You have to hand it to Philips Hue: After they have made a mess of one or the other product launch in the past and the availability in the in-house online shop was often very poor, it worked out wonderfully with the Festavia string light despite the tight schedule. On 11 November, which was a Friday, it was possible to order the string light in the Philips Hue online shop, and the first orders were already delivered on the following Monday.
It had been announced for a long time, but now the time has come: If you use the Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box, you no longer have to use the Hue Sync App to control it. With the update to version 4.31, the functions have been integrated into the Sync section of the Hue app.
In version 4.31 of the Philips Hue App there is a new mode for the Hue Festavia string light. This allows you to display not only three but five colours as a gradient in gradient mode. In addition to the normal gradient mode, which is also available for other products such as the Philips Hue Gradient Signe, the Festavia already mastered the new and previously exclusive “Diffuse” mode “out of the box”.
I actually haven't written about the new Philips Hue Festavia string light for two weeks, so let's change that today. I couldn't bring myself to do an ultimate test yet, also because I don't know yet how exactly to evaluate the product. But I can already answer one question: I like the fairy lights very much.
I was able to tell you a few weeks ago that Philips Hue is planning to kill off the Sync app as well, following the end of the Bluetooth app. Instead of a separate app for the Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box, the entire functionality is to be integrated into the normal Hue app.
It has been more than a year since Philips Hue introduced dynamic scenes. Since the launch in September 2021, numerous functions have been added, such as speed adjustment or, most recently, automatic activation. As I have now learned, there should soon be another improvement that actually also has major implications for practice.
For years, users with large Hue installations have been tormenting themselves with an annoying problem: Philips Hue's Alexa Skill only allows the connection to one bridge. A second bridge can only be linked to Alexa in a roundabout way. A fairly simple solution is the BridgeWrapper Skill by Sascha Schmidt, with which you can easily link several bridges and the associated accounts.
Electricity costs have become a big issue in recent months. Many of us already have to pay more each month, which naturally raises the question of whether a gimmick like Philips Hue is even necessary? Of course, you don't necessarily have to light up your garden just because it looks nice.
We have been waiting for the Natural Light feature in the Hue app since 2021. Earlier this year, I was able to tell you that the new feature is coming later. Then in July it was briefly available, but it was a bug and not an intended release of the feature.
FabianLeave a Comment on Community question of the week: How much power do Gradient products consume? The string light has raised questions auf Deutsch lesen The string light has raised questions
Yesterday I reported that the new Philips Hue Festavia light chain always consumes between 16 and 17 watts of power, regardless of whether you have white or coloured light activated at 1 or 100 percent. This is partly due to the fact that voltage must be applied to each LED at all times and the LED segments are connected in a series-parallel combination.
