Philips Hue Smart Hub (Works with Alexa Apple HomeKit and Google Assistant)

Features

• VOICE ACTIVATED: With the Philips Hue Smart Hub, add up to 50 Philips Hue smart lights of your choice with this ZigBee-controlled hub necessary for voice control with Alexa, Apple HomeKit, or Google Assistant
• CONTROL YOUR SMART LIGHTS FROM ANYWHERE: The heart of your Philips Hue system, this hue hub also enables you to control all of your Philips Hue products via the Philips Hue app, even when you're away from home
• FULLY AUTOMATE YOUR SMART HOME: Enhance your Philips Hue system by setting timers and alarms, connecting to a variety of apps, dimming the smart lights and more (cannot be used with conventional dimmers)
• EXPAND YOUR ECOSYSTEM: Easily expand your smart lighting system with Philips Hue accessories (sold separately), such as a Hue Dimmer Switch, Hue Tap, or Hue Motion Sensor. Pair it for home automation with your existing Nest or SmartThings system. Control your hue lights by connecting the Hue Hub to your router with the included ethernet network cable. This box also includes one Philips Hue Hub, power adapter, manual, and two-year warranty for the full Philips Hue experience.
• CROSS-DEVICE COMPATIBILITY: HomeKit compatible iOS 9 or later. iPhone:4, 4S, 5, 5S, 6, 6 Plus, 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone Xs, iPhone Xs Max, iPhone Xr, iPod touch: 5th generation.Network Connectivity:Wireless A,Wireless B,Wireless G,Wireless N
• Easily expand your lighting system with accessories (sold separately), such as a Hue Dimmer Switch, Hue Tap, or Hue Motion Sensor. Pair it for automation with your existing Nest or SmartThings system.

Description

Personal wireless lighting. Get started with Philips Hue and control your lights from your smart phone or tablet, or even with your voice. The Philips Hue Hub is the heart of the system. It unlocks endless possibilities through the Philips Hue app. Add up to 50 Hue lights

Manufacturer CQMTO

Part Number 929001180603

Item Weight 8.3 ounces

Product Dimensions 1 x 3.5 x 3.5 inches

Item model number 453761

Batteries 4 AA batteries required.

Is Discontinued By Manufacturer No

Size 1 Pack

Color White Ambiance

Style Hue Hub

Voltage 120 volts

Item Package Quantity 1

Number Of Pieces 1

Special Features Alcohol-Free

Included Components 1 Philips Hue bridge, 1 power adapter, 1 LAN cable

Batteries Included? No

Batteries Required? No

Warranty 2 year warranty.

ASIN B016H0QZ7I

Customer Reviews 4.4 out of 5 stars 1,246 ratings 4.4 out of 5 stars

Best Sellers Rank #10,007 in Tools & Home Improvement (See Top 100 in Tools & Home Improvement) #5 in Home Automation Hubs & Controllers

Date First Available December 22, 2015

abunda_amazon_reviews It works. Comes with its own Philips' branded, bright-white AC adapter, 5 volt size. Fun fact: 9 volt AC adapters fit the same size hole as 5 volt. And if you accidentally plug a 9 volt AC adapter into the Philips Hue Smart Hub, it will instantly fry the Hub, and you'll have to buy another one here on Amazon and then post a review warning people to be careful. To be fair, Philips' AC adapter is white just like the Hub, making it clear that they belong to each other. So Philips did everything they could - short of making the connection itself unique - to help people avoid that mistake. One dismaying discovery during this experience was learning that the Hub does not back up your programmed routines and rooms and lights to your iPad or whatever device you've used to set up the Hue system. It is all saved within this Hub - so if you fry it, you have to teach a new one everything all over again by hand. I had fewer than a dozen lights and routines and rooms to set up again, but it would have been worse for someone with more. Perhaps Philips will start making backups in one of their frequent updates.;;Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2018;;5.0 out of 5 stars;;Be careful with it;;Will Bueche;;;I struggled with what to include in this review as the product itself is pretty straightforward and really has no meaningful functionality to "review," per se: it either works or it doesn't. In my case, the hub worked just fine, setup was easy enough, and I haven't had any actual trouble with the hub. Since most people looking at the hub are likely considering diving into the Hue system as a whole, my review, instead, will focus on my experience with a relatively built-out Hue system after a few weeks. My current setup includes two BR-30 multicolor lights in my theater room, three of the same in my kitchen, a LightStrip with multiple extenders in the bedroom, and two A7 lightbulbs for our nightstand lamps in the bedroom. The only "smart" home product that I've owned prior to the Hue lights was two Nest thermostats and a Ring doorbell, so my experience with this category of technology is fairly limited. Overall, this lights are just fun. Adding lights to the system was straightforward, the automatic detection worked well, and it was easy to get individual lights assigned to rooms and scenes set up. The Hue app itself is fairly easy to use, though some of the UI decisions in the most recent version of the app are a little annoying (for example, having different "tabs" for individual lights and scenes). I've had some hiccups with getting individual lights to "group" together for color changes when setting up scenes, though this has been relatively rare. Setting up scenes was straightforward, though I'll admit I almost immediately deleted most of the included presets since I thought they were a bit strange. But setting up individual scenes with custom colors and brightness was a breeze. Getting used to using an app - rather than light switches - has been a bit of a challenge. This isn't a fault of the Hue system itself but is something relevant, I think, to the experience of switching to a smart lighting system. A few weeks in, I still accidentally use my light switches at times. I'm looking forward to getting some of the Hue motion sensors to see if this can make the system truly automated; I love the idea of lights turning on and off automatically based on need, and I imagine that this will improve my experience with the system immensely. For now, though, there's definitely a bit of a learning curve to getting used to using an app (and carrying a phone around) to turn your lights on rather than the much more convenient light switch. The main problem I've had thus far is having individual lights being "unreachable" for, sometimes, long periods of time. Interestingly, the lights still respond to scene changes even when they're listed as "unreachable," but I can't control "unreachable" lights individually. I haven't quite figured out what the issue with this is, and I've verified that all of the firmware for the lights and the iOS app are up-to-date. This seems to mostly happen with the bedroom lights, which are located upstairs while the hub is downstairs, and I wonder if this is part of the problem. Perhaps it'll be less of an issue as I continue to expand the system and have a stronger mesh network throughout the house. But I will say that this has been quite an annoyance that I haven't been able to sort out completely. Not enough to say that I won't continue to buy Hue lights, but certainly something to be aware of if this might be enough to cause you to think twice. Because of this issue, HomeKit integration has been spotty for me. While the Hue app will allow me to change the lights via scenes even when they're "unreachable," this isn't the case in HomeKit. As a result, I rarely use HomeKit, and frankly I just find the Hue app easier to use. Since I don't have a ton of smart products, I don't necessarily need the deep integration and automation that can be achieved with the HomeKit system. The brightness and color setting are very granular, and you can create just about any lighting situation you can imagine. You're really only limited to your creativity. For day-to-day use, most of these features are a bit unnecessary, though even at times it can be fun to use some of the different colors. The adjustable brightness and color warmth are incredibly useful on a regular basis. But I can imagine this being a very nice touch for parties or big get togethers. Overall, do I think the Hue system is work the admittedly high cost? After about $600 to be able to light three rooms, I have to say I don't think so. It's a very fun toy, and I'll continue to expand the system, but I don't see this as a huge game-changer. Maybe it's because I'm not using the system to its fullest extent (e.g., integration with a smart thermostat), but I see this as a very expensive amusement and nothing else. Hopefully the lights will last quite a while: at $30-40 for each replacement, this can very quickly become an expensive system. But for those looking for the ability to fine tune your home lighting setup and are willing to pay the high price, I would definitely recommend it, although perhaps try setting it up in just a room or two to see how it goes before you spend a ton of money for whole-house lighting.;;Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2018;;5.0 out of 5 stars;;A fun product - but is it worth the crazy cost for a whole system?;;Nick Naylor;;;I only have one complaint about this product. Before having the bridge I used an Amazon echo plus that has a hub inside. I purchased the bridge after and to be honest it was a hassle to install since the lights in my place were already pared with the echo I had to erase them from the system pair them up with the bridge and then pair them up again with the echo so I could use its features. Just imagine getting on a ladder and unplugging around 20 bulbs just to get to see the serial number and pair them with the app.;;Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2018;;3.0 out of 5 stars;;Buyer beware if you previously purchased an echo plus;;Juan C.;;;Updating my review : The hub itself continues working fine, but since IMO the main use is for bulbs, the issues with their down lights alone is inexcusable. See my review there for dmore details, but basically they’re noisy, overheat and won’t turn off when hot. So, even though I felt the Hub was 5 star worthy, it represents the Hue system.. which after some time, I see is only good for very specific uses: LED strips, spotlight (outdoor or bloom), Go lamp, etc. With ceiling mounted downlighting, it fails hard. 3 stars feels kind. I don't know why some reviews claim these don't work, or one specifically says Philips products in general don't work, I haven't really found that to be true.. Philips is a pretty decent manufacturer in my experience. The Hue is also one of their flagship products right now, well known and pretty widely used. Setup is pretty idiot-proof (Well I think, except some reviews..) - You connect the hub via included Ethernet cable to your router and use the adapter to plug it in (see note about 5v adapter below) to a power strip / outlet. Download the Hue app on your phone, perhaps you can do it on the PC but it's definitely meant for the phone and that's where you'd be most likely to do any controlling anyway, and as long as you're on the Wifi for the network the Hub is on (if you're using a wireless AP like me or bridge mode etc., it will connect to either router, regardless of which one has it's radios on), it will automatically detect and set up the Hub. All you have to do is press the big button on top of the hub. Only note is that you want the hub to be somewhat accessible, since any app that connects, connecting Alexa, etc., all require you to press that button, so if it's out of the way that'll become a pain. I keep mine next to my AP router in my office. If that doesn't work, something is wrong.. I would double check to make sure you're on the right network on your phone, that the hub is plugged in (pretty much any router will also show a status light, though it may show orange or flash until it's set up, it's still an indicator it's plugged in and recognized), and you aren't out of range. Mine found the hub immediately, and I've seen a couple friends with Hue hubs and they also had no issues. If it refuses to be recognized by the app it's possible it's defective, though more often I'd say something might be off, for example if the phone isn't on Wifi, it wouldn't work. I think 99% of people will have an extremely easy setup. In terms of Hue itself, it has it's pluses and minuses. It is by far the best "easy setup" smart light solution, and also offers options that some of the more involved solutions don't such as color, color animations, etc.. If you like being able to change the color temperature of your lights (and there is quite a difference between a very cool, 6-7000 K light and a very warm 3000 K light, the former being basically orange and the latter having quite a blue tint to it), the Hue is probably your best option, and as well, if you like to go for full mood lighting, pretty much everything is offered in a full-color version. There are some direct competitors like TP-Link or other smart lights that are cheaper and don't require a hub. That's basically where their benefits end, however. I have some TP-Link lights, and they are hard to group, hard to control, don't integrate well with Alexa, and sometimes seem to forget what they've been set to do. When it comes to them, forget trying to schedule or do much by way of animation, and the third party app support is low, and the TP-Link app, like Philips', isn't amazing. Hue does take more, since you need to set up this hub before any lights will work, but considering it's less than $50 for the Hub, it's really a minor cost in the overall setup, especially when single lights like the BR30s can be $50 themselves. For quality and longevity in terms of color smart lights, there's really no comparison, Philips is far ahead of the competitors. In terms of smart-home lighting, in my opinion, Lutron is the main competitor, as it offers a totally different way of approaching smart lighting. It too requires a hub (more expensive, too), and rather than change your bulbs, you change our your dimmers, to Caseta line wireless switches and dimmers that can be detected by the Lutron app and added into room groups etc. The pluses are: For an entire house, this is by far a cheaper option. If you have recessed ceiling cans like I do especially, you're talking between 4-6 lights at a minimum per room, and some may have a bunch more. At $50 a pop, that adds up.. I probably have about 20 cans across my entire apartment, plus random closet lights and bathroom cans which are slightly different. So that's $1000 + the hub to get Hue going for your house, unless you opt for the adjustable white lights, which are somewhat cheaper. By comparison, Lutron costs you about $50 per dimmer, less if it's just a switch, and that covers each room, so ignoring again bathrooms and closets, etc., I'd have a total of 6 (Bedroom, Guest/office, 4 switches in the main Kitchen/Dining/Living room), for $300 total, making the extra money on the Lutron bridge inconsequential. Like Hue, they hook up to Alexa no problem and it's easy to set up scenes, though you're limited only to brightness - if you want to control color temp, you change bulbs. You could technically put Hue bulbs in lights controlled by a Lutron Caseta dimmer, but that's overkill, you can already control them completely via the Hue app / other apps / Alexa, so it's one or the other. You also of course can't do colors, nor can you really switch bulbs for colors unless you got all different color bulbs.. that's just not realistic. So, if cost is your #1 concern and you have a large house, and you don't care about the colors.. you might want to consider Lutron. If, on the other hand, cost is not a major factor, and you do like having the benefit of being able to do color lighting if you want, Philips will do everything you need it to. They even sell remote/switches, that mount on the wall but are removable, and do not require any wiring - basically, you could have your lights hardwired on if you wanted and just have the app and remote to control it. There's also the "click", which is kind of cool because it uses the power from your clicking to generate enough energy to send a signal, meaning you never need batteries - and that can hold 4 presets, for your most commonly used settings. If you go with Hue for your whole house, you probably will do most rooms with the adjustable whites - it saves money, and how many rooms do you need to go nightclub on you? Of course, if you'd like to make your entire house feel like a rave, that is an option, but I think most people probably do the whites on most to save money and do color where it's useful - perhaps in a family room for TV lighting (there are some cool cinematic effects you can setup through third party apps, also the Hue Strip works well as a behind-TV accent glow light), bedroom, whatever, picking one room to be all colorful is probably enough, but that's really up to your budget. If you have no limit, might as well get the color ones because they do the whites just fine and can always do the full range as well. If you're still on a bit of a budget, go with the whites where possible.. although if budget is too big of a concern, again, Lutron is certainly the cheaper way to get your home smart-lighted. I'm probably stupid because I have both, but since Lutron doesn't offer colors and I wanted them, it was an easy decision. I definitely prefer the Hue, and setup wise it was far easier - I'm no electrician so rewiring the dimmers is stressful at best, the instructions are pretty clear but it's still rather nerve-racking, even if there shouldn't be any risk with the power turned off. I'll still probably use Lutron for most of the house, already having the hub and everything, it's just far cheaper to add a few more $50 dimmers or $30 switches (for closets, etc., although I doubt I'll bother making the closet light switches wireless... overkill) than it is to switch over about 10 more lights to Hue. But for, in my case my office / studio, it's really cool to have. I also have a strip under a bookcase in the room that really adds to the look, and overall it's great for changing throughout the day. I can have a cool energizing white in the morning, a warmer one to feel like it's a nice sunset and not winter, and I can start putting blues up late at night when I'm on the computer or playing games (also in here), to help promote sleepiness - and it works. There's a lot of benefits to the colors, which is what Hue offers over the alternative mainly, and I'm glad I got em. Do note, the Hue app is pretty widely regarded as.. not so great. There are a lot of 3rd party apps, many free ones that will do a decent job. I found one, i Connect Hue, that does cost but allows you to create custom animations and stuff like that, which no other app I've found can do, and is a cool feature. From what I've found, only Hue app scenes translate to Alexa, however you can tell Alexa to do any of the scenes from the default App, which includes a different setting for every light if you want it that way - and there is one "colorloop" option that cycles through the colors, though I've yet to find a way to tell Alexa to start a custom animation. Still, not too hard to press on the phone. That's probably the biggest gripe - the Hue app - but it does work, and there are tons of third party apps that do more than Philips'. As well, it's still better IME that any of the knock-off / cheaper color-changing smart LEDs, which mainly don't require hubs but therefore are a lot quicker to get disconnected and harder to group, etc. Using something like TP-Link is fine for a single light, I wouldn't dare try to my whole house with it though, or it'd be a pain just to try to turn off the lights. I would probably listen to the review about 5v / 9v adapters since that certainly could fry a unit, however the adapter is white, and unless you're a big apple person you probably have a lot more black AC adapters than white ones. I have at least 8 different pieces of equipment on and around my desk, they all have black adapters except the Hue hub, so I really think the chances that I accidentally plug the wrong one in are slim. However, if you don't know that difference and for some reason lost the adapter, it could be tempting to try one that fits - the lesson there is don't, it would seem. Can't speak from experience because I'm not trying to fry my hub. Still seems very unlikely, but IF somehow you got a lemon, between Philips - and really more immediately, Amazon - customer service, you'd have a new one within days. I don't see how that's ever really a concern on Amazon, at least if you're a prime member you simply start a return.. Sometimes you can reach out to a seller and ask if they would prefer to simply send you an extra if it's a defective unit, however that tends to work better when something isn't worth sending back - ie heavy, non-electronic stuff, I'd tend to think they'd actually want the defective unit returned.. but that doesn't cost you anything and at least here this is available same-day, so you can wait for the credit or just replace it. Really though, the chances of that being necessary seem tiny, these are quality products, not some Chinese knockoffs, well built and sturdy. And if it were, Amazon and sellers have always been very quick to make it right. Would recommend for sure, just with the caveat that there are cheaper options out there for a smart home lighting system if you're willing to rewire your dimmers, etc., though not with the color choices. There are of course also cheaper colored LED smart lights, but as I said, I'd stick away from them for trying to do a whole house or even a whole room. If nothing else, all of the effort is worth it though, (if you have Echos), when you can just tell Alexa to turn down a light to 10% or tell her to turn a light on if you walk into a room carrying stuff.. you start to take it for granted and get annoyed when you can't just tell the lights to turn on. Of all the smart home features - smart curtains, smart locks, cameras... lights are probably the most satisfying and useful, so if you do one smarthome thing, do lights. Well, and maybe a lock... Being able to enter in a code or use your thumbprint or a fob to get in is great, and you can have a record of who gets in when, meaning you can give a cleaning lady a code, etc., and setup your own smarthome cameras so you can keep an eye as well.. Yeah, once you start, it's kinda hard to stop. I'd say Alexa is kinda key to the whole thing though, it's nice to use your phone and all, but 10x nicer to just be able to tell her to do something. It's great for bed - you don't have to turn the lights off and stumble over, you can get in and then tell her to turn off the lights, or if you're reading, wait a while. It's great for carrying stuff, it's great for being lazy... If nothing else, get a couple of refurb echo dots at like $25 and scatter them about. It's so worth it.;;Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2018;;3.0 out of 5 stars;;Plug and play, works well, but careful if you want to use it for BR30 or A19 bulbs;;aberwah