I recently replaced the vast majority of my bulbs with Philips Hue and they're the best I've used. Super fast to respond and no issues. The lutron dimmer looks awesome. Great video, Eric!

Welcome Back! So glad to have you back sharing your straight forward information/opinions...from a mother who also had twins and a spare....I know the struggle with finding time for just about anything when they're young!

As someone who uses the Hue light bar and strips on my monitor and theater setup, I absolutely love them. For my monitor I just like having the extra light becuase I stay more enganged with what I am doing and feel more relaxed overall, and for my theater setup I have the gradiant lightstrip which I find awesome for movies but also I run an emulation station on it as well and it really provides a great experience to some old classics and makes everything just feel more enjoyable overall. They are expensive and more of a novelty for most, but for those who spend a lot of time gaming or watching movies, you will have a blast!

Great intro to people unaware of Philips Hue. I was an early adoptor and I have lights close to 10 years old, still working like a charm! I use standard E27 lamps outside in freezing temperatures down to minus 10 celsius and up to 35 in summer time - no problem. One thing to meantion which I didnt see in this video, is the Ambiance products (where the lightstrip or lamp has severel light units). I use the Ambiance lightstrip behind my 49" Super Ultra Wide monitor for my pc and it is incredible immersive and changes the whole office / gaming environment. Using the two devices in this video, would understandably be pretty dull. I have a few of the ambiance lamps too and together with basically all other lights being Hue, this really makes it easy to program theft-prevention timers or throw disco parties that the kids loves. I also like the smartplugs and being the same eco-system as the rest totally makes sense. I even use them for other things than lights that I want rebooted on a weekly basis.

Glad you’re back! You have one of the most informative channels

I'm hoping Philips Hue continues to expand on the app and add new features, I really like the effects it provides. Expense seems to be the only downside from what I can tell. I had a bulb go out after buying it earlier this year and it was pretty easy for them to send me a new replacement no questions asked. Definitely paying for quality.

Awesome video, Eric! Glad you’re making content again! 👏👏👏❤️❤️❤️

I’ve been using devices bought more than six years ago when we lived at our old house. All of it is still working. I now have over 60 different Philips lights and accessories around my new home.

Good stuff Eric. I was pleasantly surprised to get the Notification of another new video on your channel. 😁

So glad to have you back! Hope all is well!

I have a Philips Hue Smart plug and I thinks it's great. Currently I use it to control my fan. Being able to control my fan and my lights on the same app is really convenient.

Love your videos! I understand it's not for everybody, but I have the HDMI Sync Box with a "proper" setup of a gradient strip behind the TV, to evenly spread the light, and two Play Bars on the floor beside the TV table for extra effect, and I personally LOVE it. By far my favorite of all the Hue products. I'm very sensitive to light, especially if there is a high contrast between a darker environment and a light source (it's weird, I know), and watching TV has been awful on my eyes for years, UNTIL I got the Sync Box. It takes away the contrast in lighting when it matches what I see on screen (and for that only, it is worth it to me) AND I love how it adds to effects and "extends" the TV across my (white) wall. You have to find the correct setting and balance of sensitivity and brightness that works for you, but once you do, it's absolutely amazing. I don't use bulbs that are in clear view of my eyes as it can become very distracting. Another good tip for a better experience is to turn the brightness down to match the TV brightness (or just a bit lower) so it's less distracting, and keep the sensitivity to just above middle, so it doesn't go off when i'ts not supposed to 😁 You don't want the light to take away from what is happening on the screen! Thank you for creating such amazing videos 😊

Great video with good info, I think the switch module is amazing in a rental home It was the perfect fit for my bedroom and also my TV room where there is only 1 old style wall switch and 1 ceiling outlet

The outdoor range is great. Sure not cheap but when you buy a few items at a time and add on, it transforms the outdoor space beautifully and works easily with a switch you can use to control (as well as your phone).

Just commenting to show appreciate or all the time u ou put into this video, it's exactly what I was looking for!

Thank you so much! This video was extremely helpful!

Amazing thorough review! I am looking to start my Phillips Hue collection within the next few years. They’re expensive, but look and work so good.

Hue always works and is very dependable. And works great with homekit. That’s also the reason I got the Hue system because in the Netherlands where not many other options available back then. Now with other brands working well with homekit. Its worth to check out other brands as well. Since Hue is very overpriced compared to other brands

Cool tips as always! Thanks for sharing!

I have a Hue Sync with 10 colour lights including 2 gradient light strips. That's when its worth it ❤️ expensive though! But I love it

Love all my hue lights, switches, light strips, and motion sensors. We just bought a brand new Samsung 65” QN90B 4K TV. I was surprised to find it had the Philips Hue Sync built in. Pretty sweet to just download an app on the tv and sync lights. No extra box to plug into tv.

Glad to see you're back.

Great video! Being new to Hue, I appreciated the "products to avoid" part the most. Thanks so much!

Re the buttons. You can do different scenes with additional presses, and a long press dims or brightens the bulbs. However, I do tend to use them for simple places ie rooms which just need ‘on or off’ and next to the bed for a little convenient light switch.

I'm using a hue module and it's been great! As far as being in the wall is no big deal. Just pop out two screws, replace batteries and screw it back in. No contact to high voltage. It's great!

We use the Hue Smart plugs for controlling our regular led fence lights. We also use the smart plugs for controlling Christmas tree lights. Lastly we also control our two portable Air-conditioning units with the smart plugs. So there are many useful options for these smart plugs.

Bought my first light bulb in 2012, still works great!

Finally! Someone who’s honest about the sync box

Great video! Super useful information

Excellent video. Thank you!

I started with one bulb , and I ended up with 90 Philips Hue light of all kinds. It is addicting

good to see you back men, greetings from Chile

I agree with the price being equivalent to the quality of the products. I tend to purchase during Black Friday, Hot Sale, Amazon Prime Day, and lother similar local discount days, and that has helped me to keep my system affordable. I now have up to 36 accessories connected to my bridge (between lights, switches and sensors) and I wouldn't trade my Philips Hue System for anything. I also have the Hue Sync Box connected to my TV and in conjunction with the TV led strip, it's been GLORIOUS! There's one thing that also comes with that premium Philips Hue price: reliability. There's nothing more frustrating for the smart-home owner than having bulbs and accessories go bonkers and stop working for no apparent reason. That happened to me with several Meross products. I traded them little by little for their PH counterparts and I've never looked back.

Hue Sync is to be connected to your OLED TV in the living room not your computer. That is why it has 4 HDMI inputs. That is where it makes sense. My family loves the effect. Never connected it to the monitor or PC ... makes little sense to me.

Hue Sync is GREAT for gaming, especially since it doesn’t require the sync box on PC. I also have my Razer keyboard and mouse light-synced, and it’s really an immersive experience. Great video!

Thank you for the Info.

Thanks for giving us the rundown on Philip Hue. I do agree with you about the sync box. I, purchased it a little while ago. I actually run a 5.2 Atmos surroundsound with receiver on my entertainment set up. And stream most of my content via Apple 4K TV. When you run the sink box through the receiver. You do have occasional hiccups. Like the screen will flash on and off. The only way to rectify this is in between all of the flashing. Try to access your Apple settings and adjust them. Which is almost impossible because your screen is flashing on and off rapidly. I finally just took it off. Even though I do like it. it sure wasn’t worth the hassle. I know if I run it on one of my TVs that do not have a receiver hooked to it. I probably will not have this issue. When searching the Internet. I have found that a multitude of people experience the exact same thing. One other thing that I had to deal with. Every time I turned everything off. As in my TV, Apple TV 4K, and receiver. Once I turned everything back on again. It always had a problem finding my video source. I would always have to unplug my Apple 4K TV. Wait 10 seconds. And plug it back on while everything else was left on. That usually fixed it. But it was a hassle. Keep up your awesome content.

Eric, I couldn’t agree with you more about the Sync. Last year, I had Best Buy install Hue lights throughout my home which I’ve used with Home Kit. But I also had sync boxes attached to my TVs i the family room and master bedroom with the Hue Lightstrips. The sync boxes were a disaster. There were so many problems. They constantly lost connection to the internet. The TVs took forever to turn on because of them and in the case of the one in my master, took more than 2-3 minutes at times. I got rid of them a couple of weeks ago and everything works well with the TVs again.

philips hue fan here, thanks for the advices also, you're so handsome, awesome skin lol

Great video. So informative! I'll sub for sure

I have the gradient lightstrip around my desk which works perfectly while gaming. I'm a big fan of hue sync.

Over the last 7 years I’ve bought cheaper alternative smart bulbs on Amazon because Hue was so expensive. I’ve used them over wifi with the smart home app. My third set of bulbs just started failing and I finally bought a bunch of hue things to dive into the ecosystem. They’re definitely way more expensive but I’m done with failed pairings (my wifi router is on a different floor), having to program every phrase through Siri to get it what I want to do (no Alexa or google built in), Siri sometimes not understanding the exact phrases I’ve said 100s of times etc. excited for everything to get here!

I bought a 4 pack with bridge starter kit for $80 on Black Friday in 2016. I also bought an additional 2 pack of bulbs for $20. I haven’t changed my light bulbs since.

I've had excellent results with Philips hue! Great products. Only issue I have is sometimes when the motion sensor in the kitchen turns on the lights, the smart plug sometimes will activate and turn on the fan connected to it. Doesn't happen all the time. A little bug in the system somewhere. Other than that minor issue, Hue products have been bullet proof! Can't say the same for my Aqara camera and motion sensor. They never want to work all the time.

thank you for video!

The Wall Switch is great for rooms like the bathroom, where only 2 lights are in there. Especially if you want to adjust the light colors. Yes, these are not products that everyone needs. However, I'm glad they exist. They are therefore not bad or to avoid.

I love my Philips Hue system!

Love your sweatshirt 😉

The lutron aurora dimmer looks like it may be the key to not having to rewire my ceiling fan in order to be able to dim the lights on it. I can't use a regular dimmer with a ceiling fan motor so I would usually need an extra wire to control the lights and fan independently. With the lutron I could leave power on, dim the hue lights, and control the fan with the pull chain as we've already been doing. Dimmer and hue lights ordered :-)

Lots of third party products work unofficially with Philips Hue. Such as the much more affordable Ikea smart bulbs.

What is your opinnion on IKEAs Dirigera? It could be more budgetfriendly option for Hue?

Hue makes high quality products, the newest version are bright with great color saturation. We tested a bunch of alternatives, and there are some more affordable options but philips hue really is the industry leader. If you've already got an entertainment space with a lot of Hue lightning and a decent sized TV, the sync box adds a cool effect, it'd be nice if they offered a package with the sync box, lightstrips and a couple of bars

Hello fellow Cortexen! Awesome video! Unfortunately, I am not an apple user. The video was generally informative for me, but your outro leads me to believe that you will not be what I personally need for my smart home/ lighting solutions. I will poke around a bit more though. Good luck.

I do like your video, and don't mean to be "that guy" in your chat, but clearly I will LOL. My suggestion to you is to try the Sync box with the gradient strip on the back of your TV, I also have two of the stand alone lights pointing down. I also have perimeter lights around the back of my room and sync everything together. It is expensive, however it is one of my favourite smart lights in my home. My only complaint is I can only sync 10 lights at a time. I know that might sound like a lot but I have my whole family room set up with the Hue bulbs including 6 GU10 ceiling lights. Just wanted to share my experience with that ecosystem because I really enjoyed it. Thanks for the video and appreciate your work.

i live in a 40 square meter home and have hue switches only in one room. i really like ambient light and wanted to make my room bright in the early mornings when its still dark af outside. should i still get a bridge to automate or set the lights to turn on every morning like an alarm clock?

Still have Hue bulbs that work great from 8 years ago!

May I ask you about the brand of the standig lamp behind you?

8:55 yeah this is great if you want to control a smart light where the switch doesn’t have a neutral wire, but then again I think the Lutron Aurora dimmer is a better solution here

How do you make a timed smart plug foolproof? For example, the internet might fail momentarily when the switch is due to be activated. Also if you use Apple home, which device sends the signal to the smart switch?

Can I ask where did you buy that lamp standing behind you? Looks amazing! 😂

My Philips Hue Bridge is not working with my Cox panoramic modem / router combo. The third light just keeps blinking. Have you heard of a lot of people having this issue? And is there a fix for this? Thanks

Those holiday lights are great. Dude everything is not price sensitive to some people.

Great video. However, I do have the HDMI Sync box and gradient strip lighting behind my TV and it's my favorite of all my Hue products.

Not sure how old this video is. But can you use one dimmer switch as a master switch that will turn off all the lights in the house by the door for example? While still allowing room by room function?

Ive had WEMO/ihome and other HomeKit smart plugs. I just purchased the Hue Plug to replace all of the as they keep disconnecting. I noticed anything that uses a hub as far as lights go IE Hue and Lutron have been the most consistent with reliability

Does the bridge have to be connected with cable to the router or can it be done wirelessly??

Hi there. Love Hue system but am stumped by a problem. I was forced to fully reset all three of my bridges as well as a full new Home in Honekit. Painful but I did it but can only manage to add one bridge to Homekit. I used to have three working and I just don’t know what to try to fix this. Sorry to put question here but I am desperate. Thanks.

Can i use the motion sensor with my 2 philips hue lights in my office without a bridge?

10:17 well Eric, you may have missed the part where it’s meant to be used in a living room setup as another commenter pointed out and also maybe you missed the announcement earlier in the fall where Philips is launching a different version specifically for your computer

Very comprehensive video as always! Hue was the first smart home product I purchased and I now have over 30 lighting products and it is the main lighting source throughout my home. It is very reliable and I really enjoy their accessory’s. This being said, if I had to do it over again, I would not choose Hue. While the hardware and software combination works very well together, I do feel that they are significantly overpriced, and I actually don’t find myself taking advantage of all that the software has to offer.

Woo! You’re back! Don’t ever forget me. Just kidding. Stay safe

Can you make us an updated video for this year on the product that you tested or know about that work with Apple HomeKit? I have seen you’ve had one 2 years and it’s amazing. I think that would be great to be done again!

I bought 4 GU10 "bulbs" to try it, and I'm now waiting for 2 additional GU10 and the bridge... I hate directional lights, but I don't want to change the current setup in my rooms.

Nice Video!

I switched to hue a year ago for 2 reasons, Google Home, and Elgato Stream deck.

High quality video. Liked how you laid it all out. The one thing I would disagree on is the hue smart plug. Between hue and Caseta, you won’t find a more reliable smart plug. And it’s all about reliability with HomeKit accessories.

I actually love the wall switch module. Sure it’s crazy that you need it to remove all confusion, and it means that the fixture is powered on at all times. But it idiot-proves the lighting.

the Bluetooth can also be used with google home devices (such as google Nest smart speakers) to replace the Hue Bridge since the home device becomes the bridge instead and be good if you need a way to get started with philips hue

Hey, I have been facing a lot of connectivity issue. Could that be because I do not have a bridge?

I’ll give you an example of why you may want Bluetooth……out of range of your WiFi. I have that problem with my outdoor kitchen, I have a hue strip light and it’s the only strip light that operates via Bluetooth…hence you can operate with your phone.

I love the Hue buttons, so much cuter than Aqara’s :)

Hue just works with everything, every time. Automatically discovered in the home assistant, works with all the assistants: Alexa, Google, and Siri before Matter started to be a thing. I replaced all my lights with Hue and I have 0 reasons to choose another brand. Also, I have Philips The One and some light strips synced to it and it works perfectly.

Philips Hue noob here. Just moved into a new place and would like to get started with some home automation. Some people in the family never turn off lights so need to mitigate that to save energy. I know there are tonnes of eco systems out there but hue seems like I won't encounter a roadblock later on.

Innovelli makes switches that can pair directly with Hue bulbs, and can be set to not cut power to the bulb… but you need to have Hubitat, SmartThings or HomeAssistant.

Randomly came across your channel tonight. Watched this video and liked it. I subscribed too. Wonder what your thoughts are on Nano Leaf? Seems like they copied Phillips Hue? What’s next Twinkly coping Hue? (Even though they sell lights and Christmas trees) and Kasa Smart?

The benefit of Hue plugs is Zigbee - they just have such a great range. I’ve a TP-Link smart plug in the garden and it’s got such weak range.

Why I have a lot of respect for your knowledge and the videos you do I have to disagree with you on the Sync Box. With Covid shutting down theaters I had no choice to create my own. Using the Sync Box with 10 Hue lights has given me an amazing experience that enhances the shows I watch. I do agree it is not for everyone and it is definitely not cheap (my setup is $800) but when watching a movie and the effects I get I feel it was worth every penny.

I’m a little confused on the router requirement for the Hub. With a conventional router set-up, the router would broadcast the WiFi signal throughout the house. This also would provide for remote access. What if you don’t have WiFi, but you do have a router? Does the Hub coupled to a router broadcast the signal throughout the house? Of course then remote control usage away from the house would not be available.

Do you think that people will regret buying into this right now as thread becomes more of the standard? Or do you think it will be fine regardless? Will hue be able to update to thread with an over the air update? Or is it a hardware issue? Will Hue continue to work seamlessly in my home even when my Wifi is down?

Would love to see a shoot out with the Belkin Wemo Thread vs Eve Energy Thread vs TP Link Kasa HomeKit.

Eric, ever get power state to work during power outages? Annoying having all your lights turn on when power is restored. Thanks!

Great into. I just bought Hue Bridge, and I am an Apple Newbie (and now in Heaven) looking to learn about Apple Smart Home. Sub'd!!

The Hue Hub is the most rock solid controller I've used. I've had it two years and it's never disconnected. I use third party switch modules, not the Hue ones, and never have to worry about people turning off at the switch. One product I wouldn't recommend are the new light strips. They are way too expensive.

Thanks for another great video. Have been a big fan of your for long time. I am totally in agreement about your assessment on hue products, but do disagree a little bit about hue sync. To fully advantage of using hue sync, you really need to using proper hue lighting products that is really designed for hue sync. Yes, it can become very expensive. But a fully configured hue sync system do give much better viewing experiences. I have two hue systems setup in my house, and do worth it. Just my thoughts to share.

Hi Eric, Just a few things to reconsider. Wall module: When installed you can add lights you want to control with the wall switch so not only the luminair that is original connected to the wall switch. The real thing they invented this module is the fact that it is not possible to cut off the electric flow to the luminair so if somebody accidentaly switch you are not able to use the app, you first have to witch it back. When using the module you never ever cut of the electricity. I have one myself and are more then pleased, Sync box: This is just great but the scene you showed is a very silly and indeed needless setup, that does not work, if you use these light bars they have to be close to the wall otherwise you do not see the light coming from them. Also only a lightbar behind the tv is not sufficient to have a good experience, it is best to have the gradient behind the tv (also close to the wall) and other lights divided thru your room, preferble all the lights in the same room. When the set-up in the app is done correctly (placement and height of the lamps) i guarante you will come back to your statement and even want to make a new video only about the sync box. Wall switch: believe it or not but not everybody has Apple products ;-) The switch is very handy if you want other devices beside light to remotely control via the Hue app or accesoires. For example i have connected my tv with the plug, now if i turn on my lights when i come home the tv automticaly turns on, same when all lights are turning off. So now my tv does not eat any electricity for standby mode.

I waited till the Sync Box was $179 before I bought one. I love that it's basically a smart HDMI switch with wifi. Also? I don't have it connected to a computer. I feel like it's actually meant for main TV setups...not so much computer setups, cept for heavy gamers. Connected it into Home Assistant and it works pretty well for me.

Considering I’m having to change to Philips Hue because LIFX are a bunch of shites that ruined my life because my fucking bulbs refuse to turn off and I can not get it fixed not even through resetting and everything else I’ve tried and not including the bulbs refusing to connect and being constantly unresponsive on my HomeKit I’ve had it so this video really helps me figure out what I need and don’t need also I have the Philips Hue Bridge and Switches and the features on the switches I’ll be able to use finally!

Is there a way to fix it if u have a bolb that keeps coming on, I've got 3 setup in the light in my bedroom and every time I come in one of the bolbs is on and it's not even set to the color I had

I've got hie blubs that came with my starer kit in 2014 that are still perfectly fine i live in Birmingham UK & everyone knows how wet & cold the UK is lol & touch wood *knocking my head lol*lol they are all working a charm. I'm just about to open a parcel i purchase on amazon & what's inside I hear you ask? 2 Philips Hue Buttons lol. What he said about the Buttons is rubbish. I already have 1 Button & you can do long & short presses you can also add scean, but like someone else said. The Buttons are best when you just want a simple on/off & have your dimmer switches for your main rooms. I'm thinking about getting a sync box but, I need to get other stuff first that are more important.

Hmm. Good info, but I was looking for operational info. What colors does it support? How do you change the color? How does the phone app work remotely? etc.