Philips Hue guide: Best connected lights to add some style and colour to your home

If you want to add some colour and style to your home then Philips Hue has some very bright ideas. These connected lights, which come in a whole range of styles, link directly to your phone with simple controls then allowing you to switch them on, dim the brightness and change the mood via an array of colours. They can also be set to come on automatically at different times of the day, mimic the sunrise to help you wake up on those dark winter mornings and link up to your smart speaker for full controls using your voice.

There’s a whole swathe of Hue products to choose from including bulbs, lamps and waterproof options to light up your garden. Here are Express.co.uk’s pick of the best to help get you started.

PHILIPS HUE: WHAT YOU NEED

Before you start filling your home with colourful lightning there are a few things you’re going to need. Firstly, Philips Hue works via your home broadband and a smartphone so if you’re living in the dark ages and don’t use these products then you’ll have to stick with standard bulbs from the DIY store.

Next up, you’ll need a Philips Hue Bridge with this device plugging directly into your broadband router. This little box basically controls the whole Philips system in your home and allows all the extra bulbs you’ll want to add to stay connected.

The Bridge costs around £50 although there are starter bundles available which also include some bulbs as well.

Once you’re all connected you are good to go and here’s our pick of the best Hue lights.

HUE LIGHTSTRIPS

Hue Lightstrips from £69.99 • BUY IT FROM AMAZON HERE

These bendy strip lights are a brilliant way of lighting dark corners of a room, tucking behind a bookcase or popping on top of kitchen cabinets to add some stunning effects to your room.

They come in different lengths including 2 and 5 meters and are shipped with an adhesive back to help them stay stuck in place. The fact they are fully flexible makes them incredibly versatile and really easy to install.

Hue even makes a fully weatherproof version to help add some colour to your garden.

HUE PLAY LIGHT BARS

From £115 • BUY IT FROM AMAZON HERE

Make your home office or gaming set-up a bit more exciting with the Play Light Bars. These mini lights will sit neatly behind a monitor or TV and can be changed to any colour of the rainbow – in fact, like all Hue bulbs there over 15 million variations.

They come in a white or black design and can be purchased on their own or as a pair.

HUE GO PORTABLE LIGHT

From £69.99 • BUY IT FROM AMAZON HERE

Got a dark area of a room without a plug or want your dining room table to feel a bit more atmospheric? The Go Portable Light features a battery pack inside which will keep the bulb glowing for up to 24 hours before it needs a refill.

Like most Hue Lights you can change the colour, brightness and even set it to come on at certain times of the day or night.

HUE PLAY GRADIENT TUBE

From £159.99 • BUY IT FROM ARGOS HERE

This clever light will make movies far more immersive. Pop it behind your TV and it will mimic what’s on the screen with the colours changing in perfect sync with the action. There are two sizes to choose from depending on how big your telly is and you can pick either a white or black casing around the light.

The only thing to note about this device is that it requires a Hue Sync Box to work.

HUE BULBS

Two-pack from £79.99 • BUY THEM FROM AMAZON HERE

If you simply want to give Hue a try then you can’t go wrong with one of the firm’s standard bulbs.

A pack of two will set you back around £80 with them screwing into your existing fittings. You’ll then get all the same great features including smart voice controls, timers and switching the colour to any in the rainbow.