Philips Hue Filament bulbs: Retro smart lights

Smart lights come in all shapes and sizes nowadays, and the Filament series of bulbs from Philips helps bring smart lighting into the past. Since these old-school filament styled lights are so popular, it’s nice to see Philips co-opting them into its popular Hue-branded smart light family.

The company offers three shapes of these lights. There’s a longer Edison styled bulb, a traditional bulb and a rounder globe-shaped option. I was only able to test the standard size, but for me, they worked phenomenally.

Upon close inspection, these lights aren’t exactly the same as regular filament bulbs, but from a distance, when they’re on you can’t really tell. The lights can be dimmed, but they only output a golden-white light.

You’ll also need to make sure that if you’re screwing the lights into an exposed light socket, that it’s black. Since these lights have Bluetooth and other types of connectivity they have a larger base that sticks out of the light socket about an inch. If a shade covers the light this won’t be a problem, but if you plan on hanging it, this is worth noting.

Just like regular Philips Hue lights these support Bluetooth, and the company’s Wi-Fi hub. If you have eight or fewer lights then you can use Bluetooth, but if you have more than eight lights then you need to use the hub.

Overall, these lights are pretty great and if you can find a cool place for them, they’re a great addition to any room. They actually start as cheap as $30 CAD, which makes them a little bit cheaper than regular Hue lights. Amazon sells basic non-colour changing Hue lights for $39.99. This means that depending on what light you get, it offers decent value.

The more interesting looking Edison lights start at $35.99, and the Globe style costs $39.99 on Amazon.

One thing I will mention is that I can’t say for certain if these lights will last as long as regular Philips Hue bulbs. Regular hue bulbs can last well over five years in my experience. That said, I’ve had no issues so far with the lights I reviewed.

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