Philips' new Bluetooth Hue smart lights don't need a bridge

Philips Hue

Philips was 1 of the first manufacturers to leap on the smart dwelling house trend with its expansive line of Hue smart light products.

While other companies accept adopted similar smartphone device strategies over the last few years, Philips set its devices autonomously by offering smart lights alongside a network connected bridge, giving users a more reliable experience.

Now, with the company'southward new Bluetooth compatible smart lights, connecting the Wi-Fi-enabled bulbs to a hub is no longer necessary.

Rather than a bridge that utilizes a Zigbee mesh network, the new Hue bulbs feature Bluetooth. Philips says this eliminates the need for a bridge, but allows the lights to yet feature Zigbee connectivity.

Philips says that upwards to 10 Bluetooth-enabled Hue lights can be controlled with the Hue iOS or Android app, every bit well every bit through Amazon Alexa and Google Banana-enabled devices. Further, the visitor claims that the initial smart light setup process is more straightforward at present with its new Bluetooth lights if they're bought direct from Amazon.

Information technology's worth noting that Philips says a Hue Bridge is currently required for its new Bluetooth smart lights to be compatible with Google Assistant commands. That said, an update is prepare to release before long that will remove the need for the Hue Hub.

When lights are purchased from Amazon, Alexa completes the initial setup procedure for y'all considering the bulbs are already directly associated with the buyer's Amazon business relationship.

Philips' Hue White and Color Ambiance Bluetooth lights are priced at $59 per light, with Hue White Ambiance lights costing $39.99 and Hue White Ambiance lights costing $39.99.