Philips HuePlay HDMI Sync Box, Surround Lighting for TV Entertainment & Gaming Compatible with Alexa

The Philips Hue Play HDMI combined with the Gradient Lightstrip has completely revamped my entertainment setup. Setup was a breeze, and the effects are great with vibrant colours improving the viewing experience. The integration with Spotify, where the lights sync and pulse to the rhythm of the music is also a great feature or you can just adjust colours and brightness to personalise the room like other Hue lights. The combined cost is a little pricey but I'm happy that I decided to go for it.

The media could not be loaded. Initially I was a little disappointed as, like others, I experienced the Sync Box losing connection. However, after a little digging I found this could be easily resolved by:- replacing the supplied Philips HDMI connecting the Sync Box to the TV, with a good quality/fast lead - I know, it's ridiculous given the cost!- Use the two fastest HDMI ports (2 & 4) on the Sync Box for the most demanding inputs (i.e Firestick/games console etc), Philips confirmed these have more bandwidth. Something like a Freesat/SKY box will work happily in one of the other ports- if you are using a Fire Stick/Roku this should be connected directly into the back of the Sync Box without the use of an extender cableSince this was done our box hasn't missed a beat during movies or whilst listening to music/video content via Prime Music.It is expensive, but for those already heavily invested in Hue coloured bulbs this is a no brainer.

Everyone knows Philips Hue is overpriced, but if you want the best performer and most comprehensive, most compatible setup in smart lighting, it’s the best investment. Be careful though - the standard 4k sync box does NOT support HDMI 2.1 and so PS5/Xbox Series X will not be able to run at 4K @ 120Hz, only 60Hz, which is a real shame. They have released a newer 8k box which has this support.

The media could not be loaded. Omg! What can I say, is worth the money,easy to set up and definitely looking to add more hue lights to my entertainment area. Brilliant product. Thank you

Sent back an hour after receiving it. Firstly, I was having issues connecting it to my network. This was fixed by forcing my phone to connect to the WiFi via 2.4ghz as 5ghz is not compatible. Once it was setup and connected to my set top box, my universal remote became incompatible. Then I connected it t my Xbox, where it would flicker the screen every 5 seconds. Messed around with the settings and did some googling and apparently there's no fix. Quite annoying really given how expensive the whole hue range is.

The media could not be loaded. I was ready to return this because my lights only showed dim white but, after researching lots and lots on Reddit and other places, it was possible to get it working by setting my fire TV cube display settings to adaptive HDR instead of always on. I put the fire TV cube into HDMI 2 of the sync box and set set the HDR setting in the hue app.Now it works perfectly in combination with all the hue lights and the TV bars by hue in my room. I'm so happy that it all works now.Originally, I had some TV back lights that had a camera mounted on the screen which kind of worked but because I have coloured lights in my room, the colours on the screen picked up by the camera were not accurateI don't get that with a Philips ambilight TV because the image it uses is internal just like the HDMI sync box.Sometimes the hue sync takes a while to connect to my hue bridge, I can set it to low or a strong effect and the brightness too .I got mine on offer from Amazon, I see a few on offer and I suspect many people had the same dim white bulbs problem and sent it back because they didn't know that the always on HDR of the fire TV OS wasn't the problem (It is set to on by default). I've seen a few messages report that the HDR on the source device can be a problem with this box. Switching off HDR options is usually the solution.It can look extreme with the right video but, with normal movies and TV the effect is subtle and very immersive. You don't notice it until it is goneI'm never going back too flat regular TV again![Edit] I read that sometimes the sync box can take a while connecting if it is in a weak Wi-Fi area. I set mine to connect to my repeater that is in the same room and I haven't had any connection issues since

Great for watching action movies and children's movies anything with colours will blow your mind..

I have have had Hue lights for a number of years but have never taken the plunge in buying the Sync box due to the cost and I was unsure about the HDMI support levels. This year after moving house I decided to take the plunge and bought the sync box and 55" light strip. This is NOT a cheap purchase and you will already require the Hue Hub - so I would suggest its only worth it for people already bought into the Hue Eco System unless you want to pay £450+ to get setup. Overall I am happy with the box and like lights for films/ gaming. I have however found that every now and again the box will turn off mid film/ tv show and the controls via the app are slightly awkward.I am running a Google TV and PS5 from the Sync Box and can confirm both work fine including the PS5 running at the best performance modes (just make sure you have the correct HDMI cables and do firmware updates for the sync box).Pros:Does add depth to the pictureGuests love it!Another upgrade for my systemAdded HDMI ports for my TVCons:Expensive (really really expensive)App is a little awkwardA few bugs that crop up every now and again