I struggled with what to include in this review as the product itself is pretty straightforward and really has no meaningful functionality to "review," per se: it either works or it doesn't. In my case, the hub worked just fine, setup was easy enough, and I haven't had any actual trouble with the hub. Since most people looking at the hub are likely considering diving into the Hue system as a whole, my review, instead, will focus on my experience with a relatively built-out Hue system after a few weeks. My current setup includes two BR-30 multicolor lights in my theater room, three of the same in my kitchen, a LightStrip with multiple extenders in the bedroom, and two A7 lightbulbs for our nightstand lamps in the bedroom. The only "smart" home product that I've owned prior to the Hue lights was two Nest thermostats and a Ring doorbell, so my experience with this category of technology is fairly limited. Overall, this lights are just fun. Adding lights to the system was straightforward, the automatic detection worked well, and it was easy to get individual lights assigned to rooms and scenes set up. The Hue app itself is fairly easy to use, though some of the UI decisions in the most recent version of the app are a little annoying (for example, having different "tabs" for individual lights and scenes). I've had some hiccups with getting individual lights to "group" together for color changes when setting up scenes, though this has been relatively rare. Setting up scenes was straightforward, though I'll admit I almost immediately deleted most of the included presets since I thought they were a bit strange. But setting up individual scenes with custom colors and brightness was a breeze. Getting used to using an app - rather than light switches - has been a bit of a challenge. This isn't a fault of the Hue system itself but is something relevant, I think, to the experience of switching to a smart lighting system. A few weeks in, I still accidentally use my light switches at times. I'm looking forward to getting some of the Hue motion sensors to see if this can make the system truly automated; I love the idea of lights turning on and off automatically based on need, and I imagine that this will improve my experience with the system immensely. For now, though, there's definitely a bit of a learning curve to getting used to using an app (and carrying a phone around) to turn your lights on rather than the much more convenient light switch. The main problem I've had thus far is having individual lights being "unreachable" for, sometimes, long periods of time. Interestingly, the lights still respond to scene changes even when they're listed as "unreachable," but I can't control "unreachable" lights individually. I haven't quite figured out what the issue with this is, and I've verified that all of the firmware for the lights and the iOS app are up-to-date. This seems to mostly happen with the bedroom lights, which are located upstairs while the hub is downstairs, and I wonder if this is part of the problem. Perhaps it'll be less of an issue as I continue to expand the system and have a stronger mesh network throughout the house. But I will say that this has been quite an annoyance that I haven't been able to sort out completely. Not enough to say that I won't continue to buy Hue lights, but certainly something to be aware of if this might be enough to cause you to think twice. Because of this issue, HomeKit integration has been spotty for me. While the Hue app will allow me to change the lights via scenes even when they're "unreachable," this isn't the case in HomeKit. As a result, I rarely use HomeKit, and frankly I just find the Hue app easier to use. Since I don't have a ton of smart products, I don't necessarily need the deep integration and automation that can be achieved with the HomeKit system. The brightness and color setting are very granular, and you can create just about any lighting situation you can imagine. You're really only limited to your creativity. For day-to-day use, most of these features are a bit unnecessary, though even at times it can be fun to use some of the different colors. The adjustable brightness and color warmth are incredibly useful on a regular basis. But I can imagine this being a very nice touch for parties or big get togethers. Overall, do I think the Hue system is work the admittedly high cost? After about $600 to be able to light three rooms, I have to say I don't think so. It's a very fun toy, and I'll continue to expand the system, but I don't see this as a huge game-changer. Maybe it's because I'm not using the system to its fullest extent (e.g., integration with a smart thermostat), but I see this as a very expensive amusement and nothing else. Hopefully the lights will last quite a while: at $30-40 for each replacement, this can very quickly become an expensive system. But for those looking for the ability to fine tune your home lighting setup and are willing to pay the high price, I would definitely recommend it, although perhaps try setting it up in just a room or two to see how it goes before you spend a ton of money for whole-house lighting.

I had to buy this separately because my roommate had one and I only supplemented hers with my own bulbs until I moved into my own place. Based on the reviews I’ve read, it seems it either works or just doesn’t work. Glad to say it worked for me. Set up was easy and everything worked really well. I use it with Apple HomeKit. Pairing was a little rough - trying to find numbers on all the bulbs but it was more tedious than hard. In terms of how I structured everything - I didn’t care much about colored lights so I only got plain yellow/white lights that dim. After connecting it to my phone, everything was a breeze. You can set when you want lights to turn on, at sunset or sunrise, at a certain time of day, when someone is ‘close’ to home. I can ask Siri to turn on certain lights for me. And since I joined the Hub family a few years back, I’ve never had to deal with navigating to my bed from the door without being able to see anything (legit my biggest qualm at the time). The actual Hue app is pretty bad (especially as a UX designer). But if you can get it connected with Apple’s HomeKit once, you only have to interact with it through the Home app or through Siri commands (through phone or watch!). Occasionally, I will find it slightly annoying that I get into a room and try to switch on the light with the light switch only to realize I have to take out my phone and do it or not (because my phone is charging or something). But being able to have all this other smart-ness that comes with it and being able to just ask my lights to dim to 25% and for them to do it is certainly an okay trade off for me. The whole system itself is definitely kind of expensive with the Hub and the lights. But it’s the predominant smart lighting system so if you’re trying to get into it to start with, it’s not a bad place.

As a customer, I am thoroughly impressed with the Philips Hue Bridge Smart Lighting Hub. I have been using it for a few months now, and it has completely transformed the way I control my lights at home. The setup was a breeze, and it only took me a few minutes to get it up and running. One of the things I love about the Philips Hue Bridge is its compatibility with other smart home devices, such as my Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. I can now control my lights using just my voice, which is incredibly convenient. The routines and scenes feature has also been a game-changer for me, as I can set my lights to turn on and off automatically at specific times, making my life a lot easier. The app is very user-friendly and provides an intuitive interface for controlling my lights. I can easily customize my lighting settings to suit my preferences, and it's great to be able to control all of my Philips Hue lights from one central location. In terms of performance, the Philips Hue Bridge has exceeded my expectations. The lights respond quickly to commands, and I have never experienced any lag or delays. The ability to control up to 50 lights is also a big plus, as it allows me to create a fully integrated smart lighting system in my home. Overall, I am extremely satisfied with my purchase of the Philips Hue Bridge. It has made controlling my lights so much easier and more convenient, and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a smart lighting solution. The Philips Hue Bridge is definitely worth the investment, and I am confident that it will continue to serve me well for years to come.

So pricey, but I'm a Hue fan

**Warning: you may have to switch out your light switches if they are dimmer type.** This works! Really cool! I set this up for use mostly in my basement theater room and might start adding more lights as other bulbs burn out. I integrated this in with my Amazon Echo Dot and can tell Alexa to turn on/off, dim and turn on my "scene" that I created for movie watching. For setting the scene by voice command I had to program a smart home action on the Alexa app specifically for it. In regards to my warning, I had to change my dimmer switch out and replace it with a standard on/off light switch. With my dimmer switch the Hue lightbulbs flash continuously. I tried the lightbulb on a standard switch in my utility room and all was well. Prior to this the lightbulbs would flash constantly and could not be detected by the smart hub. I switched my dimmer to a standard light switch and all 4 bulbs connected can be controlled by the Hue app or the Alexa app and by voice to my Echo Dot. The bulbs can be controlled individually or as a group and it appears that you can control the lights when you are away from your home. ***Update: not a con.*** One con I have is that when you power your lights off using your light switch, when you turn the lights back on they are at max 100% brightness. I haven't figured out the best practice for leaving the light switch on all the time and using the app/voice to turn lights on/off or still using the light switch to turn the lights on and off. It works either way and I have no need to control the basement theater lights while away from home. **Update: you can set loss of power settings for each lightbulb, they are just set to 100% by default upon power loss and/or turning off by switch.** You can set it to power up in last known state. Setup was simple after realizing the dimmer switch problem. Too bad you need to downgrade your existing dimmer switches, especially because a couple years ago, I put in a bunch of dimmers throughout my house.

After trying several different smart bulb brands, I am very happy and impressed with the Hue system. Mine consists initially of the hub, three light bars, and 4 dimmable white bulbs. Make sure you set up an account with your Phillips Hue before connecting with Alexa, and I recommend using the same email address as your Alexa. If you don’t, you’ll end up with an error/failure message. (Took me a couple of tries to figure that out.) Everything was very, very easy to set up. No turning off and on light switches to make bulbs discoverable, wondering if you’re doing it at the right speed. The hub detects your lights automatically, as long as they’re switched on. Love that! I needed a smart light in an outbuilding, far from my router. The distance makes for an unstable connection with normal smart bulbs. In building my Hue network, I now have a light out in the yard that dependably goes off and on as programmed. This is the main reason for choosing Hue in the first place. Works perfectly! Automating is easy, too, and when the lights turn off and on, they fade instead of doing an abrupt on/off. Love that! You’re not limited to one light/color intensity on automation either. The lights can be set at one brightness and/or color at one time of day, then a different brightness and/or color at a different time of day. Wonderful! This system is more expensive than other smart bulbs, but definitely worth it. This is my system of choice now, and I will be expanding it as my budget allows. A++

I'm just using it with single bulb lighting currently. I'll be adding strip lights soon. It's working great.

I've bought two of these in the last week. One here and one from a local retailer, hoping the one I got here was just a bad batch, and that I could get one that wouldn't have an issue. In both cases, the hub bricked during initial setup. The first time, was partially my fault. My phone died in the middle of the initial software update, and when I plugged it back in I got an error that said setup had failed and subsequent attempts to locate/setup the hub failed. The hub would now only show a single light. Tech support had me power cycle, factory reset, try different ethernet cables and power outlets and threw up their hands. Said to return it to Amazon as it was their problem. The second one, my setup was interrupted by a phone call. I ignored it, but the app immediately said installation failed. Same symptoms as before, same tech support nonsense, except I pushed back this time and stated that I wanted a replacement sent directly from Phillips, as I didn't feel like retailers should be punished for Phillips' inability to perform a simple software patch without having some sort of fallback partition. "Paul's" response: "No can do, only a retailer can help you". So I asked for a manager. 2 minute hold to find out he's "gone home for the day, but can call me back". Yeah, no, I'm done with Phillips. Plenty of cheaper options out there that I'm already using that seem to set up easier and be more reliable.

Updating my review : The hub itself continues working fine, but since IMO the main use is for bulbs, the issues with their down lights alone is inexcusable. See my review there for dmore details, but basically they’re noisy, overheat and won’t turn off when hot. So, even though I felt the Hub was 5 star worthy, it represents the Hue system.. which after some time, I see is only good for very specific uses: LED strips, spotlight (outdoor or bloom), Go lamp, etc. With ceiling mounted downlighting, it fails hard. 3 stars feels kind. I don't know why some reviews claim these don't work, or one specifically says Philips products in general don't work, I haven't really found that to be true.. Philips is a pretty decent manufacturer in my experience. The Hue is also one of their flagship products right now, well known and pretty widely used. Setup is pretty idiot-proof (Well I think, except some reviews..) - You connect the hub via included Ethernet cable to your router and use the adapter to plug it in (see note about 5v adapter below) to a power strip / outlet. Download the Hue app on your phone, perhaps you can do it on the PC but it's definitely meant for the phone and that's where you'd be most likely to do any controlling anyway, and as long as you're on the Wifi for the network the Hub is on (if you're using a wireless AP like me or bridge mode etc., it will connect to either router, regardless of which one has it's radios on), it will automatically detect and set up the Hub. All you have to do is press the big button on top of the hub. Only note is that you want the hub to be somewhat accessible, since any app that connects, connecting Alexa, etc., all require you to press that button, so if it's out of the way that'll become a pain. I keep mine next to my AP router in my office. If that doesn't work, something is wrong.. I would double check to make sure you're on the right network on your phone, that the hub is plugged in (pretty much any router will also show a status light, though it may show orange or flash until it's set up, it's still an indicator it's plugged in and recognized), and you aren't out of range. Mine found the hub immediately, and I've seen a couple friends with Hue hubs and they also had no issues. If it refuses to be recognized by the app it's possible it's defective, though more often I'd say something might be off, for example if the phone isn't on Wifi, it wouldn't work. I think 99% of people will have an extremely easy setup. In terms of Hue itself, it has it's pluses and minuses. It is by far the best "easy setup" smart light solution, and also offers options that some of the more involved solutions don't such as color, color animations, etc.. If you like being able to change the color temperature of your lights (and there is quite a difference between a very cool, 6-7000 K light and a very warm 3000 K light, the former being basically orange and the latter having quite a blue tint to it), the Hue is probably your best option, and as well, if you like to go for full mood lighting, pretty much everything is offered in a full-color version. There are some direct competitors like TP-Link or other smart lights that are cheaper and don't require a hub. That's basically where their benefits end, however. I have some TP-Link lights, and they are hard to group, hard to control, don't integrate well with Alexa, and sometimes seem to forget what they've been set to do. When it comes to them, forget trying to schedule or do much by way of animation, and the third party app support is low, and the TP-Link app, like Philips', isn't amazing. Hue does take more, since you need to set up this hub before any lights will work, but considering it's less than $50 for the Hub, it's really a minor cost in the overall setup, especially when single lights like the BR30s can be $50 themselves. For quality and longevity in terms of color smart lights, there's really no comparison, Philips is far ahead of the competitors. In terms of smart-home lighting, in my opinion, Lutron is the main competitor, as it offers a totally different way of approaching smart lighting. It too requires a hub (more expensive, too), and rather than change your bulbs, you change our your dimmers, to Caseta line wireless switches and dimmers that can be detected by the Lutron app and added into room groups etc. The pluses are: For an entire house, this is by far a cheaper option. If you have recessed ceiling cans like I do especially, you're talking between 4-6 lights at a minimum per room, and some may have a bunch more. At $50 a pop, that adds up.. I probably have about 20 cans across my entire apartment, plus random closet lights and bathroom cans which are slightly different. So that's $1000 + the hub to get Hue going for your house, unless you opt for the adjustable white lights, which are somewhat cheaper. By comparison, Lutron costs you about $50 per dimmer, less if it's just a switch, and that covers each room, so ignoring again bathrooms and closets, etc., I'd have a total of 6 (Bedroom, Guest/office, 4 switches in the main Kitchen/Dining/Living room), for $300 total, making the extra money on the Lutron bridge inconsequential. Like Hue, they hook up to Alexa no problem and it's easy to set up scenes, though you're limited only to brightness - if you want to control color temp, you change bulbs. You could technically put Hue bulbs in lights controlled by a Lutron Caseta dimmer, but that's overkill, you can already control them completely via the Hue app / other apps / Alexa, so it's one or the other. You also of course can't do colors, nor can you really switch bulbs for colors unless you got all different color bulbs.. that's just not realistic. So, if cost is your #1 concern and you have a large house, and you don't care about the colors.. you might want to consider Lutron. If, on the other hand, cost is not a major factor, and you do like having the benefit of being able to do color lighting if you want, Philips will do everything you need it to. They even sell remote/switches, that mount on the wall but are removable, and do not require any wiring - basically, you could have your lights hardwired on if you wanted and just have the app and remote to control it. There's also the "click", which is kind of cool because it uses the power from your clicking to generate enough energy to send a signal, meaning you never need batteries - and that can hold 4 presets, for your most commonly used settings. If you go with Hue for your whole house, you probably will do most rooms with the adjustable whites - it saves money, and how many rooms do you need to go nightclub on you? Of course, if you'd like to make your entire house feel like a rave, that is an option, but I think most people probably do the whites on most to save money and do color where it's useful - perhaps in a family room for TV lighting (there are some cool cinematic effects you can setup through third party apps, also the Hue Strip works well as a behind-TV accent glow light), bedroom, whatever, picking one room to be all colorful is probably enough, but that's really up to your budget. If you have no limit, might as well get the color ones because they do the whites just fine and can always do the full range as well. If you're still on a bit of a budget, go with the whites where possible.. although if budget is too big of a concern, again, Lutron is certainly the cheaper way to get your home smart-lighted. I'm probably stupid because I have both, but since Lutron doesn't offer colors and I wanted them, it was an easy decision. I definitely prefer the Hue, and setup wise it was far easier - I'm no electrician so rewiring the dimmers is stressful at best, the instructions are pretty clear but it's still rather nerve-racking, even if there shouldn't be any risk with the power turned off. I'll still probably use Lutron for most of the house, already having the hub and everything, it's just far cheaper to add a few more $50 dimmers or $30 switches (for closets, etc., although I doubt I'll bother making the closet light switches wireless... overkill) than it is to switch over about 10 more lights to Hue. But for, in my case my office / studio, it's really cool to have. I also have a strip under a bookcase in the room that really adds to the look, and overall it's great for changing throughout the day. I can have a cool energizing white in the morning, a warmer one to feel like it's a nice sunset and not winter, and I can start putting blues up late at night when I'm on the computer or playing games (also in here), to help promote sleepiness - and it works. There's a lot of benefits to the colors, which is what Hue offers over the alternative mainly, and I'm glad I got em. Do note, the Hue app is pretty widely regarded as.. not so great. There are a lot of 3rd party apps, many free ones that will do a decent job. I found one, i Connect Hue, that does cost but allows you to create custom animations and stuff like that, which no other app I've found can do, and is a cool feature. From what I've found, only Hue app scenes translate to Alexa, however you can tell Alexa to do any of the scenes from the default App, which includes a different setting for every light if you want it that way - and there is one "colorloop" option that cycles through the colors, though I've yet to find a way to tell Alexa to start a custom animation. Still, not too hard to press on the phone. That's probably the biggest gripe - the Hue app - but it does work, and there are tons of third party apps that do more than Philips'. As well, it's still better IME that any of the knock-off / cheaper color-changing smart LEDs, which mainly don't require hubs but therefore are a lot quicker to get disconnected and harder to group, etc. Using something like TP-Link is fine for a single light, I wouldn't dare try to my whole house with it though, or it'd be a pain just to try to turn off the lights. I would probably listen to the review about 5v / 9v adapters since that certainly could fry a unit, however the adapter is white, and unless you're a big apple person you probably have a lot more black AC adapters than white ones. I have at least 8 different pieces of equipment on and around my desk, they all have black adapters except the Hue hub, so I really think the chances that I accidentally plug the wrong one in are slim. However, if you don't know that difference and for some reason lost the adapter, it could be tempting to try one that fits - the lesson there is don't, it would seem. Can't speak from experience because I'm not trying to fry my hub. Still seems very unlikely, but IF somehow you got a lemon, between Philips - and really more immediately, Amazon - customer service, you'd have a new one within days. I don't see how that's ever really a concern on Amazon, at least if you're a prime member you simply start a return.. Sometimes you can reach out to a seller and ask if they would prefer to simply send you an extra if it's a defective unit, however that tends to work better when something isn't worth sending back - ie heavy, non-electronic stuff, I'd tend to think they'd actually want the defective unit returned.. but that doesn't cost you anything and at least here this is available same-day, so you can wait for the credit or just replace it. Really though, the chances of that being necessary seem tiny, these are quality products, not some Chinese knockoffs, well built and sturdy. And if it were, Amazon and sellers have always been very quick to make it right. Would recommend for sure, just with the caveat that there are cheaper options out there for a smart home lighting system if you're willing to rewire your dimmers, etc., though not with the color choices. There are of course also cheaper colored LED smart lights, but as I said, I'd stick away from them for trying to do a whole house or even a whole room. If nothing else, all of the effort is worth it though, (if you have Echos), when you can just tell Alexa to turn down a light to 10% or tell her to turn a light on if you walk into a room carrying stuff.. you start to take it for granted and get annoyed when you can't just tell the lights to turn on. Of all the smart home features - smart curtains, smart locks, cameras... lights are probably the most satisfying and useful, so if you do one smarthome thing, do lights. Well, and maybe a lock... Being able to enter in a code or use your thumbprint or a fob to get in is great, and you can have a record of who gets in when, meaning you can give a cleaning lady a code, etc., and setup your own smarthome cameras so you can keep an eye as well.. Yeah, once you start, it's kinda hard to stop. I'd say Alexa is kinda key to the whole thing though, it's nice to use your phone and all, but 10x nicer to just be able to tell her to do something. It's great for bed - you don't have to turn the lights off and stumble over, you can get in and then tell her to turn off the lights, or if you're reading, wait a while. It's great for carrying stuff, it's great for being lazy... If nothing else, get a couple of refurb echo dots at like $25 and scatter them about. It's so worth it.

Philips lighting is ridiculously great — and they know it. But you can either pay for other bulbs every 15-18 months (and pay electricians to come repair your circuits as I’ve had to, where (4) meross bulbs were located. They wreaked havoc on two different rooms). This hub is a savior, but, for the love of god, PLEASE make them truly WiFi. I live in the middle of nowhere & had to finally go with you know who’s satellite internet (& I will never buy ANYTHING else from him again) but it has no way to hook this up. Luckily (or whatever), my previous horrid internet was still hooked up & allowed me to hook the cat 5 into the router via the old devices. But as I add Philips lights, and even before, I knew it was well worth it. I have more coming in on Monday.