Philips Hue – Beyond the Eco-System and Compatible Devices

There is no denying that Philips Hue is a power-house in the smart lighting industry.

Amongst the first to embrace ZigBee in any meaningful way, Philips Hue has, without a doubt, driven the marketplace in domestic smart lighting products.

Their innovation in the category has given rise to some amazing products such as the Hue Sync box, Lightbar Plus and a whole host of all-in-one smart outdoor lighting devices.

Added to that integration with Apple Homekit, Amazon Alexa, Google Home and the now-confirmed support for Matter via the Hue Bridge, it really does tick all the boxes.

We all know that the Smart Home market is incredibly competitive, and to stay relevant, manufacturers have to be seen to be diversifying. Philips started this process several years ago with the Friends of Hue (FoH) program. This certification process allowed 3^rd party manufacturers to design and release devices compatible with the Hue Bridge. Notable brands such as RetroTouch joined the party with FoH compatible kinetic switches, elevating the look and feel of Hue smart lighting from white plastic to something much more premium.

Then, there is the lesser-known side of the Philip Hue Bridge, Zigbee 3.0 Certified.

When Zigbee 3.0 launched back in 2018, the certification program allowed for standardisation amongst Zigbee devices. These Zigbee 3.0 Certified devices carried the logo and a QR Pairing Barcode. Many brands offer this certification, such as AduroSmart, and whilst not carrying the Friends of Hue badge, they will indeed work with the Hue Bridge and App.

This opens up a huge world of existing and still-to-be developed Zigbee 3.0 products that can be added to the ecosystem.

Now, it is definitely worth noting that, whilst they are compatible, there are various limitations on these devices. Quite often some of the advanced features of Hue, such as dynamic lighting scenes and colour scrolling are unavailable, instead reserved for official Hue or FoH devices. Additionally, Zigbee 3.0 certified devices will not be exposed to Apple HomeKit via the Hue Bridge, so it’s certainly worth considering the use case before making a purchase.

All in all, Philips Hue continues to be a huge player in the space. Yes, there are systems and platforms out there, Home Assistant being a key example, that potentially offer more functionality and more integration amongst brands, but the reality is simple, Hue delivers on its USP, to be one of the simplest and most efficient smart lighting platforms on the market.

 

Check out our full range of Philips Hue products here, including Friend of Hue and Zigbee 3.0 Certified.