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TL;DR A UK retailer has listed the unannounced Philips Hue Play Sync Box Lite.
The new version offers only a single HDMI input, among other compromises.
The Lite model is listed at retailer Very for £109.99 compared to the existing premium model’s £299.99.
The Philips Hue Play HDMI sync box 8K lets you synchronize your smart lights with what’s happening on your TV to create a “fully immersive light syncing experience” (as Hue puts it), matching the color and brightness of your smart lights with your video content in real time. It’s cool, but it’s also wildly expensive at an MSRP of $385. Now, though, it looks like Philips Hue is set to release a new, stripped-back version at a more affordable price.
As spotted by Hueblog, UK retailer Very has published a listing for an unannounced sync box from Philips, the Hue Play Sync Box Lite. The Lite version is shown as having one HDMI input (to the current model’s four), meaning you’ll be limited to syncing lights with a single device’s video. It’ll apparently be much less expensive, though: the Hue Play Sync Box Lite is listed at £109.99, about a third the price of the 8K model’s £299.99 UK MSRP.
The Lite version comes with a couple other trade-offs, too. It’ll top out at 4K resolution, for one, and only supports up to a 60Hz refresh rate at that resolution. It seems 120Hz is still an option when viewing content at 1080p or lower. Hueblog also notes that the Lite model lacks support for IR remote input, though that’s not much of a loss when there aren’t multiple inputs to cycle through.
Philips Hue hasn’t officially announced the new Hue Play Sync Box Lite yet, but given the box’s new listing on Very is complete with specs, imagery, and pricing info, it seems like we could be hearing more about it any time now. Assuming the Lite version will be sold stateside, its listed UK price of £109.99 could shake out to about $130, US.
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