#Hue gradient lightstrip 75 plus

Adding a third will take you around $250 which is effectively breaking even, but after that, the Play Gradient is the clear winner in terms of cost and simplicity. Currently, a two-pack of cheaper Play lights goes for $150, and by its nature, only gives you two zones of light. One other thing to mention is that if we go back to the costs unless you only have two or fewer Hue lights connected to the Sync box, the Play Gradient will probably come out ahead in price.

#Hue gradient lightstrip 75 plus

The Play Gradient features a total of seven lighting zones: three along the top of your TV plus two on either side. And because the Play Gradient is pre-configured to work with your TV, you don’t need to go in the Hue Sync and position each light properly to get the best results. And just having those three lights added a lot of extra wires to the already tangled bird-nest behind my TV and media console, while the Play Gradient just needs one. When I tested the Hue Sync box last year, I used two Hue Play lights mounted on each side of the TV, along with the lightstrip running across the bottom. The first is that thanks to its seven lighting zones (three going along the top of your tv, with two more on either side), the Play Gradient offers a much better range of colour responses along with more even lighting across the back of your TV.Īlso, setup and installation is more streamlined. The small power brick for the Play Gradient also has an adhesive strip, so you can stick it somewhere out of the way.įurthermore, even with its relatively high price, the Play Gradient offers some significant advantages compared to creating your own DIY lighting solution using other Philips Hue lights. Photo: Sam Rutherford/Gizmodo, In-House Art

Philips Hue says it’s planning to unlock the Play Gradient’s full-colour customizability sometime in the future, but there’s no specific timetable for that yet.

That means if you just want a lightstrip to add some ambient lighting behind your couch or under a counter, one of Hue’s regular smart lightstrips or something like Nanoleafs’ new Essentials lightstrip will be just as good and significantly cheaper. There is a catch though, because while technically the Play Gradient lightstrip can display various colours across the length of the strip, currently, it can only do so when connected to Philips Hue’s Sync Box, which is available separately for $499. Somewhat pricey, addressable colours only available when connected to a Hue Sync Box (for now), may not work on some wall-mounted TVs. Lots of colour with multiple lighting zones, super simple installation, less bulky and obtrusive than sticking regular smart lights on your TV DON'T LIKE

An upgraded lightstrip with multiple lighting zones designed to provide colour ambient lighting for your TV.