The Philips Hue lighting system is very complete. Light bulbs with different connections, lamps, light strips and various accessories make up its ecosystem. Although Signify, the company behind this, has other smart lighting solutions (such as its Wiz line), Philips Hue stands out for being the most advanced.
Thanks to its Bridge (a kind of smart box connected to the router), the control features of your home system go beyond its walls: you can control the lights even without being in the same city, all through the Internet. In recent years, beyond the colors, powers and other system pluses, they have focused a lot on entertainment.
The new Philips Hue Play Gradient Lightstrip that we review on this occasion, fits into this same trend. Previously Philips Hue introduced lights that installed on your PC monitor to enhance your gaming experience, as well as the Sync box (which we had the opportunity to review), which linked your multimedia content with your lighting system. Keep it on hand, because Sync box will find a great ally in this new light strip.
Philips Hue Play Gradient Lightstrip: first impression
At first glance this light strip looks much more solid and much more professional than other Philips Hue light strip models. The previous, more economical models were aimed more at being decorative and “background” lights (they were ideal behind or under certain furniture). In this case we are looking at a light strip designed for entertainment: to transform your TV into a synchronized light show.
The Philips brand, in its line of smart televisions, has something like this: the Ambilight line of televisions. But what Signify is presenting to us, in its Philips HUE line, is a much better success: because thanks to this special tape, any television will be able to have its own synchronized lighting system.
What does this mean? That the lights will be able to follow the colors of the screen, expanding the experience with effects towards the wall behind the television (which generates a more immersive effect).
The experience, from the technical point of view
The colors flow together naturally and project light onto the wall to create a unique effect behind the TV – this is called the “Surround Lighting Effect”. Something similar to 3D or 7.1 sound effects, but in lights.
With a 45-degree light projection, the Play Gradient Lightstrip reacts to content across the entire screen in real time, creating a captivating experience while watching TV or playing video games. How do you manage to read that content? You will require the Sync Box and the Bridge that we mentioned previously.
Remembering the structure of the ecosystem
Don’t forget that to have the Philips Hue experience in your home, you will have to gradually build an ecosystem. For us, the best “starter pack” is the one that includes 3 HUE vials and the HUE BRIDGE. The Hue Bridge is, in simple terms, a controller box that connects to your router.
You can use this light strip without the Bridge, but the more elements of the ecosystem you have, the more complete your experience will be.
Thanks to it, you will be able to control your light bulbs and other products from the Philips Hue line via Wi-Fi, whether you are at home or not. All through your smartphone, be it IOS or Android. That is the first step. Then there’s the next level: purchasing the Sync Box.
As we detailed a few years ago, in the review of that device, the Sync Box allows us to make a light show with your content. Connected to the TV, console, music player, the sync box is able to recognize the source of the content and make your lights (be it the ones around you, or in this case the light strip on your TV) react in time with movies, video games or music. This gives you the aforementioned “content immersion” experience through the lights.
Revolutionary Hue Sync technology captures the content you’re watching or playing and translates it into an immediate light sequence to create a room-filling color experience.
Lights to a new level
If you want to take the leap with the Philips Hue Play Gradient Lightstrip, it is specially designed for television entertainment. We tested the LED strip, which comes in its version for 55′ inch televisions. Includes mounting brackets for quick and easy installation. Adheres easily.
With it you will access up to 16 million colors. Some connectivity information: with a Bridge you will have broad access to functions. However, it does not require Bridge to connect to Google home or Alexa (although we insist that without it, the experience is more limited).
Likewise, it requires a Sync Box to link with the TV and interact with the content. This, let’s say if you want to give it immersive use and not simply “illuminate” the back of your TV in one color (which is also valid). Everything will depend on the use and experience you want to achieve, but without a doubt, it is a device with great potential, which we recommend you make the most of.