How Philips Hue works

Philips Hue is built to enrich what you love and how you want to live with smart light – and how it does it is unique. So just how do smart bulbs work? There’s much more to Philips Hue than smart bulbs, so let’s start from the beginning.

Three things you need for smart lighting

As advanced as our smart lighting is, setting it up is simple. It works in every home – and these three things will form the foundation of your personalised lighting experience.

Close up of a Philips Hue Bridge on a white background

1. Hue Bridge

If you’re wondering what the Philips Hue Bridge is, it’s this: the heart and brains of your smart lighting system. Connect it to your router to see the power behind all of the features Philips Hue offers.

Advanced light control

Customise how, where and when you use your lights – at home or even away. The Hue Bridge allows you to control your lights from anywhere in the world, as long as you have the Philips Hue app and an internet connection.

Intuitive, reliable technology

Zigbee technology enables instant response times and an ultra-stable connection. Your lights also feature a Zigbee chip, which makes them a mesh network, so you can install them anywhere in or around your home without loss of connectivity.

Learn about our technology

Always up to date

The Bridge is frequently updated, keeping your system secure and futureproof. And, as advanced as it is, it’s easy to install – just plug it in to a power source and your router, and you’re good to go.

How to set up the Hue Bridge

Automate your lights

Schedule your lights to turn on or off when you want. Set up an automation and the Hue Bridge will remember what you want your lights to do – whether you’re coming home, leaving home, waking up or going to sleep.

What else can I do with a Philips Hue Bridge?

Screens displaying the Home tab and Automations tab of the Hue app

2. App

The Philips Hue app is the command centre for your smart lighting system: control your lights, create automations, set up voice control, organise your lights into Rooms and Zones, and more.

Close up of Philips Hue smart lighting products

3. Lights

It's more than just smart bulbs. Decorate your home, inside and out, with table lamps, floor lamps, wall lights, lightstrips and more. We’ve got the widest range of smart lighting products – and it just keeps expanding.

Technology

We only use technology that we trust. You’ve invited us into your home, so we make sure that we respect it.

 

Philips Hue smart bulb set to warm white in a lamp on a side table

Zigbee

It’s a mesh network that’s enabled by a chip in your smart lights. The network expands as you add more bulbs, which is why outdoor smart lighting is possible with a Hue Bridge.

Two women standing in living room with colourful smart light

Matter

It’s the new foundation for connected things. If you’ve got a Hue Bridge, your Hue lights and accessories can connect via Matter.

Bedroom with smart lights on the walls and ceiling set to purple

Bluetooth

Philips Hue can also connect via Bluetooth, so you can enjoy a limited set of features if you don’t have a Hue Bridge. Perfect for a dorm room, a shed in the garden or even at your favourite campsite.

Ways to control your lights

Build your smart home the way you want with smart accessories and smart home assistants.

 

Switches and smart buttons

From dimmer switches to smart buttons and beyond, smart accessories make it easy to control your lights anywhere in your home.

Sensors

Let movement trigger your lights! As you walk by, your lights will turn on to any setting you like. After a set amount of time, the lights will turn off again.

Voice control

Add Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant or Apple Home and Siri to your smart lighting setup to control your lights with simple voice commands.

What can you do with Philips Hue?

Set the mood

Night in alone? Feel comfy, cosy and completely at home. Throwing a party? Match that joyful mood to the environment around you with colourful scenes or dynamic effects.

Get surround lighting

Sync your lights to your TV programmes, films, games or music! Immerse yourself in what you watch or listen to with lights that flash, dance, dim, brighten and change colour.

Feel safer

Let your lights turn on automatically to welcome you home as you pull into the driveway – or turn off when you leave. Make it look like you’re home when you’re away with a Mimic presence automation.

Feel better

Wake gently in the morning, work from home comfortably, wind down in the evening and fall asleep peacefully with light that matches each part of your day.

Works with Philips Hue

Create a whole smart home

Smart assistants, locks, home security and even gaming gear – all your favourite smart brands play nice with Philips Hue. And with a Hue Bridge, that list is even longer.

*When a bulb displays "Up to" a certain number of lumens in its specifications, it displays the maximum lumen output of the bulb. It shows how bright the bulb can get at 2700 K (White bulbs) or 4000 K (White ambiance or White and colour ambiance bulbs). Learn more about brightness