This New Philips Hue Switch Is Smart Home Genius

Home décor is always getting a bit smarter, and Philips tends to drive plenty of innovation with its bevy of smart lighting and smart home products, including outdoor lighting options. Once more, Philips has come up with an assortment of new products that could make your home a little brighter in the near future. The Philips Hue Tap Dial switch is no exception to the trend, bringing a new twist on the once retired Hue Tap switch, but it doesn't come alone. Arriving alongside the mid-2022 Philips lineup (which begins rolling out today) is a Hue Go portable table lamp, a Hue Signe gradient floor lamp with an oak base, and two Hue White downlights: the second generation Philips Hue White and color ambiance downlight, and the third generation Hue White ambiance downlight.

Philips

As you can see in the photo above, the Hue Tap Dial switch is indeed a physical switch that allows you to quickly select specific lighting presets without relying on your Philips Hue app. The new lights are also quite attractive, but they largely only come with iterative improvements that may not be worth throwing out your existing Philips Hue lights over. Notably, the new Hue Signe gradient lamp (here's what we said about the previous model) is set to arrive next month with a new Sunrise wake-up automation that mimics the color gradient of the sun rising over the horizon, which looks great but could posit an even more important health benefit: if you live in a darker region of the world, it could possibly help alleviate the effects of seasonal affective disorder.

Philips is finally offering its Hue Go in the form of a portable table lamp, complete with a silicone grip that the company says is designed to make it easier to carry between indoor and outdoor settings; it comes with a 48-hour battery life that could make it easy to set and forget during home gatherings with guests.

The two aforementioned downlights are useful for creating ambiance within an interior space, such as a home theater or bedroom. The new second-generation Hue White and color ambiance downlight increases its maximum lumen count to 1,100 from the previous model's cap of 800 lumens, whereas the third-gen White ambiance downlight now tops out at 850 lumens, an increase from the second-generation's maximum 800 lumens output. These lights can become much brighter than their predecessors, which makes them a bit more viable for carrying the bulk of a room's lighting needs, potentially saving money on electricity if you opt to plug in fewer lights overall. Both models are now available on the official Philips Hue site for $49.99 (Hue White) and $59.99 (Hue White and color).

The Philips Hue Tap Dial switch is also available from the same site for $49.99, and the other lights will become available as the season progresses. The Philips Hue Signe gradient floor oak lamp is set to release in North America during mid-July at an MSRP of $349.99, whereas the Philips Hue Go portable table lamp is set to release in North America by the end of the summer for $159.99.