Comparing two of the best smart light bulbs

Light bulbs are one of the easiest places to start adding connectivity to your home, so we decided to try out two of the best options. Here’s what you can do with Philips Hue and C by GE, and why you might want one system over the other.

[herbmeister]

"You can even turn it off" -Verge dude.

[elviswjr]

Be careful with Philips Hue. It's a rabbit hole. Once you get started, next thing you know you'll have your house filled with them and you'll buy nothing but Philips Hue because you're stuck in the ecosystem. In fact, I sometimes even forget I bought the starter kit. It's just a standard part of my house now and I just buy a bulb every once in a while. I don't even know how much money I've invested in it at this point, but too much for sure.

[philsiphoneblog]

I love my Philips Hue bulbs. Expensive, but total worth it! :-)

[JonPiehl]

Try Stack Lighting. It's actually smart in that it turns on when you walk into the room, dims and brightens based on how much natural light is in the room, and changes color temperature based on the time of day to match your circadian rhythm. Highly recommended.

[irun_mon]

$200 for light bulbs? I knew it would be expensive but I didn't expect that expensive :/

[mayheamk]

As I understand these smart light bulbs switch needs to be turned on at all times if you want to control it wireless via phone, Would this cause the bulb to use more electricity compared to a non smart one?

[bjornssondj]

I'm curious if the zigbee hub that comes with the philips hue is somehow limited or locked into the philips hue system or if it's can fully control and talk to other standard zigbee products. Smart lightbulbs are just the beginning of zigbee products and I don't want to have to get a new zigbee hub for future smart home stuff I get.. It'd be like having a separate wifi router for different brands of phones or computers..

[roaming]

The strip lighting from the HUE line is a game changer.

[snakeye]

Lifx bulb have way better color saturation than the Phillip Hue and no hub to connect, not sure for the GE tho.

[JustToopic]

I have an important question.
Those C bulbs, when you turn them off and on with a light switch, does the color reset? Because it does so with the hue lights, which makes them annoying; because I like using my light switches, its easier than always getting out an app.

[The-Tech-Man]

I love my hue. I have almost all the products too, and they work great with ifttt or how every the abbreviation goes.

[MentalEdge]

Verge overlooking to make the point that since the things are LED bulbs they last a multiple of years longer than any other type of light source, making them actually quite cost effective.

[jdlvxb]

I think it would also be very relevante to point out the big advantages of Wi-Fi over Bluetooth... My Samsung Bluetooth bulb sucks!

[luchooo]

have you heard about Pulse products? you should do a review of them. they have smartbulbs with Bluetooth that you can dim them. the plus is that they have embedded speakers, WiFi repeaters, and cameras.

[EyeamEJ]

there is hue bulbs that are just white. the starter kit is $79.99 and it comes with the hub and two bulbs. extra bulbs are $29.99 a pair.

[Nate.Wilson]

LIFX Color 1000 guys, best bulbs out there

[pekeevil]

I have in my house osram lightifity bridge I can add philips hue?

[DaveWilliames]

What about LIFX? I feel like that would be a better comparison to the Phillips Hue.

[jetroar]

I like my CybGE, but the Hue bulbs definitely have more settings and functionality. Depends on what you need.

[Tony-Bell]

People I know who own the Philips Hue love it, but I don't get it!? What's the appeal??