Signify has taken the covers off of a bunch of new smart lights – the most interesting, in terms of looks and features, being the Philips Hue Twilight; the brand’s first dedicated sleep and wake-up lamp.
Designed to work in harmony with your circadian rhythm, Twilight is designed to mimic the wide palette of colors of mornings and evenings. The idea is that it can help regulate more natural sleeping patterns.
It’s not a new idea by any stretch – circadian lamps have been available for years – and you can, of course, already use smart home routines and things like Apple’s Adaptive Lighting to create natural lighting conditions with Hue (and other smart) bulbs.
But it’s Hue’s first crack at a dedicated device and, as such, there are a few extra features thrown in to set it apart from basic brightness and tone changes.
The Twilight light itself, with a design that has strong Handmaid’s Tale vibes, boasts two individually controllable light sources; an illumination head and a back light featuring Hue’s new ColourCast technology.
The lamp features two customisable buttons to control, so there’s no need for an additional Hue Tap Dial or Hue Smart Button, that let you cycle through six new light scenes such as ‘Arise’ or ‘Sleepy’, or trigger the new Sunset Go to sleep automation, which simulates a sunset.
You can also create a wake-up automation, to have light brighten gradually so you gently wake you up with the feeling of the early morning sun. Philips Hue Twilight dims to 0.5% brightness, which is the lowest I’ve ever come across.
Philips Hue Twilight doesn’t come cheap though, it’s £249.99 in the UK, $279.99 Stateside. It’s available to order now.
Signify has also taken the covers off of four new Philips Hue Lightguide bulbs. The Lightguide range initially launched in 2022 and is perhaps the most stylish smart light bulb from the market leader yet, but the originals were plagued with issues and some were discontinued.
We’re hoping there’s more success with the new range because the new handblown glass shapes – small globe, large globe, triangle and Edison – all look great.
Next up from the Hue launch bonanza is the Hue Datura ceiling light, which takes on the Aqara Ceiling Light T1M.
Like Aqara’s effort, the Datura is made up of two different lights: the main one for illuminating a room and an under ring that creates a nice ambient effect around the light itself on the ceiling.
Like the T1M, these two lights are independently addressable meaning not only can you create some cool effects, but you could also use that outer ring for automations through the likes of Alexa and HomeKit; think having it glow amber if the doorbell rings, or shine red if the smoke alarm is triggered.
It’s super expensive compared to the $149.99 Aqara though, coming in at $299.99 / £259.99 for the 15-inch model or $399.99 / £349.99 for the 22.6-inch variant.
Finally, Signify has also expanded its lightstrip line-up with the new Solo Lightstrip range, which comes in 3m, 5m and 10m lengths; and has also upgraded its GU10 bulbs, making them brighter – 400 lumens at 4000k compared to the previous generation’s 350 lumens.
All of these shiny new smart lights are available right now direct from Hue.
