Philips Friends of Hue Bloom Lamp

Pros Wireless control. Can change color and brightness. Does not need its own light fixture. Good looking design.

Cons Expensive. Cannot replicate traditional light bulb temperature. Bottom Line The Philips Bloom will be a nice complimentary piece to any existing Hue system, but you're paying a hefty premium for the connectivity and customizability.

By Eugene Kim

The Philips Bloom Lamp is part of a new line of products dubbed Friends of Hue, which—you guessed it—work with the Philips Hue connected lighting solution. Like the Philips LightStrips, the other member of the Friends of Hue family, it's not meant to be a standalone light source, but rather a more complimentary accent light. At $79.95, the Bloom ain't cheap, and you'll still need the Hue starter pack first. But if you're already sold on the Hue system, the Bloom offers a fresh way to spruce up your interior lighting and has the same customization options that make the original Hue so great.

While the original Hue bulbs hide away in your existing fixtures, the Bloom demands to be seen. Its modern, free standing design has an upscale look that seems fit for the undoubtedly well-heeled clientele it caters to. Its function falls somewhere between flood light and accent lamp, and its relatively low 120-lumen output reflects its complimentary nature. This is strictly something to add that extra bit of ambiance to your home, rather than act as a primary light source.

To use the Bloom, you'll first need to buy a Hue starter pack, which costs $199.95. Setup is fairly straightforward—you just have to pair the Bloom with an existing Hue wireless bridge using the free iOS or Android app. To do this, open the Hue app and find the gear icon, then click the option to find new bulbs. If the Bloom is within range of your bridge, it'll show up in the list of bulbs. You can then assign a more specific name to the Bloom.

A key difference between the Bloom and original Hue bulbs is its color spectrum. The Bloom supports 16 million colors, but it doesn't have the same ability to replicate the look of traditional light bulbs like the original Hue. Still, the light emanating from the Bloom is diffused through the plastic lens and has a pleasant soft character to it. You can control brightness using the Hue app and even set up lighting schedules just like with the original Hue. For the more industrious, the Bloom, like all other Hue products, supports IFTTT scripts for things like changing colors based on weather conditions or new incoming emails. You can find over 400 IFTTT recipes online or just create your own to match your needs.

Like the base Hue lighting system, the biggest barrier to entry is the price. Hue bulbs are already expensive at $59.95 a pop, and $79.95 seems a bit excessive for an accent light. But when you throw in the endless entertainment factor and the multitude of genuinely useful features through services like IFTTT, the Hue becomes more than just a novelty. For some it'll be worth every penny, but if you just want to be able to control your lights with a mobile device, the asking price might be a bit much at $279.95 for the requisite starter pack and the Bloom. 

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Philips Friends of Hue LightStrips

Pros Wireless control. Change color and brightness. Allows for creative accent lighting.

Cons Expensive. Cannot replicate traditional light bulb temperature. Adhesive not reusable. Bottom Line The Philips Hue LightStrips opens up the door for more creative applications of connected lights, but like all Hue products, the price of entry is steep.

By Eugene Kim

Philips is quickly expanding its Hue connected light system, introducing two new complimentary products for its Friends of Hue collection. The Philips LightStrips takes the basic concept of Wi-Fi connected light bulbs and applies it to a flexible strip of multicolored LEDs. Like all Hue products, it's exorbitantly priced (in this case, at $89.95 list), but it also shares the same customizability and integration with services like IFTTT than make the original Hue system so awesome. This is strictly an accent light, like the Philips Bloom Lamp, but it lets you get a bit more creative with your interior illumination than a standard bulb.

While the Bloom features a design that's meant to be seen, the LightStrips doesn't make any attempt to mask its geeky guts. It's a barebones, flexible plastic strip with the embedded LEDs in plain view. It measures 6.56 feet long and about 0.4 inches wide. The strip is actually adjustable, meaning you can cut it to length at designated points. But you'd have to be crazy or just very rich to want to do that, since you can't reuse the end you cut. There's an adhesive strip on the back—it's not reusable, but any double sided tape will likely do the trick should you decide to move it.

In order to use the LightStrips, you'll have to already own a Hue starter kit and have the wireless bridge set up. Setup is the same between the LightStrips and the Bloom: Plug the light in, open up the iOS or Android app, and click "Find new bulbs" in the settings menu. It takes just a few minutes; once you're set, you'll be able to rename the LightStrips and control the color and brightness within the app.

The LightStrips shares the same color spectrum as the Bloom, both of which lack the ability to replicate the same color as traditional light bulbs—for that you'll need the standard Hue bulbs. And though the LightStrips is rated at the same 120 lumen output as the Bloom, its character is unique. The Bloom emits a soft light that diffuses through its plastic lens, casting a wide swath of light. The LightStrips is more vibrant, but the light also seems less profuse, which works given its intended applications. The adhesive sticks to most solid surfaces and it's easy to mount out of sight to create the illusion of light emanating from unexpected sources.

Philips shows the LightStrips mounted under tables, around clocks, and various other places where it can highlight an object or define a space. The variety of applications is confined only by your imagination. You can control brightness using the Hue app and even set up lighting schedules just like with the original Hue. For the more industrious, the LightStrips, like all other Hue products, supports IFTTT scripts for things like changing colors based on weather conditions or new incoming emails. You can find over 400 IFTTT recipes online or just create your own to match your needs.

While I think the Bloom might be a bit more versatile, there's no denying the creative avenues the LightStrips opens up when it comes to interior lighting. But there's also no denying the prohibitively expensive cost of equipping a house with Hue products. The LightStrips is even more expensive than the Bloom, which is more expensive than your standard Hue bulb. As a result, this product definitely isn't for everyone. But if you already own the Hue starter kit and have a creative application in mind, the LightStrips opens up more options for hooking your home up with connected lights—just be ready to pay handsomely for the privilege.

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