Buzz
Today, I'm sharing with you the reasons why I chose Philips Hue for some of the lighting in my home, primarily for decorative purposes. This article is also in collaboration with CellphoneS, so don't be surprised if you see CellphoneS mentioned...
Reasons Behind My Choice of Philips Hue
Let's talk about using Philips Hue lights. If you equip Hue lights for the entire house, for all lighting systems, it's actually quite costly. The reason is that Hue lights are quite expensive, whether it's bulbs or downlights, and the important thing is that I rarely need to adjust them, just turn them on and off. To handle the on/off situation and combine various smart home scenarios, I use ZigBee-connected switches to control them from the central unit. Currently, I'm using MPE's 12W downlights for my house, priced around 100-200k, much cheaper than Philips Hue's million-dollar ones.
So all my current Philips Hue lights are used for decorative purposes only. Here's what I'm using:
- 1x Philips Hue White Bulb (non-color type, only warm white) for my desk lamp. I have another bulb but don't know where to put it. (I bought this set a long time ago, including 2 bulbs and 1 hub)
- 1x Philips Hue 2m strip to mount behind my desk, to shine on the wall and make it look nice while working on the computer (the price of one strip currently sold at CellphoneS is 2.2 million)
- 2x Philips Hue 2m strips mounted on 2 shelves in the office, to make them bright and cheerful when shooting videos
- 1 Philips Hue Dimmer Switch remote control to press one button and all 4 lights above turn on according to the mode I want (price at CellphoneS not available yet, coming soon, I bought it for ~500k in the past)
All devices are connected to my Philips Hue Bridge hub at home. Just need one hub to connect up to 50 devices. They use ZigBee connection to communicate with the hub, while the hub connects to the internal network or the Internet using LAN cable. ZigBee connection is fast and efficient, operating within your home network only, without the need for external servers, resulting in incredibly fast response times, just like flipping a traditional light switch.
Previously, I used Yeelight LED strips, much cheaper than Philips Hue, priced around 700k to 800k depending on the store. However, they were dimmer and the color wasn't as consistent as Philips Hue, so I had to replace them, opting to spend more money for better quality. Yeelight strips use Wi-Fi connection, and control requires access to Yeelight's overseas servers (unless you enable local mode in the Yeelight app).
If you're not keen on spending much on these lights, you can buy LED strips on Shopee. They're quite affordable, around 200k-300k, and come with app-controlled features, pretty neat, huh? I can't speak for the light quality as I've never used them before. Those of you who have, feel free to share your experiences.
Setting up and configuring Philips Hue lights is extremely simple. Just connect the Hue Bridge to your LAN network, then install the Philips Hue app on your phone and follow a few easy steps. The lights will be automatically detected and added to your home. In most cases, the lights are self-discovered, so no manual setup is required. Even when adding new lights to an existing room, it's the same process. Among smart lights, I rate Philips Hue the highest in terms of ease of connection.
Compatible with HomeKit (and also Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa)
Sometimes, I control the lights with my phone or computer, using Apple's HomeKit app since I have many Apple devices at home. Philips Hue works seamlessly with HomeKit, which is fantastic, allowing full features like color adjustment and brightness control within the HomeKit app. Additionally, when using the Philips Hue Dimmer Switch remote, you can even program it to trigger various other HomeKit features, which adds to the fun.
Besides HomeKit, Philips Hue also integrates well with two other major ecosystems, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. Basically, Philips Hue covers all three big players, so there aren't many drawbacks in this regard.
Experience at Laptop and Smarthome Center CellphoneS
The 2-meter Philips Hue LED strip I recently added to my workstation desk was purchased at CellphoneS. Actually, when the folks at CellphoneS invited me to visit their store showcasing various smart home products, I initially planned to buy just an extension cable for Hue. But they generously included the 2-meter strip as a gift, so I gladly accepted =)) I'm a simple person; if it's a gift, I take it; if it's offered, I accept; if invited, I go; living easy.
Currently, CellphoneS has nearly 10 Laptop and Smarthome Centers primarily located in Ho Chi Minh City, with plans to open more centers in other provinces and cities soon.
At CellphoneS, there's now a dedicated Philips Hue experience table featuring various bulb types, a Google Mini speaker for testing voice control features, and even a phone for trying out color mode adjustments. If you want to play around with Hue lights before making a purchase, you can visit CellphoneS stores.
Additionally, you can also purchase smart home products from Xiaomi, Aqara, Eufy at CellphoneS. Items like robot vacuums, handheld vacuum cleaners, various security cameras... are all available for you to shop. There's even a complete range of products for setting up a basic smart home system for beginners. Plus, many items have demo units for you to try before making a decision.
You can experience products like Dreame vacuum robots, Dreame floor mops, Xiaomi fans... all officially distributed, so if there's any damage, you can easily send them for warranty without worrying about sending them back to China or repair shops like we used to do with grey market items.
For those interested in purchasing and experiencing genuine smarthome products and smart home accessories, check out CellphoneS for options. CellphoneS is currently expanding its range, including air purifiers, vacuum robots, smart lights, and locks... at relatively reasonable prices, with genuine warranty. Here's the link to explore smart home accessories for you.
