If you think about smart lamps in your home, you will soon think of Philips Hue. Yet that is not necessary. There are also all kinds of interesting Philips Hue alternatives available on the market.
Shining a light on Philips Hue alternatives
The Dutch company Signify has done well, because its Philips Hue is almost synonymous with smart lights in the home. The range continues to grow and those lamps often come with a hefty price tag. For example, the new Philips Hue Dature ceiling lamps will soon be available, priced at 399.99 euros.
But the market for smart lamps is bigger than just Philips Hue. There are cheaper lamps, lamps in other shapes and more available. We list the most interesting brands.
LSC
The cheapest option for smart lamps can be found at Action in the form of LSC Smart Connect. You can then choose from many different lamps. There are smart LED lamps, smart ceiling lamps, smart LED strips and there is even an outdoor spotlight.
However, the possibilities are limited. For example, you can only connect these products to the outdated 2.4 GHz WiFi. You can’t expect customer service either. There is no LSC helpdesk or anything like that to call. The LSC Smart Connect app is also very questionable, because the app collects all kinds of information about you and sends it to China. How your data is secured is hardly mentioned.
- Connection: Wifi.
- Advantages: Cheap and available at Action.
- Disadvantages: Limited options and questionable privacy.
IKEA Tradfri
If you are looking for a cheaper option than Philips Hue, but you also find it important that everything is in order in terms of safety: then IKEA’s Tradfri line is a good option. You don’t have the options that Philips Hue offers. In terms of design, Tradfri is very limited. You can buy the lamps in standard sizes, but you always have to choose the rest (such as lampshades) yourself.
Initially the lights worked via the Tradfri connection hub, but nowadays you need a Dirigera hub. That’s because this new hub also supports Matter.
- Connection: Zigbee, Matter.
- Advantages: Cheap and reliable.
- Disadvantages: Few options.
Nanoleaf
Although Nanonleaf also offers normal lamps, this brand mainly stands out because of the wall lamps that you can connect together to create shapes. This can be done with hexagons, triangles or squares. This is how you create your unique smart lamp.
- Connection: Thread, Matter.
- Advantages: Unique shapes.
- Disadvantages: High price.
WiZ
It’s a bit confusing, but Signify sells WiZ lamps in addition to Philips Hue lamps. The biggest difference with Philips Hue is that you don’t have to use a bridge with WiZ. A disadvantage of this is that many lamps fill up your WiFi network.
Signify continues to expand the possibilities of these WiZ lamps. Since last summer, it has been possible to synchronize the lamps with the rhythm of music and LED strips have been added to the range.
- Connection: Wifi.
- Advantages: Cheaper than Philips Hue, more and more fun features.
- Disadvantages: Fewer types of lamps, made less suitable by WiFi if you want to install many lamps.
Entry no
Signify is not the only Dutch company involved in smart lighting. Innr is also an interesting option. Innr has its own bridge and app, and the price is consistently slightly below Philips Hue. You can also connect lamps directly via WiFi if you wish. Just like Philips Hue, Innr uses Zigbee to connect everything, so there’s nothing stopping you from adding Innr lamps to your Hue bridge.
- Connection: Zigbee, wifi.
- Advantages: Cheaper than Philips Hue, but with its own bridge and app.
- Disadvantages: Fewer types of lamps.
Yeelight
Xiaomi offers a cheap alternative to Philips Hue with Yeelight. These WiFi lamps come in all shapes and sizes. From lamp curtains to clocks, from candles to a kind of Nanoleaf-like panels. You can even buy a package to decorate your entire house in the Christmas spirit.
- Connection: Wifi.
- Advantages: Cheap, unusual types of lamps.
- Disadvantages: No hub.
ECOLOR
ECOLOR stands out by making smart lamps in striking shapes. The most eye-catching is the moon for children’s rooms. ECOLOR also offers lights for the Christmas tree, a lamp for camping and fairy lights for outdoors.
- Connection: Wifi.
- Advantages: Unique shapes.
- Disadvantages: Few species.
Control your lights via Google Home
The Google Home app is the ideal way to control your smart home. You can get more out of the app with our Google Home tips. And also read how Google will bring AI to your smart home.
Did you know that you can also get Philips Hue lamps for outdoors?
Source: www.androidplanet.nl
