如果您在市场上购买一些新的智能灯，许多人会建议的首选是Philips Hue。但是飞利浦 Hue 系列(Philips Hue range)真的是最好的选择吗？
虽然飞利浦 Hue(Whilst Philips Hue)灯质量上乘，并配有强大的桥接器，但我们认为有一些出色的竞争产品可能更实惠。
我们希望将飞利浦 Hue(Philips Hue)与一些最佳竞争产品进行比较，以便为您提供下次购买所需的信息。
为什么选择飞利浦 Hue？
优点：连接的生态系统，强大的支持，与任何助手的轻松连接(Pros: Connected ecosystem, great support, easy connection with any assistants)
缺点：比竞争对手贵(Cons: More expensive than the competition)
首先(First)，飞利浦 Hue(Philips Hue)很容易成为目前最流行的智能灯产品系列(light product range)。这意味着它具有其他品牌所没有的一些优势。
首先，飞利浦的产品选择(Philips)令人(product selection)难以置信，因此您可以为您的家、车库、前廊或其他任何地方购买一整套灯，这些灯都可以在一个应用程序或生态系统(app or ecosystem)下运行。
Hue 的巨大成功使飞利浦(Philips)能够花更多时间完善他们的产品，因此您将拥有一系列高品质的灯，这些灯至少可以使用几年，然后再遇到任何问题。而且，如果您的灯坏了，不是您自己的过错，2年保修(year warranty)应该包括在内。
但在菲利普的法庭上并不全是阳光——Hue 智能(Hue smart) 灯系列(light range)因过于昂贵而受到批评，随着智能家居行业(home industry)的发展，更实惠的竞争对手纷纷加入竞争，以提供卓越的替代品。
在我们了解竞争如何叠加之前，让我们深入了解飞利浦 Hue 系列(Philips Hue range)中的一些最佳产品。
什么是最好的飞利浦Hue产品？
如果您想第一次开始使用Philips Hue，我会推荐他们的一个入门套件。
如果您希望在尽可能多的房间中设置智能照明，您可以从Hue White入门套件E26开始。有了这个，您将收到 4 个E26 灯泡(E26 bulbs)（只有白色）和Hue Bridge ，即使您的互联网出现故障，它也将帮助您控制您的Hue灯。(Hue)
这将使您退回 99.99 美元。如果您考虑Hue Bridge本身的价格为 59.99 美元，那么每个灯泡只需 10 美元，这是一笔非常有价值的交易。
如果你想要一些氛围，事情确实开始变得更加昂贵——Hue White 和彩色氛围套装(Hue White and color ambiance set)，包括 4 个变色E26 灯泡(E26 bulbs)和Hue Bridge，售价 199.99 美元。
如果您已经拥有Hue Bridge和一些基本灯泡，您可以开始将您的收藏扩展到户外照明、带有智能控制LED 灯(LED)条的台面和家具的情绪照明，或各种室内灯。
飞利浦(Philips)扩展了Hue 范围以支持许多不同的用例，这也是(Hue range)Hue如此受欢迎的原因之一。
飞利浦 Hue 的绝佳替代品？
优点：您通常可以找到便宜得多的优质产品(Pros: You can generally find much cheaper high quality products)
缺点：您可能会发现自己跨越多个生态系统(Cons: You may find yourself stretching across multiple ecosystems)
在我们查看选项之前，设置一个好的集线器很重要。该集线器将充当与所有灯通信的中心位置，并且可以通过一个应用程序控制您的家。
与飞利浦 Hue Bridge(Philips Hue Bridge)类似，SmartThings Hub将花费您 60 美元。Wink Hub的价格更高，为 69 美元，但Belkin的WeMo Hub只需 40 美元，让您节省一些费用。所有三个选项都适合用作智能灯的集线器。
一旦你有了你的集线器，你就已经是 40-60 美元了。在这一点上，飞利浦 Hue(Philips Hue)与任何竞争对手之间的价格差异(price difference)不会太大。但是，如果您将来想购买更多的灯，那么节省的费用就会开始增加。
例如，Cree Connected 60W 等效灯泡在(Cree)亚马逊(Amazon)上的售价仅为 15 美元。这些灯泡可以通过Google Home 和 Amazon Alexa(Google Home and Amazon Alexa)以及上述集线器之一进行控制。
如果您正在寻找生活中的一点色彩，只需 30 美元，Sylvania Smart RGBW 灯泡(Sylvania Smart RGBW bulb)就能为您的生活带来智能照明。飞利浦 Hue 替代品(Philips Hue alternative)将花费您 50 美元。
只需 4 盏彩灯和一个合适的集线器，您可能只节省 10-40 美元，但对于 10 盏灯，您可以节省 200 多美元。四个白色Cree 灯泡(Cree bulbs)和一个集线器的成本实际上与飞利浦 Hue(Philips Hue)入门套件相同，或者稍高一些，具体取决于您选择的集线器。但是，对于 10 盏灯和一个集线器，您可以节省一点。
因此，对于基本的室内照明，(indoor lighting)飞利浦(Philips)入门套件或带有集线器的更便宜的替代品的成本大致相同。但是，如果您想要 10 个或更多的白灯，或者大量的彩色LED灯，那么选择替代方案会成倍地便宜。
而且，最终，我在这里包含的替代选项仍然是来自受人尊敬的公司的出色产品——Cree、SmartThings、WeMo、Belkin和Sylvania。
如果您喜欢户外照明，偶尔会有替代品，但对于完整的户外设置，(outdoor setup)飞利浦(Philips)似乎是目前唯一拥有真正可靠产品系列(product range)的品牌。
例如，Kuna Smart Light是一个不错的选择，但它包含一个摄像头，将价格提高到 196 美元。另一个著名的产品是 Ring Floodlight cam，但由于增加了监控系统(surveillance system)，它的价格为 249 美元。
或者，飞利浦(Philips)提供一些很棒的聚光灯和路灯，价格在 79.99 美元到 129.99 美元之间。考虑到这些只是灯，仍然相当昂贵，但现在它们肯定是最好的选择。
概括
总而言之，室内照明(indoor lighting)有一些出色的替代品，但对于几盏灯，您可能会发现替代品与飞利浦 Hue之间的(Philips Hue)价格差异(price difference)很小。在这种情况下，选择领先品牌是有意义的。
当您开始购买更多灯时，真正的节省就会出现。使用我们建议的替代方案，每个灯泡(light bulb)可以节省 5 到 20 美元。
如果您选择替代方案，您仍然可以获得很棒的体验。有了一个好的集线器，您可以将所有智能灯捆绑成一种无缝体验(seamless experience)，因此您无需为此坚持使用Hue。首先(Just)确保您购买的设备与您选择的智能集线器兼容。
您对飞利浦 Hue(Philips Hue)和其他竞争产品有何看法？对提到的任何智能灯有任何疑问吗？请(Please)留下评论让我知道，我会尽快回复。
Philips Hue vs the Competition – Which are the Best Smart Lights?
If you’re in the market for some new smart lights, the first choice many people would sυggest іs Рhilips Hue. But is the Philips Hue range reallу the best option аvailable?
Whilst Philips Hue lights are great quality and are paired up with a powerful bridge, we think there are some great competing products that are potentially more affordable.
We wanted to compare Philips Hue amongst some of the best competing products to give you the information you need to make your next purchase.
Why Choose Philips Hue?
Pros: Connected ecosystem, great support, easy connection with any assistants
Cons: More expensive than the competition
First things first, Philips Hue is easily the most popular smart light product range available right now. This means that it has some advantages that other brands do not.
Firstly, the product selection from Philips is incredible, so you’ll be able to purchase an entire selection of lights for your home, garage, your front porch, or anywhere else, that all work under one app or ecosystem.
Hue’s huge success has allowed Philips to spend more time on perfecting their products, so you’ll have a selection of great quality lights that will last you a good few years at least before running into any problems. And, if your lights break, due to no fault of your own, the 2 year warranty should cover it.
But it’s not all sunshine in Philip’s court – the Hue smart light range has been criticized for being too expensive and as the smart home industry has grown, far more more affordable competitors have jumped into the ring to offer exceptional alternatives.
Before we take a look at how the competition stacks up, let’s take a dive into some of the best products in the Philips Hue range.
What are the best Philips Hue products?
If you are looking to get started with Philips Hue for the first time, I would recommend one of their starter kits.
If you are looking to get set up with smart lighting in as many rooms as possible, you can start with the Hue White starter kit E26. With this, you’ll receive 4 E26 bulbs (only white), and the Hue Bridge, which will help you to control your Hue lights even if your internet goes down.
This will set you back $99.99. When you consider the Hue Bridge costs $59.99 on its own, it’s a very valuable deal at just $10 per bulb.
If you want some ambiance, things do start to get far more expensive – the Hue White and color ambiance set, which includes 4 color changing E26 bulbs and the Hue Bridge, costs $199.99.
If you already have a Hue Bridge and some basic light bulbs, you can start to extend your collection to outdoor lighting, mood lighting for countertops and furniture with smart controlled LED strips, or a variety of indoor lamps.
Philips has expanded their Hue range to support many different use cases, and it’s one of the reasons why Hue is such a popular choice.
Great Alternatives to Philips Hue?
Pros: You can generally find much cheaper high quality products
Cons: You may find yourself stretching across multiple ecosystems
Before we look at the options, it’s important to get set up with a good hub. The hub will act as a central location for communicating with all of your lights and it will make it possible to control your home through one app.
The SmartThings Hub will set you back $60, similarly to the Philips Hue Bridge. The Wink Hub costs even more at $69, but the WeMo Hub from Belkin costs just $40, allowing you to make some savings. All three options are suitable to use as a hub for smart lights.
Once you have your hub, you’ll already be $40-60 in. At this point, the price difference between Philips Hue and any competitor won’t be much. However, if you want to buy many more lights in the future, this is where the savings will start to add up.
As an example, the Cree Connected 60W equivalent bulb sells for just $15 on Amazon. These lightbulbs can be controlled via Google Home and Amazon Alexa, alongside one of the aforementioned hubs.
If you are looking for a bit of color in your life, the Sylvania Smart RGBW bulb can bring smart lighting to your life for just $30. The Philips Hue alternative will set you back $50.
For just 4 colored lights and a suitable hub, you may only save $10-40, but for 10 lights, you could save over $200. Four white Cree bulbs and a hub will actually cost the same as the Philips Hue starter kit, or slightly more depending on what hub you pick. But, for 10 lights and a hub, you can save a little.
So for basic indoor lighting, it will be roughly the same cost for either a Philips starter kit or a cheaper alternative with a hub. But, if you want 10 or more white lights, or a large number of colored LED lights, then it’ll work out exponentially cheaper to go for the alternative.
And, ultimately, the alternative options I’ve included here are still great products from respected companies – Cree, SmartThings, WeMo, Belkin, and Sylvania.
If you are after outdoor lighting, there are the occasional alternatives, but for a full outdoor setup, it seems Philips are the only brand with a real reliable product range currently.
For example, the Kuna Smart Light is a great option, but it includes a camera, bumping up the price to $196. Another reputable product is the Ring Floodlight cam, but this costs $249 thanks to the added surveillance system.
Alternatively, Philips offers some great spot lights and pathlights for between $79.99 and $129.99. Still quite expensive considering these are solely lights, but for now they are certainly the best choice.
Summary
In summary, there are some excellent alternatives for indoor lighting, but for just a few lights, you may find the price difference between the alternatives and Philips Hue to be very little. In this case, it makes sense to go for the leading brand.
The real savings come in as you start to purchase more lights. With the alternatives we suggested, you’ll be saving between $5 and $20 per light bulb.
If you go for the alternative, you can still get a great experience, too. With a good hub, you can bundle all of your smart lights into one seamless experience, so you don’t need to stick with Hue for that. Just make sure the equipment you purchase is compatible with the smart hub you choose, first.
What are your thoughts on Philips Hue and the competing alternatives? Have any questions about any of the smart lights mentioned? Please let me know by leaving a comment and I’ll respond soon.
