Following last week’s leaks, 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-cost light strip, new Lightguide decorative bulbs and the Datura ceiling light. The new products are available now, except for the ceiling light, which will be available on September 10.
The Philips Hue Twilight ($279.99 / €279.99) is the company’s first dedicated smart sunrise lamp – a light 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 (though it doesn’t require a subscription). It’s surprising that Hue hasn’t had a solid offering in this space until now. While if you’re connected to a Hue Bridge, you can use the Hue app to set its smart bulbs and lamps to simulate sunsets and sunrises, Twilight has some more specific features designed to help you get a more restful night’s sleep.
Connected via Bluetooth and Zigbee, the lamp contains two individually controllable light sources — a lighting head and a back light that can cast a colorful glow on your wall. Available in white and black, the lamp is 13 inches tall and has two buttons for direct light control, plus you can use the Hue app to set an automatic wake-up that will gradually brighten the lights.
The buttons are customizable, but by default it’s possible to cycle through six new light scenes, including “Arise” and “Sleepy.” The second button triggers the new “Sunset Go to Sleep” automation, which Hue says simulates the light of a sunset. The company says the lamp will also dim to 0.5 percent brightness — the lowest I’ve heard.
HueBlog.com has first hands-on experience with the product and reports that you can also tilt the lamp head almost 180 degrees left and right.
Meanwhile, new The Philips Hue Solo light strip is the company’s cheapest light strip to date. It displays white light or a single color compared to more expensive Hue options that have gradient or colored lighting.
The Solo comes in three sizes – 10ft ($69.99 / €69.99), 16ft ($89.99 / €89.99) and 33ft ($159.99 / €159.99) – and it should be useful for adding light to spaces like cupboards and shelves without spending a fortune. The light strip has 1700 lumens and is cuttable.
Philips Hue Datura is a frameless ceiling light with two individually controllable lights. Available in two sizes – 15-inch ($299.99 / €299.99) and 22.6-inch ($399.99 / €399.99) – it offers white and colored ambient light with customizable color effects, plus possibility to choose between work lighting or ambient lighting.
Hue is also finally expanding its decorative Lightguide line. Full color and white bulbs were launched in 2022, but several models were discontinued a few months later due to quality issues. Now, in addition to the Ellipse bulb, Hue offers the Small Globe ($79.99 / $79.99), the Large Globe ($99.99 / $99.99), the Edison ($79.99 / $79.99) and Triangle ($99.99 / $99.99).
Also new are the 3D printed cone table lamp bases for the bulbs, which cost €60 and come in sage, sand and black, but are not available in the US.
Other EU-only products include the Tento ceiling light – a slimmer version of the Datura with only one light source, available in white light, white atmosphere or white and colour. This one also comes in three sizes, from €69.99 to €199.99. There are also new slim recessed ceiling lights that have 1120 lumens and start at €89.99.
The company is modernizing its GU10 bulbs – and spotlights that use GU10s – at 400 lumens at 4000 Kelvin compared to the previous generation’s 350 lumens. The new models have a longer lifespan of 25,000 hours with 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 have the lights flash and the alarm built into the new Hue cameras will automatically turn off when a motion or contact sensor is triggered while the alarm is activated. Currently, you have to activate the alarm manually in the app. The system will also be able to be set to arm and disarm on a schedule.
While the new additions to the Hue lineup feel largely incremental, they help round out this mature smart lighting ecosystem. Cheaper light strips are especially welcome. It always seemed a little crazy to have to spend over $100 on a closet light to be able to 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 lamps that can also integrate into a smart home, and Hue didn’t have a great offering here. The Hue Go portable table lamp works as a night light, but at 370 lumens, it’s not bright enough. The Twilight reaches 1,380 lumens, so it should be more practical. I look forward to trying it out to see how it works.