Gabe: Hey, folks, this is Gabe at Security Baron.
I see your true colors shining through.
Today, we're going to check out the true colors on the Philips Hue White and Color.
[music]
In today's review of the Philips Hue White and Color smart light bulb, we're going to
look at its design, its feature set, the installation experience, before diving into its mobile
application, the Philips Hue app, to make sure you have all the information you need
to make the right decision.
[music]
If you'd like to see a list of our favorite smart bulbs, google "Security Baron best smart
bulbs."
If you have a question about today's review, leave us a comment, and I'll get back to you.
Let's kick off today's review of the Philips Hue White and Color, looking at its design.
First thing I want to note that it's your traditional A19 size.
It looks a little bit different than a traditional bulb, but you'll note that it does hold that
same metal base for screwing it in.
Any lamp base size of E26 will fit with this.
Along with that, you'll note that it has a hard, maybe plastic exterior that cover's
up maybe 60 percent of the actual bulb itself.
The top looks a little bit more like a traditional bulb.
Around the base, you'll have all of the various specifications of the bulb, including the
serial number, which you can use to set it up right here written down, which is very
useful.
Remember, the Philips Hue White and Color will work by itself.
If you want to control it with the app, you need to have the Philips Hue Bridge, which
is another external component of the Philips Hue system.
Overall, it's your typical white aesthetic.
It will fit into any home's decor, and because of the sizing, it should fit with your favorite
lampshade.
Those are my thoughts on the Philips Hue White and Color's design.
[music]
Moving off from the design, let's talk about the expansive feature set on the Philips Hue
White and Color.
It has 800 lumens, which is the equivalent of 60 watts from a traditional bulb.
It's only going to use about 10 watts of energy because it is an LED bulb.
Not only is that better for the environment, in general, but also going to be better for
your electric bill.
One thing I want to note is that it has all the features you've come to expect from a
traditional smart bulb.
You can set schedules.
You can set scenes.
You can change the color, dim it to whatever you want.
That's 16 million colors possible with the Philips Hue.
Beyond that, you'll note that it does integrate with a host of smart platforms.
You've got your big three -- Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, and Apple Homekit.
It also integrates with Wink Hub, your Nest ecosystem, along with many others.
We're overall pretty impressed with all the integrations that Philips have put into the
Philips Hue White and Color.
[music]
Hold on.
I hope you're enjoying today's review of the Philips Hue White and Color smart bulb.
If you want to be kept up-to-date on all the newest regarding smart bulbs, password managers,
VPNs, smart home security, subscribe to our channel.
We're dropping new content weekly.
All right, let's get back to the video.
Now that we've gone over the design and feature set for the Philips Hue White and Color, let's
talk about its installation process.
It's a straightforward setup, but you have to remember, with any Philips, it is a two-part
process because you have to have that Philips Hue Bridge installed on your router.
That's an easy process, but it is a requirement.
These are not stand-alone bulbs if you want that mobile app ability and compatibility.
One thing about the Philips Hue is that once you have your Bridge set up, you're going
to want to plug it in, turn it on, and then you go into your mobile app, and search for
new lights.
It should find this light, but if it doesn't, you can also input the serial number here.
Once it finds that serial number, the two will sync, and you're ready to go.
You, of course, will place it in a particular room in your home.
You'll give it a name, and then you can control it to your heart's desire.
That's the easy and straightforward setup process with the Philips Hue White and Color
bulb.
[music]
The final thing that we want to look at when checking out the Philips Hue White and Color
light bulb is its mobile application, the Philips Hue app.
Outside of smart platform integration, this is where you're going to be doing the bulk
of your interfacing with your light bulb.
Fortunately, people tend to like it.
It has a 3.4 out of 5-star rating in the Google Play store and a 4.4 out of 5-star rating
in the Apple app store.
Let's go ahead and check it out on my iPhone 7 Plus.
Here I am in a more comfortable position to check out all of the utility with the mobile
application for the Hue light bulb, the Philips Hue app.
I'm in my typical scene called, Baron Hue Hub.
I want to give you an idea of what you can do within the app itself.
If I click here, you'll note that there are two scenes set up, my coming home, which I
can tap.
Yes, it's a nice, calming green.
I feel as if that puts me in the mood when I come home.
You can set up any scene you want.
If I tap on, New Scene, let's say I want another calming, I can go here.
I can give it a nice name.
I can call it, calming blue.
Save that, and now I have another scene.
If you just want to change the color of your Hue app, to begin with, you tap there.
You can move it around.
You have your palette.
It's very straightforward.
If I wanted to go back, I can go look at the various routines that can be created.
You have your "Home and away," your "Wake up", your "Go to sleep," and other routines.
For home and away, one thing I want to particularly note about these routines is that you can
actually set up "Location-aware."
If you note here, it says you can automatically trigger the coming home and leaving home routine
based on your location.
That's geofencing, where it's taking note of where your mobile phone is located, and
setting that scene.
If I were to tap on it, you could open the settings, and it would allow you to access
your location.
I don't want to do that now, but it's something to be knowledgeable about.
Of course, your "Wake up" and "Go to sleep" are various routines that you can set up to
slowly turn the lights on to help wake you up or to go to sleep, which is my favorite
one.
It nudges you to go to bed around the time you'd like.
I say "Go to sleep 1," around 10 o'clock, on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.
It'll fade out the lights over 30 minutes.
I can decide on the rooms in which I want that to go on, and hit, Save.
If I look at Settings, you'll note that I have the Hue Bridge.
Remember, the Philips Hue White and Color is not a hubless light bulb.
You have the various organization of your rooms and zones in your house, and the ability
to set up new lights and accessories.
That's our look at the functionality of the Philips Hue app.
[music]
We've gone over a lot with the Philips Hue White and Color, which you're saying, "Gabe,
please tell me, is this the right one for me?"
I'll say this, "It has a robust feature set that has everything we've come to expect from
today's smart bulb."
It has a highly-rated iPhone app.
If you're an iPhone user, you want to keep that in mind.
Finally, it has a lot of flexibility when it comes to smart platform integrations from
Apple to Google to Amazon to Nest.
It's bringing a lot.
If you want a hubless bulb, you're not going to get that with the Philips Hue.
If you're particularly price-conscious, you're going to want to look at some of its competitors
that honestly bring a similar product for less.
However, if you're looking to just jump into the action with smart home illumination, the
Philips Hue White and Color is a great place to start.
[music]
That concludes our review of the Philips Hue White and Color smart bulb.
If you appreciate today's video, give us a like and hit that subscribe button.
As always, this is Gabe at Security Baron.
Be secure.