Philips Hue White & Colour Ambiance Starter Kit: Smart Bulb 3x Pack LED [B22 Bayonet Cap] incl. Dimmer Switch and Bridge. Works with Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple HomeKit.

Phillips Hue White and colour ambience Starter Kit and Hue White and colour ambience Go portable light became great pre-Halloween additions to our ongoing house refurbishment. The box arrived with everything required for quick set up: 3 bulbs, a dimmer switch and Hue Bridge. I had previous issue with electric Philips toothbrush which I’ve bought from Boots. It came with a euro plug and I had to use travel adapter every time I wanted to charge it. My concern was that I’ll have the same issue with Hue Bridge. But luckily it arrived with a nicely designed plug that could be easily transformed to be used with both UK and euro sockets.The Hue bulbs are great and clearly do what they should. When choosing a kit it’s worse checking which lightbulb socket you’ve got like you would do with any other normal lamp. I’ve used Hue Go lamp to create soft dimmed light in master bedroom and it worked like a charm. Dimmer switch has magnets at the back and therefore was destined to be attached to my fridge. It is easy to operate, but could probably benefit from better design.The Hue app was easy to install. There are multiple settings and options that help to create zones, set up accessories, choose colours or try any of the pre-existing colour themes (though the choice of them is limited), etc. I really like that «Explore» section of the app comes with useful short «How to videos» which make customization smooth and straightforward.To get the most of Hue and set multiple light zones throughout the house one might end up buying quite a few bulbs and accessories and that can well hit the budget. On the other hand with starter kit you get all-in-one solution which, coupled with a nice app, makes the whole process of installation and day-to-day use easy and enjoyable. But don’t forget that red light coming from windows on Halloween does attract quite a lot of «trick or treat» ghosts, vampires and witches :)

Really easy to install and set up. Hue bridge is discreet and doesn't look out and of place near our WiFi router. Connects easily with Alexa.If you have an Echo Plus, then you don't need the Hue Bridge as you can control your device using the built in ZigBee, however functionality is more limited, just on/off, dictate percentage dimming, and some preset colours e.g. red/blue/green. With the Bridge and Hue app though, you have more customisation options. Preset 'scenes' are available. You can also connect with IFTTT to automate a whole bunch of stuff.We've now got this set up to automatically turn the lights on when we arrive home so that we're not fumbling for the lightswitch. Also auto turns off to save energy when we leave. This is all done using location settings on your phone (and can easily be overridden by talking to Alexa if only one of you goes out).Bought on the Black Friday deals as a little home luxury, but finding we're using more of the functions as time goes on, well worth a buy.

Perfect starter kit.I placed all 3 lights in my living room, got an adaptor so I could place the controller over my light switch and had the bridge setup all within 5 - 10 minutes.I love how quick these lights respond and the vast array of colours to choose from using the app. Talking about the app, it has been designed well hence it is easy to use.I have setup widgets on my android phone so I can quickly choose a default colour I have chosen very quickly from my home screen.I love how you can use the app to make it look like your home when you are not using random timers and lights auto on a sunset etc.Whist I do find these lights expensive, the starter kit is a good price.The problem with these lights is its a product you never new you needed and then you just want to do the whole house.One more thing to add. If you have a ring door bell, you can use IFTTT to make your lights flash when someone is at your door.

After seeing these at a friends house I had to have them. Coupled with my Echo and Echo dots it is like living in Star Trek. It was very easy to set up. Just replace your normal bulbs with these, go to the app in your phone and within 5 mins you can control your lights from your phone. Pop into the Alexa app a download the skill and you can turn your lights on and off and change their colour by simply talking to Alexa. Be clear what you want to call each bulb though - I struggled a bit at the start as I was asking Alexa to turn on the “front room” light and it was set up as “living room”.Biggest problem is other people switching off the main light switch so buying some switch covers looks like a must! I have also downloaded the hue disco app (small price) which is great for my little one when she has friends over! I love that you can set the lights to come on when you arrive home - not scrabbling around in the dark anymore!

Bought these lights to work with my Echo and Alexa. It’s really simple to set up, I did it myself ( I am a 61yr old woman) so any one can do it. I love that I can change the colour of the light and it sets the mood I am in.