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Compare Philips Hue Smart Lighting Systems Starter Kits: White & Color Ambiance vs. White Ambiance
 Photo Credits : Philips Hue
Philips Hue starter kits allow you to create connected and smart lighting systems which make it possible to control the color and intensity of lighting in your home remotely using your smartphone from wherever you are.
The starter kits are made of one or more LED bulbs wirelessly controlled by a small device called "bridge" that is plugged to a wall electric outlet and connected via a supplied ethernet cable to your home's router. Once you download the associated free app to your smartphone, you are able program and control remotely the various bulbs in your system. The bridge plays the role of a hub and directs the signals it receives via Wi-Fi from your smartphone to the bulbs it controls. In effect, the bridge creates a mini network under the ZigBee protocol which is a low-power, safe, and reliable technology to control the lights. ZigBee allows also for software and firmware updates to be done wirelessly and directly to your lights. The smart and energy-efficient LED bulbs that come with these starter kits deliver bright and beautiful lights for your daily activities, special moments, and immersive experiences. They’re practical too. They can dim, they can flash and they can pulse. They can do pretty much anything you want. Two different lighting starter kits, each with different features and components, are offered below:
The Philips Hue app is available for both iOS and Android mobile devices (iOS 8 and up & Android 4.4 and up). This article will compare the Philips Hue White & Color Ambiance and White Ambiance lighting systems starter kits.
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Comparing the two Philips Hue Lighting Systems Starter Kits
The following pictures show the two Philips Hue Lighting Systems Kits:
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The following table compares the features of the two Philips Hue Lighting Systems Starter Kits (please read the following table notes for a better understanding of the features):
Tables Notes 1 - 12 Explained:
Note 1:
E26 is the screw base size of most light bulbs used in the U.S. It's referred to as having a “medium” or “standard” base. The number following the "E" indicates the size in mm of the external thread screw. Thus, a E26 has a 26-mm base diameter. You may see low cost LED bulbs using an E27 base from foreign suppliers. While these technically will work in E26 bases, it is usually an indication that the bulb was not strictly designed for the US market and it may lack a proper North American, UL or ETL safety certification.
Note 2:
"A" type describes a light bulb that has a pear-like shape. The number "19" that follows the "A" indicates the width of the bulb in one-eighth inch units or in millimeters. A19 is the most commonly used A-series light bulb type which is 2 3⁄8 inches (60 mm) wide at its widest point and approximately 4 3⁄8 inches (110 mm) in length.
Note 3:
Because the Philip Hue bridge is connected to internet, software updates and bug corrections are done automatically. New features and improvements are continuously added to the system. Software and firmware updates can be done wirelessly and directly to your lights.
Note 4:
ZigBee is an IEEE-802.15.14 based specification for a suite of high-level communication protocols used to create personal area networks for home automation with low-power low-bandwidth needs, designed for small scale projects which need wireless connection.
Note 5:
The "bridge" that comes with both starter kits is linked to Wi-Fi via your router to which it is connected with the supplied ethernet cable. It connects your system to the wider world via the Internet for out-of-home control and other smart features.
Note 6:
The Philips Hue app allows various smart controls from wherever you are: you can set brightness of the lights, create timers, change colors, and a lot more. You can also discover additional different functionalities by trying one of the third-party apps developed for Philips Hue.
Note 7:
Both starter kits allow dimming the lights using the Hue app from your smartphone. Note that White Ambiance Starter Kit also includes a dimmer switch that may come in handy if you don't have the smartphone with you. If needed, additional dimmer switches can be purchased on Amazon (see Amazon products section below).
Note 8:
Using the Philips Hue app, you can easily set up the times you want the lights to turn on and off. You can set different times and colors for different lights. You can set light schedules for your daily activities, from the moment you wake up in the morning. This way, you will never forget to turn off a light when you’re leaving, or arrive in the dark when you’re coming home.
Note 9:
Within each room, you can set and dim your lights individually for the optimal ambiance. In one glance, you can see which lights are set to what color and brightness. You can instantly change your room with the Philips Hue recommended color palette. You can use one of the preset scenes or let your creativity run free and create your own.
Thanks to intelligent scene setting, the app can extract the color palette from any picture and create a vibrant mood. It can also react to the type of lights you have in your room, so you always get the best light experience.
Note 10:
You can set the bedroom light so that the gradually increasing brightness gives you the feeling you are waking up gently from natural sunlight.
Note 11:
By choosing different colors for different lights and orienting them towards your home's walls according to what colors you want your walls to be, you can paint your walls without any paint and change the colors at will whenever you are tired of them.
Note 12:
Both starter kits are compatible with Amazon Echo, Tap, and Echo Dot.
E26 is the screw base size of most light bulbs used in the U.S. It's referred to as having a “medium” or “standard” base. The number following the "E" indicates the size in mm of the external thread screw. Thus, a E26 has a 26-mm base diameter. You may see low cost LED bulbs using an E27 base from foreign suppliers. While these technically will work in E26 bases, it is usually an indication that the bulb was not strictly designed for the US market and it may lack a proper North American, UL or ETL safety certification.
Note 2:
"A" type describes a light bulb that has a pear-like shape. The number "19" that follows the "A" indicates the width of the bulb in one-eighth inch units or in millimeters. A19 is the most commonly used A-series light bulb type which is 2 3⁄8 inches (60 mm) wide at its widest point and approximately 4 3⁄8 inches (110 mm) in length.
Note 3:
Because the Philip Hue bridge is connected to internet, software updates and bug corrections are done automatically. New features and improvements are continuously added to the system. Software and firmware updates can be done wirelessly and directly to your lights.
Note 4:
ZigBee is an IEEE-802.15.14 based specification for a suite of high-level communication protocols used to create personal area networks for home automation with low-power low-bandwidth needs, designed for small scale projects which need wireless connection.
Note 5:
The "bridge" that comes with both starter kits is linked to Wi-Fi via your router to which it is connected with the supplied ethernet cable. It connects your system to the wider world via the Internet for out-of-home control and other smart features.
Note 6:
The Philips Hue app allows various smart controls from wherever you are: you can set brightness of the lights, create timers, change colors, and a lot more. You can also discover additional different functionalities by trying one of the third-party apps developed for Philips Hue.
Note 7:
Both starter kits allow dimming the lights using the Hue app from your smartphone. Note that White Ambiance Starter Kit also includes a dimmer switch that may come in handy if you don't have the smartphone with you. If needed, additional dimmer switches can be purchased on Amazon (see Amazon products section below).
Note 8:
Using the Philips Hue app, you can easily set up the times you want the lights to turn on and off. You can set different times and colors for different lights. You can set light schedules for your daily activities, from the moment you wake up in the morning. This way, you will never forget to turn off a light when you’re leaving, or arrive in the dark when you’re coming home.
Note 9:
Within each room, you can set and dim your lights individually for the optimal ambiance. In one glance, you can see which lights are set to what color and brightness. You can instantly change your room with the Philips Hue recommended color palette. You can use one of the preset scenes or let your creativity run free and create your own.
Thanks to intelligent scene setting, the app can extract the color palette from any picture and create a vibrant mood. It can also react to the type of lights you have in your room, so you always get the best light experience.
Note 10:
You can set the bedroom light so that the gradually increasing brightness gives you the feeling you are waking up gently from natural sunlight.
Note 11:
By choosing different colors for different lights and orienting them towards your home's walls according to what colors you want your walls to be, you can paint your walls without any paint and change the colors at will whenever you are tired of them.
Note 12:
Both starter kits are compatible with Amazon Echo, Tap, and Echo Dot.
So which of the two Philips Hue Lighting Systems Kits to buy?
Note that both kits described and compared above come with the basic features of app based remote control, dimming and scheduling. However, some important differences summarized below exist:
- Clearly, if you are interested in painting your walls in various colors using lights and changing these depending on the ambiance you want to create and your mood, you should be considering the White and Color Ambiance starter kit.
- If you are just interested in creating your home's ambiance with different shades of white, then go for the White Ambiance starter kit.
Philips Hue Lighting Systems Starter Kits on Amazon
Please click the Philips Hue Lighting System Starter Kit of your choice below for price information or to purchase:
Philips Hue |
Philips Hue |
