See just how advanced — but easy to set up and use — a Hue smart home is.
Smart lights talk
Anything “smart” needs to be able to receive instructions. Hue smart lights use Zigbee or Bluetooth to communicate, depending on whether you have a Bridge.
With Bridge
Zigbee
The Bridge connects to your router to establish a Zigbee network. Once you install your lights, they can communicate with the Bridge and each other.
Each light is a repeater of the signal, meaning that you can extend the network by adding lights. This is called a mesh network.
Why does the Bridge need to be plugged into my router?
By connecting it to the router, the Bridge becomes part of your home’s local area network (LAN). This allows you to control your system even when the internet is down.
Will Hue lights slow down my Wi-Fi?
Zigbee and Wi-Fi use the same frequency band (2.4 GHz), but Zigbee does not use any Wi-Fi bandwidth to control the lights. So it doesn't matter if you have 1, 10, or 50 lights and accessories — you’re not using additional Wi-Fi bandwidth.
This is especially important if you have lots of lights or if you want to sync your lights to your TV, gaming setup, or music. Wi-Fi lights may lag; Zigbee lights won’t.
Will my lights still work when my internet is down?
Yes! This is one of the greatest advantages of Zigbee vs. Wi-Fi lights. Your lights will still run automations, and you can control them with any switches you have in your home. The app and away-from-home control won’t work.
Without Bridge
Bluetooth
This setup doesn’t have a Bridge, so you use your mobile device to communicate directly with the lights.
As your device moves, the network moves with it. This is why there’s a limit as to how far away you can be from your lights.
If I start with Bluetooth, can I add a Bridge later?
Yes! Because all our lights are Zigbee-capable, you can add a Bridge to your setup any time. All you need to do is plug a Bridge into your router and add it to your setup. Boom – you'll instantly unlock all the advanced features of a Hue smart home.
How do I know which Hue lights are Bluetooth capable?
If a Hue light is Bluetooth capable, it will have the Bluetooth symbol on the packaging, as well as on the light itself. Outdoor lights and some older lights aren’t compatible with Bluetooth.
Smart app control
The Hue app is your command center. Guided setup gets your system ready: tap to instantly control your lights, create automations, and more.
Behind the LED
Beauty and brains. Our lights are researched and designed at our headquarters in the Netherlands.
White
Color temperature: 2700 K
A soft white light that’s easy on the eyes.
White ambiance
Color temperature: 2200-6500 K
All shades of white light, from warm orange to cool blue.
White and color ambiance
Color temperature: 2200–6500 K
+16 million colors
All shades of white light plus full color.
Gradient
Color temperature: 2200–6500 K +16 million colors
Considered RGBWWIC, meaning they can display multiple colors of light simultaneously.
How is Hue different? Hue gradient lights are controlled with groups of LEDs rather than individually, so you always get an even, gradual blend of color.
Are Hue lights RGB/RGBWW/RGBWWIC?
This is a tricky question! We don’t label Hue lights as RGB, RGBWW, and so on because it’s not accurate for our lights. Each light, whether a bulb or a lamp with integrated LEDs, is designed to accurately display light colors. Our engineers may decide to use different LED configurations to achieve the best light effect for that lamp, as well as to ensure color consistency across all our lights.
We don’t design for RGB labels — we design for accuracy.
Designed by experts
Our team of lighting designers envisions, develops, and then refines each scene in the Hue app.
Define the palette
The color of light correlates to the mood of the scene. For example, blue is calm, while purple offers a more “imaginative” ambiance.
Intensify emotions
Saturation, also called intensity, controls the level of emotion. Highly saturated colors make for a highly charged environment.
Finetune the mood
The brighter a scene is, the more energetic it feels. Dimmer scenes feel cozier, especially when the light sources are close to the floor.
Balance the atmosphere
Even if a scene is colorful, we add white light to soften its tones or make it more functional.
How does Hue Sync work?
There are a few ways to sync your lights — the sync box, the Hue app, the Hue Sync desktop app, or the Hue Sync TV app — all of which use a proprietary syncing algorithm.
Video
Computes light color and brightness from the entirety of the screen. It automatically detects and excludes black bars.
Game
Computes light color and brightness from the entirety of the screen. It automatically detects and excludes heads-up display (HUD) elements.
Music
Performs real-time digital processing and analysis on audio signals, generating complementary light color and brightness levels.
*When a bulb displays "Up to" a certain number of lumens in its specifications, it displays the maximum lumen output of the bulb. It shows how bright the bulb can get at 2700 K (White bulbs) or 4000 K (White ambiance or White and color ambiance bulbs). Learn more about brightness.
