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Add to SafariWhen comparing Philips Hue vs MagicLightSmart LED Light Bulb, the Slant community recommends Philips Hue for most people. In the question“What are the best smart bulbs?” Philips Hue is ranked 1st while MagicLightSmart LED Light Bulb is ranked 12th. The most important reason people chose Philips Hue is:
The Hue app comes with default color pallets, but you can take control and customize the colors any way you want. The bulbs support up to 16 million different colors covering all areas of the spectrum.
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Wide range of colors
The Hue app comes with default color pallets, but you can take control and customize the colors any way you want. The bulbs support up to 16 million different colors covering all areas of the spectrum.
Pro Supports IFTTT recipes
There are many fun IFTTT App Recipes that you can sync with your phone and Websites. If THIS happens then do THAT to the lights, i.e. IF your team scores a touchdown(ESPN), THEN turn the lights the color of your team.
Pro Tons of utility and customization
Philips has released the Hue API, allowing individual developers to create their own apps that utilize the Hue bulbs. These apps are often more robust than Philips' own app, letting lights change color in sync with music, flickering whenever you get a tweet, or can change colors to reflect the stock market. The possibilities are nearly endless.
Pro Compatible with Philips Ambilight TV
If you have a Philips Ambilight TV, you can hook your Hue lightbulbs up with the TV and the bulbs will change color with what is on the screen, making for a very immersive experience.
Pro Cost-effective
Pro Easy bulb managing
You can select up to 5 bulbs to be part of a group, and a single bulb can be part of multiple different groups. This lets you manage the bulbs room by room, which is much easier than changing each bulb individually.
Pro Lighting modes for any occasion
Through the app, you have access to many lighting modes. From 'disco' which pulses in-beat with the music to timers and configurable color pallets to even selecting a color by using your phone's camera and looking at an object, these lights seem to have it all.
Pro Control the lights from anywhere
Because they use Wi-Fi, these bulbs can be controlled from anywhere as long as you have an internet connection. That means that you can turn your lights on from work if you are expecting a delivery, you can turn them on while you're on vacation to deter buglers and more. Also, it's convenient. You can turn your lights on at home when you leave from work, or by tapping your phone to a NFC tag (if you use third party software and set it up beforehand).
Pro Great at reproducing all colors
Instead of a typical RGB setup, this uses RGBW LEDs. That is, there is a red LED, a green LED, a blue LED, as well as a regular white LED. This allows for more natural whites - regular RGB bulbs try to mix a white color by turning all 3 LEDs on but depending on where you are standing you may be closer to the red LED, so the light will look a bit reddish. The dedicated white LED solves any potential issues.
Cons
Con Bulbs aren't super bright
The first gen bulbs (what are available right now) have a maximum brightness of 600 lumens - similar brightness to a 50-watt bulb. The second gen bulbs will have an increase to 800 lumens, which is in-line with the amount of light that 60-watt bulbs produces - however these aren't available quite yet.
Con Requires a central hub
The Hue bulbs need to be connected to a hub which needs to be wired into your router. This adds another device to the mix, and also increases the cost (it's $60 on its own, but it is also included in some of the bundles).
Con Some colors can be difficult to create
Blue tones tend to come out purplish, and green tones tend to be more yellowy than they should be.
Con No en mass controls
At most, you can adjust 5 bulbs at a time (if they are in the same group). That means that at night, you may have to go through the app and turn off 5-6 different rooms. There is no universal 'off' button to turn all the lights off, or change them all at once.
Con RGB or white
This bulb has a dedicated white LED, however you cannot use the white LED and turn on another LED to give it a splash of color - its either in RGB mode or pure white. You can attempt to re-create white using the RGB LEDs, and customize the color that way, however it is not possible to use all 4 LEDs at once.
