We are currently witnessing "Tristan", a rare homosapien who loves Philips Hue so much he
even sleeps with his Hue bulbs and accessories.
Very peculiar.
Hello, I'm Tristan from Smart Home Point.
As you may have guessed, I'm a fan of Philips Hue.
This isn't because they're ultra cheap... because they clearly aren't!... but it's because
they offer a really diverse product line-up and each product is fairly high quality.
So in today's video I wanted to discuss a few reasons why I like Philips Hue bulbs,
but without saying pointless things like...
Reason 1 - Philips Hue bulbs are like totally colorful man
... because that wouldn't be too helpful.
Many smart bulbs are "colorful", after all.
So whilst Hue bulbs ARE colorful and generally quite high quality, I wanted to cover 5 slightly
different benefits of Philips Hue, and also why I disagree with other YouTubers that they're
somehow a "rip off" or "too expensive".
Right, my first reason is that - as I just mentioned - Philips Hue offers a really diverse
product line-up.
In-fact, if you go on their store, it currently shows me 90 different products.
This includes everything from bathroom and outdoor lights, to light strips for your TV
(that change color based on what's actually on the screen - which is pretty cool), to
standard light bulbs - and a whole load more.
This is really useful because you can add smart lighting to all areas of your home,
and the lights themselves blend seamlessly in - you wouldn't know they're smart lights,
in many cases.
This compares to many other smart lighting providers who typically just offer smart light
bulbs, and that's it, meaning if you have a light which doesn't contain a common bulb
type, or it has an irreplaceable bulb, you just won't be able to make it smart.
The LIFX website is a good example of this - you click on the "Outdoor light" section...
and they just show you some light bulbs.
That's it.
If you want a smart pedestal light or non-standard wall light, you're out of options with LIFX
and most other smart light providers.
My second reason is: stock levels.
Now, I know that doesn't sound like a really interesting topic, BUT Philips Hue generally
has much better stock availability than many of their competitors.
Whilst Hue products WILL naturally go out of stock from time-to-time, I have found it
generally easier to buy Philips Hue lights than lights from other competitors - even
though all have been equally hit with the 2020 hardware shortage.
Whilst LIFX acknowledge these supply shortages and say that they should be resolved throughout
2021, I still like that Philips Hue's stock levels seem more consistent than many of their
competitors.
If I want to waste - sorry, I mean invest - $100 in some awesome new smart light, I
don't really want to have to wait for it to be in stock.
The third reason I love Hue is technical interoperability due to the Zigbee protocol ooooh.
Before you fall asleep, all this means - in practical terms - is that because Philips
Hue lights all 'speak' a common language, you can actually buy smart lights from other
compatible manufacturers and still control them within your Hue ecosystem (such as with
the Hue app and accessories).
For example, lights from Innr, Slyvania, Gledopto and a range of other companies are all usually
cheaper than Philips Hue's own lights, but they can be installed and controlled as though
you purchased them directly from Philips Hue.
This is actually pretty cool.
You're certainly not going to be able to control some $10 smart bulb from your LIFX app anytime
soon, but you CAN do this with Hue.
Fourthly, the diverse Philips Hue line-up means that you can do... random stuff with
it.
For example, you can use Hue motion sensors to activate outdoor lights (or even a smart
plug), or you can use a Hue dimmer switch as a physical remote for a smart plug, light
bulb or light strip.
This all works really quickly and efficiently, and the alternatives are often a bit clunky
(such as buying products from multiple companies, and then controlling them in the Alexa or
Google Home apps).
My final point is that newer Philips Hue lights can be operated with Bluetooth which is a
nice way of testing out the lights without needing to buy expensive Hubs or Bridges (that
Ring and some other smart lighting systems require you to do).
If you then decide that you really like Philips Hue, you can then pick up a Hue Bridge (usually
fairly cheaply as part of a starter kit) and THIS controls up to 50 lights.
This approach reduces the load on your internet router, unlike most other smart lights which
connect directly to the router - and can mean having dozens of connected 'WiFi' devices.
Low quality internet routers will struggle with this - meaning that smart WiFi bulbs
will be a no-go for you, but a Philips Hue-based system will still work fine.
And that wraps up today's video, briefly covering five functional reasons why I sleep with my
Philips Hue products each night.
Whilst some of their lights are more expensive than random smart bulbs you see on Amazon,
they are often similarly priced to their main "high end" competitors - such as bulbs from
LIFX.
But you then get a whole lot more with a Philips Hue ecosystem.
So I don't really agree that Hue is a "rip-off".
If you compare like for like (i.e. you actually compare to more premium smart lighting providers),
Hue typically offers a lot more.
And that wraps up today's video.
I hope you enjoyed it.
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Thank you!