New Hue bulbs cannot be dimmed any lower

In September, Philips Hue introduced improved E27 bulbs. Designed in the iconic Sultan shape, these bulbs not only offer direct Matter support, but can also reproduce the entire spectrum of daylight while consuming less power.

In addition, Philips Hue provided us with the following information in its official press release: “The lamp can now also be dimmed down to 0.2 percent of its maximum brightness.”

First impressions from practical use

I’m not the only one who interpreted this information to mean that the new bulbs can now “shine” even more dimly than before. However, in an initial direct comparison between two 1,100 bulbs from the previous and new generations, I couldn’t see any visible difference at minimum brightness.

Shortly afterwards, I stumbled across a reader comment: “The new E27 bulbs promise the same thing (a lower dimming level), and their lowest brightness is exactly the same as the old version. I don’t know if this is a software or hardware problem. But so far, this marketing promise does not seem to be true.”

What Philips Hue says about the 0.2 percent

So what’s the deal with the 0.2 percent? I asked Philips Hue and learned that nothing has changed in terms of the low dimming level compared to the previous version. Older Hue products with the “deep dimming” function can also be dimmed down to 0.2 percent.

Until now, this value has never been widely communicated. Now, the focus is on the 0.2 percent to highlight the difference to the more affordable Hue Essential series. These can only be dimmed to 2 percent.

Incidentally, the same applies to another supposed innovation in the new products: Chromasync. This technology ensures high color consistency and color accuracy, even when old and new lamps are combined. Philips Hue has been using this special hardware calibration for years, but it has been omitted from the new Hue Essential lamps for cost reasons.

Hue smart bulb (2025)

from $17.99 up to $70.99

Bring the benefits of natural daylight into your home with our smartest bulb yet, redesigned to feature Chromasync precision color-matching as well as full-spectrum white light. Achieve your ideal color or tone of white light, then customize even further with ultra-low dimming from full brightness all the way down to 0.2%.

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