New LightStrip Plus in detail: Cut parts can be joined again

It was announced earlier this year that Philips Hue is working on a new LightStrip Plus. Not surprisingly, since the absolute bestseller from the Hue portfolio is one of the few products that has not received a Bluetooth update.

Unfortunately, the long-awaited big update for the Philips Hue LightStrip Plus this year will not come along. Additionally, some well-known points of criticism, such as the rather large distance between the LEDs, will also be present in the next generation. Nevertheless, there are still some innovations on their way.

The new Philips Hue LightStrip Plus is much more flexible

We already know from the reports in spring that the two-meter-long light strip of the basic set is no longer permanently connected to the controller. This should give third-party manufacturers the opportunity to launch corresponding intermediate pieces on the market.

You can see the complete package contents of the Philips Hue LightStrip Plus 2020 on the following picture.

And there is something that strikes the trained eye: What is the white part on the left edge of the picture? It is a feeder clamp that is included with each of the new LightStrips. With it, you will be able to connect cut pieces – which can only be done at the marked places – with a LightStrip again.

Here it is worth taking a look at the following picture: on the left, you can see the cut marking on the old LightStrip Plus, the actual contacts are right next to the cut. On the new LightStrip Plus you will cut between two fields with several small contacts – and exactly these contacts will be touched by the feeder clamp during the later connection.

This naturally opens up completely new possibilities. For example, if you only need 66 or 100 centimeters of a basic set, you can reuse the cut-off part with another LightStrip Plus basic set. However, there is one restriction: you will need the current generation of both LightStrips.

Otherwise, not much seems to have changed in technical terms: the maximum brightness is still 1,600 lumen. After looking at the product photos I assume that the new LightStrip Plus can only be cut every 33 centimeters. Not surprisingly, the 2020 version of the LightStrip will still only be able to display one color at a time.

Unfortunately, I have not yet been able to find exact prices and a release date for the new Philips Hue LightStrip Plus. But I could imagine that there will be more information in June.