Philips Hue Light Strip Review: Are They Worth It?
This isn’t a bulb but a lightship can be used for many things in the home, from lighting up cabinets, or lighting up behind the TV, combining this with the Hue system you can add a new dimension to your set up at home.
We review the Philips Hue Lightstrip Plus, what it does, what it can do and seeing how good it really is.
Review: Philips Hue Lightstrip Plus
The Lightstrip Plus is 2m in length and displays up to 16 million colours, it is easy to install and has sticky tape sections on the other side to allow you to attach and stick the light strip down. But then it takes the performance to another level. Here are the key additional features:
- 2m in length, but extendable up to 10 meters using 1 meter extension sets
- Light output of 1600 lumens
- Adjustable white light from 2000K to 6500K (very warm to very cold white light)
In the Box
In the box you get a 2m light strip, mains plug socket with a US and UK adaptor which just slides onto the mains plug socket, and then the controller box which has a cable that connects to the mains power socket plug, and a socket on it for the light strip to connect into.
Setting up
Setting the light strip is a breeze, physically connecting up the parts is straight forward and no need to read the instructions really, it all just connects up simply enough. The cable from the plug to the controller is quite long and then from the controller you have your 2m light strip.
Once all set up and plug in, you can then add it to your light set up using the Philips Hue app just like you would with any other Hue Bulb.
Lightstrip Length
The hue light strip comes as a 2m length, however you can extend this by buying the light strip 1m extensions, and go up to 10m in length, you can also go the other way and reduce the strip by cutting it to make it smaller too.
Cutting the strip
The Hue lightstrip can be reduced in length from its 2 metre size by cutting it where it is marked along the strip. There are sections where it can be cut, you cannot cut anywhere you like, below shows the marking where you can cut the strip.
If you cut it anywhere else the section before it may not work, so it is important to only cut where the scissor markings are.
The big downside with cutting the light strip is that the section that is cut off becomes waste and cannot be used again. If you buy a light strip which is 2m long, however you only need it to be a metre, the metre you cut off then becomes waste making it an expensive light strip.
There is currently no way to reuse this section and it would be great if this is address in the future by Philips.
Extending the Strip
If you wish to extend your strip longer than the 2 metres then you can be 1m extensions that just connect to the light strip, at the end of it is a pin connecter where the next one can be simply attached. This is great for longer runs and creating a great light effect long walls or on top of kitchen cabinets.
Ideas for how to use
There are many ways you can use these lights that you may not have through about, here I have rounded up a little list of some great ways they could be used, some are more creative and decorative while some are great practical ways to use them in the home.
- Along kitchen units, above or under
- Under your bed or around the headboard
- Around Roof lights and ceiling coves
- Run them down your stairs, great as a safe nightlight.
- Add them under sofas in your living room
- Around the bathroom mirror
- Under shelves
Pros
- Easy to set up
- Can be extended up to 10 meters using extension sets
- Has many uses
- The light is really impressive
Cons
- Once the strip is cut, the leftover is waste
- Tight to bend around corners
- Extension sets come in 1 meter size only
Our Verdict
The light strip is great, and I love it, it can be used in lots of different ways in the home, some more simple than others, such as a simple light above our below your kitchen units, or something a little more creative in your office or behind your TV.
Image by Philips
The strip can be easily extended with 1m add ons making it ideal for longer runs and more flexibility for how you may wish to use it.
While it works well it is shame that although you can cut the strip, if you don’t require a 2m length, that then becomes waste, it would be great if this could be re-used in an official way unless you solder it yourself.
With future updates it would also be great if the strip was made thinner making it easier to bend around corners and giving it some more flexibility.
So overall there are things that could be better but it is still a great addition to any Hue set up, be it behind the TV, a run behind your furniture, on the stairs of around your head board there are many places and way to use it. The lights works well and the effect it gives off is great.
Founder & Editor
Mike is the founder of Hue Home Lighting, a huge Hue fan with far too many lights, covering home and garden. A smart home gadget addict and also enjoys the odd bit of DIY
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Ian Caldwell
One major problem. Difficult to find extension cable to take Hue’s fittings if one wants to increase the distance from the main plug point . I need another 5 metres before I want to install the actual Hue Lightstrip
Hue Home Lighting
Depending on your controller on your Hue light strip you could use this from Litcessory – https://amzn.to/2pNSqMs
Marcela
Is it possible to connect 2 Hue Lightstrips instead of buying multiple extension packs?
Hue Home Lighting
The new lightstrips have a fixed connector to the end, the extension cables have a connector that pushes into the 2m lightstrip, therefore it isn’t possible to extend by using the 2m light strips without some delicate wiring and soldering which isn’t really worth it.
Sebastian
I can’t add or control Philips Hue LED lightstrips to my Google Home. It shows up on my Philips Hue app but not the Google Home. I have already linked the Philips Hue account under devices as well.
Hue Home Lighting
Tell your google home to re-sync your Philips Hue lights,
Pat
Where can I buy the hue strip lights with the detachable controller, where I can extend the driver?
Elizabeth
How long is the distance from the plug to the start of the light strip?
David
If i want to install on the top cabinets and along the floor, does that mean i have to buy 2 units that operate separately? i.e the ones on the floor level will give different colour to the ones on the top of the counters? ideally i would like to have a single unit but if your kits are only 2 meters how does one install without wasting a part of the strip that is just to link the top shelf to the floor plinth?
Hue Home Lighting
You could uses two separate strips, assign them both a room, kitchen, when you change the color of the kitchen both strips will change to that color. You can also change one to one color and the other to another.
You can use litaccesory if you want to do it as one run, it really depends on the design and room to run the cable/lightstrip.
Kavish Bansal
can we remove the lightstrip and restick again somewhere else, because I used it on my table, and getting a new table now, so is it safe to remove and re paste to new table without any major concerns.
Hue Home Lighting
Yes you can, however if the tape has lost its stickiness, you can buy more 3M tape to use.
SG
Hi, is the 10m limit also a limit for the hub? Can the hub cover 2x 10m setups?
E
1st where is the model # on the box. and if it’s the version without bluetooth, how do you control it without a hub. i don’t want to buy a hub if i only have 1 product!
TJ Sullivan
I purchased the light strip and extension as a package (model 800268), and then I went and purchased the 1M extension strip. The issue is that the extension does not plug in to the the original strip. The pins on the extension are not spread out far enough to be able to be plugged into the original strip and extension.