Following leaks last week, smart lighting company Philips Hue has confirmed it has a new sunrise lamp called Twilight. The company also announced several other new products, including a lower-priced light strip, new decorative Lightguide lamps and the Datura ceiling lamp. The new products are available now, except for the ceiling lamp, which will be available on September 10.
The Philips Hue Twilight ($279.99 / €279.99) is the company’s first dedicated smart sunrise light – one designed to help you fall asleep and wake up more naturally. At $280, it’s even more expensive than the very expensive Hatch Restore 2 (although it doesn’t require a subscription). It’s surprising that Hue hasn’t had a solid offering in this area so far. While if you’re connected to a Hue Bridge you can use the Hue app to set the smart lights and bulbs to simulate sunset and sunrise, the Twilight has some more specific features designed to help you with a more restful sleep.
The Bluetooth and Zigbee connected lamp contains two individually controllable light sources: a lighting head and a backlight that can cast a colorful glow on your wall. Available in white and black, the lamp is 30 centimeters tall and has two buttons to control the light directly, and you can use the Hue app to set wake-up automations that gradually brighten the lights.
The buttons are customizable, but by default you cycle through six new light scenes, including ‘Arise’ and ‘Sleepy’. The other button activates a new ‘Sunset Go to Sleep’ automation that Hue says simulates the light of a sunset. The company says the lamp can also be dimmed to a brightness of 0.5 percent, which is the lowest I’ve ever heard of.
HueBlog.com has done the first hands-on with the product and reports that you can also rotate the head of the lamp almost 180 degrees to the left and right.
Meanwhile the new Philips Hue Solo light strip is the company’s cheapest light strip yet. It displays white light or a single color compared to Hue’s more expensive options with gradient or color mood lighting.
The Solo is available in three sizes – 10 feet ($69.99 / €69.99), 16 feet ($89.99 / €89.99) and 33 feet ($159.99 / €159.99) – and should come in handy should be able to add light to spaces like cabinets and shelves without spending a fortune. The light strip has 1700 lumens and is cuttable.
The Philips Hue Datura is a frameless ceiling lamp with two individually controllable lamps. It’s available in two sizes – 15-inch ($299.99 / €299.99) and 22.6-inch ($399.99 / €399.99) – and features white and colored mood lighting with customizable color effects, plus the option to Choose between task lighting or mood lighting.
Hue is also finally expanding its decorative Lightguide line. The full-color and white statement lamps were launched in 2022, but several models were discontinued a few months later due to quality issues. Now, in addition to the elliptical lamp, Hue offers a small globe ($79.99 / €79.99), a large globe ($99.99 / €99.99), Edison ($79.99 / $79.99) and a triangle ($99.99 / €99.99).
Also new are the 3D printed Cone table lamp bases for the lamps, which cost €60 and are available in sage, sand and black, but are not available in the US.
Other products launching exclusively in the EU include the Tento ceiling lamp – a slimmer version of the Datura with just a single light source, available in white light, white ambiance or white and ambiance color. The Tento is also available in three sizes, starting at €69.99 and going up to €199.99. There are also new slim recessed ceiling lamps with 1120 lumens and starting at €89.99.
The company is in the process of upgrading it GU10 lamps – and spotlights that use the GU10 – up to 400 lumens at 4000 Kelvin, compared to the 350 lumens of the previous generation. The new models have a longer lifespan of 25,000 hours with a 50 percent lower standby power consumption.
Hue is also updating its recently launched Philips Hue Secure security system. This summer, users will finally be able to flash their lights and set the alarm built into Hue’s new cameras to automatically sound when a motion or contact sensor is triggered while the alarm is armed. Currently you have to manually activate the alarm in the app. The system can also be set to arm and disarm on a schedule.
While the new additions to Hue’s lineup feel largely incremental, they help round out this mature smart lighting ecosystem. The cheaper light strips are especially welcome. It always seemed a little crazy to have to spend over $100 to light a cabinet just so you could control all your lights in the Hue app.
It’s very expensive, but the Twilight lamp is an interesting move. There aren’t many sunrise lights that also integrate with a smart home, and Hue hasn’t had a great offering here. The Hue Go portable table lamp can be used as a bedside lamp in no time, but at 370 lumens it is not bright enough. The Twilight reaches 1,380 lumens, so it should be more practical. I’m looking forward to testing it out to see how it performs.