I've heard of this with hue. From what I understand, you basically need to take the bulbs and connect them to another ZigBee hub, since they're ZigBee under the hood.

But you have to do it using some pretty frustrating methods because they are programmed to only connect to their own hub.

IDK. Only my TV is "SmartThings" so, hopefully I can work on that. I'm not a fan of ZigBee since it shares a band with WiFi. I'd rather just get rid of them, but I have a hard time justifying the cost of replacing that many smart bulbs with basically the same thing because my brain gives me the happy chemicals when everything is organized and works the same way.

Also, the Mrs uses the hue app and I'd have to get her over to home assistant instead, it's a whole thing. Basically, I don't have very good reasons to change it, and I don't have good reasons not to, so I'm at a bit of an impasse.

[–] n0clue 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think the hue box is acting as a zigbee hub tbh, but it's been a while since I set it up.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

As far as I know yes, it is. It's just locked into the custom software that binds it to hue. Otherwise it's a fairly unremarkable ZigBee system.

Relative to ZigBee, hue is the more expensive option, and you would think that expense would get you higher quality in terms of longevity, reliability, quality of craftsmanship, extra features.... Etc etc, but not really.

There are so many very very good ZigBee options out there that completely outshine hue, and cost less. The only caveat is that you have to do a bit more work up front to get it working, since hue's own hub/app is the big plug and play thing you get with the system (and the clouds seamless connectivity outside of your home). Beyond that, hue doesn't do anything special, and in many ways, it's more limited than alternatives.

It's brain-dead simple though, and their brand recognition makes it easy for people to jump on board, so I'm not going to knock it... There's a subset of people where hue is a great choice... Just be careful, since Phillips has introduced smart bulbs that are not hue, and don't require the hub, and the two systems are kind of confusing, and both related and not related at the same time. It's relatively expensive, but for someone who can't be bothered to fiddle with their lights to get them working just right, and want something fairly simple/plug-and-play... Then, if you have the money, hue might be the right fit.

Anyone looking to save a bit of cash, or someone who wants more control or local control, or needs lights that integrate specifically with a thing.... Hue might not be the best option, even when limiting the discussion to ZigBee.... Once you get away from ZigBee, it becomes a much more complex discussion about short and long term plans.