Philips Announces New Hue Wireless Dimming Kit

Phillips today announced an expansion of its Hue line of lights, adding the new Philips Hue Wireless Dimming Kit and Philips Hue white bulb. The dimming kit requires no installation and it integrates seamlessly with existing Hue products, letting customers change the brightness of up to 10 Philips Hue white bulbs at the same time.

Each dimming kit includes one Philips Hue white light bulb and a portable battery operated dimming switch, with additional white bulbs available as a separate purchase. Using the dimming kit is as simple as plugging in one of the Philips bulbs. The switch can be fixed to the wall, much like the Hue Tap, or used as a remote control.

huewirelessdimmingkit

Getting ambiance at home has never been so simple; just screw in your bulb and press the dimmer switch to create your own personal dimmable glow. You can use the dimmer switch as a normal wall switch, or take it from the base plate and use it as a remote control for optimal convenience as it can be easily placed anywhere you desire. Plus, you don't have to get off the sofa to dim the lights anymore when watching your favorite TV show; you can even lower the lights from the warmth of your bed.

Philips promises no flickering or buzzing with its dimmer kit, which is a common problem with traditional LED dimming solutions. With the ability to control up to 10 bulbs with one switch, it's possible to adjust an entire room's lighting at once.

philipsdimmerswitch

According to Philips, the new Hue Wireless Dimming Kit can connect to existing Philips Hue compatible products through the Philips Hue bridge, so the dimmer switch can be used to control smartphone-connected bulbs like the standard Hue and the Hue Lux.

The Philips Hue wireless dimming kit is priced at $39.95, while Philips Hue white bulbs are priced at $19.95. The dimming kit will be available in stores in North America beginning in September of 2015.

Tag: Philips Hue

Top Rated Comments

(View all)

hellosil

45 months ago

Release in September. That could correspond with more HomeKit announcements from Apple and a Philips HomeKit firmware upgrade. Pretty please? :)

Rating: 7 Votes

tazinlwfl

45 months ago

I wonder if this will have Siri integration (through Home Kit).

Rating: 3 Votes

devilsnj30

45 months ago

It's not HomeKit compatible. Philips hasn't released any HomeKit products yet.

But Philips did announce that they would be home kit compatible with a future firmware update.

Rating: 3 Votes

bookwormsy

45 months ago

Lux is just white light. Hues are RGBW.

He asked what the difference between the Lux, which are white lights, and the Hue White, which is also white.

Rating: 2 Votes

friedmud

45 months ago

Looks like what I need. So with these, I can just set up my lighting once, say light the bathroom bright red :) and then every time someone goes in there, using that switch it will come on bright red again?

I'm just looking for a 'set & forget' system that can be used afterwards with a simple wall mounted on/off switch.

I'll wait for the home kit announcement first though.

Yep - just set a "bright red" scene to be activated by one of the buttons and then every time you press that button the lights will turn "bright red".

It is actually 4 buttons... Each one can be set to activate any scene you can think of. Button 1 is the "whole thing" (ie you just mash your hand on the whole thing). I use that for normal "on" (easy to hit). Then I use button 4 for "off".

The other two I use as "special" scenes for each room. In the living room one goes into "movie mode"... bedroom has, ummm.... special dim modes ;-)

Rating: 2 Votes

I am Sampson

45 months ago

I was just about to add another Tap. I'll grab one of these instead.

Tap is surely better as a switch if you have hue though. This won't change scenes or colours. Though it's price is much nicer!
I'm about to buy my second tap and this is no way makes me think I should change my mind as someone who already has 17 hue light bulbs/strips etc.

Rating: 2 Votes

ipedro

45 months ago

Phillips Hue HomeKit support is coming in September ('https://twitter.com/tweethue/status/635776974582104064').

I would be very surprised if these switches — also to be released in September — weren't HomeKit compatible.

Rating: 2 Votes

Arran

45 months ago

In case not everyone is aware, the Hue tap isn't limited to one function per button. Using a third party app I was able to load the tap with three scenes for each button. Each press cycles through the scenes.

I discovered this Philips site the other day: http://labs.meethue.com

"The hue Tap Dimmer allows you to dim your lights with the hue Tap. Easily switch between different levels to match your needs."

There were a few other experimental features there that I played around with. It's limited to one button on one tap only right now - but it shows potential.

Rating: 1 Votes

peterh988

45 months ago

Have we got to a place yet where the lighting is smart enough to remember it's previous setting when turned off, so that it comes back on with the same colour balance you set it up with?

I'd like to set up a suitable lighting blend say, in my bathroom, and have it work via one of these on/off switches so that it always sparks up at the preset balance. I shouldn't have to teach my mother how to use an iPhone in order to visit the bathroom.

Rating: 1 Votes

speedlimiter

45 months ago

What's the difference between a hue Lux and a hue white light bulb?

Rating: 1 Votes

[ Read All Comments ]