Philips Hue Lightstrip Review With Gaming Sync technology
Want to really up your gaming experience? Check out these lights
Let’s get into the Philips Hue Lightstrip Review.
Oh boy. I am lucky enough to get to review a fair amount of technology but sometimes things really blow me away. Philips Hue Smart lights with the new Hue Sync Gaming App have done just that.
Table of Contents
Philips Hue Lightstrip Review – Philips Hue Sync Lights Starter Kit Review
These smart lights truly live up to their ‘smarter’ reputation, surpassing other market contenders with their advanced functionalities. Although they come with a slightly higher price tag compared to most smart lighting options, the enhanced features and comprehensive control they offer to make the investment worthwhile.
Priced at approximately $85 CDN or $66 USD on Amazon for a starter kit, these lights boast an array of super powerful extra features. Their impressive capabilities enable them to accomplish truly amazing tasks, making them a top choice for tech and gaming enthusiasts seeking unparalleled performance.
Installation of Philips Hue Lights Starter Kit
Installation of these smart lights is incredibly straightforward, making it a breeze even for those less tech-savvy, like your grandma. Simply screw in the light bulb, plug in the hub, open the app, and voila! It’s as easy as that.
Your biggest issue here will be updating the lights after installation and then the positioning of where you want the lights for your home or entertainment setup. The app update itself can be quite time-consuming, with each device taking up to an hour to complete. Even with my high-speed internet, it still took over an hour for the update to finish.
Thankfully you don’t need to do anything except have a little patience while you wait for your new toy to get in tip-top shape. As for positioning the lights, I found that placing the Philips Hue Light Strip behind my monitors, with two lights single-bulb lights positioned on either side of my chair, delivered the best gaming effect. Your mileage may vary. I also was able to place a light in my bedroom and one in my living room too. Overall, pretty impressive stuff.
Purchase on Amazon
- WHAT’S IN THE BOX - Includes one 6-feet, color-changing single-color effect light strip plus base kit with one plug; Perfect for mood lighting anywhere in your home - from bedrooms to living rooms
- UNLOCK THE FULL POWER OF HUE - Add a Hue Bridge to enjoy automations, control from anywhere in the world, and a secure, stable connection that won’t drain your Wi-Fi. Use Matter to connect your smart home devices to your Hue smart lighting system.
- MILLIONS OF COLORS - These light strips produce a single color light effect. It can dim, brighten, and set the mood instantly with millions of colors, straight out of the box.
- VOICE CONTROL - Convenient smart control; Set up voice control in the Hue app and use simple voice commands to control your lights with Alexa or Google Assistant
- SET UP - Attach the light strips to cabinets, behind or under furniture, or wherever your imagination desires. The included mounts let you bend it easily around corners.
- WHAT’S IN THE BOX - Includes three White and Color Ambiance smart 60W-equivalent A19 color-changing light bulb; Perfect for general lighting anywhere in your home
- UNLOCK THE FULL POWER OF HUE - Add a Hue Bridge to enjoy automations, control from anywhere in the world, and a secure, stable connection that won’t drain your Wi-Fi. Use Matter to connect your smart home devices to your Hue smart lighting system.
- MILLIONS OF COLORS - The White & Color Ambiance range offers both warm-to-cool white and millions of colors straight out of the box. Simply screw it in! Once in your fixture, our smart LED bulbs can dim, brighten, and set the mood instantly.
- ENJOY PRESET SCENES - Light your routines throughout the day; Set a 24-hour natural light scene that mimics the sun or choose light to help you focus, unwind, and more
- VOICE CONTROL - Convenient smart control; Set up voice control in the Hue app and use simple voice commands to control your lights with Alexa or Google Assistant
- WHAT’S IN THE BOX - Includes two White and Color Ambiance smart 60W-equivalent A19 color-changing light bulb; Perfect for general lighting anywhere in your home
- UNLOCK THE FULL POWER OF HUE WITH INCLUDED BRIDGE - Enjoy automations, control from anywhere in the world, and a secure, stable connection that won’t drain your Wi-Fi. Use Matter to connect your smart home devices to your Hue smart lighting system.
- MILLIONS OF COLORS - The White & Color Ambiance range offers both warm-to-cool white and millions of colors straight out of the box. Simply screw it in! Once in your fixture, our smart LED bulbs can dim, brighten, and set the mood instantly.
- ENJOY PRESET SCENES - Light your routines throughout the day; Set a 24-hour natural light scene that mimics the sun or choose light to help you focus, unwind, and more
- VOICE CONTROL - Convenient smart control; Set up voice control in the Hue app and use simple voice commands to control your lights with Alexa or Google Assistant
Philips Hue Gaming Sync App Review for Entertainment Setups
Phillips also has launched its Hue Sync App, which allows you to synchronize whatever is running on your computer with the lights in the entertainment environment you just set up. This amazing new technology determines whatever colors are running on the screen and then paints your room in wonderful matching colors, all in real-time.
Philips Hue Sync App for Gaming
When an in-game explosion or a fire appears on the screen in your game – the lights turn a yellow and orange hue. Does a Frosty spell get cast across the screen? Your environment is completely turned into purples and blues.
In many games, if your character takes damage the screen goes red, but it’s a whole new experience when the whole room turns a dark crimson. In fact, I never really realized how much a possible room lighting effect could add to my overall enjoyment of a game.
I can compare this to the first time you hear a high-end gaming surround sound environment or how a curved monitor wraps you in the gaming world. It just kicks your game up a notch. Equally, adding lights to your gaming environment will immerse you in the game to a level you have not experienced before via Philips Hue Gaming Sync App Review.
Philips Hue Sync App Setup
The Philips Hue sync app is a free app that you can download for Windows and Mac. This allows you to sync your Philips Hue smart lights with movies, video games, or music. Again the setup and installation are pretty straightforward and super easy to set up once you have already set up your existing lights.
Simply, turn on the lights, load up the app, click the gaming button, choose your intensity (I find high is a good level.), click the light sync button, and away you go. Your lights will now mimic exactly what’s going on on your screen, including sometimes different shades and colors per side, depending on what is happening on the left and right sides of the screen.
Really it needs to be seen in person to really see, but check out this short video here.
Philips Hue Sync App Review
I now find after a week of fully testing and trying the gaming light sync out that when I don’t have the lights on, I notice them missing. It really increases my enjoyment of the game. I’ve enabled the setting to have the app auto-start when my computer starts up and I recommend this feature for you as well. You can sync with your Razer peripherals here too.
There’s also the capability to sync with music that is being played through your PC in preset colors that match a bold, rock show or a lighter, classical Opera concert. It’s an impressive concert-like effect. Also, if you have an Apple TV or a Google Chromecast, or you can plug your computer into your television via HDMI you can sync up and have the same effect happen for a movie that is streaming through your PC.
Just imagine, your sunsets on the screen can now be an entire room sunset. It’s really awe-inspiring. I can’t stress this enough. A lot of these flashy ‘smart lights’ that people purchase are cool and you show your friends when they come over for the first time, but just how often are you booting up a ‘Savannah Sunset’ light pattern just randomly in the middle of the afternoon after that? This PC sync effect for media you are consuming via gaming, music, and movie watching really improves the quality of your entertainment experience.
Making Your Smart Home Even Smarter – Google Home Assistant and Alexa
Another one of the huge benefits of the Philips Hue lighting system is that it works with your Google Home Or Alexa.
I can now say out loud Ok Google, night night, and my entire house lights turn off via my Google Home Assistant and these Philips Hue Lights. Although all these things sound really simple, when they are combined it’s really apparent how great it is. I no longer have to get out of bed to turn off or on the lights.
I also have an in-app “scene” setup, that as it gets closer to the time I go to bed, all the lights automatically start dimming and turning into nighttime colors helping one get ready for bedtime. It’s really easy and straightforward to set these features up from the app with a few clicks of a button. It’s the little things that really make your life easier.
Final Thoughts on Philips Hue Smart Lights and Philips Hue Sync App
Philips Hue Smart Light Review
I received demo units of this product for review. Thoughts as always are my own. Some of the links shown in this article are my affiliate links.