The main advantage of the Philips Hue Lux is the low price, but with the costs pretty much equalized nowadays, is it still worth considering over the Philips Hue White?
Smart lighting has never been more accessible, and below we break down exactly what each bulb has to offer. Let’s dive into the details!
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Philips Hue vs. Lux — Easy Comparison Chart
| Philips Hue White | Philips Hue Lux | |
|---|---|---|
| Color | Soft White | Soft White |
| Brightness | 750 lumens | 750 lumens |
| Life hours | 22.8 years (based on 3 hours per day) | 13.7 years (based on 3 hours per day) |
| Light appearance | 2700K | 2200K – 6500K |
| Energy used | 9.5-Watt | 9 watt |
| IFTTT | Via Philips Hue Bridge 2.0 | Via Philips Hue Bridge 2.0 |
| Apple HomeKit | Via Philips Hue Bridge 2.0 | Via Philips Hue Bridge 2.0 |
| Amazon Alexa | Via Philips Hue Bridge 2.0 | Via Philips Hue Bridge 2.0 |
| Google Assistant | Via Philips Hue Bridge 2.0 | Via Philips Hue Bridge 2.0 |
| Microsoft Cortana | Via Philips Hue Bridge 2.0 | Via Philips Hue Bridge 2.0 |
Last update on 2023-09-22 at 22:30 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Philips Hue vs. Lux — What’s Different?
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Brightness – While different brightnesses are suited to different situations, a brighter bulb means you’ll need fewer in order to fully light up a room. The Philips Hue White has 840 lumens which is significantly more than the 750 lumens of the Hue Lux. Both bulbs get pretty bright, but when you’re looking for the brightest light you can’t do much better than the Hue White.
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Philips Hue Bridge – This aspect of the bulbs only really makes a difference if you buy the Philips Hue Lux bulbs in a kit. There are two different generations of the Philips Hue Bridge — the first generation which is round, and the second generation which is square. The Philips Hue Lux kit comes with the first generation bridge which still works with pretty much any Philips product. However, the first generation doesn’t offer support for HomeKit, so it’s important to keep that in mind if your smart home is tied to an Apple ecosystem.
It’s not always easy to tell the difference between the various Philips Hue generations at first glance. For a closer look, head on over to our Philips Hue Gen 1 vs. Gen 2 vs. Gen 3 comparison where we break down the benefits and drawbacks of each bulb.
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Life-Span – When you invest in a smart lighting setup, you want to do so with the knowledge that it will last for years to come. With the Philips Hue and Hue Lux, you’ll be getting more than a decade of use out of either bulb (assuming 3 hours of use per day.) With that said, the lifespan of the Hue White is listed at 22.8 years vs. the Hue Lux’s 13.7 years which is a pretty significant difference.
It’s also important to keep in mind that, for many, lights will be on longer than three hours a day. Taking into account your planned amount of usage will help you get a sense of whether the lifespan of the Hue Lux is good enough, or if you ought to opt for the Hue White Gen 3.
What do Philips Hue and Lux Have in Common?
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Bulb Color – Philips Hue is a product family that encompasses a lot of different lighting styles, and the base Philips Hue bulbs come in three different styles: White, White Ambiance, and White & Color Ambiance. The Philips Hue Lux is essentially equivalent to the Philips Hue White because it’s only capable of emitting white color — so for the sake of easy comparison we’ll be taking a look at the Philips Hue White and the Philips Hue Lux.
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Require Philips Hue Bridge – Like the rest of the Hue product family, both the Philips Hue and Lux require a Philips Hue Bridge in order to function. Without the bridge, the smart features that form the main draw of the Hue product family won’t be able to function. With a single bridge, you can control your entire Hue ecosystem as well as connect to a number of other smart products, which we discuss in further detail down in the Integration section. Both bulbs communicate with the bridge via ZigBee technology, which is a standard smart home frequency and generally considered to be more reliable than WiFi.
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App Control – As both bulbs have the same base smart functionality, you’ll be able to control every minute detail from the Philips Hue app. As an extra perk, you can adjust all settings from wherever you happen to be, as long as you have an internet connection. Whether you’re turning lights on before you head home from work or turning off that stray lamp you forgot before vacation, you’ll have complete control anywhere you can get online.
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Work with the Rest of Philips Hue Family – Part of the appeal of the Philips Hue family is that all the products work well with one another. Whichever bulb you happen to choose, you can rest assured that it will be easy to expand and integrate with other Hue products — perhaps with some additional color options to take advantage of Philips Entertainment. With products ranging from Lightstrips to lamps like the Philips Hue Go, Bloom, and Iris, you’ll have a large lineup of lighting solutions to choose from.
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Voice Assistants – The app may be convenient, but nothing beats being able to control your new Philips Hue or Lux completely hands-free. Both products work seamlessly with Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, and Google Home, so you’ll be able to adjust pretty much any setting with just a simple voice command. The utility becomes even more apparent when you consider the supported products that can take advantage of the same voice controller — but more on that below.
Also, just make sure you use the Philips Hue Bridge 2.0 (square-shaped bridge) for full compatibility with smart voice assistants.
Last update on 2023-09-22 at 22:30 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Philips Hue and Lux in a Smart Home Environment
As mentioned above, both the Philips Hue and Lux work well with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Apple HomeKit. One of the main benefits of the Philips ecosystem, however, is the compatibility with the various “friends of Hue.” This catch-all term refers to the many smart products and smart home controllers that expand the functionality of your existing Hue lighting setup.
Some notable brands that interface well with the Philips Hue and Lux are Razer, Logitech, and Nest — offering everything from home security to entertainment that can interface seamlessly with your Philips bulbs. IFTTT support also makes it easy to set conditional triggers that can do cool things like flash bulbs when you get an email, or dynamically adjust lighting levels based on the time of day.
Long story short, the Philips Hue and Lux will both integrate well with an existing smart home setup, or serve as a base from which you can expand with various compatible devices.
How to make Philips Hue and Lux Even Better?
While the Philips Hue and Lux have a lot of features built in by default, you can expand the functionality with additional accessories. Products like a Dimmer, Tap Switch, and Sensor afford you greater control over your lighting. Being able to set the perfect mood lighting with a dimmer is more than worth the extra cost in our opinion. The sensor adds convenience and energy savings by keeping the room lit up when you’re around and dark when you’re not.
Additionally, there are a variety of ways you can expand your Philips Hue ecosystem. From lightstrips to lamps, the product family continues to grow and the entire lineup works well with all the other products.
Which Would We Choose for Our Home?
Honestly, the Philips Hue and Lux are pretty similar in a lot of ways. You will notice a difference in brightness, however, if you were to connect both bulbs to the Hue Bridge 2.0, as the Hue White is a little bit brighter.
One other aspect to keep in mind is that the Philips Hue Lux Starter Kit comes with a Hue Bridge 1.0, which will lock you out from HomeKit. This may be a dealbreaker for those looking for an easy setup and who were interested in using Siri to control their lighting, as it requires purchasing the bridge separately from the Lux lights in order to get everything to work seamlessly.
Previously, the main advantage of the Hue Lux was the fact that it was cheaper, but recently the bulbs have been discounted so that both product families cost pretty much the same.
In light of these aspects, we wholeheartedly recommend going for the Philips Hue White. You won’t be disappointed!
Last update on 2023-09-22 at 22:30 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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