue White & Color Ambiance bulbs range from 800 to 1,600 lumens.

In most other respects, the two are very similar, and during my tests there was only one clear instance where the standard bulb really outshone the Essential version.

To see how the two would compare, I set up a pair of lamps – one with a Philips Hue Essential bulb, and the other with an 800-lumen Philips Hue White & Color Ambiance bulb. I added them to the same room in the Philips Hue app, which would enable me to control them simultaneously, and directly compare and contrast their output.

During most of the tests I ran, it was difficult to spot any difference between the two. Both were equally responsive, and produced colors that were identical to my naked eye when I switched between scenes. According to Signify (the company behind the Philips Hue brand), Essential bulbs use different color-matching technology to regular Hue lights; but personally, I had a hard time telling the difference.

Having said that, I did notice a dark band at the top of the Essential bulb, which wasn't present on the premium bulb. This was most apparent with purple and blue light. Note that it isn't something you'll notice if you're using the bulb in a ceiling light, nor in a table lamp, and therefore is unlikely to be a deal-breaker unless you're exceptionally picky.

The two were equally bright (as expected), although if I'd used a higher-output White & Color Ambiance bulb, then it would have been appreciably brighter.

However, there's one important difference that you should be aware of, particularly if you're looking for smart bulbs that will produce a natural-looking sunrise and sunset to help you wake up feeling refreshed, or to create subtle ambient lighting in your living room.

With both bulbs dialled down to their dimmest setting, the Hue Essential bulb was much brighter than the more expensive White & Color Ambiance model, as you can see in the photo below. That's because the Hue Essential bulb can only be dimmed to 2% of its maximum brightness, whereas the regular bulb can drop to just 0.2%.

I also found that the Essential bulb tended to show a slightly warmer cast, due to its narrower white light spectrum (2,200–6,500K compared to 1,000-20,00K for a regular Hue bulb). Depending on your preferred light temperature, the difference could be apparent if you use the two different types of bulbs in close proximity,

I wouldn't mix and match regular Hue and Hue Essential bulbs within the same room. However, they're an excellent option for those wanting to setup a Philips Hue system but have previously been intimidated by the price. They're also great if you're looking to extend your existing system to more rooms in your home, without splashing too much cash.

• Performance score: 4.5/5

Philips Hue Essential: price and availability

• Much cheaper than regular Philips Hue bulbs
• Even more affordable when bought as a multipack
• You may also want a Philips Hue Bridge

The Philips Hue Essential range is designed to be an accessible entry point into the world of smart lighting, with the bulbs coming in at a much cheaper price than standard Philips Hue ones.

One Philips Hue Essential bulb (either screw or bayonet) costs $24.99 / £19.99 (about AU$40). If you want several, you can save money by opting for a multipack. A twin-pack costs $44.99 / £32.99 (about AU$70), and a four-pack comes in at $59.99 / £49.99 (about AU$90).

For comparison, a twin-pack of regular 800-lumen Philips Hue White & Color Ambiance bulbs costs $98.99 / £84.99 / AU$149.25, and a four-pack is $185.99 / £169.99 / AU$290.50. That's the starting price for a maximum brightness of 800 lumens; brighter bulbs cost even more.

There's another potential cost to consider, though. Although you can control the color and brightness of your Philips Hue Essential lights using Bluetooth on your phone, for more advanced features (such as applying scenes, setting schedules, and connecting them to smart speakers or switches) you'll also need a Philips Hue Bridge.

A standard Philips Hue Bridge costs $65.99 / £49.99 / AU$99.95, so factor this into your budget when planning your new smart lighting system. There's also a Philips Hue Bridge Pro, but this would be overkill for a new user with a small setup.

At the time of writing, Hue Essential bulbs only seem to be available in Australia as part of a starter kit, costing $170.08 for four bulbs and the Hue Bridge.

• Value score: 5/5

Philips Hue Essential: specifications

Philips Hue Essential: design

• Only three bulb types available
• All options offer tuneable white and colored light
• Maximum brightness of 806 lumens

Philips offers only a small selection of Hue Essential bulbs, which makes sense for an entry-level option. There are currently three models available – screw, bayonet, and GU10 spotlights – and these should be fine for most fittings around your home. Here, I tested an E27 screw-fitting bulb.

By contrast, regular Philips Hue lights come in virtually every shape and form possible, including candle and "filament"-style bulbs, LED strips, and gradient lamps to name just a few.

All bulbs in the Philips Hue Essential Series are "Warm to Cool White & Color", meaning they can show eight million colours, plus white light at different temperatures (from 2,200K to 6,500K). Regular Philips Hue smart bulbs are available in three versions:

• Warm white, which lets you tune brightness but not color;
• White Ambiance, which lets you adjust the brightness and temperature;
• White & Color Ambiance, which also lets you pick from eight million colors.

For more details, take a look at my complete guide to the different types of Philips Hue smart light bulbs.

All Philips Hue Essential bulbs offer a maximum brightness of 806 lumens. Regular Philips Hue bulbs range from 800 all the way through to 1,600 lumens.

• Design score: 4.5/5

Should you buy Philips Hue Essential bulbs?

Buy them if

Don't buy them if

Philips Hue Essential: also consider

How I tested the Philips Hue Essential bulbs

I tested a Philips Hue Essential E27 screw-fitting bulb alongside a standard Philips Hue Essential White & Color Ambiance bulb in identical table lamps, so I could more easily compare the two. I connected both to my existing Philips Hue setup, and added them to the same zone, which would enable me to control them both at once via the Hue app on my phone, set them to the same colors and brightness, and note similarities and differences.

I also tested them using the "sunset" automation within the Philips Hue app, with various preset scenes, and by tuning the light color and brightness manually.

For more details, see how we test, rate, and review products at TechRadar.

After weeks of tantalizing leaks, the Philips Hue Bridge Pro is finally on sale. The new smart lighting hub (in a fetching shade of graphite) is available to buy for $98.99 in the US and £79.99 in the UK, and details of its Australian launch are expected very soon.

The Hue Bridge Pro can support over 150 smart lights (including bulbs and lamps) and over 50 accessories (such as switches and sensors), compared to just 50 bulbs and 10 accessories for the Bridge V2.

It can also turn your existing Hue lights into motion sensors using the Zigbee wireless protocol. The system, called MotionAware, works by detecting interference in the signal being sent between your bulbs and lamps. This data is processed by the Bridge Pro, which interprets it and uses it to determine whether a person has entered the area.

All of this makes it very tempting, particularly if you have too many Hue lights for just one Bridge, and had to go through the hassle of installing several in your home. Having them all linked to a single Bridge sounds ideal - but don't rush in just yet.

Hold your horses

Although the Hue Bridge Pro can support well over 100 lights, it's not yet possible to merge and migrate all the device settings from multiple previous-gen Bridges. You can use the Philips Hue app to port across your data from one Hue Bridge V2, but if you have more than one of the older hubs, you'll need to wait a while before you can transfer all your settings and devices en masse.

The option to merge multiple Bridges and transfer the data is coming, but Signify (the company behind Philips Hue) hasn't said exactly when. At its launch event in Berlin this week (where it revealed over a dozen new products), its spokespeople only said that it would become available before the end of the year.

It should be worth the wait, though. It's understandable that Signify wants to get the merging and porting software working perfectly before launch, because any failure could mean you have to re-add all your lights one by one, re-create your zones and rooms, and make all your automations and scenes again. It would be a bit of a nightmare.

More reasons to switch

If you want to upgrade from a single Hue Bridge V2, however, you can go ahead and do it right now. Other perks of switching include the ability to connect the Bridge Pro to your router via Wi-Fi rather than an Ethernet cable, which means you can put it anywhere.

The Bridge Pro's upgraded processor means your lights and switches should be more responsive too, and it can now store 500 custom lighting scenes. Learn more about all the Philips Hue devices launched at Signify's Berlin event this week.

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The first Philips Hue video doorbell is here, but how does it compare to the best-selling Ring Video Doorbells, and which one should you screw onto your wall?

The Philips Hue Secure Video Doorbell is wired rather than battery-operated, so you can't simply stick it on your wall. So, for the purposes of this article, I'll be comparing it to the Ring Video Doorbell Wired and Video Doorbell Wired Pro.

When it comes to camera quality, Philips Hue definitely has the edge. Its doorbell records at 2K and has a 180-degree field of view horizontally and vertically, which is superior to both of Ring's wired offerings.

The Philips Hue doorbell is good value, too (which may be surprising considering its reputation for premium pricing). The Hue Secure doorbell sits in between the two wired Ring doorbells in terms of price, despite having a better camera than either.

If you opt for the Philips Hue doorbell, you'll be able to review videos from the last 24 hours for free. If you choose a Ring doorbell, your videos aren't stored at all unless you pay for at least a basic subscription plan. If you skip the paid plan, you can only watch live footage from your doorbell.

However, Ring's premium tiers can store your footage for much longer than Philips Hue Secure, and offer extra security features such as 24/7 video recording, and calls to your phone when someone presses the doorbell (not just an app alert).

Of course, one of the main attractions of the Philips Hue doorbell is that it's controlled through the same app as any Hue lights you own, making it easy to create automations that will activate your lights if motion is detected, for example. You can create similar automations with a Ring doorbell, but it's not quite so straightforward.

Want to know more? Read on for the full lowdown on both brands' doorbells so you can make an informed choice between the two. I'll also be testing the Philips Hue Secure Video Doorbell very soon to see whether it can earn a place in my roundup of the best video doorbells.

Hardware specifications

• Philips Hue doorbell is wired, with a 2K camera and 180-degree field of view
• Neither of Ring's wired doorbells can match those camera specs
• Both brands offer plug-in chimes to provide audible alerts in your home

There is only one Philips Hue Secure Video Doorbell at the time of writing. It's a wired doorbell with a 2K resolution, infra-red night vision, and a 180-degree field of view. There's an optional plug-in chime that lets you hear callers from elsewhere in your home.

Ring currently sells two wired video doorbells, but they both have lower-spec cameras than the Philips Hue Secure doorbell.

The Ring Video Doorbell Wired has a 1080p resolution, and a narrower field of view (155 degrees horizontal, 90 degrees vertical). It has infra-red night vision, and can be paired with an optional chime.

The next model up, the Ring Video Doorbell Wired Pro, also has lower resolution than the Hue doorbell (1536p) and a smaller field of view (150 degrees horizontal and vertical). It does, however, offer 3D motion detection, and can estimate distance so it can give a bird's-eye view and alert you when someone has stepped on your property.

• Winner: Philips Hue

Prices

• The Philips Hue Secure Video Doorbell costs more than the Ring Video Doorbell Wired but less than the Ring Video Doorbell Wired Pro
• The Philips Hue and Ring chimes cost about the same
• The Philips Hue doorbell isn't yet available in Australia

The Philips Hue Secure Video Doorbell will launch in the US and UK in October 2025, though we don't yet have an exact date. The doorbell will cost $169.99 / £139.99, and if you want the additional chime – so you can hear callers from anywhere in your home – this will be an additional $59.99 / £49.99. No prices or release dates have been announced for Australia yet.

Ring's video doorbells are available globally, including the US, UK, and Australia. The Ring Video Doorbell Wired is $49.99 / £49.99 / AU$89, while the Ring Video Doorbell Wired Pro is $229.99 / £199.99 / AU$349.

Ring also sells a separate Chime, which has a list price of £29.99 / $34.99 / AU$59.

• Winner: Philips Hue

Subscriptions

• No paid subscription is necessary for Philips Hue or Ring doorbells
• Free Philips Hue Secure plans offer 24 hours of free video storage
• Ring Home subscribers get more advanced security features

You can use the Philips Hue Secure Video Doorbell and any Ring Doorbells without paying an additional subscription fee, but you'll get considerably fewer features.

The biggest difference is video storage. If you have a free Philips Hue Secure plan, your video clips will be stored for 24 hours (starting later in 2025). If you don't buy a Ring subscription, your videos won't be stored at all, and you can only watch footage from your doorbell live as it's happening.

Both Philips Hue and Ring offer different subscription plans, with higher tiers offering longer video storage, support for more devices, and extra security features. You'll find a complete comparison of all the plans in the two tables below.

Philips Hue Secure and Ring Home Premium plans aren't available in Australia.

• Winner: tie

Philips Hue Secure Video Doorbell vs Ring Video Doorbell Wired / Wired Pro: early verdict

I can't give a definitive verdict on how good the Philips Hue Secure Video Doorbell is until I've put it through TechRadar's exacting testing process, but the early signs are that it should offer a serious challenge to Ring's dominance of the smart doorbell market.

It has some impressive specs, with far superior cameras that can record in higher resolution and with a wider field of view. It's also cheaper than the Ring Video Doorbell Wired Pro despite that camera advantage, and integrates nicely with Hue's smart-home ecosystem.

Against that, Ring has arguably better subscription options, plus you can opt for the much cheaper (but basic) Video Doorbell Wired if you don't want to spend more than $50/£50 on a doorbell.

I'll be able to say for sure which you should buy once I've finished my review, but either way the Hue looks like being a worthy addition to the smart doorbell market, and that's never a bad thing.

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Signify, the company behind Philips Hue, has just launched over 10 new products, including the long-awaited Philips Hue Bridge Pro, seamless light strips, a video doorbell, and heaps of smart bulbs. The event took place in Berlin, near the IFA trade show, and according to Signify, it was the biggest launch in Hue's history.

Here you'll find a complete guide to all the biggest launches, but it wasn't just about hardware. Signify also announced a new partnership with Sonos, which will let you use your Sonos smart speaker to control your Hue lights with voice commands.

We also learned about some extra features coming to Philips Hue Secure, including free 24-hour video playback (previously only available to paid subscribers), the ability to recognize smoke alarm signals and respond with emergency light alerts, and (coming next year) AI-powered facial recognition.

Now, on with the products that'll be lighting up your home very soon...

Philips Hue Bridge Pro

What is the Philips Hue Bridge Pro?

The Philips Hue Bridge Pro is a new hub for connecting your Philips Hue devices. It can support three times as many smart lights and sensors as the previous model, and can turn your Hue lights into motion sensors without any extra hardware.

The Bridge Pro can support over 150 lights (compared to just 50 for the Philips Hue Bridge V2) and 50 accessories. It looks set to be a game-changer for people with large houses, who could easily exceed the previous limit, and would require two or more bridges to accommodate all their devices. It can also store up to 500 scenes

The Hue Bridge Pro can also turn your Hue bulbs and other devices into motion sensors, without the need for any extra hardware. This technology (which is very similar to something we saw demonstrated in a video by the Communication Standards Alliance back in January) is called MotionAware, and will work with almost all existing Philips Hue bulbs and lights that are connected to a Bridge Pro, not just new ones.

The principle is quite simple. Like previous Philips Hue Bridges, the Pro uses the Zigbee wireless protocol to connect all your Hue devices in a mesh network. By detecting disruptions in the signal as it's sent between devices, the Bridge Pro can determine whether a person has entered the area. It's recommended that you have at least three Hue lights in the room to allow the system to accurately triangulate your position.

MotionAware can be used to trigger automations (so the lights turn on if you enter a room, for example) or for security (so you receive an alert through the Philips Hue app if unexpected movement is detected).

Another difference between the Philips Hue Bridge Pro and its predecessor is that you no longer have to connect it to your router using an Ethernet cable. That's still an option, but if you prefer, you can use Wi-Fi instead, which gives you more choice about where you use it.

If you already have a Philips Hue setup and want to upgrade to the Bridge Pro, there's good news and (slightly) bad news. The good news is that you can migrate your settings from one Philips Hue Bridge V2 directly to the Bridge Pro, including all your devices, zones, and rooms.

The not-so-great news is that, if you have multiple bridges, you'll have to wait a while before you can merge them all and port everything over to a Bridge Pro en masse. It's likely to be a few months before this is made possible via a software update, but it makes sense that Signify wants to get it right. You don't want to have to add over a hundred lightbulbs back one by one. The update should be released before the end of the year.

(New to Hue and not sure exactly what a Bridge is? Take a look at our guide what is a Philips Hue Bridge and why is it important for your smart lights.)

What does the Philips Hue Bridge Pro cost?

The Philips Hue Bridge Pro will go on sale in the USA and UK in September, priced at $89.99 / £79.99. The release date and price for Australia are yet to be announced.

Philips Hue Essential

What is Philips Hue Essential?

Philips Hue Essential is a collection of smart light bulbs and strips, which offer a more affordable entry point to the world of smart lighting than the company's original lights. Essential bulbs aren't quite as bright as their classic counterparts, and can't be dimmed quite so low.

According to Signify, their specifications are similar to other smart lights on the market, but with the advantage that they're a fully supported part of the Philips Hue system.

Like regular Philips Hue bulbs, you can control their basic functions from your phone via Bluetooth, or use a Philips Hue Bridge to unlock advanced features like scenes and automations, and the ability to trigger lights with timers, switches, and sensors. If you have a Philips Hue Bridge Pro, you can use Hue Essential lights as motion detectors.

Right now, the Essential range includes A19 bulbs, GU10 spotlights, a strip light, and a flexible strip light. These can be bought individually, in multipacks, or as starter kits that also include a Philips Hue Bridge V2. There are also Philips Hue Essential starter kits that include a switch as well as the Bridge.

What do Philips Hue Essential lights cost?

Philips Hue Essential A19 bulbs, Strip Lights, and Flex Strip Lights will be available from September in the US and UK. A19 bulbs will start at $24.99 / £19.99 each, Strip Lights will start at $59.99 / £49.99, and Flex Strip Lights will start at $99.99 / £84.99.

GU10 spotlight bulbs will also go on sale in the UK in September, starting at £19.99 when bought individually.

We don't yet have details for GU10 spotlights in the US, and there are currently no prices or release dates for Philips Hue Essential products in Australia.

Philips Hue OmniGlow

What is Philips Hue OmniGlow?

There are several new Philips Hue light strips, the most interesting of which is called OmniGlow, which Signify describes as its first "perfectly spot-free strip". That means you can't make out individual LEDs along the strip's length, which will be great news to anyone who likes the idea of a gradient light strip but doesn't want to fit a plastic diffuser over the top.

OmniGlow can emit up to 900 lumens per meter, which means it's not just decorative; you could also use it for functional lighting along a staircase, for example. Each strip is packed with tiny high-performance LEDs less than 0.5mm across. They can be dimmed as low as 0.5%, and have the same color accuracy as other Philips Hue lights.

Signify also showed off two new Philips Hue Flux indoor light strips (regular and extra bright), a Flux outdoor strip light, and a Neon outdoor strip light, which you can bend into different fun shapes.

Want regular bulbs? There are new A19 and E27 bulbs in both the White Ambiance and White and Color Ambiance series. Confused? Our complete guide to the different types of Philips Hue lights explains it all.

What does the Philips Hue OmniGlow cost?

The Philips Hue OmniGlow will be available in the US from October, with prices starting at $139.99 for a three-meter strip. It will go on sale in the UK at some point between October and December, and a three-meter strip will cost £119.99.

We don't yet have a release date for the Philips Hue OmniGlow in Australia, but when it does launch, prices will start at $139.99 for three meters.

Philips Hue Secure Video Doorbell

What is the Philips Hue Secure Video Doorbell?

The latest addition to the Philips Hue Secure lineup of cameras and sensors is a video doorbell, which has a 2K resolution and captures head-to-toe footage so you can get a clear view of visitors and any packages they might leave on your doorstep.

Those specifications are typical for a mid-range video doorbell (take a look at my roundup of the best video doorbells to get an idea of what other companies are offering), but the difference with the Hue model is that it integrates seamlessly with your smart lights. For example, you can use the Philips Hue app to trigger your outdoor lights when someone rings the bell, or when it detects motion.

There's also a separate chime available, which you can plug in for an audible alert anywhere in your home when someone calls, and a wired indoor security camera with 2K resolution.

You can watch footage from your doorbell or camera live on your phone, and later this year, Signify will let you review videos from the last 24 hours for free. If you want to store your clips for longer than that, you'll need a paid Hue Secure subscription plan.

What does the Philips Hue Secure Video Doorbell cost?

The Philips Hue Secure Video Doorbell and Smart Chime will be available in the US and UK from October 2025. The doorbell will cost $169.99 / £139.99, and the chime will cost $59.99 / £49.99. Signify hasn't yet released any details for Australia.

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There are some very interesting Philips Hue products on the way, including new Gradient Strips, Festavia string lights, and a Philips Hue Bridge Pro that can support up to 150 devices, but one rumored release has had me scratching my head - Philips Hue Essential.

These appear to be slightly lower-spec versions of standard Hue smart light bulbs, and will presumably have a more modest price tag to match – but why? Who, exactly, is Philips Hue Essentials for?

The budget end of the smart lighting market is already dominated by the likes of Govee, Ikea, and WiZ – and that’s where things get interesting. You see, WiZ lights are made by a company called Signify – the same company that makes Philips Hue products under license. Why would it pit its two brands against one another with a low-cost version of Hue?

Well, it isn’t – not quite. Aside from price, one of the key differences between WiZ and Philips Hue is connectivity. WiZ lights connect directly to Wi-Fi, meaning there’s no need for a hub, and they’re easier to set up. They’re a good option if you just want one or two bulbs and aren’t planning to build a sophisticated lighting system with switches and sensors.

Although you can control individual Philips Hue lights from your phone using Bluetooth, most people will use them with a Philips Hue Bridge, which plugs into your router and uses the Zigbee wireless protocol to create a mesh network that links all your devices together. No Wi-Fi necessary.

Using Zigbee rather than Wi-Fi means you can have a lot more smart lights in your home (a typical home Wi-Fi router isn’t really intended to communicate with more than a couple of dozen devices), with better range without the need for a Wi-Fi extender. (Zigbee devices also use less power, though LED bulbs aren’t huge energy-hogs to begin with, so you’re not likely to notice a huge difference on that front.)

Philips Hue Essential and WiZ bulbs, therefore, aren’t filling quite the same niche. If you only ever intend to own a couple of smart lights, then WiZ would be just fine, but Hue Essential will give you the option to expand your setup much further in the future, should you choose to.

A bright idea?

"Hue stretches across indoor and outdoor, and has different variants of products in all those categories," Giuliano Ghidini, Business and Marketing leader at Signify, told me in a recent interview.

"Hue offers a more comprehensive range so you can cover all rooms, and thanks to the technology it’s based on, Zigbee, with a Hue hub, you have very good coverage indoor and outdoor, and very high reliability without putting too much stress on your Wi-Fi network."

That makes Hue appealing if you have a generous budget and can afford to deck out your entire house, but the high entry price can be off-putting otherwise. A starter kit of two White & Color Ambiance bulbs bundled with a Hue Bridge might cost as much as $140 / £130 / AU$190. When you can pick up four Govee bulbs for a quarter of the price, with no hub necessary, it’s easy to see why homeowners with more modest needs would write off Hue.

The Philips Hue Essential series, depending on how it’s priced, sounds like it could offer the best of both worlds, with a palatable asking price and the ability to expand your smart lighting setup as much as you like later on, or just keep it simple and not feel like you’re under-utilizing it.

Essential? Perhaps not quite, but certainly more tempting.

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If you’ve been looking to upgrade your smart home, it looks like Philips will have you covered with a brand new Philips Hue Bridge Pro that boasts some impressive (in cases almost needlessly so) capabilities.

Signify, the company behind the Philips Hue brand, accidentally leaked the existence of the new Bridge a few days ago alongside spoilers for new lights and a wired video doorbell, but yet another leak – this time via Lowe's – has clued us into what upgrades the Bridge Pro boasts beyond general promises of it being faster and able to support more devices.

Lowe's runs a program called Loop, which gives customers free samples of new and pre-release tech, and it looks like one such item is the Philips Hue Hue Bridge Pro. Several people have shared images and asked questions about the product on social media – with one tester being completely unsure what to do with the new Bridge Pro as they have no Philips Hue smart lights. 9to5Google reports that some people have even taken to Facebook Marketplace to sell their Bridge Pros.

These shenanigans have given us some key details. Firstly, the Bridge Pro can supposedly support 150+ lights – a huge increase from the current limit of 50. That might seem like overkill for smaller homes, but will pique the interest of anyone who's currently using multiple Bridges to cover their whole house.

The Philips Hue Bridge Pro also promises to offer full home control, so you could rely on this Matter-compatible hub to manage more than just Philips Hue technology.

The other, much more interesting addition is Hue MotionAware tech, which promises to turn your lightbulbs into motion sensors. Exactly how this works hasn’t been revealed, so it’s not clear which Hue smart bulbs will support this upgrade, but it seems rooms with three bulbs or more will be able to detect people walking past and react accordingly.

It's possible that it might use something like the ambient sensing technology that the Communication Standards Alliance showed off in a video earlier this year. Ambient sensing is a use case built by a company called Ivani to demonstrate what's possible using the Zigbee wireless protocol (which is used by Philips Hue devices).

Now that would be smart, and might give me a reason to fill my home with smart bulbs.

Even with these serious leaks we should take details with a pinch of slat – though if you ask us it certainly seems it’s a matter of when not if Philips will debut the Bridge Pro.

IFA looks to be a likely event that'll happen – given the Berlin tech show is due in only a couple of weeks and Philips has debuted tech there before – but we’ll have to wait and see.

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• New Philips Hue products have been leaked
• There are 4 new lights plus a hub and a doorbell
• It's not clear when they might launch

We're expecting some new Philips Hue smart lights in the not-too-distant future, and it seems the Signify-owned brand has got so excited about the upcoming products that it's leaked them early on its own website.

Pages listing the new devices were only live briefly, but before they got pulled they were spotted by Hueblog (via Android Authority). There are apparently four new models coming, plus a Hue Bridge update and a new video doorbell.

We've got two new smart lights in the Festivia string lights line: downward-facing lights intended for permanent outdoor installation, and a garland-style strip for decorating spaces with. It's likely both are going to be available in a variety of lengths, with the usual wealth of color and brightness customization choices for the bulbs themselves.

In addition, it looks as though Philips Hue is about to refresh its more basic light strip product, with a gradient function for the outdoor model and boosted brightness. Lastly, there's an updated version of the A19/E27 bulb, bringing with it a broader spectrum of colors and ultra-low dimming, while using 40 percent less energy.

Even more devices

On top of the bulbs, it seems Philips Hue is also going to launch a Hue Bridge Pro: according to the leaked description, it'll be faster, offer support for a greater number of devices, and add some fresh new features as well (quite possibly involving AI). It also promises to turn your smart lights into motion sensors.

Then there's a wired video doorbell, which would seem to be an extension of the Hue Secure series of home security cameras. The doorbell is listed as having a 2K resolution, which usually means 1440p – an upgrade on the 1080p resolution offered by the current cameras. It's a device that's previously been rumored.

What we don't get here are any details on pricing or availability, though it seems the wired video doorbell may launch later than the other bits of kit: it's listed as "coming soon" rather than "available now" on the now-pulled webpage.

One final tidbit from this leak is that Sonos voice control seems to be coming to Philips Hue systems, so you'll be able to use voice commands issued to your Sonos speakers to control the basics of your smart light network.

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I've tested a lot of wake-up lights over the years, and most of them have the same problem: even their lowest illumination level is fairly bright, and they jar me awake the instant they start their sunrise cycle. Some have terrible canned bird noises as well, but mostly it's the sudden change in brightness that has me burying my groggy face in my pillow.

The Philips Hue Play Wall Washer is different, though, and after a week, I can say that it's changed my morning routine for good.

The Wall Washer is a new smart lamp, released earlier this year, and as the name suggests, it's designed to shine colored light onto a wall rather than into your room, creating a diffused, atmospheric effect. It's not advertised as a wake-up light, and as part of the Play series, it's made more with entertainment in mind. Similar to a Philips Hue Play Gradient Strip, it can be paired with an HDMI Box or the Philips Hue Play app to extend the colors from your TV screen, creating a more immersive experience.

It uses a technology called ColorCast, which is essentially a stack of three colored LEDs that overlap in such a way that they create a smooth gradient of color. The image at the top of this article is unedited – it really is that seamless.

It's the same system you'll find in the back of the Philips Hue Twilight, which is designed to sit beside your bed and has a front-facing light for reading, but if choosing between the two, I'd opt for the Wall Washer thanks to its versatility.

Creating a wake-up automation in the mobile app is easy. Once I'd plugged in my Wall Washer and connected it to my Philips Hue Bridge (the hub that connects your Hue Lights devices to one another), I added it to my bedroom, gave it a descriptive name, tapped the 'Automations' button in the app, and selected 'Wake Up'.

There are two options here: you can choose white light that simply increases in brightness, or opt for a simulated sunrise that starts with dim red light, shifts to orange, and eventually finishes white. I wanted an effect similar to the sun shining through the canvas on a camping trip, so I chose the latter, set it to finish its cycle at 7am, and named it 'Rise and Shine'.

Creating this automation is no harder than setting an alarm on your phone, and after a week, I can say that it's a much gentler way to wake. Now I come round gradually, with no shock of noise-induced adrenaline.

I still keep a backup alarm set with some nature noises in case I manage to sleep through the light, but so far that's not happened (touch wood).

The Wall Washer doesn't just wake you gently either; it can also help you drift off at night by playing its sunrise effect in reverse, with warm light that gently fades to darkness over a duration of your choice.

Again, this is done via an automation in the Philips Hue app. This time, though, I didn't want to set a timer. Although experts recommend keeping a set bedtime every night (even on the weekends), sometimes life gets in the way. There could be a deadline, I might be having drinks with friends, or I might need to spend half an hour on Duolingo to avoid being demoted. You know, important things.

Luckily, I happened to have a Philips Hue Dimmer Switch on hand, which is perfect for the job. It has programmable buttons, so I could set one to trigger the simulated sunset, and its self-adhesive mount was perfect for sticking to the side of my nightstand. If my husband wants to use it, he can simply remove the magnetic switch from its mount and use it as a remote.

You could do exactly the same thing with a Philips Hue Smart Button, but the advantage of the Dimmer Switch is that it can also turn the light on and off, or (as the name suggests) adjust its brightness.

I added the switch to my bedroom in the app, then gave it a name, and assigned the Sleep automation to its bottom button. Now, when I'm ready to wind down, I can trigger the light sequence with a single tap.

The video below shows the final few seconds of the sleep automation, and as you can see, the change in brightness is incredibly smooth. I'd set the light to dim over the course of five minutes, which is the shortest possible period. If you choose a longer timeframe, the light will dim even more gradually.

I sometimes have trouble dropping off at night (likely a consequence of testing the best coffee makers too close to bedtime), but the sleep automation on the Wall Washer is like magic. Its dim, reddish light lulls me to sleep like nothing else, somehow helping me relax and silencing the caffeine-induced chatter.

It's incredibly soothing, and after a week, I can't imagine dozing off without it. If I ever did change my mind, though, it's good to know that the Wall Washer could find a new home beside my TV, serving as an Ambilight alternative. It's the most versatile Philips Hue lamp yet, and well worth investigating if you're looking to expand your smart lighting setup.

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Philips Hue Play Wall Washer: two-minute review

When I first set eyes on the Philips Hue Play Wall Washer, I saw it as a more advanced alternative to the Philips Hue Play Light Bars, which are designed to sit on either side of your TV and add ambience to your home entertainment setup. The Wall Washer can certainly do that – and with more atmospheric results thanks to its wider projection area – but it can do a lot more, too.

Like the Light Bar, the Wall Washer is a discreet-looking device that's designed to be positioned with its light source shining against a wall, rather than into the room, producing a diffuse glow that (as the name suggests) washes your room with color. However, unlike the Play Light Bar, which can only show one color at a time, each Wall Washer contains three lights, stacked vertically, which overlap to form a smooth gradient.

As the video below shows, the three lights can also dim and brighten independently to create shimmering effects, which is a nice feature if you choose to use a single Wall Washer as a table lamp to set the mood as part of a larger Philips Hue lighting setup.

You can use the Wall Washer via Bluetooth, but to unlock all its features (and to justify its price), you'll also need a Philips Hue Bridge. This small hub device plugs into your router and uses the Zigbee wireless protocol to create a mesh network that connects all of your Hue lights, switches, and cameras to one another, and to the internet.

Provided you have that, setting up your Wall Washer is straightforward. Just select the "Add" option within the Hue mobile app, scan the QR code on the base of your Wall Washer when prompted and then choose a room or zone for it (you'll be prompted to create an area if none already exist). If you have more than one Wall Washer, you'll need to add each one separately, but that takes only a few seconds.

Once that's done, you can change the color of each Wall Washer by choosing a shade from the app's color wheel. You can also apply a preset color scheme (known as a "scene") from the Hue library; create your own scene by picking colors or importing a picture; or apply an animated dynamic scene such as the shimmering purple effect above.

You can customize your Wall Washer by itself, or apply a scene to all the lights in a room or zone.

Despite its small size, the Wall Washer projects light a long way, and when it was positioned on a table, I found the color reached all the way to the ceiling. If you like the idea of a Philips Hue Signe Floor Lamp, but don't have the space, the Wall Washer would be a good alternative for around the same price. Although there are only three lights in each Wall Washer, the color gradient is totally seamless, as you can see in the image at the top of this review.

As mentioned earlier, the Philips Hue Play Wall Washer can also sync with your TV, extending the colors from the screen in the same way as a Philips Ambilight TV to create a more immersive viewing experience by effectively blurring the edges of the picture.

To do this, you'll need at least one Wall Washer, plus either a Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box, or a smart TV that's compatible with the Philips Hue Play Sync app. The app was initially only available for selected Samsung TVs, but in February 2025, Signify (Philips Hue's parent company) launched a version for LG sets as well.

The advantage of using the app is that there's less to setup, and you can use it to sync your Hue lights with content from your TV's native apps. If you use a Sync Box, you can only sync with content from HDMI sources.

As you can see in the video and images above, there's very little latency when using the Wall Washer lights with a Philips Hue HDMI Sync Box connected to a set-top box, and colors look natural rather than distracting. The lighting is effective, even in daylight, and the gradient means the Wall Washers create a more seamless look than the Philips Hue Play Light Bars, which can only average out the color on each side of your screen.

The main disadvantage of the Wall Washer compared to the Philips Hue Play Light Bar is that it only stands upright, and it isn't designed to be mounted horizontally. As such, it isn't well suited for use underneath your TV. You'll probably want at least two for a home entertainment setup (and possibly another for elsewhere in the room), which will be considerably more expensive.

If you have just one Wall Washer, it also works well as a wake-up light on your nightstand. The Hue app contains automations that are designed to wake you with a simulated sunrise, with the lamp gradually becoming brighter and the light becoming cooler, reaching full brightness by a set time. I'm very sensitive to light at night, and the Wall Washer is the first lamp I've found that doesn't shock me awake by increasing brightness abruptly. It's more like waking gradually as the sun comes through your tent on a camping trip.

At the end of the day, you can wind down with a sunset automation, which runs the same sequence in reverse. The video above shows the last 20 seconds of a five-minute sleep automation, during which the light color shifts from warm white to orange to red, while gradually decreasing in brightness.

Overall, it's the most versatile smart light I've tested to date, and although it certainly isn't cheap, there's no denying its performance, whichever room you're using it in.

• Performance: 5/5

Philips Hue Play Wall Washer: price and availability

• Costs $219.99 / £169.99 for one, or $384.99 / £299.99 for two
• Not yet available in Australia
• Works best with Philips Hue Bridge

At the time of writing, the Philips Hue Play Wall Washer is available direct from the Philips Hue website in the US and UK, and from Amazon in the US. It isn't yet on sale in Australia, but FAQ pages on the Australian Philips Hue site indicate that its launch there is imminent.

A single Philips Hue Play Wall Washer has a list price of $219.99 / £169.99 (about AU$340), and if you're planning to use the lights on either side of your TV (as shown in some of the photos here), you can pick up a two-pack for $384.99 / £299.99 (about AU$600).

That makes it one of the most expensive Philips Hue lights around, but it's also the most versatile, serving as a filler light to add ambience, a backlight for your home entertainment system, and a wake-up light. Most Hue lights only fill one niche, so the Wall Washer's adaptability makes its price tag more palatable.

For comparison, the Philips Hue Play Light Bar has a list price of $89.99 / £64.99 / AU$129.95 each. If you're considering the Wall Washer as a wake-up lamp, the Philips Hue Twilight (which also has a front-facing LED for reading) costs $279 / £249 (about AU$430).

If you want to use the Wall Washers with your TV, you'll also need a Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box and Philips Hue Bridge, so factor these into your budget calculations if you don't already own them.

• Value score: 4/5

Philips Hue Play Wall Washer: specifications

Philips Hue Play Wall Washer: design

Each Philips Hue Play Wall Washer is nearly cylindrical, and measures 6.2 inches / 15.7cm tall and 3.6 inches / 9.1cm in diameter. This is considerably shorter than the Philips Hue Play Light Bars, which stand at 11.5 inches / 29.2cm high; but the design of the Wall Washer and its improved LEDs means that it can throw light over a larger area.

The Wall Washer has an aluminum case (rather than plastic for the Play Light Bars), and has a smart-looking matte finish. It's available in black (shown here) or white, so you can pick an option that will blend well with your décor.

The back of the Wall Washer has a flat surface, and contains three Philips Hue White & Color Ambiance lights arranged vertically. That might not sound like much, but the lights overlap in such a way that they shine a super-smooth gradient onto your wall, with no banding whatsoever.

This technology, called ColorCast, is the same used by the Philips Hue Twilight wake-up lamp – and like the Twilight, the Wall Washer can be dimmed to an extremely low level for use at night.

You can connect up to three Philips Hue Play Wall Washer lights to a single power supply, although they're only sold in packs of one or two.

• Design score: 5/5

Should you buy the Philips Hue Play Wall Washer

Buy it if

Don't buy it if

Philips Hue Play Wall Washer: also consider

If you're not sure whether the Philips Hue Play Wall Washer is right for you, here are two other options to consider.

How I tested the Philips Hue Play Wall Washer:

I connected the Philips Hue Play Wall Washer to my Philips Hue Bridge, and used it in various rooms in my house (alone, and as a pair). First I connected it to a Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box, which was linked to a digital set-top box, and experimented with viewing different films and TV shows to assess color-matching and latency. The screengrabs above show content from TechRadar's YouTube channel for copyright reasons, but I tested the lights with a wide variety of media.

I also used a single Wall Washer as a fill light together with a pair of Philips Hue White & Color Ambiance bulbs in ceiling fixtures. I experimented with applying different scenes to all the lights in the room, and creating new ones.

Finally, I tested a single Wall Washer on my nightstand, using the Wake Up and Sleep automations to assess how smoothly the color and brightness of the light can change, and how dim it can become before switching off. I compared its performance to a purpose-made wake-up light.

For more details, see how we test, rate, and review products at TechRadar.

First reviewed July 2025.

Leveling up your lighting is one of the easiest ways to start building a smart home, and it can have a lot of benefits. For instance, you can control smart lights hands-free using voice commands, or set them to turn on and off when you're away on vacation and so deter thieves.

That's only scratching the surface of what they're capable of, though, so we spoke to Giuliano Ghidini, Business and Marketing leader at Signify, to find out more about the benefits of installing smart lights at home, and where the tech is going next.

Signify is the parent company of Philips Hue and WiZ, which are the brands behind many of the best smart lights we've tested here at TechRadar. Hue is the one that comes to mind when most people think of smart lights, while Wiz is a more budget-friendly option.

"Hue stretches across indoor and outdoor, and has different variants of products in all those categories," says Ghidini. "Hue offers a more comprehensive range so you can cover all rooms, and thanks to the technology it’s based on, Zigbee, with a Hue hub you have very good coverage indoor and outdoor, and very high reliability without putting too much stress on your Wi-Fi network."

Wiz came later, and is a more affordable brand with a smaller range of lights, which connect directly to Wi-Fi.

"We wanted to bring high quality at a more affordable price point. It allows us to finally bring smart lighting to more houses in the UK and the world," says Ghidini.

Why smart lighting?

Ghidini says a lot has happened in the seven years since he joined Signify, with smart lighting shifting from something seen as very technical to products you'll find in ordinary department stores.

Once sold exclusively by retailers specializing in computer hardware, Hue has now gone mainstream and even has a dedicated space in the flagship John Lewis shop on London's Oxford Street.

"So first of all, it’s very important to talk about smart lighting knowing it's not only the light bulb," he says. "For some people it's still a connected bulb, but when you look at Philips Hue and Wiz, we have products in all categories, both indoor and outdoor, and we have other products as well.

"So when you talk about convenience, you can talk about how we use lighting for security, outdoors and indoors. For example, you can have lights flashing red if there is an intruder or motion is detected where you don’t expect it.

"You can set scenes depending on the time of the day to change the mood for a party, for instance. And lighting can sync with music, or for wellness. For example, you can wake up with the right light and that helps you to have a more relaxed and better start of the day. You can use it for entertainment, integrate the lighting that you have in the living room with what happens on your TV.

"It all started with just a connected light bulb, and what you can do now is quite amazing."

What's next

So what's coming up next in the world of smart lighting? Ghidini isn't giving anything away just yet, but it sounds like convenience is going to play a big role.

"Smart lighting is basically connected lighting," he says. "With that connectivity, you can do many things – connect your lighting to other smart home systems to make your home more secure, for instance. You can connect to a specific scene to help your general wellness, or in order to improve the ambience of your living room, bedroom, and kitchen – all the different rooms in your house."

It's not just about the technology, though – smart lighting is also about making your life easier, and there are exciting developments afoot on this front.

"The integration of these products with other platforms is very important – for example, Google, or Amazon Alexa. Then you have access to an extended number of use cases as well, where you control lighting not only with your phone but also with your voice. In some cases the control is done on your behalf because you have intelligent systems. We just launched an AI system that will do it for you."

Ghidini isn't giving anything else away for now, but promises something exciting is coming soon. We'll keep you updated as soon as we know more.

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Philips Hue Motion Sensor: two-minute review

The Philips Hue Motion Sensor, as the name suggests, is a palm-sized device that triggers your smart lights when it detects movement. That's not all, though – it also works as a home security sensor, alerting you to potential intruders while you're away. Just tap a button in the app to 'arm' the Motion Sensor (plus any other Philips Hue cameras and sensors in your home) and it'll enter security mode, making your lights behave differently and sending you a phone notification if something happens in your absence. For example, your lights could turn red or flash, while the app lets you call an emergency contact with a tap.

The Motion Sensor requires a Philips Hue Bridge to work, so it's best if you already have an established smart lighting setup. If you're not familiar with the Bridge, it's a small hub that connects to your Wi-Fi router, and uses the Zigbee wireless protocol to connect all your Philips Hue devices in a mesh network.

It has a list price of $44.99 / £39.99 / AU$69.95, which means it's not the cheapest motion sensor around, and if you're not going to use its security functions then you might be better served by a simpler Zigbee device instead. However, the Philips Hue Motion Sensor's extra security features mean it could even be a cornerstone of your security system, and from that perspective it's excellent value.

The sensor is a small, lightweight device and comes ready to go, with two AAA batteries already installed. To connect it, just scan the QR code on the back using the Philips Hue app, then hold the 'setup' button until the LED on the front flashes orange to pair it, as instructed on screen.

Once the sensor is paired, you'll be prompted to assign it to a room, then asked which lights you want it to control. These lights don't have to be in the same location; for example, you may want to have a light activated in your study if motion is detected in the porch so you don't miss a package delivery (provided it's under cover – you'll need the Philips Hue Outdoor Motion Sensor if it's going to be exposed to the elements).

The sensor can turn lights on and off, but you can also use it to adjust their brightness, and even apply scenes.

Like the Philips Hue Dimmer Switch the Philips Hue Motion Sensor allows you to set different actions for your lights depending on the time of day.

During my tests this worked perfectly, and helped me and my partner avoid being dazzled at night. I installed the sensor in our hallway and kept the lighting level low after 11pm so we could find our way to the kitchen for a drink of water without being jarred into full wakefulness after bedtime.

As I mentioned earlier, the Dimmer Switch also functions as a security device (either by itself or with other Hue sensors and cameras), the app lets you decide what events it should trigger when it's set to 'armed'. By default, it will make connected Philips Hue lights flash when motion is detected, but you can also simply make them turn on, or have them change color. An intimidating red might be a good option.

The sensor doesn't have a siren of its own, but if you have a Philips Hue Secure camera, it can play an audible alert when the sensor detects movement.

During my tests the app reliably sent me a notification whenever my partner wandered by and the system was armed – and he informed me that the living room lights turned pink as well. After increasing the sensitivity a little, the sensor was able to detect him entering the living room even when mounted on a wall at the other end of the room, opposite the door.

It's worth noting that although you can change the direction of the sensor by simply shifting it on its magnetic mount (as described below) and dial its sensitivity up and down, the absence of a camera on this sensor means it's not possible to create custom zones that won't be monitored, so you might need to spend some time experimenting with the settings so it picks up movement near doors and windows.

That's not a major issue though, and the magnetic mount can even be fitted to the ceiling, making it simple to keep an eye on potential entry points.

Philips Hue Motion Sensor: price and availability

• Costs $44.99 / £39.99 / AU$69.95
• Often discounted, particularly in sales events

The Philips Hue Motion Sensor is available globally direct from Philips Hue, and from third-party retailers including Amazon.

It has a list price of $44.99 / £39.99 / AU$69.95, but is often available at a steep discount, particularly during sales events like Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday. You'll find today's best prices in your area listed below.

You can also find it bundled together with the Philips Hue Bridge and a set of smart light bulbs as part of a Philips Hue Starter Kit.

Philips Hue Motion Sensor: design

• Can be mounted on a wall or used free-standing
• Magnetic wall mount allows you to angle the sensor
• Only available in white

The Philips Hue Motion Sensor is a discreet white device with a magnetic back containing a single screw, which you can undo to replace the two AAA batteries powering it. The sensor can be mounted on a wall or ceiling, or simply placed on a piece of furniture if you'd prefer not to drill holes.

It measures 6.9 x 2.8 x 2.2 inches / 174 x 72 x 55mm (H x W x D) and weighs 2.8oz / 80g.

The mount (which comes with two screws and a wall plug) is a small circular magnet. Once it's screwed in, you simply place the sensor on top, then tilt it to face the direction you want to monitor. During my tests the sensor felt most secure when facing straight on, but it never felt likely to fall off when tilted.

Unlike other Philips Hue accessories (such as the Philips Hue Dimmer Switch) you can't attach the Motion Sensor to your wall using 3M tape. The mount has a slightly rubberized finish that doesn't work well with adhesives, and the strength of the magnets means the tape would likely pull away when you remove the sensor unit.

Unlike some Philips Hue accessories, the Motion Sensor is only available in white. However, since it's likely to be mounted close to a white ceiling, that's not too much of an issue.

The sensor isn't weather-resistant, and therefore can't be used outdoors. If you want a sensor for detecting movement in your yard, you'll need the Philips Hue Outdoor Motion Sensor, which is also wireless and can be mounted on a wall or used free-standing.

Should you buy the Philips Hue Motion Sensor?

Buy it if

Don't buy it if

Philips Hue Motion Sensor: also consider

How I tested the Philips Hue Motion Sensor

I connected the Philips Hue Motion Sensor to my home smart lighting setup, which includes several bulbs, switches, and a pair of Philips Hue Play Light Bars. I started by installing it in my hallway so I could test its sensitivity and time-based functionality (specifically triggering dimmer illumination at night). I then moved it to the living room to test its security features, triggering alerts on my phone and setting the main ceiling lights to pink while my husband was home to monitor the effects.

Whether they're automated to help you wake up in the morning or colorfully curated to supply a little dopamine boost, smart lights make a fabulous addition to any home.

When it comes to considering which smart lights to buy, Philips Hue is often the first brand to come to mind, and understandably so, as it makes some of the best smart lights around. Its quality products and overall market presence have made it immensely popular, so it’s not all that surprising that its prices are at the premium end of the scale.

While brands like Nanoleaf may be the first to come to mind for many when considering a Philips Hue alternative, I’m here to sing the praises of another low-cost manufacturer of smart lighting loveliness – Govee.

Founded in 2017, Govee offers a huge range of both fun and functional smart lighting products, and regularly releases exciting new products that leave me wanting to rearrange my lighting setup so that I can incorporate newer pieces without looking like my home belongs in Cyberpunk 2077 (not saying I wouldn’t enjoy that, mind you). Aside from all the pretty lights, Govee produces some other great smart home essentials, including sensors, air purifiers, and fans, too.

I could waffle on for hours about my favorite Govee features, but to save us all some time, I’ve summarised my top three reasons why Govee makes a perfect lower-cost alternative to Philips Hue.

1. There’s something for everyone

Whether you want to go big and bold with vivid and colorful displays or want practical lighting solutions that you can automate to suit your schedule, their impressive range of products means that Govee will likely have something that ticks your boxes.

One product that’s equal parts fun and functional is the highly rated Govee Table Lamp 2. This RGBICWW lamp boasts over 60 scene presets, a load of customizable settings, and is Matter compatible, too. I have two of these lamps at home, and I love how easily I can switch up the mood with this little light, moving from a brighter, cooler white light for working hours, to mood-brightening colorful scenes for the evening, before finishing the night on a warm-toned white.

Even the reasonably priced Govee RGBIC LED Strip Light has a satisfying amount of customizable features. These include brightness adjustment, AI scene creation, and color palettes that can be applied across the entire strip or fine-tuned segment by segment.

2. The companion app is reliable and user-friendly

It’s all well and good having a fancy bit of kit capable of impressive lighting effects, but if the companion app is overly complex, clunky, or lacks features, it’d quickly dull any sparkle. Fortunately, the Govee Home app isn’t guilty of any of these; instead, it provides a delightfully straightforward and engaging user experience. It’s simple to navigate between different features, and I really liked that I could streamline the layout by arranging the modes for easy access. Another customizable element I appreciated was the quick action button that sits at the top of the page, giving me easy access to a choice of functions, including color and effect sections, auto-play, and a timer, amongst others.

3. Their prices are more palatable than Philips Hue

I think I’ve made it clear already that there are savings to be made when opting for Govee over Philips Hue, but to demonstrate my point, I’m going to lay out a couple of examples of the cost difference between similar products from both brands.

Say you’re thinking of upgrading your ceiling lights, a two-pack of 800 lumen RGBWW smart bulbs from Govee costs around $24.99 / £18.99, whereas the same from Philips Hue could set you back around $89.99 / £84.99. The price difference is pretty vast straight off the bat, and the chasm widens further when you factor in an additional $59.99 / $49.99 for a Philips Hue Bridge, which you’ll need if you want to use the full suite of features, such as controlling your lights away from home, something which Govee offers for free via the Govee Home app.

So, if you’re keen to get started on your smart lighting setup, but have been put off by the cost of building a Philips Hue system, then Govee is well worth considering, not just because their products are more affordable, but because they’re feature-packed and efficient, too.

• The long-awaited Philips Hue AI assistant is now available in some countries
• It will be launched in the UK in July, and globally by the end of August
• The Philips Hue Play Wall Washer light is on sale today in the US and UK

If you want to have more fun with your smart lights, there's good news – the long-awaited Philips Hue AI assistant is finally here, letting you pick lighting scenes or create brand new ones with simple voice commands. Signify, the company behind Philips Hue, first teased the assistant back in January, and last week a few iPhone users found themselves with early access, but the launch is now official.

The assistant is available now for users in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg whose app is set to English, and will be rolling out to Hue users in the UK in July. According to Signify, the global rollout is planned for the end of August.

With the AI assistant, you can either say or type what type of lighting effect you'd like to see, or what mood you want to set, and the app will either suggest something from its existing gallery of presets, or create something brand new if there's nothing that quite fits the bill.

Clean sweep

That's not all – Signify has also launched a new lamp that bathes your walls with a gradient of light. We got our first peek at the Philips Hue Play Wall Washer earlier this month when it was listed on Amazon ahead of its official release date.

Now it's available to buy, and despite measuring just 3.6 x 3 x 6.2 inches / 9.1 x 7.6 x 15.7cm (that's even smaller than the Philips Hue Play Light Bar), it promises to drench your whole wall with a smooth gradient of colored light that you can customize via a 3D drag-and-drop interface in the app, allowing you to set the direction and brightness of the light to suit your room.

The Wall Washer works with the Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box or Hue Sync desktop app for PC, allowing you to synchronize lighting effects with movies, TV shows, and games.

Alternatively, you can use it alone, or synced with other Philips Hue smart lights to help create a mood. It uses the same ColorCast light system as the Philips Hue Twilight lamp (one of the best smart lights we've ever tested), projecting a smooth gradient onto nearby surfaces. The video below gives you an idea of the overall effect.

The Wall Washer also looks appealing when switched off. Unlike the Hue Play Light Bar, which has a plastic case, the Wall Washer is finished in black or white matt aluminum.

The Wall Washer is available now in the US and UK, priced at $219.99 / £169.99 for a single light, or $384.99 / £299.99 for a pack of two. It's due to launch in Australia in September, but official pricing has yet to be announced.

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• The Philips Hue AI assistant is now rolling out for iOS users in Benelux
• If you live somewhere else, you can use VPN to try it early
• The assistant lets you make custom lighting scenes with voice commands

The new Philips Hue AI assistant is starting to roll out now, letting you create custom lighting scenes to set a mood using natural language.

Signify (the company behind Philips Hue) revealed that it was working on an AI tool for its smart lights at CES 2025 in January, and promised that the new assistant would make it easy to create "personalized lighting scenes based on mood, occasion, or style".

The company has now got the ball rolling with an initial launch in the Benelux countries, but if you live elsewhere, then you can get around the geographic restriction by using one of the best VPNs to relocate yourself virtually in Belgium, Luxembourg, or the Netherlands.

Make it personal

Fabian over at Hueblog.com, who is based in Germany, managed to get the assistant working by using a VPN to switch his IP address to one of the supported countries and changing his language setting to English.

With that done, he was able to use simple voice commands to look for existing lighting scenes or create whole new ones. That'll be music to the ears of anyone who's struggled to track down seasonal lighting schemes for their best smart lights at Christmas or Halloween, or doesn't want to spend time flicking through the presets to find something suitable for the moment.

The only drawback is that, for the time being, the AI assistant appears to be exclusive to iOS. Despite attempting the same for all three Benelux countries, I was unable to access the tool on Android, and a Hueblog reader based in Belgium reported the same problem.

The Hue AI assistant has only just started to launch, though, and I expect Android owners won't be left in the dark for long. I'll bring you more news about its availability over the coming weeks.

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• A new update for the Philips Hue mobile app is rolling out now
• The app now suggests adding new sensors and switches to a zone during the setup process
• This avoids a problem where lighting scenes are unavailable later on

If you've ever struggled to set up new sensors and switches for your Philips Hue lights, help is at hand. A new app update is rolling out now that automatically suggests adding accessories to a zone when you connect them for the first time, so you don't miss out on any features later on.

A zone is a set of lights and other accessories that you want to control together as a group. They don't necessarily have to be in the same place or include all the lights within a room. For example, you might want to create a zone specifically for your home entertainment lighting, or one that includes all the lights on a particular floor.

Previously, assigning new devices to a room or zone was an optional step within the Philips Hue app, which you might miss if you were in a hurry. If you did, you wouldn't be able to use all of the switch or sensor's functions afterwards. For example, you may be unable to view all the available scenes (ready-made lighting profiles).

The new app update was spotted by the editor of Hueblog.com, who says he's often contacted by readers stuck in this frustrating 'accessory trap'. From now on, the app will suggest creating at least one zone during the setup process so you don't suffer that problem, and will note that you can always hide zones in the future if you prefer.

Simpler setup

There is also a change to the setup process when you're installing a new Philips Hue security camera. As Notebookcheck explains, the app now offers you the chance to set up motion-controlled lighting during the initial setup process.

Both of these are relatively minor changes, and there's still no news about the upcoming Philips Hue AI assistant. However, they address some common problems that you might face when extending your Philips Hue setup and make your best smart lights even better.

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So you've decided that you want to install Philips Hue lights at home? It's a great idea (they're the best smart lights around according to our expert reviewers), but there are so many different types of bulbs, and at very different prices, that it can be hard to know which ones are right for you.

That's where we come in. We've put together this guide to help you understand the three main types of Philips Hue lights – White, White Ambiance, and White and Color Ambiance – so you can pick the one that's right for each corner of your home.

Remember, you're not limited to one type of light within a room; you can have fun mixing and matching to create a setup that's both functional and atmospheric. For example, you might like to install White Ambiance bulbs in your living room's main ceiling lights, but add White and Color Ambiance LED strips to your coving to add a touch of drama for movie nights.

First though, a word on controls. If you're only planning to fit one or two Philips Hue bulbs and you're happy to operate them from your phone, there's no need to buy anything else. Just select the Bluetooth option in the Philips Hue app, follow the instructions to connect them, and you're ready to go.

If you want to install a lot of lights, or you want to trigger them using devices like cameras, sensors, or a camera, you'll need a Philips Hue Bridge. This is a small hub that connects to your router and creates a mesh network that links all your Philips Hue devices to one another.

The Hue Bridge also lets you connect your lights to the major smart home ecosystems, so that you can control your lights using one of the best smart speakers.

Philips Hue White

These are the simplest and cheapest Philips Hue lights, but they're the perfect choice for a lot of rooms. They don't change color at all, but give a soft, warm white light, and can be triggered or dimmed remotely using the Philips Hue app, or devices like switches and sensors if you have a Philips Hue Bridge.

There are Philips Hue White bulbs for all the most common light fixtures, including screw and bayonet bulbs, and spotlights. I find them particularly useful for cupboards (triggered by a contact sensor when I open the door) and bathrooms. They're great for hallways too, particularly when triggered by a motion sensor – no more fumbling for a wall switch when you get home at night.

Philips Hue White Ambiance

This is where the confusion can creep in. White Ambiance bulbs are similar to the White bulbs above, but with one important difference: they let you change the 'color temperature' of the light. You can't make it purple or lime green, but you can pick a shade of white from cool (blue-toned) to warm (yellow-toned).

These bulbs are a particularly good choice for bedrooms, because you can set them to shift from cool light during the day to warmer tones in the evening, helping you wind down and relax ready for bed. They also work well with the Philips Hue Tap Dial Switch, which you can program to shift your smart lights from warm to cool as you turn the knob.

If you want to give your light fittings a vintage look, check out the Philips Hue Filament collection, which are White and Color Ambiance lights designed to resemble old Edison bulbs. They look particularly chic in table lamps, or in feature lights without shades.

Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance

This is the type of smart lighting that usually comes to mind when you think of the name 'Philips Hue'. These lights can be set to millions of different RGB colors, which you can define manually or set by choosing a 'scene' using the Philips Hue app.

You can also use them like White Ambiance lights, picking a warm, cool, or neutral shade of white. This makes them practical for everyday use, as well as for setting the mood for parties and movie nights.

Almost all Philips Hue bulbs are available in White and Color Ambiance versions, with the exception of Filament bulbs (having a pink or blue Edison bulb would break the illusion somewhat). White and Color Ambiance bulbs are also used in most of the company's lamps, such as the Philips Hue Twilight wake-up light.

White and Color Ambiance lights are the most expensive way to illuminate your home, but placed carefully they can look stunning.

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• WiZ has launched a new device to rival the Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box
• The WiZ HDMI Sync Box uses the same tech, but is less than half the price
• It comes with an LED light strip, and can be synced with extra lights too

WiZ makes some of the best smart lights for home owners on a budget, and now it's taking the fight to Philips Hue with a new Sync Box that mirrors the colors on your TV screen, and mirrors them using a connected light strip or bars.

It's the same principle as Philips Ambilight technology, and effectively 'blurs' the edges of the screen for a more immersive movie or gaming experience.

The Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box is the best Ambilight alternative around today, but it's also the most expensive. The Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K, which launched in September 2024, has a list price of $349.99 / £299.99 (about AU$520), while the 4K version is $249.99 / £229.99 (about AU$390).

That's before you add the cost of the lights themselves, whether that's a set of Philips Hue Play Light Bars, or a Gradient Light Strip to stick on the back of your TV.

There are several affordable options available from brands like Nanoleaf and Govee, but even the best Ambilight alternatives struggle to match the performance of the Philips Hue Play system. That's because most budget-friendly color-mirroring systems use a camera mounted on top of your TV to monitor what's being displayed on the screen, then replicate those colors.

Although this can work well, it often results in more latency than using HDMI, and can be affected by reflections and lighting conditions in the room. That can break the immersion, or even become a distraction.

More immersion, less cash

The new WiZ HDMI Sync Box uses HDMI input instead, which eliminates these problems and means there's no need to spend time calibrating the system either.

The WiZ HDMI Sync Box supports HDMI 2.0 and video formats up to 4K, and unlike the Philips Hue Play Sync Box 4K it comes with a light strip included. To extend the lighting throughout the rest of your room you can also pair it with the WiZ Gradient Light Bars and Gradient Floor Light.

The WiZ HDMI Sync Box with TV backlight is available in two sizes. The kit for 55-inch to 65-inch TVs is $89.99 / £79.99 (about AU$170), while the version for 75-inch to 85-inch TVs is $109.99 / £99.99 (about AU$210).

The smaller kit is available now in the UK and Europe, while both the 55-65 inch and 75-85-inch kits will be available in the US this month.

We'll be testing the WiZ HDMI Sync Box very soon, and will bring you a full review so you can see how it compares with the pricier Philips Hue alternative, and decide which is the best companion for your home entertainment setup.

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• A new Philips Hue Smart Button is likely to launch in the coming months
• Testing documents suggest it'll have a similar design to the original button
• The button might work with the forthcoming Philips Hue AI assistant

It looks like Signify – the company behind Philips Hue – is preparing to launch a new smart button to let you control your lights with a tap from anywhere in your house.

The news comes from Fabian of Hueblog.com, who spotted a listing for a new device from Signify on the website of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). All devices capable of sending radio signals have to be registered with the FCC before they can be sold in the US, so it's often a good source of early info on products that'll be hitting the shelves soon.

Although there are no photos, we can glean several details from the FCC filing. The product is classified as a 'digital transmission system', and supporting documents (including the location of its FCC approval label and its testing report) reveal that it will be a small, circular device using Zigbee technology, with specifications very similar to the original Hue Smart Button.

"There will be no functional differences to the previous model and the form factor will basically remain the same," concludes Fabian. "However, the second-generation Hue Smart Button will be slightly larger and more angular, and the overall design will be a little more sophisticated."

What to expect

We're big fans of the original Philips Hue Smart Button here at TechRadar. When he reviewed it back in 2023, our reviewer Alistair Charlton appreciated how easy it is to install using either its wall-mounting plate or small adhesive disc. Whichever one you choose, the button itself just snaps into place magnetically, and can be removed and used as a remote whenever you like.

The Smart Button can perform two functions of your choice – one when it's pressed once, and another when it's pressed and held. It's much simpler than the Philips Hue Tap Dial Switch, which works as a dimmer with four programmable buttons in the center, but the Smart Button is a convenient and affordable way to operate your smart lights without using voice commands or an app.

What interests me is the timing. We know that Signify will soon be introducing an AI assistant for Philips Hue lights, which will use generative AI to create custom lighting schemes. It will be interesting to see whether we can use this assistant to program the button, or tap the button to cycle through AI-generated scene options.

Hopefully it will come in black as well. The Tap Dial Switch is available in a choice of colors, and a darker option would make the tiny button an even more discreet way to operate your lights.

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At CES 2025 in Las Vegas, Signify (the company behind Philips Hue) announced that the Hue ecosystem will soon have its own generative AI assistant to make lighting your home easier.

Details are quite scant so far, but we know that it will be possible to control the tool using typed or spoken commands, and that it will create "personalized lighting scenes based on mood, occasion, or style." You'll also be able to give feedback to help improve the assistant's output in the future.

There's no word on exactly when the assistant will be released, but late last month, the editor of fan site Hueblog.com noticed that the usual magnifying glass icon in the Hue app's search box had been replaced by the cluster of stars that typically represent AI features.

The launch could happen at any time, but what exactly will it bring? Will it just focus on changing the colors of your lights, or will it change how you use your whole Philips Hue system?

As someone with a complete set of Hue lights at home, I'm intrigued to see what's coming, and I've got a wish list of things I'd love to see when the assistant eventually lands.

1. No subscription fee

This might be too much to ask, considering the time and cost of developing and running AI tools. Even so, Philips Hue products are already among the most expensive smart lights on the market, and adding an extra subscription fee for AI features might put off some potential customers - even if those tools are optional.

The backlash against the AI-powered Garmin Connect+ subscription demonstrates how angry customers can become if new features are locked behind a paywall after paying for the hardware.

I won't hold my breath. After all, the Philips Hue ecosystem already has various subscription options for those who want extra features, including Philips Hue Secure for security cameras and an optional monthly fee for the Philips Hue Sync app on LG and Samsung smart TVs (as an alternative to a one-off payment).

The fact that the default search icon changed to an 'AI' symbol without any payment being made gives me hope that it will be available free to everyone. However, a free AI assistant might be very limited in scope, so i'm a little torn about this.

2. More than moods

The Philips Hue ecosystem includes some of the best smart lights around, and they can do a lot more than just create mood lighting. So, it would be great if the upcoming AI assistant could capitalize on that.

For example, if you could tell the assistant "I'm going away for a week", it might enable a seven-day 'mimic presence' automation that switches lights on in different rooms throughout the day to create the impression that someone is home.

A more sophisticated assistant might also be able to create a full morning routine that gradually wakes you by increasing the brightness of your lights and an evening routine that dims them (and changes the colors to sunset tones) after dark and turns off your smart plugs and switches, all without tinkering with settings manually.

3. Compatibility with cameras and more

Signify says that the upcoming AI assistant will be able to control your lights, but it would be even better if it also worked with other Hue devices. After all, the ecosystem includes some of the best smart switches and best home security cameras, so it makes sense to incorporate these.

If the assistant worked with devices other than lights, you could also use it to arm and disarm your security devices. For example, telling it, "I'm going to work," might arm your security system and turn off all lights until you're due home (or it senses that you're back).

4. Simple search

A few weeks ago, Ring announced a new feature for subscribers: the ability to search their video recordings for specific events using AI. The Smart Video Search function lets you find a specific moment using natural language. Just type your request into the app (such as 'show me when the package was delivered' or 'show me the deliver driver in the brown uniform'), and the tool will find and display that snippet of footage.

If you already have a Philips Hue Secure subscription, something similar would be a great addition that would save you time scrubbing through footage to find out when something happened.

5. Energy-saving suggestions

The fourth-generation Nest Learning Thermostat monitors how you heat and cool your house and uses AI to suggest changes that you could make to reduce your energy consumption - so why not something similar for your lights and devices connected to Philips Hue smart plugs?

Granted, lights use much less energy than an HVAC system, but it would still be nice if your bulbs, sensors, and cameras worked together to determine optimal times to turn off your lights to conserve a little power.

It's even possible that one day your Philips Hue light bulbs may be able to act as presence sensors, so you wouldn't even need any extra devices to determine whether you're in the room, or you've left and it's fine to switch off the lights.

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• Signify has released a firmware update for the Philips Hue Play Sync Box 8K
• The update will particularly benefit PS5 and PS5 Pro owners
• It also adds "seamless" compatibility for 3D content

If you have a Philips Hue Play setup at home, there's good news – a new software update is rolling out now for your Sync Box, and it's packed with features and fixes to improve your multimedia experience.

As Hueblog.com explains, firmware version 2.5.0 makes several changes that should be music to gamers' ears. For example, the Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K now works with Display Stream Compression (DSC), allowing 8K resolutions at 60Hz for the PS5 Pro.

In its release notes, Signify (the company behind Philips Hue) also promises optimized input source switching, which should reduce latency if you're using a PS5 connected to an LG TV.

3D content can now also be routed through the Sync Box 8K, with Signify promising "seamless compatibility" in case you're still holding onto your 2011 collection of 3D Blu-rays.

Bug patching

Signify has also fixed a bug that caused "issues with CEC power on/off functionality and auto off after 20 minutes" when the Sync Box's HDMI cable was connected to the second output of an AV receiver.

Automatic light syncing now works properly when the box is used in this configuration, too.

There is also new firmware for the Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 4K. This makes "general bug fixes and improvements," though Signify hasn't provided more specific details. Both updates are rolling out now, and you should receive the new firmware in the next few days (if you haven't already).

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• The new scenes are available in the Philips Hue app with version 5.39
• An updated icon hints that the Philips Hue AI assistant may arrive soon

Want to give your home a quick makeover? Signify, the company behind the Philips Hue lighting system, has released an update for the Hue app that adds eight new lighting scenes that you can apply to a whole room with a single tap.

Scenes are themed presets that use a palette of colors to create a particular mood. The latest collection are all designed around the theme of springtime, with fresh floral shades of pink and yellow alongside fresh greens.

Fabian, editor of Hueblog.com, has shared a screenshot of the new scenes in the app's German language edition. Seven appear to be standard scenes, while the eighth (named 'Die Farben der Natur', or 'The Colors of Nature') is one of Signify's new 24-hours scenes, which shifts to different shades depending on the time of day.

AI is on the way

It looks like we'll have to wait a little longer for Signify the launch the Philips Hue AI assistant that it announced back in January, but it could arrive any day now. Just a couple of weeks ago, the search button in the Hue app changed from a magnifying glass icon to the cluster of sparks that's typically used to represent AI.

For the time being, the change is only cosmetic and the search bar still works the same as before. However, the new icon suggests that the assistant may launch imminently.

According to Signify, the upcoming feature will let you create "personalized lighting scenes based on mood, occasion or style", so you won't need to tinker with colors by hand, or wait for an app update to add a theme that you particularly want.

The Philips Hue system already holds the number one spot in our roundup of the best smart lights, so it'll be interesting to see whether the addition of AI will make it an even more compelling choice.

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• A new firmware update is rolling out for Philips Hue Secure battery cameras
• It includes tweaks that should let the camera run longer between charges
• This should help resolve battery-life problems reported by some owners

If you own a Philips Hue Secure battery camera, there's good news – it's set to get a major firmware update that should significantly improve its battery life.

These fully wireless cameras are particularly popular because they can be installed anywhere, sending alerts to your phone when they detect motion, capturing video during the day or at night, and triggering Philips Hue smart lights. In fact, they long held the top spot in our roundup of the best home security cameras, thanks to their versatility.

The downside is that they need to be taken down periodically for charging. That's not too onerous (each camera attaches to a magnetic plate, and can be detached without the need to remove any screws), but it does mean your camera is out of action for around seven or eight hours.

Signify (the company behind the Philips Hue brand) says that the cameras should run for around three months "under typical usage at 20C with 10 wake ups per day resulting in 10 clips with an average duration of 10 seconds". However, according to Hueblog.com, many owners have reported that their cameras needed plugging in much more frequently than that.

Keep your camera rolling for longer

Now, however, it looks like Signify has addressed that problem with a firmware update that makes several significant changes. Firmware version 1.2.32.976110 began rolling out last week, and according to the release notes, it makes several tweaks to extend the time between charges. These include:

• Optimizing motion snooze settings, leading to better efficiency in busy locations.
• Reducing instances of unreachable battery cameras failing to enter sleep mode properly.
• Minimizing unnecessary wake-ups.

The update also fixes a problem where very short clips were sometimes uploaded from cameras and improves automatic day/night switching for battery cameras, allowing them to adjust more accurately for different lighting conditions.

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• A new leak says that Philips Hue is working on a video doorbell
• It would represent the next big expansion for the Philips Hue Secure lineup
• Philips Hue already makes lights, contact sensors, and security cameras

While Philips Hue makes a treasure trove of lights, from simple bulbs to sophisticated fixtures, it also makes security cameras and connected wall plugs that are part of the smart home.

We just received our best look yet at what could be next from Philips Hue. As spotted by Hue Blog, Philips Hue has been working on a doorbell, and now the outlet has found images of the ‘Philips Hue Secure Doorbell’ in the latest app update.

That’s right, the competitive world of smart video doorbells might be getting a new entry, and for those already invested in the Philips Hue ecosystem, the plug-and-play aspect that the name alone teases, might be exciting enough.

Further, it would help to build out the current Philips Hue Secure lineup that currently consists of security cameras and contact sensors. All of which can be customized to work alongside Philips Hue smartlights.

As revealed in the images shared in this new report, Philips Hue doesn’t seem to be veering from the working formula for a video doorbell. The purported video doorbell from the brand will be a vertically tall rectangle with the physical camera lens and sensors up top and a large, circular ring button on the bottom.

If this turns out to be the case, Philips Hue’s video doorbell will fit right alongside the many other competing options, including the Ring video doorbell lineup. Additionally, the report notes it’ll have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, likely with the former for setup and the latter for connecting to the internet.

Hue Blog also notes that a QR code will be required for set-up, hinting that “the camera will probably transmit the video signals in encrypted form.” That’s good news for security, especially as this will provide a view from your front door looking outwards.

Like other video doorbells, Philips Hue’s Secure Doorbell will likely require a wired installation, meaning that it will not be able to run solely on batteries. This makes it a bit more limiting option for renters or folks without the necessary power wiring.

Considering the wired requirement, this doorbell could likely cause a chime on a pre-existing ring box that you might have installed in your home.

Either route, the latest specs, name, and first image – well, a digitally sketched depiction – of the Philips Hue first doorbell certainly build up the hype and tease a likely more premium option that is purpose-built to work well in the existing ecosystem. Considering that many Philips Hue products work with other smart home systems with a bridge, the doorbell should also play nicely with Amazon, Google, or Apple Home.

Of course, nothing is official until Philips Hue confirms it, and so far, the brand has not even teased that the doorbell is coming. Hue Blog has been reporting on the possibility of a doorbell from the brand for a good bit, but this most recent leak, courtesy of the Philips Hue app, is our best look yet. The report also notes a launch isn’t expected until later in 2025, likely in the Fall (August to October), so it might be several months before we hear anything official.

In the meantime, check out TechRadar’s list of the best video doorbells here.

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• There's a new update for the Philips Hue app that adds support for QR codes
• Scanning codes on lights lets you add them to rooms in the app more easily
• You can also use QR codes to add switches, cameras, and other devices

Philips Hue bulbs and lamps are some of the best smart lights around, and they're already pretty easy to set up; but a new app update has made things even easier, letting you add several lights to a room at once.

Once you've installed app version 5.38, which is available now for Android and iOS, you'll be able to simply scan the QR codes on several Hue devices to add them to the app together, rather than doing them one at a time.

That should be handy if you've splurged on a new set of smart bulbs in the Amazon spring sale, and will reduce headaches if you move house and need to set everything up again.

The editor of Hueblog.com has already experimented by adding a dimmer switch to their (no doubt extensive) setup, and reports that it works perfectly.

If the device you want to add doesn't have a QR code, you can bypass the new option by tapping the 'No QR code' button, and the app will find it for you the old-fashioned way, then allow you to assign it to a room.

Still no AI

This is a helpful addition to the Philips Hue app, but we're still waiting for the major software update that will add the generative AI assistant that Signify (the company behind Philips Hue) promised back in January.

According to Signify, the assistant will be able to create "personalized lighting scenes based on mood, occasion or style," and will let you use natural language to describe what you want rather than using a photo as a starting point or picking shades from a color wheel.

The company hasn't announced when the new tool will arrive, but it should be available before the end of the year – hopefully in time to let you describe your perfect festive lighting, and have all your fixtures adapt automatically. I'm dreaming of a bright Christmas.

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• You can now start recording manually from Philips Hue security cameras
• It's also easier to manage Philips Hue lighting setups with multiple Bridges
• Bluetooth users can change the icon of each light for easier identification

The Philips Hue app has just received a significant upgrade that makes it easier to manage your lights, and gives you more control over video recording if your home setup includes any of the company's security cameras. App version 5.37.1 is available to download now for iOS and Android devices.

The biggest change to the app is the ability to start recording video clips manually. Signify (the company behind the Philips Hue brand) makes some of the best home security cameras around when it comes to value and convenience, but until now their recording functionality has been fairly limited.

Previously, you could set your camera to send you a notification when it detects movement and record a 60-second video clip that's stored in the cloud for you to review later. Once you've received the app update, you'll also be able to trigger recording manually while watching live footage from a camera on your phone.

As fan site Hueblog.com explains, you'll notice a new icon in Live View, which you can tap to start and stop recording. Clips recorded manually will be saved to your phone rather than the cloud.

Get organized

The software update also makes it easier to organize your Philips Hue lights, whether you're controlling them using a Philips Hue Bridge or Bluetooth on your phone.

Each Philips Hue Bridge can control up to 50 lights, creating a mesh network that connects them to your home Wi-Fi network and to each other. That might be plenty, but if you have a large house, you may need a second Bridge to link them all.

With app version 5.37.1, you can now organize the Home tab by Bridge, and show the names of your Bridges as headings. This should make it easier to see and control the lights linked to each one. To give it a try, tap the ellipsis icon (...) to open the menu, then tap Edit Home Tab and select the Bridge Names icon.

Finally, if you control your Hue lights using Bluetooth, you can now change the icon for each one to make them easier to identify at a glance. To do so, select the Light card, then tap the ellipsis icon and choose Light Settings. It's a small change, but one that makes some of the best smart lights you can buy even better.

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• The Philips Hue Sync app is now available for recent LG TVs
• The app lets you sync smart lights with your TV without an HDMI Sync Box
• It works with HDMI devices plus native apps like Netflix and Disney+

The Philips Hue Sync app is now available for LG TVs, letting you sync your smart lights with movies, games, and TV shows on your screen, without the need for a Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box. Your Hue lights will react instantly to whatever's currently on screen, whether it's from an external source like a games console, or a native smart TV app like Netflix and Disney+.

Signify, the company behind Philips Hue, announced that the app would be arriving on LG TVs at CES 2025 in January, but didn't give an exact date for its arrival, only saying that it would be available early this year, but now it's officially here.

At CES, Signify explained that the app would work with all LG TVs using webOS 24 or later, which includes some of the best TVs you can buy today. That seems to have changed, slightly, though, because Signify is now saying that it'll work on 2024 LG or newer with webOS 24. It's unclear if this leaves the door open to older TVs that receive webOS 24 getting support at some point – if you're not sure whether yours is compatible, you can search for your model on LG's website to see which apps it supports.

To use the Philips Hue Sync app, you'll need at least one color-compatible Philips Hue light (the Philips Hue Play Gradient Strip and Philips Hue Play Light Bars work particularly well), plus a Philips Hue Bridge, which creates a mesh network that connects your Hue devices to each other, and to your home Wi-Fi network. You can then download the Philips Hue Sync app through the LG Content Store. There's a one-off to install the app, plus a monthly subscription, which you can pay via your TV.

Hue Sync alternatives

If you don't have a TV compatible with Hue Sync, you can still synchronize your smart lights with your screen using a Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box. It's easy to set up, and works with any form of HDMI input, including Blu-ray players, set-top boxes, and games consoles. However, unlike the Hue Sync app, the Sync Box won't work with native apps on your smart TV.

It doesn't come cheap, either. Last year Signify launched a version of the Sync Box that supports 8K TVs and HDMI 2.1, making it ideal for gaming, but with a price tag of $349.99 / £299.99 / AU$699.95, it's a big investment (and much more than the initial outlay for the Hue Sync app).

If that's outside your budget, take a look at our guide to the best Ambilight alternatives, which aim to create a similar effect by using a camera to capture what's on your TV screen, then mirroring the colors using an LED light strip mounted behind your TV. These systems aren't perfect (they have some latency and can be affected by reflections on the screen) but are usually much more affordable.

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• Your Philips Hue Bridge is getting an update to fix a bug with motion sensors
• The problem made bulbs 'forget' your settings when activated by movement
• The update also improves stability for the Philips Hue Twilight lamp

There's a new software update for the Philips Hue Bridge that should fix a problem that causes your bulbs to 'forget' their previous settings. The bug meant that lights sometimes reverted back to their default brightness and color temperature when triggered by a motion sensor. That could be mildly annoying, or outright dazzling if it happened in the hallway when you made a late night trip to the bathroom.

As Fabian of Hueblog.com explains, software version 1969060020 also makes some general improvements to the reliability and stability of your Hue setup, and improves the operation of "certain models of the Twilight sleep and wake-up light". However, the official release notes don't elaborate on what these changes actually are.

The Philips Hue Twilight is one of the best wake-up lights we've reviewed, and we didn't experience any stability problems during our testing. For us, the only drawback was its list price of $279 / £249 (about AU$450), which makes it easily the most expensive sunrise lamp we've used. There don't appear to be any widely reported issues, so we're curious if we'll notice any differences over the coming days.

What else is new?

There are no details on the more general system updates either, though one commenter on Hueblog.com noticed a new feature when using a camera to trigger their smart lights, which makes it a more useful alternative to a motion sensor.

"I guess motion detection by cameras has something new too," wrote reader Davy Maekelberg. "Now [you] can set time when light needs to turn off again. Like with motion detectors."

To make sure you get the latest software releases for your Philips Hue system as soon as possible, open the Hue app, go to Settings > Software Update, and make sure Automatic Update is toggled on.

Do you have motion sensors as part of your Philips Hue setup, and have you noticed any changes in recent weeks? Let us know in the comments.

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Philips Hue and Nanoleaf are two of the biggest names in smart lighting, but which system is right for you? While the increasing support for the Matter standard means you can combine both brands into a mix-and-match smart home (more on that shortly), you'll have an easier time getting all your lights to work as you want, and unlock all their features, if you stick with one system.

Generally speaking, Nanoleaf lights are less expensive than Philips Hue and skew toward fun more than function. The company does produce standard smart light bulbs (which performed admirably in our tests), but it's better known for products like its colorful wall-mounted LED panels and display shelves that can be synced with one another or your gaming system.

Philips Hue (owned by parent brand Signify) offers a much wider range of light bulbs, strips and lamps, but leans more towards replacing your existing lights. There are Philips Hue versions of just about every light in your house, from the spotlights in your kitchen to the flood light over your garage, as well as sensors, switches, and even security cameras.

Those aren't the only differences, though. Read on for the full lowdown on the two brands, and make sure you're choosing the best smart lights for you.

Philips Hue vs Nanoleaf: price

As mentioned, Nanoleaf smart lights are much less expensive than their Philips Hue counterparts. For example, Nanoleaf Matter Essentials Smart Bulbs have a list price of around $19.99 / £19.99 / AU$39.99 each, while an equivalent Philips Hue bulb starts at $54.99 / £54.99 / AU$119.95.

You can save money by picking up a multi-pack, and there are often discounts available from retailers like Amazon (particularly during Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday), but Nanoleaf will usually work out significantly cheaper.

Philips Hue vs Nanoleaf: product range

Both Philips Hue and Nanoleaf offer a wide range of smart lights – from basic smart bulbs through to strip lights for your home cinema system – but those from the Hue system are more practical, while those from Nanoleaf are more fun.

For example, some of Nanoleaf's most popular products are its Shapes LED panels, including the Nanoleaf Canvas, the stylish Nanoleaf Ultra Black Shapes, and the wood-effect Nanoleaf Elements, which you can mount on the wall in different configurations to create custom lighting designs. The Nanoleaf app lets you map your design, apply preset lighting modes, or create custom effects.

There are also Nanoleaf products designed specifically for showing off your collections – whether you keep sneakers, figurines, or something else. The Nanoleaf Blocks are a system of pegboards, shelves, and LED panels for highlighting small items, while the Nanoleaf x Fantaqi Expo is a set of illuminated display cases that work well for shoes.

While the Philips Hue system does include some fun smart lights, most of its products are designed as direct replacements for the 'dumb' lights you already own. Nanoleaf offers GU11, B22, and E27 bulbs, but the Philips Hue range includes options for just about every fixture you can think of. There are also spot, wall, and flood lights for outdoors, plus weather-resistant string lights (ideal for holidays).

The Philips Hue ecosystem also includes home security cameras, motion sensors, contact sensors, and some of the best smart switches we've tested, all of which can be used together. It's also possible that Philips Hue bulbs might soon work as occupancy sensors without any additional hardware, thanks to an update to the Zigbee wireless protocol.

Both Philips Hue and Nanoleaf offer string lights and LED strips, as well as some of the best Ambilight alternatives to wash the wall behind your TV in color. The Philips Hue system uses an HDMI hub (the Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box), which interprets the signal being set to your TV, whereas the Nanoleaf 4D setup uses a camera to capture the colors on the screen. The Hue system reproduces colors better, particularly in tricky lighting conditions, but the Nanoleaf equivalent is much more affordable.

Philips Hue vs Nanoleaf: features

Different Nanoleaf products can be controlled in different ways. For example, its Matter smart bulbs and light strips can be controlled using a compatible smart home hub, with Wi-Fi and Thread versions available. They can also be controlled using the Nanoleaf app via Bluetooth.

Most of Nanoleaf's other products (including the Shapes panels and Expo illuminated shelves) connect directly to your home Wi-Fi network and can be controlled using the Nanoleaf app or a compatible smart speaker.

The Nanoleaf app is available for iOS, Android, macOS, and Windows. The desktop versions offer features like Orchestrator music syncing, integration with Razer Chroma devices, and Screen Mirror (similar to Ambilight, but intended specifically for gaming).

Most Philips Hue smart lights can be controlled via Bluetooth if you only want to turn them on and off and set their brightness. To unlock all their features, you'll also need a Philips Hue Bridge. This small hub uses the Zigbee wireless protocol to create a mesh network that links all your Hue devices. Having a Hue Bridge also allows you to control many more lights at once (50 per Bridge, compared to just 10 with Bluetooth).

Once your smart lights are connected to a Philips Hue Bridge, you can control them remotely, set up automations and schedules, select and create scenes, and sync them to music. You can also connect them to Hue switches, sensors and cameras, or link them to third-party platforms and services such as Razer Chroma, IFTTT, Yale, Spotify, Google Home, Alexa, and Apple HomeKit. You can find a complete list on the Philips Hue website.

The Philips Hue Bridge also supports Matter, allowing you to connect and control your lights via a Matter-compatible smart hub.

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It’s been another jam-packed week in tech. Whether it’s the reveal of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, with its substantial new screen and game-changing AI features, or Trump’s 11th-hour intervention on the US’s TikTok ban, there’s been a huge amount going on over the last seven days. But that’s why it’s worth taking a minute, kicking back, and catching up with all of TechRadar’s latest reviews.

A whole lot of gadgets have passed through our testing labs since our last recap. First off, we’ve finally gotten our hands on Nvidia’s new GeForce RTX 5090 GPU, and we can confirm it’s just staggeringly powerful.

On top of that, we’ve been gazing in awe at Hisense’s new monolithic 110-inch mini-LED TV, taking in its gorgeous colors – and noticing the odd flaws to boot. So, if you want the lowdown on which tech is worth your spend, check out our highlights below.

1. Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 review

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 has been so hotly anticipated by the gaming community for a reason. It’s just absurdly powerful, offering up to a 50% performance boost over the RTX 4090 while actually consistently delivering 8K gameplay at high frame rates. Additionally, its DLSS 4 AI-powered multi-frame generation can boost the frame rates of your games to generate absurdly smooth visuals. It’s absolutely one of the best graphics cards out there.

However, there is an implicit question underlying all of this. Do you actually need the RTX 5090 right now? Sure, if you’re working in 3D rendering or AI, all that extra power will make you cackling like a mad scientist. But, as a gamer, is this a must-buy currently? Perhaps not, especially given its $1,999 / £1,939 / AU$4,039 price tag, the fact few gaming monitors on the market currently offer 8K, and the reality that it quaffs down 575W of power like a dehydrated viking.

If you can’t miss out on the bragging rights or want to be prepared for future advancements, it’s worth it, but whether you need it just yet is up for debate.

• Score: 4.5 / 5

2. Honor Magic 7 Pro review

The Honor Magic 7 Pro is a lightning-fast flagship phone – rocking the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, the handset handles many games without breaking a sweat, maintaining 60fps without a hint of overheating. It also lasts a staggeringly long time, despite being more modest than its predecessor – it should happily last you two days, while topping up super-fast thanks to its 100W charging.

With a 200MP telephoto lens that packs a 3x optical zoom and a whopping 1/1.4-inch sensor, the Magic 7 Pro is a shoo-in for one of the best camera phones. However, if you push it, the limits of its AI SuperZoom become abundantly clear, with the picture processing yielding mixed results. Meanwhile, Magic OS 9 makes some odd design choices compared to stock Android, making navigating the system harder than it needs to be if you’re coming from the OG OS.

• Score: 4 / 5

3. Hisense 110UXN review

The Hisense 110UXN is a whopping 110-inch TV that promises to turn your living room into a home cinema or gamer’s paradise. It offers gorgeous color reproduction, rivaling the best OLED TVs, and regularly hits brightness peaks of around 3,000 nits, making games and movies alike look fantastic. It does occasionally struggle with backlight blooming during darker scenes, though, and you’ll need to fiddle around with its settings to truly get the best out of its 4K images.

What makes these slight issues harder to swallow is that at $15,000 / £20,000 (around AU$24,300), the 110UXN is also seriously expensive, meaning you have to be really keen for that extra screen estate. But despite this, it’s an impressive-looking set that’s capable of breathtaking color and brightness.

• Score: 4 / 5

4. Roberts Rambler Classic review

The Roberts Rambler Classic is the perfect gadget for anyone who misses the golden age of radio – but isn’t quite willing to forgo the 21st century entirely. Its retro ‘70s-inspired styling with its leather handle, bamboo side panels, and old-school speaker grille is a blast from the past, while its precise bassy sound, DAB+ functionality, and it also doubles up as one of the best Bluetooth speakers.

It’s not the cheapest radio you’ll find, mind: at £179 (around $223 / AU$353), this is a fairly premium package for what’s inside, especially given the version of its wireless connectivity is 4.2, which is pretty long in the (Blue)tooth. And if you want a rechargeable battery to take it on the move, that’ll cost you extra.

• Score: 4 / 5

5. Philips Hue Play Light Bar review

The Philips Hue Play Light Bar is a great way to add top-quality backlighting to your TV without the need for adhesive strips or janky cameras. Pick up a Philips Hue Bridge and an HDMI Sync Box and you can use these light bars to extend the picture beyond the boundaries of your TV screen.

Their color reproduction is impressively accurate, while the setup is straightforward, and they’ll happily sync other Philips Hue products, meaning you can take your personal light show even further. And once you’re done binging boxsets, you can use them as smart lights in their own right. Ultimately, they're more expensive than some of the best smart lights, particularly once you factor in the cost of the Bridge and HDMI Sync Box, but they are seriously impressive.

• Score: 4.5 / 5

Philips Hue Play Light Bar: two-minute review

The Philips Hue Play Light Bar (sold individually, or in packs or two or three) is a lozenge-shaped smart light that creates a similar effect to a Philips Ambilight TV, extending the colors from the edges of your screen and washing the area behind with matching light to make your movies, TV shows, and games more immersive. They're flexible, easy to use, and a lot of fun.

The general impact is similar, but the Philips Hue Play Light Bars have some key advantages over both Ambilight TVs and the best Ambilight alternatives such as Nanoleaf 4D. First, you're not limited to positioning them directly behind your TV, although you can do that if you wish. You can also place them above, below, or to the sides, and you can position them quite far away if you have enough space.

This means you have a lot more flexibility when designing your lighting system. You can even use them together with a Hue Play Gradient Light Strip if you want to create a really dramatic home cinema experience with synced lighting that floods the entire room.

The Hue Play Bars connect wirelessly to a Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box, which means they don't suffer the same problems as lighting systems such as Nanolead 4D that use a camera to monitor and reproduce the colors on your screen. There's none of the lag you might get with a camera-based system, and they're not affected by reflections.

In fact, color reproduction is super impressive – as you can see in the image below, where the bar on the left has reproduced the exact shade on the tablecloth, and the one on the right has taken more of an average value factoring in the gray color of the presenter's sleeve.

They also reproduce natural shades and skin tones very well, and colors shift smoothly, which avoids creating a distraction.

Each light has a plastic stand that allows you to position it vertically or horizontally using a hex screwdriver or Allen wrench. You can also mount them on the wall using adhesive pads; however, if you do this, you'll probably want to hide the cables using trunking or by running them through the wall. The lights connect to the Sync Box wirelessly, but they're not battery-powered.

The Light Bars are available in black and white, so you can choose whichever blends in best with your decor. My borrowed review units were black, but if I was buying them for my own home, white would be the better option.

The main disadvantage of the Philips Hue Play Bars is that they require a Philips Hue Bridge to control them via the mobile app, plus a Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box for synchronizing lighting with your TV, which adds to the price substantially if you don't already own them. The Bridge costs around $60 / £60 / AU$75 if bought alone, and Sync Boxes start at $250 / $230 / AU$500 for the 4K version. The Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K released in 2024 costs even more.

Without these, you'll only be able to use the Play Bars as you would any ordinary lights via the Philips Hue Bluetooth app. This will let you turn them on and off, and change their color manually, but nothing else.

If you have the Bridge and Sync Box, setting up the bars in the Philips Hue app is a piece of cake. Just plug in the power supply (which supports up to three Play Bar lights), set the Hue app to search for them, and they will be identified automatically, ready to be added to your room.

When you're not using your TV, you can use the Play Bars like any other Hue lamp, setting their colors individually, or incorporating them into Scenes. When it's time to enjoy a movie or game, just tap the Sync button in the app.

For those who already have a Hue setup, the Play Bars are a versatile and fun addition that can make your home cinema setup even more immersive. They're not the best entry point into the Hue system, since you'll only get the full experience with the Hue Bridge and Sync Box, but if you want to expand an existing system, they're a great option.

Philips Hue Play Light Bar: specs

Philips Hue Play Light Bar: price and availability

The Philips Hue Play Light Bar is available individually, or in packs of two or three. As with most Philips Hue products, you can also find them bundled with other lights and accessories, such as the Hue Bridge, which may be significantly cheaper than buying each component separately.

A single Philips Hue Play Light Bar costs $89.99 / £64.99 / AU$129.95 when bought direct from the Philips Hue store.

Should you buy the Philips Hue Play Light Bar

Buy it if

Don't buy it if

Philips Hue Play Light Bar: also consider

Not sure about the Philips Hue Play Light Bar? Here are two other ambient lighting options that are worth considering.

How I tested the Philips Hue Play Light Bar

I tested a pair of Philips Hue Play Light Bars, using them as part of a larger Hue lighting system including ceiling-fitted bulbs, an HDMI Sync Box, and Hue Bridge. I used them to sync content from my TV, and as standalone smart lights that I controlled via the Google Home app.

I used the lights with a wide variety of media, but to avoid copyright infringement, all the images in this review show videos from TechRadar's own YouTube channel.

For more details, see how we test, review, and rate products on TechRadar.

• The Connectivity Standards Alliance has shared a video showing how Zigbee devices could be used as occupancy sensors
• Ambient sensing could let devices like Philips Hue lights sense occupancy in a room without any extra hardware
• The concept was developed by wireless networking company Ivani

Your Philips Hue lights and other Zigbee smart home devices could one day do double-duty as occupancy sensors. The Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) has shared a teaser video showing how smart home devices that are part of a Zigbee mesh network could function as sensors without any extra hardware. The concept was developed by wireless networking company Ivani as an example of what's possible with Zigbee.

When you connect your smart lights, switches and other devices to a Philips Hue Bridge, it creates a mesh network using the Zigbee protocol. This allows all the devices to communicate with the Bridge and one another, and receive over-the-air (OTA) firmware updates to fix bugs and add new features.

Ivani's wireless network sensing (WNS), which uses a technology suite called Sensify, would let Zigbee devices like Hue lights sense whether you're home without any extra hardware. It could be available for both new and legacy devices, and could be rolled out OTA.

In a short video, the CSA suggested that wireless network sensing could "unlock new user experiences such as autonomous lighting control and home security, all while enjoying the privacy of running 100% locally without adding occupancy sensors in every room."

What's next?

At the moment, ambient sensing is a demonstration showing what's possible with Zigbee devices, but it's an exciting glimpse of what might be possible in the future.

"Once the customers’ system is enabled with sensify, home owners can simply walk around their property and improve their daily experience through conveniences like automated lights, and when they are away, they can rest assured that their property is secure," says Ivani.

"This futuristic vision is a reality that Ivani’s OEM partners and customers have described as just 'magic.'"

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• New 24-hour scenes for your Philips Hue lights will set the mood all day long

At last week's CES 2025 event, Signify – the company behind Philips Hue smart lights – announced that it's developing a new AI assistant that will let you use voice commands to set the mood for your home. Instead of scrolling through the Philips Hue app to find a suitable Scene (a color scheme that can be applied to all the lights in a room), you will simply be able to state what feeling you want to evoke, and your virtual lighting engineer will pick suitable shades for all your fixtures.

It sounds fun, but it's not what I really want to see from Philips Hue this year. No, what I'm really hoping for is something much more simple – a price cut that brings the lovely but eye-wateringly expensive Philips Hue Twilight wake-up lamp down to a price that won't give me nightmares.

I've tested a lot of the best wake-up lights, from budget-friendly models through to premium lights that promise to rouse you as gently as a summer sunrise. The most affordable ones tend to suffer the same issues – the light increases in brightness too rapidly, or in abrupt steps that jolt you awake. Any 'nature' sounds provided tend to be so short they're just annoying. A three-second loop of synthetic birdsong won't get anyone's day off to a soothing start.

Even pricier wake-up lights that do a better job of creating an artificial dawn usually jolt me awake because their lowest brightness setting isn't dim enough. The second the wake cycle starts, I'm shocked awake by the sudden change in illumination.

Not so fast...

According to my colleague Josephine Watson, who tested it at home for two weeks, the Twilight is different, starting each morning with a barely visible glow and ramping up the brightness very gradually, not in sharp jolts. "Dimming proved incredibly smooth, with a near-imperceptible transition between the light's lowest brightness and fading out completely," she said.

The Twilight's gentle glow comes from two sources: the main bulb, which also works as a reading lamp during your nocturnal wind-down routine, and a strip light down the back that casts a flood of diffuse color onto your bedroom wall. The result is more like being woken gradually by the warm sun during a summer camping trip than having a spotlight thrown in your face during an interrogation.

Philips Hue products are some of the best smart lights around, and the Twilight also works with the rest of your Hue bulbs and lamps. For example, you can set its rear lighting strip to work like a Philips Hue Gradient Signe Table Lamp and function as part of a lighting scene applied to your whole bedroom.

The downside is the price: at $279 / £249 (about AU$450) the Twilight is easily one of the costliest wake-up lights on the market, and the most expensive Philips Hue table lamp you can buy. I'd hoped that it might receive at least a modest price cut on Black Friday, but sadly it wasn't among the many lamps and bulbs included in the November sales.

A voice-controlled AI lighting assistant sounds nice, and would probably make me more likely to use Philips Hue Scenes on a regular basis, but personally I'm not planning to upgrade my home system until the Twilight gets its first significant discount, no matter how long that takes.

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• The Philips Hue app is getting a new generative AI assistant
• Tell it what mood you want to create, and it'll make a custom scene
• The AI smart lighting assistant is due to launch later this year

Signify, the company behind Philips Hue smart lights, has announced that it's adding a new generative AI assistant to the Hue app, which will create "personalized lighting scenes based on mood, occasion or style".

The Philips Hue app already lets you make custom lighting scenes by selecting colors manually or using a photo, but the new assistant will simplify the process by letting you type ideas or give voice commands using natural language.

Signify isn't among the hundreds of companies exhibiting its latest innovations at CES 2025 in Las Vegas this week, so we don't know when we'll get to see the new AI assistant in action, but it's due to make its official debut later this year.

From the scant details we have so far, it sounds similar to the AI-powered smart lighting tool introduced by Philips Hue rival Lepro last year, which also uses voice commands to create custom themes to suit your mood. Tell the Lepro app your mood or what you're doing, and it will create a lighting scheme automatically without the need to hand-pick colors for your lights.

Even smarter lights

The AI assistant comes hot on the heels of another big app upgrade back in October, which added an augmented reality tool that lets you see how various Philips Hue smart lights would look in your home, complete with different effects and colors.

The AR tool uses 3D mapping rather than superimposing images of lamps and light bulbs over the top of a video of your room, which means it's currently only available for the iPhone Pro and iPad Pro with LIDAR. Hopefully the AI assistant have such hardware limitations, and will be available much more widely when it launches.

"This marks a new era in smart lighting," said John Smith, Business Leader, Philips Hue at Signify. "Our AI assistant is just the beginning of a smarter, more intuitive home experience."

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• Philips Hue's pricey HDMI Sync Box has finally received an 8K upgrade - and now it's even more expensive

TechRadar will be extensively covering this year's CES, and will bring you all of the big announcements as they happen. Head over to our CES 2025 news page for the latest stories and our hands-on verdicts on everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops, smart home gadgets, and the latest in AI.

And don’t forget to follow us on TikTok and WhatsApp for the latest from the CES show floor!

• The Philips Hue Sync TV app is set to be supported on 2024 LG TVs
• The app has been supported on Samsung TVs since 2022
• Connected Philips Hue lights sync up with movies, games and more

Update 30/01/2025: This article originally stated that the Philips Hue Sync app was available on TVs now, but it has been brought to our attention that this is not the case. The app has a suggested release date on compatible LG TVs of 'Early 2025'. This article has been updated to reflect this.

The Philips Hue Sync TV app is set to be supported on LG's latest TVs, starting with most 2024 models, enabling support with Philips Hue lighting systems. The app will be available on LG TVs in 'Early 2025' worldwide and will cost $129.99 (roughly £103 / AU$205 directly converted).

Signify, manufacturer of Philips Hue, announced at CES 2025 that LG TVs carrying webOS 24 onwards, including some of the best TVs of 2024 such as the LG C4 OLED TV, will support the Philips Hue Sync TV app, with a planned release date of 'Early 2025'. This allows Philips Hue lighting (one of the best smart light systems around) to be connected to the TV and synced up with pictures on screen. The Hue Sync app has been available on compatible Samsung TVs since 2022.

Once you've connected a Philips Hue Bridge (available for $49.99 / £49.99 / AU$99) and your choice of lighting, such as the LED Gradient Strips for TV (roughly $129.99 / £189.99 / AU$409), you can then purchase the Hue Sync app, priced at $129.99 (roughly £103 / AU$205 directly converted) to sync the Hue lighting system to the TV.

The Hue Sync app will include support for HDR formats such as Dolby Vision (which is absent from the Samsung TVs that the Hue Sync app currently supports) and 8K resolution.

In the UK and Europe, Philips' Ambilight TVs, which act as an almost built-in version of the Hue Sync app and Hue lighting system, are available, with models such as 2024's Philips OLED909 OLED TV serving as a particular highlight. These sets are unfortunately not available in the US, so the Hue lighting is the closest alternative US-based users can get.

Ambilight but at a cost?

It's no secret that we're big fans of Ambilight here at TechRadar, with both the Philips OLED809 and OLED909 from 2024 earning four-and-a-half stars out of five in our reviews. Plus, we're eagerly anticipating getting our hands on the flagship Philips OLED959, which looks set to shake things up in the OLED world.

So it's good news that the Philips Hue Sync app is expanding to LG TVs as more people get to experience the joy of Ambilight-style viewing, which adds an entire layer to your movie viewing or gaming experience - but it does come at a cost.

When you add up the cost of the Hue Sync app itself, the Hue Bridge and Hue lighting (say the LED strip for TV mentioned above), you're looking at a total cost of over $300 / £400 / AU$600, which is a substantial amount to add in to your budget if you're looking to factor in the Hue system and Sync app in to your new TV spending.

The Hue Sync app is a cheaper alternative to the Hue Sync HDMI box, which is priced at roughly $249 / £229 / AU$399, but it's worth noting that the Hue Sync app is a license tied to one TV so if you want to upgrade your TV, you'll need to buy the license again, whereas the Hue Sync Box itself is transferable between TVs.

Despite this, any time more people get to experience the Ambilight-style viewing that we here at TechRadar enjoy (several of our writers have Ambilight sets as their own personal TVs) then it's a thumbs up from us. If you have an LG TV with webOS 24 installed and can stretch your budget, it might be time to look into Philips Hue.

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• Ikea's smart lights can now intelligently adjust throughout the day
• These aren't the first lights to do this, and Ikea is taking a page out of Philips Hue's book
• It remains to be seen if these intelligent features will be expanded on

While Ikea’s smart lights – bulbs, fixtures, and lamps – are generally much less expensive than the likes of Philips Hue products, a new update sees the furniture giant taking a page out of the more expensive smart lighting brand's book. Oh, and Apple’s, too.

The Ikea Home Smart app for iOS has added the ability for dynamic adaptive lighting, which means the various connected lights can intelligently change brightness and color throughout the day. Ikea succinctly sums up the feature as “It’s great for mind, body and soul.”

Like Apple Home’s Adaptive Lighting or Philips Hue's ‘Natural’ scene, Ikea Home Smart will adjust the bulbs to cooler temperatures during the day, and warmer hues towards the end of the day. Ikea notes that the adjustments will be automatic. Still, considering that you can manually set brightness, color, and temperature, it’s likely that you'll be able to override the adaptive adjustments or potentially bake these into a custom routine.

Seeing that bulbs from Nanoleaf and Philips Hue integrate with Apple Home’s own adaptive lighting, whether Ikea’s lineup will integrate with that standard remains to be seen. Remember, you have previously needed an extra hub to use Ikea’s products within Apple Home.

The update containing dynamic and adaptive lighting first hit Apple’s App Store on December 3, 2024, with a subsequent bug-fixing focused on December 5, 2024. However, the Ikea Home Smart app for Android does show a new version on December 3, 2024, but the Play Store doesn’t detail the changes, as Notebook Check first pointed out.

Either way, considering how affordable Ikea’s smart light lineup is, scoring a feature that’s found on more expensive bulbs and ecosystems is a real win. It might just up the appeal of Ikea’s lights if you’re considering investing in new smart home products.

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If you're thinking of investing in a smart lighting setup, Philips Hue and Govee are both brands that should be on your shortlist, but how can you choose between the two? You may be aware that Hue lights are more expensive, but that's certainly not the only factor to consider, and we'll run through all the key differences so you can make the right choice for your home.

Philips Hue smart lights are made by a company called Signify - which was formerly known as Philips Lighting. To avoid confusion, we'll just be using the name Philips Hue throughout this guide.

Smart lights often get significant discounts during events like Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday, making it much more affordable to kit out our home. We'll be updating our guide to the best Black Friday deals with the biggest savings, so keep it bookmarked to make sure you don't miss out.

Philips Hue vs Govee: price

Philips Hue products are some of the best smart lights around, but also the most expensive - though the price of bulbs in particular which type you choose. If you want benefits like automations, app control, and smooth dimming but you don't want bulbs that change colors, you can pick up a four-pack of A19 smart bulbs for a very reasonable $49.99. However, if you like the idea of using custom scenes to set the mood, you'll pay $49.99 for just one Light & Color Ambiance bulb.

Philips Hue lamps and LED strips also tend to be expensive. For example, the recently released Philips Hue Twilight is one of the best wake-up lamps we've tested, but also the most expensive at $279.

If you're on a budget, Govee offers some much more affordable options. For example, a four-pack of Govee A19 RGB bulbs is just $51.98 (discounted to $39.99 at the time of writing). That's a fraction of the price of the equivalent bulbs from Philips Hue. However, there's more to consider than just price...

Philips Hue vs Govee: product range

The Philips Hue ecosystem is enormous, including smart bulbs for just about every light fitting you can think of, LED strips, string lights, lamps, wall fixtures, floor lamps, outdoor lights, and more. It's not limited to lights, either. The system also includes some of the best smart switches and best smart plugs around, plus contact sensors for controlling your devices, and even smart home security cameras. You should have no trouble at all equipping your whole home with Hue devices if you have the budget for it.

Govee's selection of smart lights is smaller, and has a focus on fun. The brand offers smart bulbs for the most common light fittings (including spots) but the real stars of the show are products like the Govee Curtain Lights, Govee Glide Hexagon Light Panels Ultra, and the super bright Govee LED Strip Light M1.

If you're looking for a smart lighting system to make TV and gaming more immersive, both brands offer Ambilight alternatives that are worth considering. The Philips Hue Play Sync Box connects to your TV via HDMI, and allows your smart lights (bought separately) to extend the colors at the edge of the screen.

The Govee Immersion WiFi TV Backlights produce a similar result, but use a camera to capture what's happening on the screen rather than HDMI. The Govee system is cheaper, but the use of a camera for input means color reproduction isn't always as accurate (it can be affected by reflections, for example) and there may be some latency you wouldn't get with the Philips Hue system.

Govee also produces smart plugs, motion sensors, water sensors, and digital thermometers - plus a wide array of smart devices for your kitchen, including air purifiers, fans, ice makers, and even a rice cooker. The Govee Smart Kettle is particularly good, and earned four stars out of five from our reviewer.

Philips Hue vs Govee: features

Each Govee smart light connects directly to your home Wi-Fi network, and your lights are controlled via the Govee Home app (available for Android and iOS). Here you can switch your bulbs on and off, dim them, change their color, apply themed 'scenes' to set a particular mood, sync them to music, and create routines so they come on and turn off at specific times. You can also link them to other Govee smart devices, such as water sensors, so they can alert you if there's a leak in your home.

The Govee app is compatible with Alexa and Google Home, so you can also use a smart speaker to operate your lights if you prefer (see our roundup of the best smart speakers for some good options).

Many Philips Hue lights can be used on their own and controlled from your phone via Bluetooth, or linked to a Google Home or Alexa device so you can control them with voice commands. Exactly which options are available will vary depending on which lights you have.

This works fine, but to get the most out of your bulbs, strips and lamps, you'll want to pick up a Philips Hue Bridge. This plugs into your router and connects to all your Hue bulbs and devices, essentially creating a Zigbee mesh network.

Once the lights are connected to the Bridge, you can control them remotely, set up automations and schedules, select and create scenes, sync them to music, connect them to Hue switches, sensors and cameras, and link them to third-party platforms and services such as Razer Chroma, IFTTT, Yale, Spotify, Google Home, Alexa, and Siri. You can find a complete list on the Philips Hue website.

You're not limited to using Philips Hue branded products either. iConnectHue maintains an extensive list of Hue-compatible lights and accessories that can integrate into your system.

Using a Hue Bridge also lets you control many more lights than using Bluetooth (up to 50 with the Bridge, compared to 10 with Bluetooth). If you have more than 50 lights, you can use a second Hue Bridge. For more details, see our guide Philips Hue Bridge: what is it and how important is it for your Hue smart lights?

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• Two new 24-hour scenes are coming for your Philips Hue lights
• You will be able to choose either Golden Hours or Nature's Colors
• The scenes will arrive with an app update in the near future

Your Philips Hue smart lights will soon be able to shift colors throughout the whole day, with shades chosen to make you feel energized during work hours, and gradually wind down in the evening.

Scenes are preset effects that can be applied across all your Philips Hue smart lights. The mobile app includes lots of ready-made options, including Futuristic, Cozy, and Party Vibes, and you can choose to have your lights remain static, or cycle through colors dynamically. Alternatively, you can make and share your own custom scenes.

As Fabian of Hueblog.com explains, you'll soon be able to take your pick from two new 24-hour scenes: Golden Hours and Nature’s Colors. Judging by a leaked screengrab, Golden Hours appears to feature mostly warm, complimentary shades. Nature's Colors looks more likely to represent the shifting temperature of sunlight from warm to cool, and back again in a similar way to the Natural Light scene that launched in 2022.

We don't yet have a release date for the two new scenes, but judging by the polished look of the leaked app screengrab, they could arrive very soon via a software update.

Get started with Hue

Philips Hue makes some of the best smart lights you can buy, including bulbs for virtually every type of fixture, LED light strips, and lamps for floors and tables. They connect to your Wi-Fi network (and to each other) via the Philips Hue Hub, which allows you to control them via a mobile app, or using smart speaker voice commands. They can also be triggered by smart switches, cameras, and sensors.

The biggest disadvantage of the Hue system is the price, with a single smart light bulb often costing over $50/£40/AU$60. However, they're a lot more affordable right now thanks to a raft of early Black Friday deals.

For example, in the US you can grab a starter kit containing four bulbs and a Hue Bridge for only $154.94 at Amazon, while in the UK you can pick up a three-pack of Light & Color Ambiance bulbs for just £95.97 at Currys.

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• Philips Hue's pricey HDMI Sync Box has finally received an 8K upgrade - and now it's even more expensive

The Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K is the second generation of the Hue entertainment product, following on from the 4K Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box. It’s designed to synchronize your Hue smart lighting system with the on-screen action in movies, games and with music, and it works with a wide range of different lights and lamps: simply create an entertainment area in your Hue app, add the bulbs or lights you want to sync, and the Sync Box 8K does its thing. It works very well and has an excellent app, but as ever with Hue it’s quite expensive.

The 4K version is still for sale and works fine, but if you’re using games consoles or just want to get the most future-proof option this is the one to go for even if an 8K TV is not currently in your home or on the horizon.

Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K: price and availability

• List price $349.99 / £299.99 (about AU$520)
• More expensive than 4K Sync Box

The Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K launched in September 2024. The UK price is £299.99 and the US price is $349.99. That’s about AU$520.

That's a slight price increase over the previous model, the Sync Box 4K, which is £229.99 / $229.

Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K: specifications

• Very similar design to previous version
• Supports 8K at 60Hz, and 4K at 120Hz

While the Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K looks almost identical to its predecessor bar its slightly larger dimensions, there are some key differences.

The first and most important difference is that the four HMDI ports are HDMI 2.1b with HDCP 2.3. The previous version has HDMI 2.0b with HDCP 2.2. Both versions support HDR10+, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos and CEC for device control.

The 4K version delivered resolutions of up to 4K at 60Hz and 1080p and 1440p at 120Hz. The new 8K model has 8K at 60Hz, a gaming console-friendly 4K at 120Hz, plus 4K/60Hz and 1080p/120Hz.

The 8K version has Bluetooth 5 compared to the Bluetooth 4.2 of the 4K box.

There are some minor changes to the power consumption too: standby power is down from 1.5W to 0.8W and maximum power consumption is down from 7.3W to 7.0W. The USB connector is now USB-C rather than micro-USB.

Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K: setup

• Requires Philips Hue Bridge
• User-friendly app makes setup straightforward

As before, the Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K requires a Hue Bridge to connect to your lights. It can only sync with audio-visual devices that are connected to its HDMI ports, which rules out the apps already installed on your TV. However, it will happily sync with apps on HDMI-connected devices such as an Apple TV 4K.

If you have a Samsung TV, you can sync your lights with your TV's apps via the Hue Sync TV app on compatible TVs. That doesn't require this sync box; your TV connects to your Hue Bridge via the app. The app is $2.99 per month in the US or £2.68 in the UK, and requires a Q60 QLED TV or a later QLED model.

You can connect your various devices directly via the HDMI ports. If you have them connected to an AV receiver, that connects to HDMI 4: that’s the HDMI port where you can enable CEC pass through so that your devices can control your TV. Whichever connection option you choose, you can set the Sync Box to detect a video signal and turn itself on automatically.

The original Sync Box required a separate Hue app, but the sync functionality is now in the core app to keep things simpler. It’s more user-friendly than before, but gives you the same options: game, movie or music modes, four levels of intensity and a brightness control. Pairing the sync box, adding it to your Wi-Fi network and checking for software updates are all handled by the app and work efficiently.

Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K: performance

• Effectively 'expands' your TV screen when connected to smart lights
• Much better than previous version for gaming
• No noticeable lag between images on TV and lights changing

With the best smart lights, the Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K works exceptionally well: it’s very fast and very accurate, so for example my gradient lightstrip didn’t just blast the wall with one or two colors but a mix that followed the on-screen visuals very well. It’s best suited to lights that are in the immediate vicinity of your TV; you can have the whole room synced if you wish, but I felt it distracted from the effectiveness.

For me, the lighting was at its best when it seemed to expand my TV to the entire wall behind it and the objects and furniture on either side. It really does make your TV feel much bigger and immersive, and the response speed means it looks very natural.

I noticed a big difference in gaming, especially on PS5: the glitch that would frequently give me a black screen for a moment at the worst possible time in intense games such as Helldivers is gone, and input switching issues that previously confused my TV were absent too. If you have a PS5 or Xbox X, that alone is a big reason to go for the 8K model rather than the older one.

For me, this is one of those products that you tend to take for granted almost immediately: the effect it produces is great but you soon stop noticing it, in part because the response rate is so fast that there isn’t a lag between what you see on screen and how your lights respond. That means after a short time you only really notice it when you turn it off: the room seems awfully bare and the TV awfully small without it.

Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K: verdict

There's no doubt that the Sync Box is expensive, even more so than its predecessor, and functionally it's not very different from the 4K box. If you're not a gamer, that's the one to go for here unless of course you have an 8K TV.

For gaming, though, this is a vast improvement: HDMI 2.1 is a must-have for modern consoles, and the upgrade addressed issues that have been annoying me for years – so while an 8K TV is not in my foreseeable future, this is still the box I'd recommend for Hue gamers.

Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K: how I tested

I’m a long-time Hue Sync Box 4K user, so I swapped the new model with my existing one. It’s connected to a Sony AV receiver, which in turn is connected to a PS5, an Xbox Series X, an Apple TV 4K and a Sony Blu-Ray player. I used the Sync Box to control a Hue Gradient Lightstrip on the back of my Samsung TV, and also added other Hue bulbs around my living room to check the syncing worked with multiple Hue products. Read more about how we test.

First reviewed October 2024