Philips HuePlay White and Colour Ambiance Smart Light Bar Double Pack Base Unit, Entertainment Lighting for TV and Gaming (Works with Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple HomeKit), White

The media could not be loaded. I bought my first OLED TV recently, the new LG CX and decided to get those Hue Play bars after seeing some videos on YouTube and Reddit, I thought it looked really cool.You will need the Hue Sync box to get it synched with your TV's content and it's very expensive but in my opinion if you have already invested in an expensive TV you can make the experience even better with the Hue Play lights.The setup is fairly easy, you need to connect them to your current Hue hub if you don't have one then it's something else that will add up to the costs unfortunately.You also need to download the Hue Sync app where you can setup your Hue HDMI Sync box and manage the Play bars brightness, intensity etc. Note that the latest update will have to be installed and it took approx 1h for me. It was really frustrating, it's ridiculous that it takes that long but once installed everything worked flawlessly.I've been using the Play lights for the last 2 days and I absolutely love it. Our TV is already huge but those lights kind of make the screen even bigger! It's also perfect for bright TVs at night, having more lights help with the eyes, you don't have to change the TV's brightness all the time.The colours match perfectly with what's on screen and change instantly. I've noticed that the lights follow some things moving on screen like a car a night, a lamp torch etc. it's actually insane, I can't believe how good it is!I also got it working with the Harmony remote and no problems so far, everything works well. For those who have it, you have to add a new device called "Philips AV Switch" then add it to your existing activities and set your TV to the HDMI port where the Hue Sync HDMI is plugged then set the HDMI for each device connected to the Hue Sync Box in the Harmony app.Highly recommended for people who want to upgrade their setup and improve their movie experience.My current setup is:- LG CX Oled 55"- 3 Hue Play Bars (Left, Right and Top)- Hue HDMI Sync Box- Harmony Ultimate RemotePros:- Improve cinema experience- Colours are beautiful, changing perfectly according to what's on screen- Easy and quick to setup- HDR / Dolby Vision (fixed via firmware update recently) compatibleCons:- Expensive- Fairly small bars. Some people with bigger screens might need more than 3 Play bars (that said don't underestimate their size, these things can get very bright)

Bought 6 light bars, three for the home theatre pc and three for my main gaming PC. Initially I had almost returned the whole order but later decided to keep them. The main reason was the price, I got the light bars on a sale and still they were very expensive, the light bars with hub cost almost £300.The Software:You have to install the app on your mobile and also an app on your PC. Confusingly you have to use both, the PC app controlling mostly sync related lighting and the mobile app for setup, light positioning, timers etc. Both apps work well, but there is some room for improvement. The good thing is that Philips hue have a large client base, so the software should continue to improve and mature.The latency:In my setup there is almost no discernable lag between what is happening on my monitor and when the lights react, I would estimate around 20-50ms. I am connected directly to my router via a lan cable and I am around 5m away from the hue hub. This can very quickly turn in to a different story if you are on slow wifi or worst yet, try to wirelessly cast/mirror your laptop display onto a TV. I think most complaints about latency online is with ppl doing exactly that. I did notice an option in the software to mitigate the issue, but did not need to use it. There is no substitute for a hard wired connection.It works like this. The app on your PC analyses the screen space and calculates average light values based on your lighting setup. This gets sent to the hue hub via your local network. The hue hub then sends the signals to the lights via the Bixby wireless protocol.The light bars:These are rather small but can produce a good amount of light. Rather than the amount of light, it is the quality of the light that surprised me. The warm and cool white light is amazing and it is obvious that some attention was given to colour reproduction. They must have RGB and two different kinds of white light LEDs inside. The diffuser is excellent quality too, I am not able to discern any individual spots of light inside the bar. There is nothing quite like starting up DOOM and having the whole room go a deep red colour! Quite nice indeed.There is one annoying aspect of the light bars, at full brightness they emit an electric buzzing sound. The buzzing sound is reduced in line with the brightness setting. This should not be an issue when seated a few meters from a TV or if there is any other noise in the room, but when sat at a desk close to the lights it is noticeable. To mitigate the issue I placed the light bars as far away from my seating position as possible and have them set to around 30% brightness when doing work or just browsing the net in a quiet room. If you are using headphones or have any other noise in the room then you can't hear any buzzing even at 100% brightness. To give you an idea, it is reminiscent of some older and cheaper type monitors that emit a buzzing sound because of PWM dimming.The hub:Nothing much to say here, find a decent spot for it and switch it on, have not had any issues with it.PC performance:There is overhead associated with analysing the screen space, calculating average colours and sending the data to the hue hub. I have a top spec PC with a 2080ti GPU, and using a gaming benchmark I noticed about a 5-8% performance decrease with hue sync enabled. For me this is not an issue, but it could be an issue on weaker hardware. Hue sync can be disabled or enabled on a game to game basis in the software as profiles.The competition:Asus Aura Halo works by adding LED strips to the back of the monitor. I like Asus but they have a way of not updating their software, and when they do it will usually only work on the newer hardware. I don't trust them to improve the software or even fix it if potentially a windows update breaks it. The RGB light will be harsh with no diffuser or dedicated white leds.NZXT Hue 2 V2 Ambient, they seem a bit more invested in the tech with a v2 released recently, but again this is all controlled with their CAM software which has a terrible reputation. The same RGB strips are used with no diffuser or dedicated white lights. Since these light strips are addressable they offer a higher resolution as only some leds can be triggered to onscreen events, but this to me just seem to make them even harsher on the eye.In both cases the competitions software and features are lacking as compared to the Philips implementation. The lighting is also harsh, which is why I decided to go with Philips hue sync. With philips you can also add lighting at a later point and you are free to place the lights where you want.The lighting should add to the ambience of a gaming session, not be a distraction.UPDATE: Some months have passed since my last review and thought this detailed review could do with an update. In my living room setup I have added another light bar to my rear top left on a bookcase behind a nice Alien statue, and a E27 colour ambiance bulb to my tall lamp on the rear right. This is now my primary way of lighting the living room. I also stuck a Hue dimmer switch close to the couch so we can control brightness easily. Gaming and movies is awesome, although Netflix still does not work with Hue play. Works best with movies that have lots of colour and action.My gaming setup also got another Hue play bar for a total of 4, and a dimmer switch. I missed some light under my shelf and that has now been remedied. My lights are set to switch on via a timer on weekdays to help me get up, and they also switch of automatically when I leave the house.It is not a cheap echo system, but I would miss the ambient light during gaming if you took it away right now. During the past few months there has been one update to the sync app, validating my theory that the ecosystem is larger than the competition, and Philips is actively developing for it.

If you’re considering purchasing this Hue extension bar, you likely already own the standard Hue Play set, as this extension bar is designed to work with that existing setup. It’s an essential addition if you’re looking to expand your lighting setup, but it’s important to note that it won’t function independently.The extension bar itself performs as expected, integrating seamlessly with your current Hue Play setup. It extends your lighting possibilities, allowing for more flexibility in arranging and expanding your Hue system. The performance is consistent with the original bars, providing the same quality of light and functionality.One minor drawback is the length of the cable. The cable provided with the extension bar is relatively short, similar to the original cables. Depending on your setup, this may require you to purchase an additional extension cable to reach your desired placement. While this isn’t a major issue, it is something to keep in mind when planning your installation.In summary, the Hue extension bar is a great addition for those who already have the standard Hue Play set and want to expand their lighting arrangement. It works perfectly as part of the Hue ecosystem, though be aware of the cable length and plan accordingly to ensure it fits your setup.