Top positive review
2 people found this helpful
Wish I could enjoy it
By Tyler L on Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2018
Unfortunately, I have not been able to enjoy this device properly. I purchased two bulbs at a local retail store to just try out the well-known Philips Hue bulbs. I was under the impression that all I needed was some sort of smart hub to control the bulbs. I was surprised to see that a separate hub, Hue Bridge, was required and immediately order this starter kit. I did not read any of the requirements and just purchased it due to wanting to enjoy controlling my lights with my voice and IFTTT. When the kit arrived, I was surprised again to notice that the Hue Bridge requires an ethernet cable that needs to be connected to a router due to the Hue Bridge not having it's own wireless system. Due to the area that I live in, my home WiFi consists of protable Mifi cards through my phone service. This was a huge disappointment and entirely my fault. I have seen reviews and hints that you can attach a router without internet and it will work fine through the app but I have no figured it out. I was able to get the system to work briefly by turning my laptop into a wireless router and attaching the router to my laptop and attaching the Hue Bridge to my router...it sounds terrible but worked briefly. For those few moments of the system working, it worked relatively well. I have since ordered a device that will receive wireless connection through an ethernet cable and will update this review once it is working. Update: I found a system that allows it to function with wireless only. This system works flawlessly. I love being able to turn off all the lights in my house with just my voice/app. I would recommend it to anyone if they asked.
Top critical review
5 people found this helpful
A real piece of sh!.t, and a scam all at once!
By Frank L on Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2021
tl/dr this bridge is junk, doesnt find existing lights configured on the v1 bridge and Philips is scamming v1 bridge owners by shutting down its internet connection to force them to migrate to the v2... shaddy..... I have had the hue lamps for a while. I added a bridge a few years ago to get the light strip and color bulbs plus the Alexa integration. Worked like a charm all along... until Philips pulled the scam on all hue bridge v1 owners: they not only claimed to stop supporting the thing... but that was not enough. They wasted the Alexa integration. It just stopped working - could not be reset without buying the v2.... I could either control them only from my phone (as if I'm the only one in this house - I am not and my wife has 0 interest in an app to control the light; I agree it's dumb) or buy the v2 bridge. FINE. $60 and almost 2 weeks later (this seller is slow btw - i order using prime all the time; box also had the corners caved in... but let's just skip that part) here we go. THIS THING CANNOT FIND THE LIGHTS. For the life of me. There is no migration option from the app (unlike what youtubers say - it certainly is not an option anywhere on the p*ss poor documentation provided w/ the bridge). Net result: EVEN when entering manually the serial number from EACH lamp (you have to unscrew or .. no idea still where it is on tha light band)... it wont find them. Even when put in proximity. A real piece of work. F U Philips. You are the worst. Rarely seen a company claiming to be doing tech delivering such p*ss poor customer experience AFTER scamming them of an extra $60+ to deliver no added value (by that i mean deliver _negative_ added value) Just floored. I usually find a solution to household tech issue. Been in IT/tech field for decades. I do not enjoy bad products and complicated installations but can overcome some poor designs. This one just makes me want to burn down the whole thing, slam it against the wall a few times, and throw it out the window. Save yourself headaches. Philips is a shady company delivering (way) below average technology not fit for the average or any consumer really. CORRECTION: if you bring the bridge close enough (i live in a 2 floor house) you can get the bridge to sync with the lights. you still need the s/n. 1 more star for this. Still a piece of garbage sold by a shady company. Oh also the s/n on the light strip is on the side that has the adhesive.... why would they require you to read it and make it so inaccessible at the same time? No idea. Why would the bridge v1 not be updates to expose the s/n so you dont have to crawl around and redo your whole lighting system? No idea. Does even Philips realize they are clueless? No idea.
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Wish I could enjoy it
By Tyler L - Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2018
Verified Amazon Purchase
Unfortunately, I have not been able to enjoy this device properly. I purchased two bulbs at a local retail store to just try out the well-known Philips Hue bulbs. I was under the impression that all I needed was some sort of smart hub to control the bulbs. I was surprised to see that a separate hub, Hue Bridge, was required and immediately order this starter kit. I did not read any of the requirements and just purchased it due to wanting to enjoy controlling my lights with my voice and IFTTT. When the kit arrived, I was surprised again to notice that the Hue Bridge requires an ethernet cable that needs to be connected to a router due to the Hue Bridge not having it's own wireless system. Due to the area that I live in, my home WiFi consists of protable Mifi cards through my phone service. This was a huge disappointment and entirely my fault. I have seen reviews and hints that you can attach a router without internet and it will work fine through the app but I have no figured it out. I was able to get the system to work briefly by turning my laptop into a wireless router and attaching the router to my laptop and attaching the Hue Bridge to my router...it sounds terrible but worked briefly. For those few moments of the system working, it worked relatively well. I have since ordered a device that will receive wireless connection through an ethernet cable and will update this review once it is working. Update: I found a system that allows it to function with wireless only. This system works flawlessly. I love being able to turn off all the lights in my house with just my voice/app. I would recommend it to anyone if they asked.
Yaassssss!!!!
By Heather G. - Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2020
Verified Amazon Purchase
Omg, FINALLY!!! I bought two Philips Hue Bluetooth bulbs so I wouldn’t need a bridge, but low and behold neither would connect or even be discovered by my Google home OR SmartThings Hub. As soon as I bought a Hue Bridge, BOOM, got all 5 of my Philips Hue lights (2BT and 3 regular) connected with no issue. It was so easy, but really irked me that I had to spend the money buying a bridge when I shouldn’t have had to. But these lights compared to our dinky LED energy saver whatever ceiling fan bulbs, these are amazing! I’m sure as bright as any other 60 watt, it’s just such a nice change for us! We bought these ceiling fan light adapters (6 pack for $10 on here) that allowed us to use regular sized bulbs in our ceiling fan and these bulbs don’t hardly stick out which is great! Now that it’s actually connected to my Google Home, they work flawlessly! I even have two light bulbs labeled “Big Lights” that I can have both turn off at the same time. I can’t name two lights the same name in the Google Home app but I can in the Philips Hue app and then it just syncs to the Google Home. So the two bulbs in my ceiling fan in our bedroom (having all 4 would just be way too bright lol) I can just say “Hey Google, turn the big lights off” and it turns both off! All in all, the Hue Bridge was really easy to set up, like super quick and easy, and they work great! I’m so relieved I can connect my Philips Hue Bluetooth bulbs to the bridge, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to!
Fantastic!
By Troy Glidden - Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2018
Verified Amazon Purchase
I purchased this starter pack (required, as you need the hub if you want to get these to work with Alexa) from the Treasure Truck recently and discovered my love and need for internet-connected lights! These things are great for all kinds of uses, and I have even purchased additional bulbs since purchasing this starter pack. First off, these lights are not WET RATED, but I have taken the risk of putting them in each of my porch lights. So far my experience has been good, but it has rained very little since install. Using the Hue app, I was able to set the lights to automatically turn on at sunset and off at sunrise, which is something I struggle with. I remember to turn the porch lights on at bed, but forget to turn them off when I wake. These do it for me, which is great. I also placed on in my hallway to use as a nightlight. The brightness can adjust from 1% - 100% from the app or via Alexa, and it's a great night light replacement. My kids prefer this light over a traditional nightlight due to the light that it emits over an entire area versus a small area against a wall. The lights are soft white, so not overpowering, but they're pretty bright. They look great on the porches and are a great addition to my smart home. The setup of the hub is easy, and it's even easier to set it up with Alexa! It's easy to then control your lights from your phone, through Alexa, and even Xfinity Home application if you have Home Security.
Great Bulbs
By default - Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2017
Verified Amazon Purchase
Loving it so far. Setup was easy: just plug in the bridge, screw in the bulbs, and download the app. Takes about 5 mins to set everything up with the new updates for the bridge. For those that are confused on how this product works: you need the bridge in order to control these bulbs. You also need to be using Philip's Hue bulbs. If your bridge breaks, you can still use the bulbs normally. The electrical source of the bulbs need to be turned on in order for you to control them. For example, I'm using these bulbs in my ceiling fan. I need to have the electrical source turned on in order for me to control them with the app. You can turn the lights/bulbs off, but the electricity needs to be running. Also, if you have a ceiling fan with two sockets and you only install one of the Hue bulbs, then you might need to remove the second / normal bulb otherwise it will constantly be turned on in order for you to control just the Hue bulb. I'm giving this product four stars because lets be honest... it's pretty expensive. Also, the app could be better. It is user friendly, but some of the tabs could be condensed or removed altogether to make it simpler. The app allows you to control each individual bulb and how dim you want your bulbs. You can also setup an account or through your Google account to control the bulbs when you're away from home / not on your wifi. These bulbs are really meant for indoor use, however you can still use them outdoors. I'm guessing the lifespan of the bulbs will be a bit less if you use them outdoors due to the changing of weather. It is rated for 3 hours a day for 22.8 years or around 25k hours.
Must buy smart home accessory (used with Apple Homekit)
By Johnsum2010 - Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2019
Verified Amazon Purchase
Initially I was a little worried about these lights due to the price and I didn't know how much they would benefit be. I am extremely impressed with this product and the different abilities it has. I have them connected to Apple homekit where I have a geofence that turns them on and off when I leave or arrive home. This really helps when I go on vacation as I can control my lights if I happen to leave one on or want to turn the lights on to simulate that someone may be home. The only downside is that if you do not have internet, for example due to an outage, I was not able to get my lights to work. This is more of an annoyance and unlikely situation but did happen to me. The setup is quite easy and I mainly use the apple homekit app in order to set up the lights but the phillips app is really easy to follow to help to setup. The app allows me to dim the lights when I want to and allow for great automation as described above. Using either app is easy and the setup is easy as well. The lights themselves are very bright and give off a yellow color not a white color. Very cool product and would highly suggest purchasing even though they are quite expensive. Five stars and will be purchasing more lights soon.
Excellent Smart Home Lighting Starter-Kit
By Mattson - Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2023
Verified Amazon Purchase
If you aren't familiar with how good Philips Hue is, I'll just say that it consistently ranks #1 amongst smart home lighting options. While the new versions of these lights can function via a bluetooth connection, I'd highly recommend going with this kit that has the hub thanks to it's reliability and limited delay. Even the direct wifi connected bulbs (LIFX/others) pale in comparison to Hue's ecosystem. I request Alexa to turn on my lights, and there is zero delay. I also have the hub hooked up to my Home Assistant setup, and the integration works flawlessly. Once you have this kit with the hub, you can grow your setup with as many bulbs as you'd like. Once again, while the bulbs are little pricey, they are super bright and the adjustability makes them well worth the investment for smart home lighting in my opinion.
Philips Hue White A19 60W Equivalent Smart Bulb w/Hub
By Brian Reid - Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2017
Verified Amazon Purchase
These are my first set of automated lights. They were a little difficult to set up at first but I finally figured it out from online resources. I am, to say the least, very impressed. I am generally pretty tech savvy so when the Hue Bridge, ST and Amazon Echo didn't work to get going, I was slightly confused. I finally read an article online that got me up and running. I am in love with these things! The color is more of a soft white than white. The dimming effect is just what I have been looking for. I have them with Smartthings and Alexa so once I figured it all out, they are quite nice and convenient and the hub is not longer needed. The scenes, dimmers, grouping and all are pretty easy to get used to and having the lights come on at a given time or off with a phrase is excellent. My wife, who is techno-illiterate even loves them. The first morning she came into the living room with her hands full and just said "Alexa, turn on the living room lights" immediately fell in love with these. I am pleased to say that I have ordered 4 more bulbs and cannot wait to get all of my home set up. Well worth the money for convenience, cost effectiveness and ease of use.
Good starter kit!
By Abby Shaeffer - Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2021
Verified Amazon Purchase
I figured it was time I wrote a review for these since it marks 3 years this month. I’ll start off by saying, don’t buy this if you enjoy money. Because this starter pack lead to to spend a lot more than I would ever have planned on light bulbs. About every room in my house has one of the Hue bulbs, whether it’s colored or just white. I love how easily they connect, how nicely they dim, or change color, and how I can lay in bed and say “Hey Siri, turn off all lights” when I forget one or two. They are easily my favorite “fancy” thing in my house. Out of the 10 bulbs I’ve bought within the last 3 years, I’ve only had one stop working correctly. (It started flashing like a strobe light) The bulbs seem to last long, and I’ve never had any issues with the Hue bridge. It’s handled the many additional lights I’ve added I’ve the years with no issues.
A real piece of sh!.t, and a scam all at once!
By Frank L - Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2021
Verified Amazon Purchase
tl/dr this bridge is junk, doesnt find existing lights configured on the v1 bridge and Philips is scamming v1 bridge owners by shutting down its internet connection to force them to migrate to the v2... shaddy..... I have had the hue lamps for a while. I added a bridge a few years ago to get the light strip and color bulbs plus the Alexa integration. Worked like a charm all along... until Philips pulled the scam on all hue bridge v1 owners: they not only claimed to stop supporting the thing... but that was not enough. They wasted the Alexa integration. It just stopped working - could not be reset without buying the v2.... I could either control them only from my phone (as if I'm the only one in this house - I am not and my wife has 0 interest in an app to control the light; I agree it's dumb) or buy the v2 bridge. FINE. $60 and almost 2 weeks later (this seller is slow btw - i order using prime all the time; box also had the corners caved in... but let's just skip that part) here we go. THIS THING CANNOT FIND THE LIGHTS. For the life of me. There is no migration option from the app (unlike what youtubers say - it certainly is not an option anywhere on the p*ss poor documentation provided w/ the bridge). Net result: EVEN when entering manually the serial number from EACH lamp (you have to unscrew or .. no idea still where it is on tha light band)... it wont find them. Even when put in proximity. A real piece of work. F U Philips. You are the worst. Rarely seen a company claiming to be doing tech delivering such p*ss poor customer experience AFTER scamming them of an extra $60+ to deliver no added value (by that i mean deliver _negative_ added value) Just floored. I usually find a solution to household tech issue. Been in IT/tech field for decades. I do not enjoy bad products and complicated installations but can overcome some poor designs. This one just makes me want to burn down the whole thing, slam it against the wall a few times, and throw it out the window. Save yourself headaches. Philips is a shady company delivering (way) below average technology not fit for the average or any consumer really. CORRECTION: if you bring the bridge close enough (i live in a 2 floor house) you can get the bridge to sync with the lights. you still need the s/n. 1 more star for this. Still a piece of garbage sold by a shady company. Oh also the s/n on the light strip is on the side that has the adhesive.... why would they require you to read it and make it so inaccessible at the same time? No idea. Why would the bridge v1 not be updates to expose the s/n so you dont have to crawl around and redo your whole lighting system? No idea. Does even Philips realize they are clueless? No idea.
Setup can be a headache
By D. R. lee - Reviewed in the United States on August 22, 2017
Verified Amazon Purchase
A little misleading on ease of setup. I've had the Echo for awhile but also I bought a Dot when I bought this kit with the intention of using both to control lights. The documentation that came with the Hue kit was a folded pamphlet with the same message in 20 different languages: Screw in and turn on your lights, Hook up power and the Ethernet to the bridge and download the Hue app, but they don't give you a link to one they have tested and recommend. They don't have an app that lists all three operating systems (remember Windows?). Because the Echo is an Amazon product and due to their Kindle they went Android years ago and consequently the first app I found was in the Google play store. I was not allowed to download that app because, even though I have a Google account, I don't have any app store history (CC on file?). I gave up and went to the Windows app store and found a Phillips Hue app that was not free and downloaded that. The hub and smart bulbs don't care about your OS so why not one app compatible with any OS. From there it was just a PIA. Use your app to find and recognize and rename your bulbs but you then have to go back to the Echo and find the Phillips Hue skill and mate it with the hub. Fortunately the Echo and Dot are really user friendly so whatever you teach one, the other knows so once you have your lights named and activated they then can be controlled from either device. The real problem is the Hue app. The ideal way would have been to have everything set up through the Echo skill and if you wanted remote capability get that app from your mobile device mfg. Maybe that's not ideal but what they offered was pretty lame. Amazon should make an easy setup for Alexa use only and Phillips could handle the mobile apps (including Windows). Or somebody intelligent could write a program that asked what devices you want to control and what devices you have to control with and what operating systems you want to control them with and when you've answered those questions and a couple about device( location and names) you would be all set up.
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