The Philips Hue line of lights is gaining several new additions this summer, including a bright white bulb, a Bluetooth version of the Lightstrip Plus, and a revamped Hue Bloom.
Priced at $20, the new Philips Hue White A21 bulb is the brightest bulb in the Hue lineup with 1,600 lumen output that's equivalent to a 100W bulb. That's much brighter than the standard Hue White and Color Ambiance bulbs, which are 60W equivalent. The Hue White A21 bulb can fully illuminate a kitchen, garage, or other room, plus it offers wireless dimming. It will launch in late July.
Also new is the Bluetooth-enabled Philips Hue Lightstrip Plus, a Bluetooth version of the popular Hue Lightstrip Plus that connects to WiFi. This new Bluetooth model does not require a hub to work, though it is compatible with the Hue hub. Up to eight extensions can be added.
A two-meter Bluetooth Lightstrip will be available from Target for $79.99 starting this week, and it will come to other retailers later in the summer. A one-meter extension will also be available for purchase for $24.99.
Along with the new A21 bulb and the Lightstrip, the Hue line is also gaining a redesigned Bluetooth-compatible Hue Bloom table lamp, which features richer colors and an improved white light with brightness up to 500 lumens compared to the prior version. It has also been updated with a more consistent experience with the rest of the Hue range, and the color temperature can now be tuned from 2000K to 6500K.
The Philips Hue Bloom will be available in late July and it will cost $69.99. More information on all of the new announcements can be found on the Philips Hue website.
Saturday February 7, 2026 9:26 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today shared an ad that shows how the upgraded Center Stage front camera on the latest iPhones improves the process of taking a group selfie.
"Watch how the new front facing camera on iPhone 17 Pro takes group selfies that automatically expand and rotate as more people come into frame," says Apple. While the ad is focused on the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, the regular iPhone...
Tuesday February 10, 2026 4:27 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple is planning to launch new MacBook Pro models as soon as early March, but if you can, this is one generation you should skip because there's something much better in the works.
We're waiting on 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, with few changes other than the processor upgrade. There won't be any tweaks to the design or the display, but later this...
Wednesday February 11, 2026 10:07 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today released iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3, the latest updates to the iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 operating systems that came out in September. The new software comes almost two months after Apple released iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2.
The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update.
According to Apple's release notes, ...
Monday February 9, 2026 6:24 am PST by Joe Rossignol
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Apple Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, and then use it to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps.
The feature is currently available in 13 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, and it is expected to launch in at least seven more in the future.
To set up the...
Tuesday February 10, 2026 6:33 am PST by Joe Rossignol
It has been a slow start to 2026 for Apple product launches, with only a new AirTag and a special Apple Watch band released so far. We are still waiting for MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, the iPhone 17e, a lower-cost MacBook with an iPhone chip, long-rumored updates to the Apple TV and HomePod mini, and much more.
Apple is expected to release/update the following products...
The whole smart lighting idea is nice. Too bad the lights themselves suck so badly. All the Philips Hue lights are rated CRI80 at 4000K. When dimmed and set to a warmer 2700K the CRI drops way below 75. Even fluorescent produce richer colours than this! Whenever I visit friends that have these Philips Hue lamps it looks like everyone ate some bad mussels or something.
The Philips master line have much cheaper GU10 lamps that are rated CRI97 at 2700K. Osram has a Clear retro look E27 lamp that is rated CRI90 at 2700K. Both of these are just a few bucks and produce much nicer light. Even when dimmed heavily. Why on earth would you want to mess around with these Philips Hue crap?
because the average person like me didn’t understand a single thing you just wrote. I am happy with my Hue lights and it was easy enough to set up. Love it
a Bluetooth version of the popular Hue Lightstrip Plus that connects to WiFi.
Just to clarify, no Hue products connect to Wi-Fi. The Bridge/Hub is a wired LAN device, and the wireless protocol between the devices and the Bridge (and each other) is Zigbee, not Wi-Fi (though, of course, you can control them with a Wi-Fi device if it's on the same network, e.g., using the Hue app or a third-party integration).
Further, the article didn't mention one of the best parts of the new Lightstrip: you could always cut it, but then officially you lost the part of the strip that you cut. Now they're including official connectors (there have always been third-party connectors and unlit "extension cables" of varying quality with or without soldering required--I'm curious what theirs will look like) so you can re-use these pieces.
Hue looks cool but they seem too overpriced. Many cheaper options on Amazon, probably not as easy to use or the quality a bit inferior but when it comes to value, I think they are hard to beat.
It seems overpriced at first, but the bulbs last practically forever, so in the long run it doesn't matter.
I bought all my Hue kit about for years ago and have spent $0 since then. Everything is still working great.
The whole smart lighting idea is nice. Too bad the lights themselves suck so badly. All the Philips Hue lights are rated CRI80 at 4000K. When dimmed and set to a warmer 2700K the CRI drops way below 75. Even fluorescent produce richer colours than this! Whenever I visit friends that have these Philips Hue lamps it looks like everyone ate some bad mussels or something.
The Philips master line have much cheaper GU10 lamps that are rated CRI97 at 2700K. Osram has a Clear retro look E27 lamp that is rated CRI90 at 2700K. Both of these are just a few bucks and produce much nicer light. Even when dimmed heavily. Why on earth would you want to mess around with these Philips Hue crap?
nobody can tell the difference between my hue bulbs and a incandescent bulb. I have to tell everyone they are led bulbs. All of my kitchen spotlights are also hue. Hues can match color from 2500-3500 pretty well compared to a normal bulb color. The led strips can do the same unlike Lifx that do horrible whites. Not too sure what you're talking about that colors are bad on these. They might not get as bright. I sometimes have two bulbs in one light but I think the colors are pretty accurate looking at an incandescent and hue side by side.
The whole smart lighting idea is nice. Too bad the lights themselves suck so badly. All the Philips Hue lights are rated CRI80 at 4000K. When dimmed and set to a warmer 2700K the CRI drops way below 75. Even fluorescent produce richer colours than this! Whenever I visit friends that have these Philips Hue lamps it looks like everyone ate some bad mussels or something.
The Philips master line have much cheaper GU10 lamps that are rated CRI97 at 2700K. Osram has a Clear retro look E27 lamp that is rated CRI90 at 2700K. Both of these are just a few bucks and produce much nicer light. Even when dimmed heavily. Why on earth would you want to mess around with these Philips Hue crap?
LED manufacturers can game CRI ratings without actually performing correctly. If you're picky about color rendition be sure to look for the TM30 ('https://www.energy.gov/eere/ssl/tm-30-frequently-asked-questions') metrics of your lamps. It's similar to the color gamut charts you can get on good computer monitors and any manufacturer that's serious about color rendition will publish theirs.
In any case, Hue lights are not bad at all, certainly fine for residential use. Sure, you probably won't find them in an art museum. Frankly I find I'm more annoyed with the lighting design/fixture placements in friend's homes than I am with the light source itself.
