The Philips Hue Bluetooth® Collection is the latest in Phillips’ long-running series of innovative smart lighting options. Arguably the most popular of smart lighting manufacturers, Philips is making their Hue lights more accessible to those that want an easy option for smart lighting in their home without committing to the Philips Hue Bridge.
Introducing the new Philips Hue Bluetooth Collection
Until now, Philips Hue bulbs have traditionally needed the Hue Bridge to operate (with the one exception being if you purchased the Hue Switch). These Bluetooth bulbs are meant to be a single room solution for your home. If you’re on the fence about whether to buy the Philips Hue Bridge, the Bluetooth bulb gives you the freedom to skip it and control it directly from a connected device. If you’re within the typical Bluetooth range of your bulb, you can simply use your phone or tablet to power the light on and off. You can also connect your Bluetooth bulb with up to 10 different supported devices, like phones, tablets, etc. Philips will be releasing a new app specifically for its Bluetooth bulbs.
If you’re interested in upgrading and expanding in the future, no need to worry. All Philips Hue Bluetooth bulbs come with the same Zigbee chip that all of the existing Hue bulbs do. This means that if you decide to buy the Hue Bridge in the future and take advantage of all the features that come with it (like additional remote controls for your lights, Apple HomeKit and Siri compatibility, scene control, and better compatibility with all of the other Hue devices), you can just incorporate all of your existing Hue Bluetooth bulbs in too! This will allow you to connect your Hue bulbs with an overall ecosystem of up to 50 lights across your entire home! This isn’t just regular light bulbs either (if you look at everything else Hue does for your home).
If you ever do upgrade your home with the Hue Bridge, you’ll get access to incorporate features like HomeKit/Siri, Timers and Schedules, Sunset/wake up control, Accessories options, and Hue Sync.
Can I use voice assistants with the Philips Hue Bluetooth Collection?
Absolutely! If you have an Amazon Echo, there’s an Alexa Skill available for you to use your new Hue bulbs. If you have Google Home, the assistant is also ready to lend a hand. Here are a couple videos that show you how it all works!
What’s available in the new Philips Hue Bluetooth Collection?
You’ll be able to buy a few different option packs with the new Philips Hue Bluetooth Collection, and they will be available in two different styles.
The more traditional A19 sized light bulb (which is more reminiscent of your standard light bulb) will be available in lots of options like single white, single white ambient, single white/colour ambient, a 2 pack of ambient white, and 4 packs (white only). This is the bulb style you should get if you have a regular light fixture (including lamps) where you want the light to project across your room.
The newer BR30 style light will also be available. The BR30 light bulbs feature a more singular lighting direction focus. The BR30 style light is often called a “downlight” because it typically projects light from the bottom of the bulb and downward. This is the style of bulb you should get if you have a lot of recessed ceiling fixtures like pot lights. The BR30 style bulbs will be available in a single white/colour ambience pack, a 2 pack soft white, and a 2 pack ambient white.
Just remember that you can still pick up the original Philips Hue Bridge to tie your whole home lighting ecosystem together!
Look for the new Philips Hue Bluetooth Collection coming soon to your local Best Buy and online at BestBuy.ca.
