Philips Hue White A19 E27 60 W Equivalent Smart Bulb Starter Kit (2 Hue White Bulbs and a Bridge, Compatible with Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit and Google Assistant)

I have Alexa and wondered, "What do I do every day, that requires very little effort that I no longer want to do". The answer? Turning my lights on and off.My laziness had increased 200% now I have the Phillips Hue bulbs. I can either control them from my phone, assuming I can be bothered to lift my arm, or scream at Alexa to turn the lights on.The system itself is very clever. You can control seperate lights in different rooms, or control individual lights on one room. I have three bulbs in 1 room and can turn them all on or off independently of each other. I can even have them at different brightness to each other. You can do this level of control from the app or Alexa.Using the app you are able to set routines such as 'wake up' or 'go to bed'. These either gradually increase or lower the brightness, depending on what you are doing (waking or sleeping). You are able to set timers and have them flash after 10 mins. And you can use them like conventional schedule timers. Setting them to come on when you are away. You can even have then turn on randomly between certain hours to simulate someone being at home.The light switch they are connected too must always be on, and you turn them off via the app. The bulbs must be connected to the hub which is connected to the internet. If there is a power cut, when the power comes back on, as the switch is on the bulbs will turn on. This can be annoying at night time as the 100% brightness is very bright. But how often are there power cuts?I absolutely love the system. I was worried how often I would use it, but it's become a daily activity, turning lights on before I get into rooms, or rushing upstairs light off when I forgot to. Simply fantastic

Great smart lighting system, that is flexible and expandable, and integrates into so many day to day things!I have this integrated with out Plex Media Server, which plays all our TV and movies, and is so nice to be able to play a movie and have the lights automatically go out, and then back on again when pausing/stopping the movie... not to speak of the recent ability to have the lights change colour according to what is going on in the movie/tv... just a great lighting system that is well worth the money.Not only do we have the cinema effect, but in conjunction with the  Philips Hue Intelligent Motion Sensor Smart Accessory, Apple HomeKit Enabled, Works with Alexa,White  we have a more efficient lighting system in the house... no more fumbling for lights when going to the toilet at night... and no being blinded either, as you can set the lights to be triggered in night light mode... just a great lighting system that I would not be without now. Philips Hue Intelligent Motion Sensor Smart Accessory, Apple HomeKit Enabled, Works with Alexa,White

I love Hive, it's a great concept and for the most part works pretty well. When it doesn't, the customer service team are fantastic. I have the Hive thermostat and a couple of bulbs, and wanted to add a few more bulbs. I knew that Hue worked with Hive but needed the bridge, nevertheless the Hue bulbs were both cheaper and had better reviews. Given that I wasn't too far down the line with Hive lighting, I opted to switch and pleased I did.The Hue bulbs don't really do anything more than Hive, it's just that they do it all better. Both bulbs will dim, Hive in 5% increments, Hue in 1% increments. The Hue app is much better, looks slicker and doesn't look like its made by a child unlike Hives. And there is generally more ability to control rooms, and individual bulbs, as Hive only allows single bulb control.Definitely recommend Hue over Hive for the lighting, and depending on how far you've got it's worth the switch

I bought this product to start a Hue system. I really wanted 2 bayonet bulbs, but for some silly reason Philips do not offer this. It is rare to see E27 bulbs in UK, yet this is what they sell as a starter kit. I realised that I was paying just a couple of pound s extra for the bulbs over buying the hub separately, so ordered a couple of E27 to bayonet adaptors. I shouldn't need to do this. I also bought some further bayonet connector bulbs.The bulbs work very well. I did have one gripe that of someone turned off a light at the switch, when it went back on they would go the the default brightness. This has now been changed in the app in the latest revision, so that it remembers the setting. Good to see that Philips are looking at customer feedback.Hue is a good product all around.

I have used smart lighting on and off over the past few years. Whilst Philips was the first brand I purchased, over time it was clear it would not be the mainstay of smart lighting in my smart home.Firstly Philips hue bridge is an initially easy to set up device. The instructions are clear and it is up in a snap. There is no need to pair multiple lightbulbs like the system of LIFX. However, this brief set up ease slowly disintegrates when you realise that the entire system is depending on your bridge receiving a reliable and steady signal to the Philips hue lightbulbs along with your WiFi connection.Shortly after set up i was good to go. Whilst the app is more sleek than my LIFX system, it doesn’t have some of the more funky night and day wake up controls and customisation that the LIFX offers.Then comes my main issue. The reliability of the connection started dropping around half a year after setting up. Since the device relies on a good connection between WiFi and bulbs, I put it near my router. In recent times i have seen the device ignore commands and have connectivity issues. Since the reliance on the central hub is so high, it renders all the lightbulbs unusable. I have checked my WiFi and given it is 200mbs high speed fibre, the issue lies with the bridge device. I have 4 other LIFX bulbs and these continue to be fine throughout. Overall, I would say given the reliance on a central bridge, it becomes susceptible to entire system failure. The setup process was definitely easier than LIFX but given the reliability issues, I have dropped this to 1/5 stars.