Nearly each good dwelling firm you possibly can consider presents at the least one good plug: Amazon, Govee, TP-Hyperlink, Wyze, and others all make plugs for including good to dumb units. Philips Hue, the long-reigning high canine within the good lighting area, additionally presents a wise plug within the creatively named Philips Hue Good Plug. At $35, it is an excellent good plug — for those who’re already arrange with Hue anyway.
With restricted performance with out a Hue Bridge and a comparatively excessive MSRP, it is not straightforward to suggest the Philips Hue Good Plug to anybody who hasn’t already invested in Hue lighting. If you have already got your own home outfitted in Hue gear, nonetheless, it is a good way so as to add smarts to any lights that are not suitable with good bulbs.
- Integrations: Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, Philips Hue, IFTTT
- Present ranking: 15A
- Value: 35 USD
- Electrical ranking: 1800W
- Hub Required: None
- Devoted app required: Sure
- Constructed-in surge safety: None
- Nominal voltage: 120v
- Integrates seamlessly into the Hue ecosystem
- Straightforward to make use of with easy setup
- Costly for a wise plug
- No built-in Wi-Fi; management choices are restricted with out a Hue Bridge
Value and availability
The Philips Hue Good Plug retails for $35. You possibly can seize one most locations that carry different Hue merchandise, together with Amazon, Greatest Purchase, and Walmart. The plug can also be obtainable immediately from Philips.
Design and {hardware}
The Philips Hue Good Plug is as plain as they arrive: It is a white rectangle with legs on one facet and a socket on the opposite. There’s a single energy button on the left facet and a discreet Philips brand on high. It is about the identical measurement and form as most different good plugs of its sort, which implies it is not very noticeable when linked to {most electrical} retailers.
There’s built-in Bluetooth and Zigbee connectivity, however the Hue Good Plug doesn’t have Wi-Fi. It’s managed both immediately by your telephone, by a close-by good speaker or by Hue’s devoted Bridge machine. The US model of the plug is rated for 15 amps (and as much as 1,800 watts), however Hue emphasizes that it is particularly supposed to regulate older lighting merchandise. The Good plug can technically deal with units comparable to most espresso pots and kettles, however it’s expressly not made for that function. It has an working vary of 32 to 104 levels Fahrenheit, however it’s supposed for indoor use solely.
Setup, performance and app
The Hue Good Plug is managed with the Philips Hue app. Setup is a breeze. You should utilize the plug with or with out a Philips Hue Bridge, and both manner, simply plug within the Good Plug, navigate to the Hue app’s add equipment display and observe the easy directions on the display. As soon as added to the Hue app, you possibly can combine the Good Plug into your current rooms and light-weight scenes. The Hue app additionally connects to Google House and Alexa, which lets you add the Hue Good Plug to routines that embody units from different producers.
You possibly can’t management brightness with the Hue Good Plug, even on lights that help dimming; it is just on/off. However you should utilize it for e.g. to have commonplace lights activate concurrently your different Hue lights each evening (as an alternative of leaping out to Hue’s spendy Festavia lights). In fact, you can even flip the plug on and off as wanted, both utilizing the Hue app or a linked digital assistant. The Hue app permits you to assign the plug a customized title and your selection of Hue’s ready-made icons to raised match the machine you are controlling.
Nonetheless, the expertise will range based mostly on the way you management the plug. If you do not have a Hue Bridge, the Hue Good Plug is managed by way of Bluetooth. Through the use of the plug on this manner, you lose the flexibility to regulate it from outdoors your own home. You possibly can pair the Philips Hue Good Plug to a Nest or Echo speaker or show for voice instructions at dwelling, or pair the plug with a Hue-compatible change (like Hue’s $28 Good Dimmer Swap) for flexibility at dwelling, however you will not be capable of flip the plug on or off utilizing your telephone except you’re inside Bluetooth vary.
Utilizing Hue units with out a bridge additionally means you possibly can’t assign lights and plugs to rooms within the Hue app, and limits the sorts of routines you possibly can arrange (you possibly can’t use automated dawn or sundown occasions as triggers over Bluetooth , e.g). The full variety of units you possibly can add can also be restricted.
Including a Hue Bridge to the combination opens up considerably extra flexibility, lifting Hue’s 10-device restrict on Bluetooth management and enabling management of your Hue units outdoors of your own home. I already had a Hue Bridge so my expertise has been best; The Hue Good Plug has built-in very properly into my good lighting setup.
When you do not personal a Hue Bridge and don’t have any intention of shopping for one, the Hue Good Plug in all probability is not for you. Chances are you’ll need to contemplate different connectors that provide built-in Wi-Fi.
Whilst you ought to by no means purchase devices based mostly on how they may work sooner or later, for what it is value, it seems just like the Matter commonplace throughout producers will not change the state of affairs a lot right here. Whereas there are plans to replace the Hue Bridge to be Matter suitable, the Good Plug would not help the wire communication Matter works over, and Hue tells me there are not any Matter-specific updates deliberate for the Good Plug itself.
Competitors
At $35, the Philips Hue Good Plug is a little more costly than most competing choices. The $25 Amazon Good plug is just barely bigger than Hue’s and presents integration into Alexa’s good dwelling routines in addition to distant management over Wi-Fi with out the necessity for a bridge machine. TP-Hyperlink additionally makes an identical plug with Wi-Fi connectivity you could get for underneath $20 — additionally with out the necessity for a hub. It may be built-in into both the Google House or Alexa ecosystem and might both be used for distant management and routine integration.
Must you purchase it?
When you’re not all-in on Hue, and you do not intend to be sooner or later, the Hue Good Plug in all probability will not be a very good match for you. With out built-in Wi-Fi connectivity, the plug’s performance is proscribed except you may have a Hue Bridge; with out one, you possibly can’t management the plug from outdoors your own home, and also you miss out on a few of Hue’s helpful performance like dawn and sundown routine triggers.
Even for those who’re a Hue loyalist, the added comfort of controlling the plug from the identical app as the remainder of your lights won’t be definitely worth the greater worth in comparison with competing choices, particularly for those who’re prepared to fiddle with Google Assistant or Alexa routines that may combine units from a number of producers.
For individuals who are already properly established within the Hue ecosystem and need to add a non-smart bulb suitable mild supply to current Hue setups, the Hue Good Plug is nice. Setup may be very easy and intergeneration is seamless. I’ve used mine to regulate a set of string lights together with devoted Hue bulbs, and to date it has been a super expertise: the plug works like some other Hue mild contained in the Hue app, and I’ve had no points with automation or distant management. It won’t be probably the most reasonably priced selection, however for the appropriate particular person, the Hue Good Plug is a good addition to Hue good lighting setups.
