Differences Between Using Philips Hue Bluetooth Bulbs Vs Bridge. Philips hue bluetooth
Differences Between Using Philips Hue Bluetooth Bulbs Vs Bridge
In 2016 Philips Hue released their first Smart bulbs that required a bridge to operate, a Smart hub that communicated with the bulbs. In June 2019 Philips released new bulbs that incorporate Bluetooth allowing you to use them without the bridge.
Philips Hue uses ZigBee and with that there is a need for the Hue bridge to talk to these bulbs, however now they have made things even easier with the release of new bulbs that have Bluetooth built in, this means there is no need for a bridge.
Philips Hue Bridge vs Bluetooth Bulbs
If you already have lots of Hue bulbs around your home, don’t worry this doesn’t change anything for you, your set up will continue to work and is still supported, the newer bulbs have both ZigBee and Bluetooth functions, so they can be added to your set up too.
No Hub or Bridge Needed
With Bluetooth function you can control bulbs without the need for a hub or ZigBee, you will be able to control bulbs directly via your phone and the Bluetooth Hue app.
The number of Bluetooth phones you can control is limited by your phone or tablet device, you will also be limited by the range when changing your bulb as Bluetooth connectivity isn’t designed for long distances.
These bulbs will work with Amazon Alexa where you can ask alexia to dim the lights or turn on and off. Coming soon these bulbs will also be able to work with Google assistant too.
With the Bluetooth bulbs you can:
- Use on/off control and dim or brighten the lights to your preferred setting
- Choose from millions of colors and any shade of white light to paint the wall and Instagram your space
- Use the pre-set scenes to set the mood or to match your daily routine
- Control your lights with ease as multiple users can control the same lights
Bluetooth Bulbs Vs Using With a Bridge
This graphic shows the use of the Bluetooth bulbs, it’s limitations and how it compares to use with a Bridge.
| Max number of lights | 10 | 50 |
| Range | 1 Room | Full Home |
| Set Timers? | No | Yes |
| Adjust Bulb Brightness Color | Yes | Yes |
| Bridge Needed? | No | Yes |
| Use with Hue Sync? | No | Yes |
| Bluetooth App Needed? | Yes | No |
These new bulbs will be first available in the US and then Europe later in the year. You can spot the new bulbs with the Bluetooth logo in the top right of the box, as well as a small grey bluetooth logo on the bulb itself. As they have Bluetooth a Hue bridge is not needed although gives extra features and more benefits.
Philips Hue White 2-Pack A19 LED Smart Bulb, Bluetooth Zigbee compatible (Hue Hub Optional), Works with Alexa Google Assistant – A Certified for Humans Device
How to reset Philips Hue bulbs
If you’re looking to sell your Philips Hue Smart lights or want to troubleshoot an issue, you’ll need to know how to perform a reset. Thankfully, this task is remarkably simple and should take no more than 10 minutes. Here’s what you need to know, along with instructions for resetting a product using a Hue Bridge or on its own.
How to reset a Philips Hue bulb
Remember that Philips Hue is different than Philips Wiz, and that these instructions are for Hue only. Here’s what you need to do to reset your Philips Hue bulb.
Step 1: Open the Philips Hue app on your mobile device.
Step 2: Select the Settings tab at the bottom of the screen.
Step 3: Select the Lights menu.
Step 4: Select the bulb you want to reset.
Step 7: Select Search to find the recently removed bulb. This step may take a moment. If it can find the bulb, you may need to get the serial number printed on the side of the bulb and type it into the app.
Step 8: Once found, identify the bulb with a name and icon. Tap Done.
How to reset Philips Hue bulb without Bridge
Philips Hue bulbs communicate via a Bridge accessory. If your Bridge is broken or missing for whatever reason, it’s still possible to reset the bulbs on their own. Most Hue bulbs have Bluetooth built-in and can use that to connect to a mobile device. Here’s how to reset your bulb without a Bridge.
Step 1: Turn the power supply to the bulb off and on five times. This activity should return it to a pairing mode.
Step 2: Download the Hue Bluetooth app.
Step 3: Follow the pairing process.
Step 4: If cutting the power to the bulb doesn’t flip it to pairing mode, you may need to buy a Hue Dimmer Switch. With it, you can reset a bulb by bringing the switch close to it.
Bring the Dimmer Switch within 10 centimeters of the light bulb.
Step 5: Press and hold I and O buttons simultaneously for 10 seconds.
Step 6: The LED should blink on the dimmer switch, and the bulb should blink as well to indicate it has been reset. You can now continue to add the bulb to your system starting at step 6 above.
For more guidance on setting up your Philips Hue bulbs, be sure to check out our complete installation guide and how to use Philips Hue lights with geofencing.
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If you’re all-in with Android and the Google ecosystem, there are some Smart lights that may work better with your setup than others. Once installed, these Smart lights play nice with Google Home, so you can manage all of your connected devices under one roof and issue hands-free commands by way of Google Assistant.
Google Home is a great platform to work with for home lighting, especially if you have lights that span between multiple manufacturers and you want to look at everything in one spot. By using Routines, Google Home can fire off multiple commands all at once, including setting lights in certain rooms to go on, go off, dim, or change color.
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Philips Hue App Can’t Find The Light Or Lightstrip (7 Fixes)
I have dozens of Philips Hue bulbs and lights around my home. In-fact, I have maxed out my Hue Bridge a few times due to all the bulbs and automations I have configured. That’s not meant to be some weird flex, by the way, but it hopefully tells you that I clearly know how to do simple and basic things like add a new light to the Hue app. (/s)
I was baffled a few weeks ago when I was completely unable to add a new Hue Lightstrip within my app. I tried everything, but the Hue app kept telling me that it couldn’t find it. Luckily there’s often a few simple fixes:
Assuming that you have not already added the light to the app (a common mistake), the most common cause is ZigBee issues such as poor range or interference. After fixing this, using the serial number to add your light often works well. However there are a few other things to check too.
Let’s quickly recap on the two ways of adding a new Hue light, before discussing how to fix this.
How To Add A Light To The Hue App (…In Theory!)
Once you have installed your shiny new Hue light or lightstrip, you should just be able to launch the Hue or Hue Bluetooth app, click on add a new light (under the settings) and it should start scanning for the light:
Within a few seconds, a notification should appear – showing you how many lights it has found (for example if you have installed Hue GU10 spotlights, there might be multiple lights discovered).
From there, you can allocate the light to rooms or zones (basically groups for your Smart lights), allowing you to more easily control multiple Hue lights. As mentioned above, there are two Hue apps:
- The Hue Bluetooth app. If you want to quickly try out Philips Hue lights, you can add their newest lights to your phone with Bluetooth. While this mode has some limitations, it does mean that you can skip the expensive Hue Bridge – often costing 50-60.
- The main Philips Hue app. If you have more than a dozen Hue lights, you will need to buy a Hue Bridge which runs over ZigBee (not Wi-Fi). This technology is well suited to Smart lights, and it means that you can control up to 50 Smart lights without overloading your Wi-Fi router.
While both apps look fairly similar, they can both fail to add your newest Hue light. Let’s explore how to fix that.
Note: The first 6 fixes mainly cover issues in Hue Bridge mode (with the Hue app), while the final fix dives into issues with Bluetooth mode.
Fixes For When The Hue App Fails To Find Your Light or Lightstrip
So you have purchased some expensive Hue light (or lightstrip), launched your Hue app… and then it failed to find your light – annoying, right?
Before diving into possible fixes, the error message on the screen is worth paying attention to. In other words, check that:
- The light bulb has been screwed in all the way.
- That the light switch is turned on (Smart bulbs need constant power to work).
- OR if your Hue light is a plug-in model, ensure that any wall switches or Smart plugs (that control the socket) are also turned on.
Assuming you have tried those things already, let’s explore some less obvious fixes.
Fix #1 – It Has Already Been Added (Doh!)
I remember buying a Hue bulb for testing ages ago. I added it to the Hue app quickly (to ensure that the full range of colors worked as expected), and then I removed the bulb and put it to one side. A few months later, I pulled the bulb out – and tried adding it to the Hue app. No dice. I kept getting the “No lights found” error.
As you might have guessed by now, if your Hue light has already been added to the Hue app, you cannot add it again. But annoyingly, the Hue app does not give you a useful message (telling you that it has already been added). It just keeps saying “No lights found”.
So it is entirely possible that you have already added the Hue light, and forgot about it. Head over to the settings of the app, and click to view all your added lights. If your light is listed there, then great.
You can either delete it (so that you can set it up again), or just head back to the Hue app dashboard and add it to your required rooms/zones.
Fix #2 – ZigBee Range Issues
The next most common cause is ZigBee range (or interference) problems. ZigBee runs on 2.4 GHz, which is the same as most Wi-Fi networks. While direct interference between ZigBee and Wi-Fi is rare (since they use different radio frequency channels), any wireless technology can run into problems.
The maximum range of ZigBee can be as little as 10m (33 feet), plus this range will be cut further when solid objects are in the way – such as furniture and walls. So if (like me) you are trying to add a Hue light inside a cupboard, you might run into range issues because the walls and door block some of the ZigBee signal.
Philips Hue Go Review: Bluetooth is Better
Thankfully the fix is often simple (but expensive!). Philips Hue’s ZigBee network is what’s called ‘a mesh network’, meaning that adding new devices will increase the strength and range of your network:
As a result, if you suspect that your new Hue light is simply too far away from your Hue Bridge, you can buy another Hue bulb, light or even their Smart plug and install that between your new Hue light and your Hue Bridge.
This middle device is known as a ZigBee repeater, because it repeats (and enhances) the Philips Hue network – hopefully fixing any range issues.
Of course, it does require you to purchase a new Hue light (or Smart plug) – but you can never have enough Hue devices, right?!
Fix #3 – Use The Serial Number Instead
If nothing has worked so far, you can try adding your Hue light via the serial number instead. You will notice that the Hue app prompts you to “Use serial number” when it fails to find your light the first time around. So click this button, and then type in the serial number:
Then click “Search” and the app will hopefully find your light. In terms of finding the serial number, it is usually printed on the side of the Hue Bulb. If you have a Hue Lightstrip instead, this serial number is printed on the Hue controller:
Fix #4 – Just Try It Again (…And Again)
“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again”
I think it was Yoda that said that. Maybe I’m wrong there. Either way, sometimes the best thing to do if your Hue app is playing up is to try it again.
I would close the Hue app down, and turn your Hue light off (by unscrewing it, flipping the light switch, or unplugging it from the wall socket). Then wait 5-10 minutes, turn your light back on, and then relaunch the Hue app.
Sometimes this is enough to clear out any internal data issues that were affecting adding your Hue light. And then when you try adding the light again, it will just magically work – woohoo:
Fix #5 – Try This With ‘Friends of Hue’ Lights (Like GLEDOPTO)
The great thing about the Philips Hue ecosystem is that it supports lights from other manufacturers too, such as Innr, GLEDOPTO and Slyvania. Their products often work out cheaper than Philips Hue’s own ones, too.
For example, I made a DIY light strip to go under my kitchen cabinets, and then I wired this up to a Smart GLEDOPTO lightstrip controller:
Because GLEDOPTO is part of the ‘Friends of Hue‘ program, I can add their products to my Hue app. Awesome.
Unless, of course, they also fail to be detected. I find that some of these third party devices are more buggy (to add to the Hue app). As a result, I often need to try two approaches before they are properly paired:
- Turn the third party light off, wait a few minutes, turn it on again – and then start adding the light (within the Hue app) within a few seconds.
- Turn the third party light off, launch the Hue app and start adding new lights, then turn the third party light on.
Both these approaches might appear confusing at first glance, but you are trying to ensure that the lights ‘pop up’ online, around the same time as you try searching for new lights in the Hue app. Many of the third party Hue devices seem to work better with this approach, and they will be added fine:
Fix #6 – It’s A Faulty Light
If you have tried all the approaches so far and you still can’t add your new light to the Hue app, it is unfortunately possible that you have been sold a lemon.
Adding a new light should not be a massive battle. So if you are still struggling, I would contact the retailer you purchased your light from – and look at getting a refund or a replacement.
Tip: Philips Hue will also potentially replace your light under their warranty, but their processes can be more long-winded and slow. So I would suggest that contacting the retailer will be your quickest option.
Fix #7 – Bluetooth-Specific Causes
Many recent Philips Hue bulbs also supports Bluetooth, allowing you to skip the expensive Hue Bridge and just pair the bulbs with Bluetooth via your phone. This mode requires a seperate mobile app (called Hue Bluetooth), but as long as you have Bluetooth enabled, it should search for the lights easily enough:
Of course, Bluetooth can be unreliable – resulting in the infamous “light not found” error from Hue. In this case, your phone is likely to be the issue – double check that:
- Bluetooth is enabled on your phone. Chances are that you won’t be able to launch the Hue Bluetooth app if it’s disabled, but it’s still worth checking in-case Bluetooth got switched off after you launched the app.
- Ensure that the Hue Bluetooth app has permissions to use Bluetooth. You should have had a prompt about this when first launching the app. If the permissions were somehow revoked, it will stop you from adding new lights. Go into the app’s settings on your phone, and verify that the permissions are set for Bluetooth.
- Make sure that your phone is within 3m/10′ of the Hue Bluetooth light. While Bluetooth does have a longer range than this, the closer your phone is to the light, the better.
- Finally ensure that your phone – and the Hue Bluetooth app – is fully up to date. A slightly out of date app version can cause some weird bugs, especially if your phone has just had some big update that changes Bluetooth functionality in some way.
Once you have checked all these, you should hopefully be able to see your new Hue bulbs in the Hue Bluetooth app:
If you still have problems, you might want to consider contacting Hue customer support because there are now no obvious reasons for the issue you are seeing.
About Tristan Perry
Tristan Perry is a software developer who is passionate about tech gadgets, DIY and housing. He has therefore loved seeing Smart homes hit the mainstream. Tristan also has an academic background (in Math Computer Science), and so he enjoys digging into the technical ways that Smart home devices work.
Tristan owns close to a dozen Amazon Echo devices, way too many Philips Hue bulbs and lightstrips, a boat-load of Ring Cameras and Doorbells. and a bunch of other Smart home devices too (from Reolink, Google Nest, GLEDOPTO and others).
If you have any questions, feedback or suggestions about this article, please leave a comment below. Please note that all Комментарии и мнения владельцев go into a moderation queue (to prevent blog spam). Your comment will be manually reviewed and approved by Tristan in less than a week. Thanks!
2 thoughts on “Philips Hue App Can’t Find The Light Or Lightstrip (7 Fixes)”
Hue Sensors can act as a trigger for external routines (Alexa, IFTTT). Do you know if there is a way to somehow activate / simulate the motion sensor via API programming? Reply
Hi fabrizio, yes this can be an exciting area. I’m not 100% sure of the exact technical approach of this (I plan on digging into the API/programming side of Smart devices more next year, but right now I haven’t dug into this much). However there are some GitHub projects supporting the Hue API. Equally, HomeAssistant has support for a range of Hue devices – including the motion sensor. So if you were willing to go down the HA route, you could potentially setup some awesome integrations without needing to rely on Alexa. Reply
About Tristan Perry
I’m Tristan Perry, the guy behind Smart Home Point. I’m a software developer whose interested in gadgets, homes and DIY, so I have loved seeing Smart homes (and home automation) become increasingly popular over the years. Read more.
Philips Hue App Can’t Find The Light Or Lightstrip (7 Fixes)
I have dozens of Philips Hue bulbs and lights around my home. In-fact, I have maxed out my Hue Bridge a few times due to all the bulbs and automations I have configured. That’s not meant to be some weird flex, by the way, but it hopefully tells you that I clearly know how to do simple and basic things like add a new light to the Hue app. (/s)
I was baffled a few weeks ago when I was completely unable to add a new Hue Lightstrip within my app. I tried everything, but the Hue app kept telling me that it couldn’t find it. Luckily there’s often a few simple fixes:
Assuming that you have not already added the light to the app (a common mistake), the most common cause is ZigBee issues such as poor range or interference. After fixing this, using the serial number to add your light often works well. However there are a few other things to check too.
Let’s quickly recap on the two ways of adding a new Hue light, before discussing how to fix this.
How To Add A Light To The Hue App (…In Theory!)
Once you have installed your shiny new Hue light or lightstrip, you should just be able to launch the Hue or Hue Bluetooth app, click on add a new light (under the settings) and it should start scanning for the light:
Within a few seconds, a notification should appear – showing you how many lights it has found (for example if you have installed Hue GU10 spotlights, there might be multiple lights discovered).
From there, you can allocate the light to rooms or zones (basically groups for your Smart lights), allowing you to more easily control multiple Hue lights. As mentioned above, there are two Hue apps:
- The Hue Bluetooth app. If you want to quickly try out Philips Hue lights, you can add their newest lights to your phone with Bluetooth. While this mode has some limitations, it does mean that you can skip the expensive Hue Bridge – often costing 50-60.
- The main Philips Hue app. If you have more than a dozen Hue lights, you will need to buy a Hue Bridge which runs over ZigBee (not Wi-Fi). This technology is well suited to Smart lights, and it means that you can control up to 50 Smart lights without overloading your Wi-Fi router.
While both apps look fairly similar, they can both fail to add your newest Hue light. Let’s explore how to fix that.
Note: The first 6 fixes mainly cover issues in Hue Bridge mode (with the Hue app), while the final fix dives into issues with Bluetooth mode.
Fixes For When The Hue App Fails To Find Your Light or Lightstrip
So you have purchased some expensive Hue light (or lightstrip), launched your Hue app… and then it failed to find your light – annoying, right?
Before diving into possible fixes, the error message on the screen is worth paying attention to. In other words, check that:
- The light bulb has been screwed in all the way.
- That the light switch is turned on (Smart bulbs need constant power to work).
- OR if your Hue light is a plug-in model, ensure that any wall switches or Smart plugs (that control the socket) are also turned on.
Assuming you have tried those things already, let’s explore some less obvious fixes.
Fix #1 – It Has Already Been Added (Doh!)
I remember buying a Hue bulb for testing ages ago. I added it to the Hue app quickly (to ensure that the full range of colors worked as expected), and then I removed the bulb and put it to one side. A few months later, I pulled the bulb out – and tried adding it to the Hue app. No dice. I kept getting the “No lights found” error.
As you might have guessed by now, if your Hue light has already been added to the Hue app, you cannot add it again. But annoyingly, the Hue app does not give you a useful message (telling you that it has already been added). It just keeps saying “No lights found”.
So it is entirely possible that you have already added the Hue light, and forgot about it. Head over to the settings of the app, and click to view all your added lights. If your light is listed there, then great.
You can either delete it (so that you can set it up again), or just head back to the Hue app dashboard and add it to your required rooms/zones.
Fix #2 – ZigBee Range Issues
The next most common cause is ZigBee range (or interference) problems. ZigBee runs on 2.4 GHz, which is the same as most Wi-Fi networks. While direct interference between ZigBee and Wi-Fi is rare (since they use different radio frequency channels), any wireless technology can run into problems.
The maximum range of ZigBee can be as little as 10m (33 feet), plus this range will be cut further when solid objects are in the way – such as furniture and walls. So if (like me) you are trying to add a Hue light inside a cupboard, you might run into range issues because the walls and door block some of the ZigBee signal.
Thankfully the fix is often simple (but expensive!). Philips Hue’s ZigBee network is what’s called ‘a mesh network’, meaning that adding new devices will increase the strength and range of your network:
As a result, if you suspect that your new Hue light is simply too far away from your Hue Bridge, you can buy another Hue bulb, light or even their Smart plug and install that between your new Hue light and your Hue Bridge.
This middle device is known as a ZigBee repeater, because it repeats (and enhances) the Philips Hue network – hopefully fixing any range issues.
Of course, it does require you to purchase a new Hue light (or Smart plug) – but you can never have enough Hue devices, right?!
Fix #3 – Use The Serial Number Instead
If nothing has worked so far, you can try adding your Hue light via the serial number instead. You will notice that the Hue app prompts you to “Use serial number” when it fails to find your light the first time around. So click this button, and then type in the serial number:
Then click “Search” and the app will hopefully find your light. In terms of finding the serial number, it is usually printed on the side of the Hue Bulb. If you have a Hue Lightstrip instead, this serial number is printed on the Hue controller:
Fix #4 – Just Try It Again (…And Again)
“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again”
I think it was Yoda that said that. Maybe I’m wrong there. Either way, sometimes the best thing to do if your Hue app is playing up is to try it again.
I would close the Hue app down, and turn your Hue light off (by unscrewing it, flipping the light switch, or unplugging it from the wall socket). Then wait 5-10 minutes, turn your light back on, and then relaunch the Hue app.
Sometimes this is enough to clear out any internal data issues that were affecting adding your Hue light. And then when you try adding the light again, it will just magically work – woohoo:
Fix #5 – Try This With ‘Friends of Hue’ Lights (Like GLEDOPTO)
The great thing about the Philips Hue ecosystem is that it supports lights from other manufacturers too, such as Innr, GLEDOPTO and Slyvania. Their products often work out cheaper than Philips Hue’s own ones, too.
For example, I made a DIY light strip to go under my kitchen cabinets, and then I wired this up to a Smart GLEDOPTO lightstrip controller:
Because GLEDOPTO is part of the ‘Friends of Hue‘ program, I can add their products to my Hue app. Awesome.
Unless, of course, they also fail to be detected. I find that some of these third party devices are more buggy (to add to the Hue app). As a result, I often need to try two approaches before they are properly paired:
- Turn the third party light off, wait a few minutes, turn it on again – and then start adding the light (within the Hue app) within a few seconds.
- Turn the third party light off, launch the Hue app and start adding new lights, then turn the third party light on.
Both these approaches might appear confusing at first glance, but you are trying to ensure that the lights ‘pop up’ online, around the same time as you try searching for new lights in the Hue app. Many of the third party Hue devices seem to work better with this approach, and they will be added fine:
Fix #6 – It’s A Faulty Light
If you have tried all the approaches so far and you still can’t add your new light to the Hue app, it is unfortunately possible that you have been sold a lemon.
Adding a new light should not be a massive battle. So if you are still struggling, I would contact the retailer you purchased your light from – and look at getting a refund or a replacement.
Tip: Philips Hue will also potentially replace your light under their warranty, but their processes can be more long-winded and slow. So I would suggest that contacting the retailer will be your quickest option.
Fix #7 – Bluetooth-Specific Causes
Many recent Philips Hue bulbs also supports Bluetooth, allowing you to skip the expensive Hue Bridge and just pair the bulbs with Bluetooth via your phone. This mode requires a seperate mobile app (called Hue Bluetooth), but as long as you have Bluetooth enabled, it should search for the lights easily enough:
Of course, Bluetooth can be unreliable – resulting in the infamous “light not found” error from Hue. In this case, your phone is likely to be the issue – double check that:
- Bluetooth is enabled on your phone. Chances are that you won’t be able to launch the Hue Bluetooth app if it’s disabled, but it’s still worth checking in-case Bluetooth got switched off after you launched the app.
- Ensure that the Hue Bluetooth app has permissions to use Bluetooth. You should have had a prompt about this when first launching the app. If the permissions were somehow revoked, it will stop you from adding new lights. Go into the app’s settings on your phone, and verify that the permissions are set for Bluetooth.
- Make sure that your phone is within 3m/10′ of the Hue Bluetooth light. While Bluetooth does have a longer range than this, the closer your phone is to the light, the better.
- Finally ensure that your phone – and the Hue Bluetooth app – is fully up to date. A slightly out of date app version can cause some weird bugs, especially if your phone has just had some big update that changes Bluetooth functionality in some way.
Once you have checked all these, you should hopefully be able to see your new Hue bulbs in the Hue Bluetooth app:
If you still have problems, you might want to consider contacting Hue customer support because there are now no obvious reasons for the issue you are seeing.
About Tristan Perry
Tristan Perry is a software developer who is passionate about tech gadgets, DIY and housing. He has therefore loved seeing Smart homes hit the mainstream. Tristan also has an academic background (in Math Computer Science), and so he enjoys digging into the technical ways that Smart home devices work.
Tristan owns close to a dozen Amazon Echo devices, way too many Philips Hue bulbs and lightstrips, a boat-load of Ring Cameras and Doorbells. and a bunch of other Smart home devices too (from Reolink, Google Nest, GLEDOPTO and others).
If you have any questions, feedback or suggestions about this article, please leave a comment below. Please note that all Комментарии и мнения владельцев go into a moderation queue (to prevent blog spam). Your comment will be manually reviewed and approved by Tristan in less than a week. Thanks!
2 thoughts on “Philips Hue App Can’t Find The Light Or Lightstrip (7 Fixes)”
Hue Sensors can act as a trigger for external routines (Alexa, IFTTT). Do you know if there is a way to somehow activate / simulate the motion sensor via API programming? Reply
Hi fabrizio, yes this can be an exciting area. I’m not 100% sure of the exact technical approach of this (I plan on digging into the API/programming side of Smart devices more next year, but right now I haven’t dug into this much). However there are some GitHub projects supporting the Hue API. Equally, HomeAssistant has support for a range of Hue devices – including the motion sensor. So if you were willing to go down the HA route, you could potentially setup some awesome integrations without needing to rely on Alexa. Reply
About Tristan Perry
I’m Tristan Perry, the guy behind Smart Home Point. I’m a software developer whose interested in gadgets, homes and DIY, so I have loved seeing Smart homes (and home automation) become increasingly popular over the years. Read more.
Wyze Bulb Color vs. Philips Hue: Which should you buy?
The Wyze Bulb Color offers bright whites and vibrant colors for a fraction of the cost of its competitors. Connecting over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, you get a wide range of features at your disposal through the Wyze app, along with voice control with your digital assistant.
Philips Hue White Color Ambiance A19
Philips Hue has a broad ecosystem of lights and accessories that work well together. However, the cost per bulb, with or without a hub, is high. It is possible to use some Philips Hue bulbs without a hub, but the features are limited.
Philips Hue White Color Ambiance A19
In the world of Smart lighting, Philips Hue is one of the best Smart light brands out there, and while Wyze is mainly known for offering some of the best security cameras, it has been making some noise with its own lights. Wyze recently released the Wyze Bulb Color, and we thought it made sense to see which option was more worth your dollar, the Wyze Color Bulb or Philips Hue?
Has Wyze created the bulb to take down the Smart lighting king?
Now that Philips has begun offering bulbs that can work without its hub, it is time to see how these two options stack up. Both have a full spectrum of colors and tunable whites and work with Google Assistant and Alexa. Let’s take a look at what else these two bulbs share and what separates them to determine which you should put your hard-earned money towards.
Philips Bulb-philips bulb wifi-Philips vs Havells led bulb Unboxing & Comparison LED light review
| 2.5×2.5×5 in. | 2.4×2.4×4.3 in. |
| 4.96 oz | 6 oz |
| A19 | A19 |
| E26 | E26 |
| 1800K-6500K | 2000-6500K |
| 16 million | 16 million |
| 1100 (75 watt equivalent) | 800 (60 watts equivalent) |
| 25,000 hours | 25,000 hours |
| 802.11 b/g/n, 2.4GHzBluetooth | BluetoothZigbee |
| ❌ | ❌ |
| Google AssistantAlexa | Google AssistantAlexa |
As you can see in the table above, there are many similarities in these Smart lights. The two most significant variations, though, are in the brightness and connectivity rows. While the brightness may not matter depending on your lighting needs, the connectivity likely will.
See, for a long time, if you wanted to use Philips Hue bulbs, you also had to use a dedicated hub. I have used Philips Hue as my primary Smart lights for years now and have done so with its hub. There’s nothing inherently wrong with the setup, as it has some benefits — but it also has some drawbacks.
Firstly, it is another piece of hardware that has to be purchased — and Philips Hue products are already expensive. Secondly, it’s one more thing that has to be maintained. Thankfully, the company has added Bluetooth to some of its most popular products so that its hub isn’t required to use the lights. However, this move also takes away some of the features associated with Smart lighting.
On the other hand, the Wyze Bulb Color is fully hub-free, using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth as its connectivity method. Since this device was built from the ground up to function without a hub, all of its features do as well. Those features extend beyond only turning the device on and off but also out of home control.
Source: Chris Wedel/Android Central
Another area where the Philips Hue bulbs suffer in features when not using a hub is what Hue accessories it works with. Philips has a wide range of switches and sensors that can combine with Hue bulbs to work together, but you can only use the dimmer switch unless you are using a hub.
On the other hand, Wyze Bulb Color works with all of the Wyze accessories like motion and contact sensors, but the company doesn’t yet offer any switches to control the lights with. So even though you won’t be able to place a physical switch somewhere to control your lights, you can put them on a schedule or automate them to turn on when motion is detected.
