Hue Vs. LIFX?

OU812

Anyone any experience of both LIFX & Philips Hue bulbs? Looking to make the plunge but don't want to pick the Betamax 😉

bk

I use Philips Hue and I think it is the less likely to be the betamax.

Lifx is a very small start-up company created in 2012. Philips on the other hand is a €22 billion company, for whom lighting is one of their core businesses and they are one of the top 5 manufactures of standard LED lighting in the world and most consider them the best.

They have been very aggressively expanding their Hue ecosystem, Siri support, Apple Watch support, Logitech Harmony support, Amazon Echo support. And they have been adding large numbers of Hue devices and not just bulbs, switches, motion sensors, entire light fixings, etc.

In my opinion, Philips Hue is the far more complete ecosystem and most likely to continue to be around in the long term.

OU812

Thanks BK. Appreciate your input. Apart from the price (they're €40 in Argos right now), the other thing that appeals to me about the LIFX is they have an infra red feature for IP cams to illuminate the whole room & they also work with Nest to turn on the lights if the smoke alarm is going off.

Any idea if Hue has something similar?

bk

Hue integrates extremely well with Nest:

https://nest.meethue.com/

I don't know about the IR thing, but most decent security cameras have their own IR emitters for night time use, so I don't know why that would be necessary.

BTW that LIFX bulb for €40 is white only!

That is horribly expensive compared to Hue. I just bought a white Hue bulb on amazon yesterday for €13 and the colour ones cost €55 (compared to €80 for the equivalent colour LIFX on argos!)

Also note non of those ones on argos include that IR feature, those are the newer LIFX+ bulbs.

What you have to think about is that you are buying into an ecosystem and how you will expand that ecosystem over time. For instance this is what I have:

- 4 x Hue GU10 bulbs in living room
- Hue bulb in fancy lamp in living room
- Hue Blum lamp behind the TV (creates nice colourful effect behind TV).
- 2 x Hue color bulbs in main lights in two bedrooms
- 3 x Hue Blums as bedside lamps
- 3 x Hue remotes (allows you to set scenes, change colours, etc.)
- 3 x Hue switches (for turning on and off bulbs)
- Just ordered a Hue entire light fixture for the kitchen
- Planning to get 3 x Hue GU10 bulbs and the new Hue motion sensor for the hall.

As you can see, LIFX by comparison have a far less comprehensive ecosystem, they basically just make standard bulbs. They make no GU10 bulbs, no lamps of any type, no battery lamp, no switches, no remotes, no motion sensors, no light fixings. Really not impressive at all IMO.

One other thing to keep in mind, LIFX are wifi lights. If you wifi and/or internet go down, then you can't control them with the phone app anymore. Yes you can still turn them on/off with the physical light switch, but if you do turn them off with the physical switch, then you can't turn them back on with the app. By comparison, Hue uses a hub, which in my opinion is better if you plan on getting more then one bulb. With Hues hub, it all continues to work even if your wifi/internet go down. All the hue switches, remotes and even the phone app continue to work even when you have no wifi/internet.

OU812

Excellent. Thanks.

Decision made. Now to go look for a starter set

v10

OU812 wrote: »

Excellent. Thanks.

Decision made. Now to go look for a starter set

I'm finding it difficult to find and shop that actually stocks these.

I took a drive the other day, checked my local argos, expert, powercity, harvey normans and currys and none had the philips hue in stock !

Is online the only option ?

OU812

Arnotts have them on display & "playable"

v10

OU812 wrote: »

Arnotts have them on display & "playable"

Well that's about as convenient as online to me, but thanks anyway.

Stoner

OU812 wrote:

Any idea if Hue has something similar?

If your Nest Protect detects a smoke alarm emergency then turn your Philips hue lights on
https://ifttt.com/recipes/184132?z=9409532

bk

Stoner wrote: »

If your Nest Protect detects a smoke alarm emergency then turn your Philips hue lights on
https://ifttt.com/recipes/184132?z=9409532

IFTTT can be somewhat unreliable. Better to use the official direct integration between Nest and Hue for better reliability:

https://nest.meethue.com/

Stoner

bk wrote:

IFTTT can be somewhat unreliable. Better to use the official direct integration between Nest and Hue for better reliability:

I've noticed that alright, would be better to have the direct integrated set up.