FabianLast week I already gave you the first information about the Phoscon Hive from Dresden-Elektronik. In the meantime, I have been able to try out the small battery-operated table lamp myself and am particularly impressed by the operating concept. Of course I would like to share my impressions with you.
The Phoscon Hive can be bought directly from Amazon in many countries and costs 59.95 euros there. This is considerably cheaper than the list price of the Hue Go or the Hue Go portable table lamp. To be fair, however, it must also be said that the Phoscon Hive is considerably smaller with a diameter of 8 centimetres and a height of 12.2 centimetres.
Brightness and colours in focus
The manufacturer states a brightness of 60 lumens, but I wouldn't overestimate that. The Phoscon Hive is not meant to flood your entire terrace with light. It functions much more as a small mood light – and that's where it cuts a really good figure in my opinion.
The Phoscon Hive scores with a very even illumination and also very strong colour. In particular, the range from pink to red to green and turquoise is covered very well. Only with purple does the Phoscon Hive perhaps have a few weaknesses, but I would not consider that a major point of criticism. The small table lamp can be dimmed continuously and, in my opinion, also very far down.
Phoscon Hive can also be operated without a smartphone
In my opinion, the big highlight of the Phoscon Hive is its operation without a smartphone, app or voice assistant. The transparent upper part of the table lamp can be easily turned to make various settings. By default, the brightness is adjusted by turning it.
If you press twice on the table lamp, you can adjust the colour temperature from warm white to cool white. If you press the lamp three times, you can rotate through the entire colour spectrum. After 10 seconds without input, the Phoscon Hive automatically switches back to brightness mode. What I found particularly impressive: After a short explanation, even my four-year-old son got the hang of it and could choose a colour himself.
Coupling with a Zigbee gateway, for example the Hue Bridge, is possible without any problems. The table lamp only has to be set to pairing mode, which is described in great detail on the manufacturer's website. In the Hue app, the Phoscon Hive behaves like an ordinary light, of course without the exclusive Hue functions such as Hue Entertainment.
I only noticed one shortcoming: After a manual control directly on the table lamp, the new status is not displayed in the Hue app, even after some time.
Charging simply possible via Qi
I find the fact that only a micro-USB port is available for charging somewhat surprising; I would actually have preferred USB-C here. But there is another option: the table lamp can be charged wirelessly via Qi. As soon as you place it on a charging surface, the charging process begins.
Depending on brightness and colour, the Phoscon Hive can be operated for 7 to 50 hours until it needs to be recharged. In my opinion, that's a pretty good value. By the way, there is an optional Android app for control via Bluetooth, and an iOS app is to be released soon. So far, I haven't used the Bluetooth connection.
I find the overall package really exciting. In terms of price, measured against the relatively simple – but ultimately decent – workmanship, I still see a little bit of room for improvement. On the other hand, there is no other comparable product on the market with ZigBee integration.
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