Philips Hue Connected Bulb - Starter Pack

Reviews for Philips Hue Connected Bulb - Starter Pack

Customer Reviews and Ratings

3.5 out of 5 stars

Based on 159 reviews

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Great bulbs, easy to control

    • Written by from Inman

    I cannot say enough good things about these light bulbs. What at first seems like a steep price for light is actually a great investment when you consider all that these lights do. I use them in my home office, and they provide more than enough light (with only 2 bulbs in the room, mind you) to do work at night. I particularly like the ability to set the color of the bulbs to match your mood. For working, the "Concentration" mode is especially helpful.

    One additional feature that's useful is as security lights. You can set these lights to turn on and off at a specified time, or you can turn them on or off remotely using the Hue portal. Great for when you're traveling and want to leave a light on; or, if you're coming home late at night.

    9 of 10 people found this useful

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  • 3.0 out of 5 stars

    fun but iOS app is lacking

    • Written by from Phoenix

    The lights themselves are pretty fun to play with. And the system is super easy to configure and works just great. That said, the iOS app is severely lacking some very major features (like turning all the lights on, there's one for "all off" but none for "all on" durrrr!!!! And the iPad app flakes out in navigating your photo collection.

    Also interesting to note ... Philips has said they are giving up on the consumer market ... and I'm not sure what this will mean for continued support. Also extra bulbs are extremely difficult to acquire (only available via the Apple Store if at all!).

    9 of 11 people found this useful

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    not enough light

    • Written by from Emery

    I replaced 3 700 lumen CFLs with 3 Hue 600 Lumen bulbs. The ability to change colors was great but there was not enough light to read comfortably so I am returning them. When they have brighter bulbs I would buy it.

    10 of 13 people found this useful

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  • 4.0 out of 5 stars

    Lot of Fun

    • Written by from Falmouth

    I bought the starter pack and one bulb and it took me 2 mins to get the starter pack going and then I realised one bulb was changing. Another 5 mins and I had linked the fourth bulb.
    I did have to turn on the fourth bulb in each scene and choose a point for it.

    I am delighted with the system. The software will hopefully be improved. I want to put them in the bedroom also but I can't work out how room by room will be dealt with? The scenes will have to be doubled so that the others rooms settings are included?

    I have 4 LEDs on my bridge and everything over the wifi but not yet managed to link my bridge to the online account?

    That's where the missing star is.

    4 of 6 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Great Product! Updates coming soon?

    • Written by from OKLAHOMA CITY

    This is a wonderful product that gives you a million different ways to light a room. I have presets to read with, watch movies with and even sleep in. The alarm feature provides a nice easy way light to way up to. Hoping for more app updates to improve and the app and add more features but the current app gets the job done well!! Totally worth it! Get it today!

    2 of 3 people found this useful

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    No support, can't bridge starter kits

    • Written by from Edmonton

    Easy to setup, however returned after 3 days. Read in blogs that starter kit bulbs are linked to bridge that came with it so can't buy additional kits and keeps second bridge if first one dies. Thius all linked bulbs to that bridge are useless. Blogs say there r ways of getting around this with a Phillips remote or a program but why all the trouble when $200 is spent. Tried face booking philips as no support regarding hue could be found. Even then no response.
    Also 50 watt bulbs so depending on room size will need a lot of bulbs!

    17 of 24 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Too much fun!

    • Written by from Billings

    Works as advertised right out of the box! Easy to learn & use in 2 minutes.

    7 of 11 people found this useful

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Bulbs are brilliant. Don't expect consistency from the pretty (poor) app.

    • Written by from San Francisco

    Don't try to edit a scene on your iPhone. Even as you are designing it, the bulb colors and brightness settings will change without warning.

    The settings will change even after you have saved them.

    And if you try to edit your edited scenes on your iPad, the changes you made on your iPhone will not be transferred to your iPad. Scenes that you deleted on your iPhone will still appear on your iPad.

    The cute handwriting font used to label scenes is unreadable.

    Dear product manager: redesign this product from scratch. Watch users as they try to use it.

    11 of 16 people found this useful

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  • 4.0 out of 5 stars

    Needs recurring scene schedules

    • Written by from Smyrna

    Bought starter kit. Explored features. I don't have a need for colors, but I find different qualities of white to be useful. Would buy additional bulbs if schedules automatically recurred and could vary by weekday / weekend. I personally would prefer a list or grid format rather than individual icons for each scene / schedule.

    4 of 5 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Excellent

    • Written by from Coquitlam

    Bought the starter kit for my son and his wife last week. They had the three bulbs up and running in less than 30 minutes and have been very enthusiastic about it since. They continue to find new ways to use the lighting and plan on adding more bulbs.

    My very decor-conservative, non-technical wife now wants to replace all our lights with these, which is a little scary!

    2 of 2 people found this useful

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    It was like the dream of awesome was taken away..

    • Written by from AUSTIN

    I was really looking forward to using these. The bridge kept recycling and rebooting and would not keep a consistent connection so could not control lights. Seems this product is not ready for ther masses yet. Returning for a refund.

    9 of 13 people found this useful

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Great bulb technology but...

    • Written by from Long Beach

    It is very neat that the bulbs can be set to various colors etc. But that effect wears off after 5 minutes use of ooo and ahhh.

    As others have indicated, setting automatic functions for regular home use is the key and this software has none(except a one time use timer).

    Unless you have a specific need to set various mode lighting scenarios on a regular basis to justify the purchase, I would recommend not purchasing this product untill the control software is vastly improved with programmed functions. Im considering returning it.

    Also, it is disappointing that have to pay for 3 bulbs as the base package. One bulb to start would be fine.

    26 of 33 people found this useful

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Somehow Bittersweet

    • Written by from Huntsville

    I bought a starter kit and in a few words, I was amazed. However, I went back to the Apple store and bought a second kit because there were no single packs available and thought about having a spare bridge.

    The bad news is that found out the bulbs that comes with a starter kit cannot be used with a different bridge from another starter kit. Each bridge holds up to 50 bulbs only if single packs. That makes no sense!!!

    Does that mean that if the bridge breaks there is no way to use the bulbs?? Now I am deciding if returning them all, because why would I want these bulbs that last ~ 15 years and if the bridge brake they cannot be used with another bridge.

    98 of 106 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    One of the coolest things ever

    • Written by from Boston

    The house is getting smart. The smart house! Yet the technology is starting in our pockets and moving outwards instead of the other way around. Very cool.

    5 of 8 people found this useful

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Timer feature is not as advertised!

    • Written by from Huntington Beach

    One reason I bought this was to set the lights to go off and on to make it look like I'm home when I'm not, which seemed reasonable considering their advertising. It turns out that times can only be set for a single 24 hour period, which means I have to re-set the timers EVERY DAY! After multiple contacts with Phillips Tech Support over multiple days, I have been told that "when the SDK for Hue will be released then you will be able to create your own Apps for the Hue system. We apologise that there is nothing that we can do to help you further with your issue."

    Take this into consideration before buying this product.

    75 of 81 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Fantastic & Flawless

    • Written by from Buckeye

    Very, very impressive product with no flaws, only a recommendation to make web-based site features available in app. Otherwise, this is an amazing product.

    5 of 7 people found this useful

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Over Priced; overwhelmingly under performing

    • Written by from ORLANDO

    Cannot get timing function to work properly. Worked 2 times since install over 3 weeks ago. Absolute silence from Philips other than auto generated response saying they will be in contact. Save money unless you plan to turn on manually each day thru app or on line

    17 of 23 people found this useful

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Hardware is good, software is limitted

    • Written by from Ottawa

    What's good - easy to install and easy to use. The lights themselves render excellent colours.

    What's not - software is very limited, especially in regards to setting timers. There isn't any mechanism to schedule re-occuring scenes (ie - turn on the lights every morning). All you can do is schedule a scene to turn on in the next 24 hours.

    Overall - great for setting lighting scenes to meet your every mood. But if you are looking at something to support home automation, the current version of the software (both the website and the ios app) is too limiting.

    37 of 40 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    One of the Years best products

    • Written by from Evergreen Park

    I have no Idea why this product isn't being marketed better. I absolutely love it. Easiest setup, works exactly as it says. It also works great with the Android app. I'd give it 6 stars if I could.

    10 of 13 people found this useful

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Horrible

    • Written by from Chelsea

    What am I missing? I'm a reasonably intelligent 65 year old who has been in the software
    Business for 40+ years (granted in sales). This system begs for a graphical, dashboard
    Interface. Never been so confused in my life. The most confusing interface concept I've seen.
    I'd love to buy a dozen bulbs but would rather walk on broken glass than try to manage
    This app. Hire 2 students ( a C+ grade average will do) from a reasonable college IT program
    And you will have a winner

    28 of 55 people found this useful

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