FabianThere have been many rumours, but now the time has finally come: the Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K has been officially unveiled. There are some improvements, but no big surprises – except perhaps the price, which is even higher at $349.99. For comparison: the ‘previous’ Sync Box without HDMI 2.1 is still being sold for $269.99.
These are the new features of the Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K
The new Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K synchronises lights via the latest HDMI 2.1 video standard, which is used by consoles such as the Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X, among others. This allows Dolby Vision and HDR10+ content to be synchronised and streamed in the highest quality and resolution at very high refresh rates – such as video content in 8K at 60 hertz or console games in 4K at 120 hertz.
And that’s basically it. The new Hue Sync Box 8K uses the modern HDMI 2.1 standard on all four ports, but otherwise offers no functional improvements compared to the Sync Box, which has been around for several years.
One thing has even been omitted: while the Sync Box’s power supply unit was previously equipped with three connections to supply power to one or two Play Lightbars in addition to the box itself, the 8K version has no additional power supply connections.
Both generations will be offered together
For you, this also means that if you are not absolutely dependent on the 120 Hertz at 4K or even the 8K resolution, you can continue to use the normal Sync Box in the future. This should be significantly cheaper, especially in stores. However, the new generation is not necessarily a bargain at a price of $349.99.
Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K
$349.99 / £299.99 / €349.99
Can you try to get official confirmation on HDMI VRR support? As I understand it none of the new HDMI features such as VRR are actually mandatory to claim 2.1 support…
Would also like to know whether all of the ports are full bandwidth this time or if some are still crippled and if so by how much. I need at the very least two fully featured 2.1 ports for the Xbox and PS5, but possibly the Nintendo Switch successor will also support VRR so…
Same would definitely like to see someone running a full test / review.
All four ports support full HDMI 2.1 🙂
Website says
HMDI 2.1b with HDCP 2.3 but doesn’t mean they support all their features. Would be good to know if Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) , Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) and Quick Media Switching (QMS) are supported too.
When will the new 8k box be available in stores?
Just purchased this but will be sending it straight back if the stability issues aren’t fixed. At least a couple of times a week the picture will just disappear for 5-10secs before coming back, sometimes it doesn’t come back at all and I have to turn off and on the box. Bad enough when I’m watching TV but if I’m gaming its a whole worse. Expect better from a device that costs over £200…£300 in this case.
I really hope they fix the random crashes that last few seconds very very annoying. Hoping the new improved hardware fixes that.
What an absolute rip off! And why only one power port???
I’ve been waiting for this but this is a HARD. PASS.
I assume they would have specified VRR, ALLM, QMS support by default for marketing purposes had it been the case. So, sadly, my expectations are low.
At the same time, VRR was retrofitted in Sony’s HT-A9 hardware, although it was unavailable at launch day, so theoretically it can be arranged later on by Signify. But yet again, how many substantial firmware updates have we seen so far with the first gen?
The price increase appears harsh to say the least. The first gen’s MSRP was already quite stiff, which can in part be confirmed by Signify’s regular sales at 199 per unit. But 349 is a totally different beast.
Dear Fabian, are you planning to review this piece of equipment? And if so, is there a potential timeline for this, so we can start building up hype?
Hello.
“It supports VRR and ALLM, but it doesn’t support QMS at the moment.”
Contacted them on Twitter. 🙂
I think not, because I don’t have a TV and a console for 4K @ 120hz
Twitted HUE and here is the response. Maybe you want to update the article:
Hi! It is compatible with VRR, but it will not support V-Sync or G-Sync. It is also compatible with ALLM, but it is not compatible with QMS.
I was on vacation when it was released. It sold out when I got back home. Any idea on timeline for restocking?