How bright are Philips Hue light bulbs?

Smart bulbs generally produce around 800 lumens, which is roughly equivalent to a 60 W incandescent light bulb or a 12 W LED bulb. Philips Hue White ambiance smart bulbs and Philips Hue White and color ambiance smart bulbs offer 800 lumens. Some Philips Hue smart lights are even brighter, and others cast soft, low light only. Use this guide to learn more about light bulb lumens and how to choose the right smart bulbs for each space in your home.

Lumens measure the amount of light that is visible to the human eye from a light source. The higher the lumen rating, the brighter the light will appear. This measurement is different from watts, which indicate the power input of a light bulb rather than its light output. 

Smart LED bulbs consume very little power, especially when compared to incandescent bulbs. An incandescent bulb uses 60 watts to emit 800 lumens. However, a Philips Hue smart bulb delivers the same amount of light using just 9.5 watts.

If you’re lighting a large, functional space — a kitchen or garage, for example — choose a bulb with a brightness higher than 800 lumens, such as the Philips Hue White A21 bulb. Our brightest smart bulb yet, it offers up to 1600 lumens and is equivalent to a 100 W incandescent bulb.

This powerful, bright white light can illuminate an entire room — but with wireless dimming, you can adjust the brightness of the White A21 bulb for different activities and moments throughout the day. Go from full brightness while cooking dinner to a soft, warm white light for gathering around the dining table to enjoy your culinary creation.

Philips Hue smart lights offer a wide range of brightness levels to fit different needs. The smart bulb brightness you need depends on the size of your space and what you use it for, as well as the lamp or fixture in which you want to use the bulb.

Some spaces are better suited to a lower light output. A Philips Hue E14 smart bulb has a maximum light output of 470 lumens, which makes it perfect for creating soft accent lighting with lamps in your living room or bedroom. The Philips Hue Play light bar delivers 530 lumens in 16 million colors, for subtly enhanced ambiance when watching TV, gaming, or relaxing.

There’s a Philips Hue smart bulb, lamp, lightstrip, or fixture to suit every brightness need — and each can be dimmed to create the right light for every mood and moment.