I’m ready for the weekend and ready for my holiday. Starting Monday, I’m disappearing to Greece for a few days. But I will still keep at least half an eye on Philips Hue in the meantime, among other things the launch of the Hue Secure cameras is coming up. And I have already prepared a few articles for you for the coming week.
Back in February 2023, I published an article with the headline “Philips Hue soon only usable with an account? Today another news follows, where I unfortunately have to leave out the question mark in the headline. As Philips Hue has now confirmed, the use of the system will soon only be possible with an account.
Voice control and apps are a great thing, but sometimes you want to control your lamps and the many other smart homes directly on the wall. Classic switches offer few options, more options are available with the new Echo Hub. Echo Hub is an Alexa-enabled smart home control panel with an 8-inch touchscreen and a customisable smart home dashboard.
Actually, it was supposed to be ready in spring, in the end we had to be patient a bit longer. But now it is here: Matter support for Philips Hue. As of now, it can be activated in the settings of the Hue app – but there are some details to keep in mind.
Voice control with Alexa has actually always been a pretty reliable story. Apart from the fact that you can only pair a bridge with the Alexa Skill, of course, but that is hopefully something that will take care of itself with the upcoming Matter update. However, it is not yet time and in the social networks and also here in the comments I have been reading more and more complaints around the topic of Alexa and Philips Hue for about a week.
At the beginning of September, Philips Hue introduced the new Hue Secure Contact Sensor, which can now be ordered in the manufacturer’s online shop. For 39.99 euros you get a sensor in white or black, in a double pack you pay 69.99 euros. How to connect the contact sensor to the Hue Bridge The contact sensor is ready for use immediately after unpacking.
I have another surprising piece of information for you, at least I would not have expected it today. In some countries the new Philips Hue Secure Contact Sensor is already listed in the Hue online shop and can be ordered there. Unfortunately, I don’t have complete information on which countries the sensor is available in.
Hue Secure was officially integrated into the Hue app this week, but apart from integrating existing motion sensors, there’s not much you can do with Philips Hue’s new security system yet. Cameras and contact sensors are only “coming soon”, the official statement still reads “in autumn”. However, I couldn’t just sit around idly either, so I tried my luck with two ZigBee contact sensors.
While we seem to have to wait a little longer for the new cameras and contact sensors, there is good news for those of us who want to finally make their 12-volt lighting system smart. Announced earlier this month, Philips Hue MR16 bulbs with GU5.3 bases are finally available to order.
This afternoon Philips Hue released another update for its official app – and this time it’s a particularly big one. Philips Hue 5.0 prepares the system for the new Hue Secure components that were officially introduced at the beginning of September. These Hue Secure features have been integrated into the app I have already answered the most important questions and answers about the Hue Secure cameras and the new security system.
Fabian