Recently Philips Hue reached out with the Hue Play. Having never used the Philips Hue brand, arrangements were made to make this a Smart Home choice with Philips Hue. The best part, it gleefully integrates itself with Google Home and Amazon Alexa.
Recently Philips Hue reached out with the Hue Play. Having never used the Philips Hue brand, arrangements were made to make this a Smart Home choice with Philips Hue. The best part, it gleefully integrates itself with Google Home and Amazon Alexa.The team graciously sent over a care package to start me up on my Philips Hue journey. The care package contains the Philips Hue starter kit, the Hue Play and the Hue Go light.
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The Philips Hue starter kit is what people are familiar with, but Hue offers a lot more in the smart home business. The “kit” is composed of 4 coloured or white light bulbs and the Hue bridge.
The setup is easy as PIE! Identify where you would like to have the light bulbs, screw them in and power on. Alright, this was pretty easy, right? On the next step, go ahead and download the Hue app from the Google Play store or the Apple App Store. It's time to connect the Hue bridge to your home router. Let all the flashing lights settle and then use the Hue app and follow the instructions.
Make sure that your smartphone is also on the same network as the Hue bridge. The app will want to search for the Hue bridge, let it complete this process. Once the Hue bridge and the app have interfaced with each other, the Hue bridge will start to populate the lights in the app.
How easy was this? Easy as PIE!
The Hue Plays (Dual kit) are interestingly different. The goal is to illuminate your entertainment area. You can set them up in a way that will provide an effect that will compliment your space. The manual offers some suggestions as to how you can achieve this; Affixed to the TV, behind the entertainment unit, behind a sofa, a bookcase etc.
Adding additional lights is just as wonderfully simple. Plug them in, open the app, add lights and wait a minute or two and done.
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I installed the Philips Hue Play in two locations in my place. I have one set up in the bookcase where the TV sits. The light reflects on the wall and provides a glow. The other part of the Hue Play sits on the floor beside the sofa. The effect gives a cliché redlight district lounge vibe. Of course, my place isn't full of velvet sofa's, rugs and drapery.
The atmosphere that you can create entirely depends on your imagination. The redlight district feeling with a dirty martini (shaken not stirred) is something of a boudoir effect which I enjoy a lot when hosting a more classy party.
On the other end, sometimes we just want to change it up and turn the place into a night club. The Hue Sync then comes into play! Download the app from the Hue website and install it on your laptop, desktop computer to have the beat of the music sync to your lights.
You can achieve all this with some creativity and the Philips Hue.
Portable lights from Hue are also a thing! The Hue Go light is half a sphere that is also smart. It connects in the Hue app just like all the others. The difference is that you can charge it and take it with you. The button behind it allows you to use it with predefined settings.
I'm enjoying using it as a source of light for pictures or creating a splash of light for my desk.
All these different lights can all be set up in a way that can bring a colourful scene to your home. Connect, setup, create and manage all the different aspect of your space.
