Philips - Hue White Ambiance A19 LED Starter Kit - Adjustable White

It's a great kit if you would like to automate some lights in your house, but not exactly sure yet, so not ready to make a big investment or do any wiring (one note - if you have a dimmer - you will need to take it out). Bulbs are just a standard E26 socket bulbs, A19 shape (pear shape) that would go into almost any light fixture, they are a bit taller than Philips Hue Color bulbs. Maximum light output is 800 lumens which is equivalent to 60W incandescent bulb. Once bulbs are installed and powered on - you can control them using an app on the phone/tablet or web site. Whole kit is compatible with Apple HomeKit as well, so once setup is complete - all bulbs will be present in the Home app and controllable by Siri. Bulbs could be controlled individually or as a group. Philips app is trying to align groups with Rooms in your HomeKit which may not be always practical for bigger spaces (you rarely need to control all lights in the same room at once), so I would recommend breaking groups down, for example Kitchen ceiling lights and Kitchen island vs just a "Kitchen". These are not color changing bulbs, but they can change their white color temperature from 2000K (close to a candle flame) to 6500K (bright daylight). You can easily pre-define color temperatures you like as scenes. Automation consists of pre-defined easy to setup routines such as: Wake up - turns lights on at a specific time Good night - turns lights off at a specific time Custom timer - with predefined sunset/sunrise values or just manually entered time There are a few accessories available as well such as motion sensor which would allow you to turn lights on automatically when someone enters the room and a remote control dimmer switch - if you would like to have a physical controller in your hand or on the wall. Philips Hue ecosystem is easy to integrate into almost any other home automation system too - it would work with Nest, Alexa, Smartthings and almost any other home control system in the world. In short: Pros: - Super easy to install for anyone, no wiring, no electrician, system if fully portable if you need to move. - Apple HomeKit full integration - Same bridge will controll all other Hue devices you might get in the future - color bulbs, LED strips, etc - Motion sensor and remote control accessories are available - Philips Hue ecosystem can be tightly integrated into almost any other home automation system. Cons: - Light output is just 800lm (60W incandescent) may not be enough for all applications or you might need to install more light fixtures. - If power to the bulb is switched off and then on - bulb will not keep it's previous state, but will go into the full brightness mode instead. - Groups of bulbs are tied into HomeKit rooms which is not always practical if you would like sub-groups of lights in the same room (for example: ceiling light, island, etc) - Automation rules are very basic, for example it's not possible to turn light on from sunset to a specific time.

Finally took a chance on some smart bulbs and am happy I did. They work very well with Alexa and Google. I also use the app to control them a lot. I got the ambient white ones but think I would just go with the warm white if I did it again. I hate the look of a cold white bulb so they are always set to warm anyway. I haven't tried out the colored bulbs because they are kinda expensive but I'm sure one of these days I will. I also have been looking at the remote and the motion sensors because they would come in handy in the bathroom . Next step is to get all the bulbs in the house changed to these. I would highly recommend if you want to have some fun with the smart world.

It is very cool to tell Alexa to turn on and off the lights and to dim them or change the shade of white (or color if you buy that bulb) but in reality it is not necessary to actually own these, just another tech toy. The color range is very nice and being able to dim them is cool. You can control this away from home which is a nice feature. Alexa works reasonably well but at the same time it keeps having trouble with my daughters light, not recognizing her name. The app is easy enough to use but as one reviewer pointed out you have two choices when setting up. First is to group all lights in a room as one, which is what I did ,but then using Alexa you really can only control both at the same time not individually. To do that you have to delve deeper into the app and it is time consuming compared to just Turing it on and off by hand. The other option is to set up each one as a separate room and then issue two commands to Alexa or in the app, control each separately but I didn’t do that. As another user pointed out you don’t know which bulb was set up where at first- if you are setting up multiple bulbs. My recommendation is to do one room at a time or even one bulb at a time. At this point I will probably buy 5 of the cheaper bulbs to control my den level and just torture my family by making their lives more complicated. These bulbs let you automate a bunch of features like connecting them to a harmony remote or putting them on timers but I don’t do anything like that yet and just got them for fun. My wife thinks they are a gimmick and my daughter who is 7 loves playing with them. I also invested in the dimmer remote to make people’s lives easier.

Makes setting up a smart home so simple and easy. Love the options and color changing bulbs.

Initially purchased the standard Hue lights and decided to upgrade to the white ambiance and am glad I did. Add these lights with the color ambiance and you’re set! Love all of the available scenes and being able to control with Alexa. Easy set up and installation!

With the ability to set timers and change the intencity of the light bulb from bright white to mellow yellow it allows me to watch my newborn child with the faintest light without waking her up and turn off all the lights just by telling my google assistant. I love this product, but once you have one you do realize the limitation of not having all your lights being all smart one, so it can get a bit pricey real fast but it's still a great experience and great product. Although, I will say one bad experience I have is that you have to have the main hub always connected to your wireless router the main hub is not cokmpletely wireless. So it has to be near my router. Other than that I like it.

I received a Google Home Mini with my Pixel 2 pre-order and thought I should add some technology to make it more useful. At first I didn't think the lights were that special, but the programs you can set to turn on when you are approaching the vicinity of your home, turn them on and off remotely with phone app, and turn them on with voice commands are amazing. The only thing I don't like is related to the Home Mini because I have to say, "Hey Google...lights on.", but that isn't Hue related.

I had some struggles with my lighting and the location of my switches... after explaining what my situation was, the Best Buy guys explained how easily this start up kit would be for me... I am approaching 60 yrs old... found it to be as simple as changing a bulb... because that’s all you need to do! The unit plugs into my modem and then....pairs easily with Alexa and BAM - I just tell her what lights I want on. So glad I got this!