If Paul has one love in life, it’s Philips Hue. Go check out his video here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/f8-EaJh4ysuboJs.html Make sure to comment on Paul's video why Hue are the best bulbs ever. 😏

*I like the old style Echo Dot because it's small also **Newest.Technology**, gives out decent sound and doesn't take up a lot of shelf space if you want to put it on beam in the workshop or shed.*

Let's start a waaaaaaaaaaaar!!!

Great banter guys, works well. Who says you can't have an opinion and still be polite.

I started with Hue, but I've also tried a few other systems over the years to see if it was worth switching. I just kept coming back to hue for the versatility with third party apps. And I really think that's what you're paying for, the fact that the Hue system is often compatible with so much. That's a lot of dev time that they're putting in.

I wish Hue had better pricing and brighter, more saturated lights. That said, it’s FAR more reliable than any other decent brand, such as LIFX, which loses connectivity frequently.

I bought all of my Hue stuff before I’d heard of LIFX or the other alternatives, and while they are arguably better than Hue, I don’t regret buying into the Hue ecosystem.

I’ve been a Philip hue fan back when they sold the livin color series and still use them in the bedroom. Living room is now upgrade with the Bloom ,play bars and bulbs 💓

Hue is good, but I want them to release a bulb with more output!

Have only one light left that’s not a hue. Love how everything works together.

Hue controls every single light in my house. The connection of everything in 1 setup is unbeatable. Most features on the market.

I bought a Hue starter kit. I freaking loved it so much within 5 mins, that I outfitted all of my lamps the same day... two motion sensors. It is safety in my house for a family member with special needs.

For what it's worth I treasure both your reviews on smart devices. At least, it gives me the chance to weigh in on my final decision on what to buy. But in all seriousness, I still follow and subscribe to you guys and I wouldn't have it any other way. - Reed, your approachable methods in introducing products are very on-point and concise. It's very pleasing. - Paul, your fun and straight-to-the-point reviews introduced to me some of the products that previously I had no idea even existed. Not to mention that living in Singapore, both our electrical systems (including the wall sockets and voltages) are the same. If only Alex Brooks (from TechFlow) could get in to this discussion, it'll be fun.

I love that you both released your videos on the same day, I do enjoy my Philips hue light bulbs but they are cost prohibitive and like you said I've gotten into the sEngled.

I have hue and i do like them due to all the reasons you mentioned

You & Paul should do more videos like this.. where you working together to review the smarter things in life.. 5*

I love this across the pond battle! More, please!

I buy hue for the local control with the hub and because of the amazing accessories (and HomeKit)

I'm with you on this one - I use Hue, really like the quality of light - high CRI makes colours in the room actually look good. Cheaper alternatives don't do this, and if you review the differences using the naked eye in your home, rather than in a variety of locations with different finishes, mixes of natural light, etc, then you will NOT know what you are looking for. Top tip, get a postcard with bright bold block colours and compare how it looks in a room with cheap LED lighting compared to old style tungsten, then move to a high end LED. Yep - colour rendering is SUPER important.

I bought into the hue system last year for my office/gaming room. I bought 2 light bars and a bulb for my standing lamp. They werent cheap, but i absolutely love them. Easy to use as mentioned and when they are synced with the computer playing games, it adds a whole new dimension to the game. Tbh i didnt know of any other options that could replicate this, and actually havent checked if there are alternatives at present.

I love Phillips hue because of all the accessories I have with my setup. The hue tap button is my favorite. Plus the new generation of bulbs has bluetooth as well so technically no hub is required anymore.

The biggest thing about smart lights for me is that they are meant to be easier to use on a daily basis as regular lights with a lot of extra features added. I want my smart lights to work just as easily as my regular lights. I can go through the trouble and spend a day configuring them to be just the way I like them, but after that I just want them to work. Connectivity is a big thing there, so is the app and the switches. Hue just makes all that easy and simple. After trying out other options for a bit, I just decided to go with Hue on everything and spent 500€ on them. I guess time will tell if that was the right move.

i've got HUE recently, I like them it's just so easy to hook up things to it.

I love Phillips hue light. Currently in the process of changing all my current bulbs for Hue.

With all the WiFi devices in my house, Hue is a warm welcome being on it’s own hub.

All my lights in my house are Philips Hue. I love them. But I have to I'm from Eindhoven, The Netherlands😉😎

I bought hue when it was released in Australia years ago. However no one has ever really cared for it except me, they can’t be bothered with the app etc. I happily live by myself now rather than a share house, so my whole appt is hue, it looks great when people are over. They love the colours I select. I’ve put out normal switches in most rooms just for visitors. I also try buy on sale, or second hand.

I have yeelight and I love the custom settings option and brightness, it doesn't turn itself on and great for either casual lighting or a house party

I have all philips hue bulbs in my house (about 27 in total) and I've never had any connectivity issues, touch wood. Brightness is pretty good and the app is amazing. I'm a developer by trade and I really like the Hue API. It's very easy to work with. I'd rather pay more for better consolidation. If you can pay for the convenience, Hue is hands down the best

I used to have my whole house with TP-Link Kasa, then I switched to Hue and bought a ton of Dimmer Switches and realized what I was missing out on. Hue is excellent, and I don’t think I’ll ever buy another home lighting system, but it was expensive as hell.

I got into hue from a roommate who was selling his hub starter kit for half off it had the new bridge with the old bulbs (not as many colors) lots of fun for 2 years but recently been expanding with the new bulbs and I love it!!!!

I actually got into smart home stuff because of a video from Paul long ago. Now I'm here with an ever expanding smart home watching your videos and learning more and more

lol. My two favorite smart home channels on KZfaq! As much as i like Reed's defence, i stand with Paul on this one. For me It's all about the brightness!

Big time Hue user. Haven’t had the best luck with other brands like Lifx

It’s great to see you and Paul are trading opinions - hands across the water and all that. Keep the great work up I love to watch both of your KZfaq channels. Nigel

I bought my Hue setup in late 2018 and haven't regretted it. While a cheaper price point would be great and I might eventually incorporate another brand, I really like my setup. I just went ahead and got my little brother a setup too, because I know Hue stuff is reliable and easy to figure out.

Great battle between you too! I think there are two points that are being mixed here. The Bulbs of Hue is one thing, the other is the ecosystem. The point of a bulb is light, good light, full light, as that is what you buy a bulb for, and in this regard the Philips falls flat on it's face. They are RIDICOULUSLY expensive. They are so overpriced that it's a joke. I've built LED light strips in the youngest room for around €50 all inclusive, in Hue terms the price would have been tenfold, and it's fully controllable by switches, voice assistants, has better CRI, more brightness and much better color. Hue are very dim, and the CRI values are NOT up to par. You can find many better alternatives to Hue bulbs, that work on the Hue ecosystem that are much better (the CRI value of IKEA's, that cost way less, are better than most Hue :-( ). The other part is the Hue ecosystem, and that's another story, that is very well built, and as you point out has a lot of integrations. The reason for pulling the old hub is unclear, but a good guess is simple things like internal RAM and new TLS levels or the like, but I've never seen any real reason for it. I like the eco system, but would never use it as I want my data for me, so I've chosen another path, but still with zigbee which I beleive is the standard that will survive, even though it's technically not the best (but the same was with VHS and Betamax, yes I am THAT old). Fortunately there are alternatives out there that let you control most things locally. And tuya as Paul mentions, is very good in that regard, at least the plugs and bulbs, as they can easyli (easy for nerds at least) be reflashed with local controlled software such as ESPHome. I think one thing is clear, hue is very dominant in the market, and misuse that dominance with their pricing, which is sad, much like Microsoft did 10 years ago.

Philips Hue is great in my opinion, however I think the price is a bit too high...

Great breakdown! I'm a fan of the Hue accessories, but I don't think we should have to buy Hue accessories to control Hue lights. Yes, we are not limited to Hue accessories necessarily nor is this an issue unique to the Hue system. The lighting products, though, by and large leave a lot to be desired. It's a quantity versus quality issue. I've been phasing our their lighting offerings for a number of years now and will probably not look back...probably.

Woah this is interesting. Great vids!

Hue does some great products , just sadly its a bit out of my price range hence why I avoid them. Still great to see both sides of the coin :-) you guys both did a great job with your videos :-)

No company has an alternative to the Hue play bars, which I love. That's why i went with the Philips ecosystem. It's just so much more versatile.

Fully immersed into the Hue system - except where I’m using switches for complex light setups. I buy a lot of stuff refurbished (which means if they crap out early or don’t work at all I can cash in on the warranty), but even then I’ve only had two duds (out of 15 bulbs and a half dozen accessories). I really prefer the Zigbee intégrations over WiFi bulbs. If I were only doing one or two lights, that’s one thing. But as many as I have, going through Zigbee is the best option for me. And, integration with every other smarthome platform is important for me. I do wish that the individual bulbs could be both brighter and dimmer - even 1% seems a little bright for me first thing in the morning. Definitely too bright for a nightlight. But that’s a small con for the pros.

I have the Philips Hue bulbs but got mine at a great price used( 6 months old) and they work pretty well for me. I watched your video and Pauls and love the banter and pros and cons. Great video!

Love the collaboration between you both , LIFX #1 all day everyday, sorry mate 👍🇬🇧

you know this video is unlisted, right?

Thank you for a positive review for a change

love my hue setup ,.. when used with the API you can integrade it in your own software easy. and what helps i get the lighting with 45% off ;-) and that helps.. and furher the bulps have less unwanted radiation of unwanted light. that can be unhealthy for the eyes.

Paul Hibbert bought me here 😂

currently I'm using Yeelight bulbs (from Xiaomi) and it's a smart bulb that has a setting you say many smart bulbs doesn't have, when I lost power at my place, the bulb just goes back to their last state. Can't complain about, maybe the reason that it's wifi only, but I don't have any hub at my place rn

I went with the Hue mainly due to Harmony integration and most importantly the dimmer switch! However, I got the Zemismart RGB downlights instead. They work great and are much cheaper. Only downside: Power-on behavior is not supported.

Love Hue. Great product for older folks. I use my Nest to control it but the app is easy to use to. Plan on adding more, even give as gift. The only downside is cost of bulbs

I just want them to support music sync through Alexa and Spotify without having to buy some buggy halfarsed app.

OWWWWWWW the zigbee!!!!!!

I love Philips Hue lights. I have a Hub and the system is very easy to control. The accessory switches are a snap to set up in the app, so I can control an entire room with a single switch. It does cost more, but the system works so well together.

It's my first smart bulbs, for now in my apartment there are already 18 hue bulbs, 3 hue light strip, 2 hue smart plugs, 4 hue switches, 1 hue smart button. I love it and I don’t want to change them to others.

You really mean that 8 years is a lot? You really think in these days where you should think about everything you buy that it's eco friendly that it's OK to just kill something that still works?

I'm late to Phillips Hue Light system. Just yesterday I bought my starter kit and man this is fun and works perfect.

O saw both videos from you and Paul. Nice to see both point of views. For myself I prefer to be platform agnostic which is why I went with SmartThings route. Just not sure if I should follow the zigbee or z wave route. Thanks for this video.

Hue was one of the first platforms I tried. Less that 1 year after my initial purchase the hub went bad. I purchased a second Hue hub and that one died within 1 year also. I then switched ALL of my lighting, sockets and switches over to TP-Link Kasa. 2 years later, everything is still working as new. The Kasa lights are brighter and the app has many automations to use. They they are also a LOT less expensive.

I have a majority of the smart bulbs on the market and i must say that phillips hue has the most applications and accessories. They are compatible with everything I've came across. Like you said brilliant switch and the harmony remote. I wish they would make a bulb that's as bright as the lifx bulb though. I love that I can use the phillips hue switches and the lutron dimmer to control the lights in a room. Sometimes there just a need to have a switch. Im in contact with lifx and they are re-releasing their switch in the near future that's 120 volt hardwired but who knows when that will be. As of now phillips hue is my favorite. It's left me with tons of the competitors bulbs that I'm no longer using. And a bunch of hue bridges because it's actually cheaper to buy the 4 pack with bridge if you're buying 4 bulbs at a time. Thanks for the video

Good video, thanks. Had to google that light switch cover as it is not on the Hue page. $40, bit steep, but will solve the problem of people coming in and flipping the switch.

👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 I finally have my Phillips Hue lights setup finished.

How did u get the hue sync app on your phone? Great vid btw

Nice video! Maybe you can help with one doubt, I keep searching for some smart light switch, to use the actual wires instead of hue one. However didn’t find one for Europe. Could you recommend some?

I've been using Philips Hue since about 2014 and love it. Never had any issues with it. My only complaint, if it's a complaint, is I wish the saturation of colour were richer. The newer Hue bulbs are a vast improvement but they still could be more vibrant...especially the purple and green.

Would love to hear about how integration works with something like the Hubitat. Are all these 'advanced' features still available (via the Hubitat, connected to a Hue v2 bridge) or do you have to go into the Hue app for that? I recently bought a Hubitat and am in the process of putting lights and switches and sensors everywhere (haven't hooked up the hubitat yet) so I'd be curious to know whether all this nice Hue features you talk of are still available (directly) from Hubitat to command or whether you'll be forced to run the Hue app together with your Hubitat app/dashboard(s) to get the most out of them?

I love the hue thing that syncs with the TV, cant wait to get one but first I have to upgrade this 720p one

We decided to just make a decision and then be consistent. Echo dots, hue lights, ultrloq locks, and ring doorbell. So far we are really pleased with the consistency and ease of use

I love the Hue because I can use the scenes so easily. I have some Lohas and Novostellas but I just can't seem to figure out lighting scenes with any apps for those. The most I can do is change the entire group in to one single color. But with Hue, I am able to set each light to a different color giving different looks in my rooms.

I just bought in to the Hue ecosystem after buying a ton of the cheaper bulbs. The Hue bridge and software just work. I am sick of troubleshooting all these other cheap bulbs and their cheaper software that normally doesn't work (looking at you cync)....I am very happy with my purchase, even though it it MUCH more expensive...

When I started my Home Smart , I got around 8 Lifx while they are brighter and has a decent App the Wifi is unstable. My house is a 2 Story 1130 square feet with Wifi 6 Router in the Middle. There were many instances where many of the Lifx Bulbs would not turn on or turn off. I had them Grouped per room so it was annoying when I asked Google to turn off my Bedroom Lights one of lights would remain on, Especially when you are not in the Room to confirm if they are off. I switched all my lights to Hue lights 3 months ago and since then never once I had that issue. I have the Hub next to my Router and everything works just perfectly. I also love their Switch which makes it much more organized instead or going to App or keep using Google. Switch makes it much easier.

My entire house is hue and I love all the light shows and fireworks I can make with the light recipes. Can’t imagine changing now

Just as an FYI, Wyze recently added the Power On option for their bulbs in the latest firmware. You can go into the app and select what behavior you want. It's called "Power Loss Recovery" and you can choose between "Turn the light on" and "Maintain previous state" after power is restored.

Oddly I specifically went for Hue because of the output. We have ordinary lights as well, but they give us extra Luther when we need it.

I love Hue's software, but not there hardware, so I have been buying third party lights that are compatible with Hue Bridge and I love it! I recommend making a video going into a topic like that!

So glad I found your channel. I just finished a 2 year build on a commercial recording studio. We’re using Philips Hue E26 bulbs in the ceiling and the LED tape lights around the perimeter of the rooms. The problem is that our bulbs are all making a high pitched, constant whistling/ringing sound. The tape lights are quiet. We have NOT installed our dim switches yet, only normal generic wall switches so far. The noise gets louder as I increase brightness on the app. Darker colors barely make any noise at all. Any idea what the issue is? Thank you

I started with Hue bulbs and added Nanoleaf Essentials bulbs last year for its thread capability. To date 2 out of 5 of the Nanoleaf bulbs are already dead, while my original Hue bulbs bought 5 years ago are still working just fine. Needless to say I am switching 100% to Hue for my home, costly but a peace of mind.

Great balanced review!! Compatibility and reliability is what I went for especially as I have 78 bulbs and lightstrips and multiple switches and sensors.

I have Philips hue in some rooms, and I prefer Philips wiz now! $12 for color bulbs at Home Depot. My favorite thing is being able to set 2 scenes on a bulb that you can control on a regular light switch by turning it off and on real fast. They have a lot of built in scenes that change color slowly. I also reached out to there support and the said being able to strobe to music is coming soon.

I got the Phillip's WIZ bulbs. They were the first and cheapest bulbs I saw at the local home depot. I love them. Have zero complaints with the bulb, the app, or the integration with Alexa and IFTTT.

I started with a few Hive bulbs but then got a Hue hub. Since then I've stuck with Hue and never looked back. Recently bought the HDMI syncbox and set it up with my harmony controller. as its all connected with an AV Reciever etc. All just works a treat and I like the fact that you can use a load of different 3rd party apps with the bridge, if you want to. Agreed, the bulbs cost more than alternatives, but I think the flexibility and integration outweigh the cost. You buy once and you then have a great system. Never seen the issues that Paul has reported myself.

My home is all hue, i had the power off at 3 am issue a couple of times with other bulbs, not fun. Also love that you can control the lights with the App when you don't have internet connection. The only thing missing with the bulbs is internal battery, if they added that, they'd be perfect. It'd be great if it lasted idk 1-2 hours, just enough for most blackouts. You can already get external batteries for other stuff, such as your router, bridge, etc. so that'd not be an issue. That'd ensure best uptime. But ah well, getting better but not there yet. And yes, I agree, hue is like getting an iPhone lmao, same thing but you just appreciate the extra steps they took to make them "better" than other brands. Zigbee is a huge plus as well as the power-on feature.

the Most Genius youtuber and the best channel ever .. well done .. one question .. do you know when smartthings hub v4 will release ?

I love our Hue lights. I only use the white bulbs and haven't had any issues with brightness. When my kid was born, I installed 4 lights in his ceiling fan and a motion sensor. The lights were set to 1% if activated in the middle of the night, which helped us feed and change him, without disturbing him or hurting our eyes. It's been several years and the motion detector is still using the original battery.

I continue to buy Philips hue basically because its how I started so it seems obvious to continue with the same brand... however I will agree with I wish the colors were a little brighter and more full. Casting them onto a wall can often be weak if other light sources are on.

i was thinking to buy a lifx for my desk lamp in my bedroom just bc atm I don't want to jeaopardize the entire lights of my house and buying a bridge and light seems too expensive to me.. Did you have some problem w Lifx lights, like the disconnecting you talked about in the video? Great video as usual :)

Until Thread devices are more prevalent, hubs are good. While Paul is correct where you are comparing Hue bulb/lightstrip against another manufacture's bulb/lightstrip, but Paul fails to see where Hue fits into the big picture with integration to other devices/platforms. Yes, you can take the other manufactures stuff and DIY it, but if you want an out of the box solution, Hue is a very good choice.

Personally I just invested on a couple of strips and got to bulbs for free and I absolutely love them. The features and how they are so compatible to different types of devices I was truly happy about that. I thought it was too expensive but I think it was worth it.

Good video...again!!! I started with Hue, then added Lifx and now pretty much all Hue...because they work and Wifi control for bulbs is a problem waiting to happen. With Hue/Zigbee you essentially have one device on your network...the Hue hub which makes for much simpler networking. On top of that with the mesh networking of Zigbee, you aren't as likely to end up in a dead area as with Wifi. Of course, the solution to wifi issues is spending $300+ on a Wifi mesh system. If you look at available IFTTT actions, you'll generally see more for the major players...including Lifx. Hue lights can be blinked in response to an alarm (flooding/leak) and that's a big deal for many...especially those who might be hearing impaired. Colored lights with different functions can be much more than just cutesy parlor tricks when your friends are over. Like with many things, it doesn't really matter what brand you have but what you do with them that really matters. If it's truly important, then the cost isn't so important. If it's not then any old bulb will do just fine.

I like my Hue outdoor lights. We currently have 16 running for over a year. Sometimes I want to smash a couple because they don't communicate well but all in all they're great. One platform and pretty easy to use. The app could be better in my opinion. Great video!!

I got a Hue Bridge several Hue bulbs, several Innr bulbs and several Ikea Trådfri bulbs all hooked up to the bridge. Some features don’t work, but the most important (on/off/brightness/warmth) do work, so I’m okay with that. Besides, using the API I can access all bulbs unlike Apple Home kit.

The power feature is relatively new actually. When Hue first came out it had the exact same issue as the LIFX. I’ve had Hue since it came out. Heck all of my bulbs are still first generation bulbs.

We went with Hue as it was the only smart bulb that offered the candle style bulbs we needed for our ceiling fans. Captain hindsight (after 3 years), wee probably would have been fine with switches, but not turning back now lol.

Zigbee isn’t just more stable and reliable, with point to point connectivity, but it allows local use when the Wi-fi is down, and critically, doesn’t take up router bandwidth, with each device needing its own IP.

I have a mix of hue, and zigbee, and zwave bulbs via smartthings. I have had several zigbee and zwave bulbs die. My hue bulbs have not had a single issue, even the 4 hue dimmable bulbs I have outside in wall fixtures out in -40C winters

Chose Philips Hue lights a little over a year ago for their Apple HomeKit compatibility... haven’t looked back, probably won’t look back. Absolutely it’s like the choice between iOS and Android. I like how ridiculously easy it is to set up. Love how power efficient the bulbs are. Love that they don’t use wifi themselves, which means with remote connect turned on I can make changes to the lights within a few seconds of the power coming back on, but at least I don’t have to go around turning all the lights back off with that option in the app to keep the lights at the same state as before the power went out. Really only wish the lights were a little brighter but... that’s it.

I just equipped my whole appartment with Hue lights. However, i have 6 different types of lights and non of them are white or colored bulbs. I have 2 Being Ceiling lamps, Hue Fair ceiling lamp, Aurelle 60x60, Buckram 4 spot, Still Ceiling and a Pillar 2 spot. They are all the main lights spots of every room. All just with the complete white light spectrum. So for i like the build quality a lot and i love the designs more every day, looks very modern. During my investigation i was always drawn to hue for their compatibility. If i decide to add some floor lights with bulbs i would probably go for Hue just to keep it all in 1 app.

Have spent the last 3-4 months outfitting my entire house with Hue (because, as you say, not the cheapest platform) but I love it. Definitely understand their are other brands out there that are as good/better and cheaper, but the Hue system has never let me down. We've got the light bar, light strip, ambience bulbs, full colour bulbs, regular bulbs, motion sensors, dimmers and a smart plug (convenient for warming my hallway in the mornings) and everything just works. No problems ever.

I’ve lived with Hue and Lifx for many years now. Also some others like Govee and others I no longer remember. Hue has taken over my house because it is without question the best of the bunch. The combination of function, being problem free and extensive ecosystem is a winning trifecta. That being said, the Lifx Beam is probably the unit I enjoy the most - the colors, derision and automated mixing is second to none, but it has its own set of draw backs.