is a senior reviewer focused on smart home and connected tech, with over twenty years of experience. She has written previously for Wirecutter, Wired, Dwell, BBC, and US News.
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Smart lighting company Philips Hue debuted a bunch of new products this week at the IFA tech show in Berlin, Germany, and most of them are available now. The launch, which is the biggest in the company’s history, includes cheaper smart lights, a new bridge for its Zigbee ecosystem, a redesigned line of light strips, and new software features and connectivity capabilities. Hue also introduced its first video doorbell and an upgraded camera to its Hue Secure line.
Hue’s third-generation bridge arrives
The Hue Bridge Pro ($89.99 / €89.99) is a total redesign of the ecosystem’s central hub and the first upgrade to Hue’s bridge in 10 years. It connects to Hue’s Zigbee bulbs and accessories to add features like lighting scenes, dynamic effects, schedules, and out-of-home control. Sporting a new black look, it has a faster processor, more memory, and increased capacity. Designed to appeal to Hue super-users, it can connect 150 lights and 50 accessories (a soft limit) — that’s three times the capacity of the V2 bridge, which is not being retired.
The new Hue Bridge Pro (center) is the third generation of the company’s Zigbee hub. Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge
Additionally, the Pro can store over 500 custom lighting scenes and provide faster response times, according to Signify, Hue’s parent company. Its Hue Chip Pro enables the company’s new Hue MotionAware feature, which turns your existing Hue lights into motion sensors for motion-activated lighting and security features. The Pro finally brings Wi-Fi (2.4GHz) to a Hue bridge, so it doesn’t have to sit next to your router.
There’s a migration tool that will transfer all the settings of your current Bridge with a few taps. The company says support for combining multiple bridges into a single Bridge Pro will arrive before the end of the year. The Hue Bridge Pro is available now for $89.99.
New line of low-cost lights
Well known for being one of the pricier, premium smart lighting companies, Philips Hue has announced a new entry-level lineup of smart lights, which it says is designed to appeal to new smart home users.
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