Philips Hue

Philips Hue is an app with which you can create a unique atmosphere at your home using Philips Hue lights. It’s gonna cost you, but you’ll be pleased and this app is necessary for using these lamps. 

You can download Philips Hue for iOS 12.0 or later and for Android 6.0 or later. Also, it’s compatible with your smartwatch.

Design 4/5

Very futuristic and sleek design but too bright for some people's taste. But it’s expected from the lights control app. It’s very simple and easy to use. There are no unnecessary buttons and icons. But the existing ones are a bit too small, so you might miss them. 

Usability 3/5

The main problem with using this app is those 16 million colors that are promised by the developer. There are indeed many-many colors here, but in order to use them at their full potential, you have to use a bigger screen, like the one of a tablet. This way, you can use more of the given colors. Otherwise, you can't experience all of them through the small phone’s screen.

Another unpleasant thing is that when you need to create another routine or a scene in the same room you’ll have to create a separate room in the app for this. Because you can’t create several routines in one room here so far. Meaning that if you want to have two light alarms in one room and go back and forth between them, you’ll have to create a new scene for your bedroom. And you can’t save your previous routines, so if a guest comes and makes a light scene for them, they’d delete an existing one, and then you'll have to start over.

Features 4/5

Let’s talk a little bit about the lamps first. Because you need to buy those before installing this app. And here’s why you should buy them despite their price. They will serve you forever (if you have a good wiring system at your home) — 10 years of non-stop working to be exact.

As for the app, you can get up to 50 of those cool lamps here. You can upload your personal pictures to create a scene of an existing one from about 30 available. You can use the app remotely with the cloud.

In-app Purchases 1/5

The app is free, and there are no purchases available inside the app. You can’t even buy more Philips products with it — you’ll be redirected to their website. There’s no ad-free version available either, and there will be ads, especially if you got it from Google Play.

The Bottom Line

The Philips Hue app isn’t the only app you’ll need to successfully use smart home Philips products. There are many other apps that will help your home-control routine, like Philips Hue Switcher and Hue Essentials. The point is that it could be cool if all your smart home tools were in one app. But if you’re using only Philips smart lights, it’s enough. This app definitely has a variety of fun and cool things you can do with your lights and create a whole new world without leaving the house. But there are still a few small errors that might occur while using this app because it’s a rather new technology.

• Graphics 4
• Gameplay 3
• Controls 4
• Replay Value 1

Pros

Fast working and good app-light bulbs connection;
Truly smart and hi-tech features that will make your home more fun to live in;
Works distantly with Philips cloud and knows when you’re coming home.

Cons

Impossible to create several routines in one room;
Impossible to use all 16 mln of colors;
It might take some time to start properly using it — it’s not an intuitive app.