The question … Add your new light to any scene or room your system uses to categorize your lights. Philips Hue's new Bluetooth light bulbs mean you don't need a hub The smart light bulbs to connect directly with your phone and are with compatible Google Nest and Alexa devices. Our Picks: The Best Light Bulbs That Work With Alexa Without A Hub. With Bluetooth function you can control bulbs without the need for a hub or ZigBee, you will be able to control bulbs directly via your phone and the Bluetooth Hue app. Even though Hue bulbs use a Zigbee connection and can talk directly to your hub, they may interfere with the routing of the Zigbee network traffic when connected directly to Hubitat Elevation ® without a bridge. Philips Hue bulbs are getting a Bluetooth upgrade, opening the door to easier installation without requiring a hub. But don’t use the app for this, instead you must a) pair the Tradfri dimmer with the Hue bridge b) pair the Tradfri dimmer with each bulb in turn. As the name suggests, these bulbs have Bluetooth built-in, which means you can set them up with a smartphone app, no hub needed. The newest Hue bulbs can use Bluetooth to pair directly with your phone without need for a Hue Bridge, but you'll miss out on most all of Hue's advanced features and integrations. Meet the Philips Hue family Philips Hue offers a wide range of smart light bulbs, lamps, fixtures and accessories. I use KASA bulbs and smart plugs. Use Philips Hue Bluetooth bulbs. Those are the same prices as the old versions that only included Zigbee radios, so you aren't paying any extra for the addition of Bluetooth. There are a few other drawbacks compared to the standard Philips Hue bulbs, as well. You'll still need the Hue Bridge and the original, full-featured Hue app if you want to try out advanced features or connect with Apple HomeKit. Signify says that the new Bluetooth Hue bulbs can all pair directly with Google Home smart speakers and with the Google Nest Hub, and also with select Amazon Alexa devices -- specifically the third-gen Echo Dot, the second-gen Echo Show and the first- and second-gen Echo Plus. Number of Views 7.23K. Philips is getting rid of the need for a specialized and proprietary hub in the latest version of its Hue smart bulbs, indicating that the days of conflicting and confusing smart home products may finally be coming to an end. It will only work with Philips Hue Lights and accessories. © 2021 CNET, A RED VENTURES COMPANY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. The Philips Hue Smart bulbs are coming with Blue tooth. To add a new bulb to your light set up, open the Hue app and go to Settings > Light setup > Add light. If you want to try any of that, you'll need to pick up a Hue Bridge. You will be interested to know that Philips Hue smart light bulbs fall in the Zigbee category since they require a separate Hue bridge device to operate properly. As of today, though, things are getting simpler with the Philips Hue with Bluetooth lights. As of today, though, things are getting simpler with the Philips Hue with Bluetooth lights. The app will search for new lights on your network and allow you to add them. Signify is starting with its three main smart lights in both a traditional A-shaped design and as BR30-shaped floodlights -- a total of six new Bluetooth Hue bulbs. But if you're new to the smart home game, there's one catch: you need a hub to set up and control everything, which means an extra up-front cost and additional complexity. ... You may need to select a category to find your light. Then in order to make it operate locally for those who had a smartthings hub, they shifted over to an LAN integration. Ask a Question. As with standard Hue lights, these work with Alexa and the Google Assistant -- but if you're an Apple fan, these don't work with HomeKit unless you get a smart home hub. For more help finding the right smart lighting solution for your home, make the smart decision and call our team of lighting experts at 1-800-624-4488 for helpful advice or your next bright idea. These Bluetooth light bulbs make setting up smart lighting easier. The hub lets you access over 16 million colors with the colored bulbs, and you can turn the lights on from anywhere in the world, or even put your lights on a schedule, and so much more. They are about $30 cheaper than the Phillips bulbs (during black friday they were about $12.50 a piece) and don't require a hub. Although newer generations of the bulbs don’t need this hub to be connected to your phone, you will miss out on a lot of features if you don’t get this with your bulbs. 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