Affordable connected lighting system for those who want smarter lights

Philips have been trying to revamp your home lighting for some time now. First there was the attempt to inject a hint of colour into things with the Living Colours lamps, which allowed you to change your lighting to suit your mood.

Then came Hue, its connected lighting system that not only gave you the option of colour but also hooked it up to your home wifi network so users could control lights from outside the house.

No more returning home to an empty, dark house; a smartphone app or web login gives you complete control. And since its launch, Hue’s app has added even more options to take into account features such a geofencing and alarms.

But all the fancy features in the world couldn’t overcome one basic problem with Hue: it’s expensive.

Especially if you have little interest in changing the colour palette of your rooms on a regular basis. At €60 a bulb, the costs can add up quickly. But Philips has finally addressed that, with its new Lux bulbs. Concentrating purely on white light, the system offers a more affordable connected lighting system for those who want smarter lights.

The good

If you are looking for a more cost

-effective way to dip your toe in the world of smart lighting, the Lux bulbs are a good start .

At €100 for the starter pack – two bulbs and the bridge – it may seem like a bit of an investment but it’s half the price of the original Hue kit which includes the bridge and three colour changing bulbs.

Additional Lux bulbs are €30 each, compared with €60 for Hue. Should you feel like adding a bit of colour later, you can buy and add colour changing bulbs to the bridge, as it’s compatible with all Hue devices.

Setting it up is easy. Once you install the lightbulbs, simply power on the bridge, connect it to your router via ethernet and the Philips app will walk you through the rest. Leaving the light switches on allows you to control the lights via the app, adding alarms and timers for each room.

There’s also scope to move beyond the basic Philips app. The system integrates with IFTTT, which can automate your lights further.

For example, you can set all lights to turn off 10 minutes after sunrise. On a more ambitious scale you can link it with weather apps to turn lights on or off if rain is forecast, or to flash if you get a new email or Facebook message.

The not so good

The Lux lights may not be colour changing but that doesn’t mean they have to boring. You can adjust brightness, for example, but unfortunately that’s about it.

You can’t take advantage of the range of white light out there, because you can’t alter the colour temperature at all, leaving you with bulbs that are effectively smart dimmer switches. The more expensive colour changing Hue bulbs are capable of altering their colour temperature from warm white through to cooler tones, making them a bit more versatile.

Also, most Irish users will need to invest in a small adapter to make the bulbs fit their existing light fittings; Hue LEDs use an Edison screw fitting rather the familiar bayonet style that would be commonplace in Irish homes.

The rest

The system relies on your wifi network to communicate. That means two things: it needs to stay plugged into your router permanently, and you’d better have strong wifi around the house to make sure the lights can communicate with the bridge. You can also use alarms and geofencing with the Lux bulbs, making them just as useful as Hue, if a little less colourful.

The verdict

HHHH An easy way to test your tolerance for yet another smart device.