What you need to know
- The new 1600 lumen A21 bulbs from Philips Hue are twice as bright as previous Hue bulbs and cost $20 each.
- These new bulbs will be available near the end of July and will only be available in Warm White.
- Philips is also launching a new 500 lumen Bloom table lamp, as well as a Bluetooth-enabled Hue Lightstrip. Both of these products can change the light color.
Smart bulbs, particularly ones as versatile as the Philips Hue line, have been an amazing addition to any home but have almost always come with one big setback: they've all been a bit limited for consumers who need brighter lights in a room. That's because, up until now, most smart bulbs only came in a 60W-equivalent variety, often measuring around 800 lumens of brightness. Philips Hue is changing that all up by delivering a brand new 1600 lumen A21 warm white bulb. That's the normal screw-in kind that fits in lamps or other standard fixtures.
The only downside to this new bulb is that it only comes in warm white (around 2700K), so you won't be able to change colors on that super bright bulb. Previous leaks also show its power consumption is quite a bit higher than the 800 lumen bulbs but, if that still holds true, it's still less energy usage than even the compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs that many homes used to use. These bulbs can also be dimmed, so if 1600 lumens is too bright, simply turn down the brightness in the Philips Hue app, with a dimmer switch, or with your voice via your favorite virtual assistant.
Philips Hue: everything you need to know
The final pricing for these new bulbs is $20, which is $5 less than the rumored price from a few weeks back, and these bulbs will be available at the end of July. Bright warm white bulbs aren't the only new things that Philips is releasing this summer, though.
An updated Philips Hue Bloom table lamp now features Bluetooth connectivity in an attractive white shell, along with the ability to output up to 500 lumens of white light. Like much of the Hue line, this bulb can change color between 2000K warm white and 6500K cool light with comfortable indirect lighting. The new Bloom lamp is $70 and will also be available at the end of July.
Lastly is the new Philips Hue Lightstrip Plus, which adds Bluetooth connectivity to the line of LED light strips. The 2-meter lightstrip retails for $80, and 1-meter extensions can be purchased for $25 a piece. Target will actually be carrying these new lightstrips this week, while other retailers won't be receiving them until sometime later this summer.
Begin your Hue journey
While you're waiting for these new brighter bulbs to come out, get going with a Philips Hue starter kit, which includes four bulbs and the all-important Philips Hue Bridge to connect them all to the Internet.
