Latest news with #smartlighting
CNN
19 hours ago
- Business
- CNN
Save up to 42% on my favorite Phillips Hue smart lights before they increase in price
I've been using my smartphone and digital voice assistants like Siri to control lights in my home for over a decade. In that time, I've tried just about every company's smart bulbs, leading me to only rely on the best — Philips Hue. That editor seal of approval is about to come with a higher price tag, because the company just announced that it'll be raising prices starting on July 1. Luckily, there's an Amazon sale ahead of time that lets you make the switch to smart home lighting without paying extra, let alone the current full price. Below, I've rounded up several of my favorite Philips Hue smart home accessories, including color LED bulbs, standalone smart lamps and more at up to 42% off. Philips Hue Color Ambiance 75W A19 Smart Bulb I own a few of these Philips Hue smart bulbs. They're a cost-effective way to enjoy smart home lighting, and I love that the 75W design is brighter than most alternatives. This is the best offer I've tracked at 42% off. This model connects over Bluetooth or by using one of the company's hubs. Philips Hue Color Ambiance 75W A19 Smart Bulb This is the most affordable way to outfit your smart home with Philips Hue lights. Each of these bulbs offers dimming features so you can wind down the lights at night. Connect them right to your phone over Bluetooth or expand with one of the company's smart hubs for extra automation features. Philips Hue White Ambiance Smart Button Starter Kit If you're new to the Philips Hue ecosystem and are looking for the perfect place to start, this kit includes all the essentials. There are three dimmable LED bulbs, a hub to connect them together and a physical button switch to control everything without needing a phone. Philips Hue Go Smart Portable Table Lamp If you're looking to try out smart home lighting without replacing any of the bulbs in your house, this standalone smart lamp is for you. It features a battery-powered design that can bring multicolor lighting anywhere, from your patio to your office. Philips Hue Smart 60W G25 Filament LED Bulb Edison-style bulbs that show off the internal filament are all the rage, and these Philips Hue versions are on sale. A single bulb will run you $26 with these Amazon discounts, while a bundle that includes two is down to $43. Both are the best values of the year. Philips Hue Go Portable Smart Table Lamp Take $15 off this portable smart lamp from Philips Hue. I own two of these and typically use them to illuminate shelves in my apartment. The battery-powered design also means I can take them anywhere else, including the patio, for some extra light in the evening. Philips Hue Lily Outdoor Smart Spot Light Base Kit Before I moved to Brooklyn, I had one of these outdoor kits in my garden. I loved being able to paint my yard in multicolored light, and the durable weather-resistant designs held up for years of contact with rain, snow and heat. Philips Hue BR30 LED Smart Light Bulbs, 2-Pack If your home has recessed lighting that could use the Philips Hue treatment, this pack of BR30 bulbs will do the trick. A pack of two is 28% off on Amazon, marking its lowest price of the year. Philips Hue Indoor 10-Foot Smart LED Lightstrip Kit Philips Hue's basic light strip has dropped to its best price of the year on Amazon for $20 off. It measures 10 feet in length and is a great option for adding some ambiance behind a shelf or underneath kitchen cabinets. Philips Hue Smart Play Light Bar Base Kit This isn't the best discount ever, but it's a chance to save on one of my favorite Philips Hue lights. I have six of these in my Lego shelves to help illuminate kits and add a little extra ambiance to my home office. Philips Hue Smart Color Ambiance 100W A21 LED Bulb This is the brightest smart bulb that the company sells, and it's also seeing a $10 discount ahead of the expected July 1 price hikes. It features all the same multicolor and dimming tech as the other bulbs on this list, just with extra lumens. Philips Hue Color Ambiance Gradient LED Lightstrip This LED light strip has an extra trick up its sleeve compared to the more affordable option above; it can illuminate different colors across its 150 individual LEDs that combine to offer a unique gradient effect. I have one of the longer versions of this in my smart home and love the novel lighting modes it can achieve. I always love sharing deals for products that I use myself. Ahead of Prime Day, some notable discounts have gone live on these Philips Hue smart lights. Even if there are price cuts next month, Philips Hue has announced that it'll be raising the MSRP of its smart home gadgets starting on July 1. So, these Amazon deals will likely be the best discounts for some time. As far as investing in Philips Hue over other smart home brands, I've been using the brand since 2014. In the 11 years since, I've tried smart bulbs from competitors like Govee, Nanoleaf, TP-Link, GE and other top brands. None have been as reliable as Hue, which makes these price cuts even easier to recommend. You're saving on more than just convenience and novelty, too. Sure, there's some charm to turning on smart lights with your voice by using Siri or Alexa. But that's not the only reason I'm such a big fan of these accessories. Setting automations can help you save money by turning off the lights when you leave the house. Or if you're looking for extra peace of mind, you can schedule them to turn on and off when you're on vacation to make it seem like you're actually home. That use case is something I learned from my father, who asked me which bulbs I would recommend to help him accomplish that idea. There are so many reasons why I've invested in the company's smart home ecosystem. For starters, the bulbs are very easy to set up out of the box. Long after they've been configured, these gadgets continue working as intended. I rarely have issues connecting to the lights to control them, an issue that affects many of the competitors. Whenever I bark orders at Siri to turn them off at night or leave the house and wait for an automation trigger, there's hardly ever a delay or error. The color reproduction on the models that support multicolor lighting is also second to none, if you care about finding the perfect color temperature for your space. The biggest reason, however, is how long these smart lights have lasted. I still use several of the bulbs that I originally purchased a decade ago, and most of the other lights in my setup are several years old. They all work like new and show no signs of aging. Our senior deals editor, Rikka Altland, spotted the price drop this morning while searching for the best finds of the week. She has worked in service journalism for nearly a decade and is an expert at deal hunting and price-history analysis. Altland also regularly reviews tech for a living, frequently collaborating with CNN Underscored's team of testing experts.
The Verge
4 days ago
- Business
- The Verge
Philips' new ambient wall light is now available
Signify has officially announced its new Philips Hue Play Wall Washer light, which was previously leaked by Amazon UK earlier this month. The company has also launched its new Philips Hue AI assistant in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, with a broader global release expected by the end of August. Available now in Europe, the US, and Canada in a black or white finish, the Philips Hue Play Wall Washer is $219.99 for a single unit or $384.99 for a two-pack, which is slightly cheaper than the $270 for a single unit suggested in the leak. That's still quite a bit more expensive than the $89.99 Philips Hue Light Bar that offers similar functionality, but the new Wall Washer is over twice as bright, projecting up to 1,035 lumens of white or colored light. Featuring an aluminum matte finish, the Wall Washer uses LEDs angled upwards to cast a wider dispersion of light and its intensity, brightness, and position can be adjusted using an 'intuitive 3D drag-and-drop feature in the Hue app,' so it shines exactly where you need it. It also works with the Hue HDMI Sync box and Sync apps so the light responds and complements what you're watching or listening to, and is compatible with voice assistants, including Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, and Google Assistant. First announced earlier this year, Philips Hue's new generative AI assistant creates new lighting scenes, or recommends existing ones, based on prompts that are either spoken or typed into the Hue app, like 'Give me a scene for a spooky Halloween party.' The assistant can also be used to adjust the brightness and color settings of Hue lights, while additional features like creating automations and schedules, and 'in-app support via a chatbot,' are coming 'later this year,' according to Hue.
Washington Post
06-06-2025
- General
- Washington Post
I hate the recessed lights in my kitchen. What are my options?
Q: My townhouse was built with can lights in the ceiling. What are my options to replace them? In the kitchen, I am always cooking in my shadow and can't see anything! A: A smart lighting plan directs light to where you cook or wash dishes and accounts for the fact that you need to be there, too. But when you're working with lights that are already in place, it's much more difficult to find a solution that doesn't entail a lot of expense and mess.
CNET
03-06-2025
- Business
- CNET
Act Fast to Save Up to 56% on Philips Hue Smart Lights
Whether you need an outdoor or indoor lighting solution, Philips' Hue smart lighting is some of the best and most beautiful on the market. They provide color control, allowing you to change the ambiance of any space on a whim for the right mood at any time. Hue lights can be expensive, but Woot is currently offering a wide variety of these lights at up to 56% off until June 16. An ample selection of refurbished Philips Hue lights is also available for additional savings. Refurbished devices are those that previous buyers have returned, but they've been inspected and restored to fully working condition. This makes them a solid way to spend less money compared to buying new. Some of the discounts are "open box," but items are still in new condition. Regardless, your purchase is backed by a 90-day Woot limited warranty, just in case. Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money. Highlight your TV set, office monitor or gaming rig with the Philips Hue Play 65-inch light strip for just $140. It can change into millions of colors, includes everything needed for mounting, and lets you use voice control through the Hue app, Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. Note that this light strip requires a Philips Hue Smart Bridge that's on sale for only $30 -- a 50% discount -- in open-box condition. Snag a two-pack of brand-new Philips Hue white A19 smart light bulbs that will turn on or off with Alexa voice controls for $36, a $9 savings. Additionally, the 65-foot weatherproof outdoor string lights are reduced to $176, a $44 savings over their usual asking price. You can also score a beautiful smart spotlight, the Philips Hue Perifo cylinder light, at a $60 discount for a final price of $60. Additional deals on Hue products are available, including lighting strips, outdoor lighting and more Take a look at our roundup of smart home deals for even more options like speakers, plugs and small appliances. Why these deals matter Buying refurbished and open-box products is one way to get deep discounts on things that typically cost a fair amount, and Woot often hosts sales like this with solid offers. This sale includes tons of Philips Hue items, ranging from light bulbs to switches to floor lamps. Some of the items in this sale are also new in the box, too, so it's worth browsing through. These products are usually quite expensive, so it's worth taking advantage of sales when they come around. However, products on Woot tend to sell out quickly, and we expect the same in this case. So, if you see something you want, grab it now.
CNET
03-06-2025
- Business
- CNET
Wyze's New Bulb Cam Turns Any Light Bulb Socket Into a Security Camera
If you don't want to deal with the hassle of setting up cords or batteries for an outdoor security camera, you're in luck: the new Wyze Bulb Cam is powered by your outdoor lighting fixtures. The new camera is linked to a smart light bulb that you can screw into any existing socket. Both of these devices work in tandem to provide brightness and surveillance capabilities, and you can control them from the Wyze app. The Bulb Cam provides a 160-degree field of view with 2K HD resolution, wide dynamic range and color night vision capabilities. It comes equipped with a two-way microphone and can record up to 256GB of continuous local footage (though a microSD card is not included with your purchase of the Bulb Cam). Paid subscribers to Wyze's Cam Unlimited Pro feature can receive AI-powered push notifications when suspicious motion is detected on the camera. Wyze co-founder and CMO Dave Crosby explained that the Bulb Cam was devised as a way to help provide security for outdoor areas where an outlet isn't readily available. "The Wyze Bulb Cam makes keeping an eye on those places easy with a high-quality camera that's affordable and simple to set up," he said. "It's literally as easy as screwing in a light bulb." The Wyze Bulb Cam is retailing for $50 -- any accessory bulbs you need to buy will be an additional $17 each. Up to five Wyze accessory bulbs can be connected within a single Bulb Cam system.
