Customer Ratings & Reviews

I originally purchased the original lights a little over a year ago, I have yet to be disappointed. Depending on which of my sports teams are playing I change my lights to show my support. I get home my lights turn on before I walk in. If I leave them on when I leave (I did purchase the Hue Dimmer Switch, works great too), they turn off for me. If I'm having a party I can have my iPad listen to the music and it will control the lights I tell it to, to match the music. I keep purchasing the updates and continue to enjoy the lights more and more. In total I have 14 large lights, 9 smaller lights, 4 light strips, and 3 switches.

Pros: Plug and play setup when using the Hue app Good color reproduction Once linked the lights keep a rock solid connection Robust Community in Android and Apple app stores Cons: Max brightness setting for whites is just a bit dim If using this kit alone, everyone must have a smartphone to control lighting The Hue app features are a bit buried for novice/first time users Price of kit After buying a couple cheaper alternative smart lighting systems first and having them all utterly fail in one way or another the Hue 2nd gen color starter pack seemed like a deal! I fully understand that it most likely seems like a steep entry price to those looking to dip their toes in the smart home/lighting market. You get what you pay for...that old adage, unfortunately doesn't always ring true these days, but it certainly seems to apply in this instance. You'll have to hardwire the Hue hub to the router in your home, but once you do setup is just short of automatic through the Hue app. Once you hook everything up, turn all the lights on, and press scan all lights are found and connected automatically. The process of assigning rooms and individual bulbs isn't really all that intuitive, but once you begin to understand the way the Hue ecosystem functions it's not all that bad. When I researched the system I was pretty concerned that the Hue app didn't offer any features based on reviews. After living with it for 3 months I can honestly say that the majority of the functions I use are available right there through the Hue app. I can apply default scenes (quite good ones), set schedules, and apply it to all or particular lights. Of course I've downloaded some of the more fun music and TV light matching apps, but those aren't what makes the lighting system so great and livable. I do wish that the white light settings were just a bit brighter, but with now 5 lights in my living room they're collectively more than bright enough. All the lights are controlled from your account through the Hue app for manual on/off/color controls, which is a fun power trip, but not so fun for my family who'd be in the dark when I'm not here or in between schedules. Hue thought of this though and they sell several great manual switch options that are pretty reasonably priced. This lets everyone at my home turn lights on and off when they need them and even change between some preset themes. If you're not a hobbit or crazy cat lady, then I highly recommend picking one of these Hue switches up for guests and other family members/roommates. Bottom line, this system is for you if you've been intrigued by smart home products, but don't want to spend thousands of dollars for a hardwired whole house system. Once set up these lights have never had connection issues and they're just as rock solid reliable as a standard incandescent bulb. If you'd like to add a pop of dynamic lighting to a room in your home, then this system is the easiest way to accomplish that goal.

I bought these lights because why not? It's true that they aren't a necessity, but they are cool to look at. Once I purchased them, I was excited to hook them up and try all the colors that I can do. I did a little research and I saw that these lights can simulate lightning storms through the many third party apps, which I've always wanted in my room. It works really well! I also saw that you can sync up the lights to the movies and games that you have on TV to have ambient lighting, which is freaking awesome. I downloaded the app for that but that third party app is not updated to the latest version for the Hue Bridge needed, Nothing against Philips since it's a third party app, but I was a little disappointed. Overall, I would recommend these to anyone looking to spruce up their rooms as it is very easy to set up and it's easy to select a style that would suit your life.

Heard so much about this system from friends at work and I instantly fell in love with this. Super simple to set up and I love how you can customize the shades of color. Really great for setting the mood for literally anything. I would totally buy more of these in the future.

My kid set this all up in a few minutes. App seems to work well despite its app rating.

I haven't had any problems with these lights. They are super easy to setup, fun to tinker with, and there are so many apps that work with it. Synced with iOS10 HomeKit easily and the family options are nice too.

I got the starter kit after I returned my LIFX bulb. I originally went with LIFX because Amazon(at the time) recommended them for integration with the ECHO. Once I sat down and looked at the price I paid for one I decided to return the LIFX and get the Phillips Kit which came with 3. They are pretty awesome. The need for a hub seemed a little inconvenient at first but after setup I forgot about it. My only complaint about making the switch is LIFX colors blew Phillips out of the water. Had I not already seen the vibrant colors the LIFX could produce this would probably be a five star rating. Also it's a little annoying that I can't change the colors via my ECHO.

These bulbs are amazing! The setup was super easy. One thing to note though, the original app for this is not that great, so you would most likely have to install/purchase other 3rd party apps. I have integrated these bulbs with other smart home tech I have (ex: Google home) and it works flawlessly. I use the features of it all the time. I use it to set the mood in my room, to integrate with the music I'm playing, and even to gently wake me up in the morning. One thing that bothered me a little was that the greens of this bulb is not very deep. It could only get down to a lime green color. But besides that I love these lights!

These lights work great and the integration with the SmartThings hub went smoothly and allows these lights to be manually controlled or controlled with motion or time triggered events.

I should start by saying that we have a variety of wireless bulbs in the house already. While they don't Sync up to a hub they do communicate with the (in this case) phone very well. So it was really only out of curiosity that we bought this Hue Starter Kit. We initially bought the Hue Kit thinking that it would be amazing and make our other bulbs seem archaic... that was not the case... The bulbs are Beautiful!!!! But the application that controls them is just way to under-developed... Everything was such a chore to do through it. Given that our other bulbs all work great, we weren't sure what the Hub (required to use the Hue bulbs) did. It seemed to just be another way to get at our wallet. I thought that maybe it synced with the bulbs so that when you lost power they would know what to do. It ended up not really doing much. I think the intent is to be able to use in when your'e away from home so there's that if you need it. We decided to wait a year or so and see if Philips makes some improvements. We currently are super big fans of the Ilumi bulbs: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ilumi-a19-led-smartbulb-multicolor/4571516.p?skuId=4571516 The Ilumi has excellent color and an even better app to control the bulbs.

It’s 2016 Philips get with the program. These lights try to be future forward, but fall significantly short, they are only as smart as the app controlling them and with 16 million colors you couldn’t get the basic color’s down? I don’t like writing negative reviews, but I don’t feel bad writing one for this product. Beware of the geofencing feature which needs to be significantly fine tuned, lights won’t turn on, light won’t turn off. I’ll leave the house and notice when I’ve opened the app once far away, that some to all of my lights are still on. Also I’ll enter my house and sometimes half the lights will still be off, more than once I was inside my dark house and none of them turned on until I’ve looked at my phone to trigger a notification and then they turn on. It’s kinda of a nightmare, and I’m tired of making sure the lights turned off every time I leave when Philips advertises “peace of mind”. The geofencing feature was the main reason I bought the product, and I’ve been extremely disappointed. I kinda regret buying the product and spending $500+ total (on extra bulbs and remotes) now knowing these lights come with a horrible app. Also many connection issues. I’ve consulted their technical support team and all they make me do are countless wild goose chase troubleshoots that haven’t solved one thing. Yes I could get a Smart Hub, but that's more money I shouldn't have to spend. As far as the color on the bulbs go, they don’t give you a true color. Green is more yellow/green, blue is more of a purple/blue. So buyer beware, maybe you’l have better luck than I am having.

I was hesitant to buy at first because of the price, but it has turned out to be worth every penny! One of my favorite features has been the ability to control my lights while out of the house. Whenever it is getting dark, and I am not home, I am able to turn a light on for the dogs instead of leaving it on when I leave. It was also incredibly easy to set up!

Not only cost efficient, but a great way to dip your toes into the home automation. I have purchased more lights and love the system!

Got the sensors for the kitchen and garage stairs. I just walk in then the lights come on. I chose in the app very easily to turn off in 2 minutes. I put one bulb on the front and back porch, with a timer that turns on at night, then off in the morning. Efficiency. Everyone would love this if they tried it, very simple to use.

I've had my eye on this starter kit for a few years now. It was on sale for $75 off last week, so I just had to buy it. Beautiful colors, and easy set up in less than 10 minutes out of the box. Absolutely love this purchase!

The Phillips hue light system is easy to use and always a pleasure to see the versatility when using the lights for any occasion whether if it's reading, relaxing, or tone to a party!

I HIGHLY recommend reconsidering your purchase if you want to buy this for HomeKit and plan on putting lights in more than one room. The only item Philips Hue has that is HomeKit compatible is the hub. That's why those purchased earlier need only upgrade the hub. The problem with this is that HomeKit is set up to control devices directly. The Hue Bridge interferes with this, and as result, you can't group lights together into a room. This is a MAJOR problem. Essentially, it makes you go back to using the app, and Siri. If a room has multiple lights you'd have to tell Siri to turn each one on, or go about create a special scene for each color, brightness, room, and on/off combination you have. I'm SORELY disappointed. Though I must say, they did a fanatical job in blindfolding everyone to this fact.

I never thought I'd be a believer in Philips Hue. Over a hundred dollars for lights sounded like a joke. Now that I've moved to a new home without built in lighting and light switches in all the wrong places, I've discovered the value of Philips Hue. With a few lights in a couple rooms and some Taps and Dimmers in a couple spots next to my Amazon Echo, home has never felt more comfortable. I probably wouldn't replace all of my lights but I appreciate the few locations I have a couple bulbs set up.

I love the Hue lights. Can change the colors with my phone and create any mood needed to enhance the area.

I have Philips Hue and LIFX. The LIFX lights are brighter and provide better color accuracy but I do experience connectivity issues at times. I have not had any issues with Philips Hue; I just wish they were brighter. To get the most out of your lights, you'll need to install some third party apps like Thunderstorm for Hue: http://thunderstorm.scottdodson.io/ (full disclosure: I'm the developer).