Skip to main content

Your presence can light up a room with the new Philips Hue motion sensor

Your presence can literally light up a room if that room features the new Philips Hue motion sensor. The latest technology to come out of the lighting company, the motion detector promises “to ensure comfortable passage around your home, even during blurry-eyed, wake-up calls by your children in the middle of the night.” Thanks to the integration between the sensor and your Philips Hue system, you can set your lights to be triggered by nothing more than your entrance into a room.

IFA 2016: RHA shows off two high-end headphones, first-ever headphone amp ahead of IFA 2016

The motion sensor can detect the time of day, so it’ll always provide you with the right amount of light. In fact, you can even personalize your lights’ settings, so that the automatic illumination triggered by the sensor during the night is a much softer, gentler light than the one you’ll enjoy during the day. The sensor’s reaction time is purportedly no more than 0.5 seconds, so you shouldn’t be left searching for a switch ever again.

“As the leader in connected lighting, we constantly seek to evolve our system and make it simple and easy to use. The introduction of Philips Hue motion sensor not only provides hands-free control but also enables lighting to respond to your needs,” said Sridhar Kumaraswamy, business leader of home systems at Philips Lighting. “It delivers peace of mind by guiding you through your home at night, and no longer having to remind the kids to turn off the lights when leaving a room, keeping you even more energy-efficient.”

Setup is claimed to be a snap, with no wires to speak of and just a battery to keep things running. All you have to do with your new motion sensor is place it on a side table or book shelf, place it on a metal surface by way of a magnet, or mount it to a wall or ceiling and adjust the motion detection direction. The sensor will interface with the Philips Hue app, and is also integrated into the company’s entire line of lighting products.

Retailing for $39.95, the Philips Hue motion sensor will be available on MeetHue.com and at retailers like Amazon.com and Best Buy beginning in October.

Jenny McGrath
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Jenny McGrath is a senior writer at Digital Trends covering the intersection of tech and the arts and the environment. Before…
Investing in illumination? Here’s why budget bulbs may be your best bet
Woman having glass of wine with Govee Smart LED light bulb on.

Adding automated lighting to your home is one of the best ways to enter the world of smart devices. Smart light bulbs and switches typically utilize Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (along with Zigbee and other wireless protocols) for initial setup and controls. These same wireless pairing methods are how you manage your home's smart lights, often by way of a companion app that you download to your preferred phone or tablet.

Smart lights are one of the best ways to earn your smart stripes for a few reasons. The installation process is usually straightforward and the results of your investment are visible right away. Open the app, pick which bulbs you want to turn on, and the bulb(s) should illuminate instantly. The same goes for things like brightness adjustment and color changes -- and let's not forget voice commands. Once you've taught Alexa and Google Assistant the skills needed to integrate your lighting, you'll be able to fire off voice commands to power your bulbs on/off.

Read more
How to create spooky Halloween effects with smart home lighting and sound
spooky halloween lighting haunted house

With indoor and outdoor smart home tech readily available and increasingly affordable, it’s easy to transform your home for festive occasions and holidays. With a little help from mobile apps and some handy smart home gadgets, you can produce spooky Halloween effects using light and sound. You'll be the talk of the town if you prepare your home accordingly come Halloween time when trick-or-treaters come around.

There are a range of fabulous lighting systems currently available, with Philips Hue, LIFX, and others available from big-box electrical and home improvement stores. But keep in mind that few systems are suitable for outdoor use. If you want to transform your home’s exterior, you’ll need to do some initial research. Not to worry -- we point out systems to help get you started.
Light it up

Read more
Philips Hue vs. Philips WiZ Smart Light Bulbs
Philips Hue sync box.

If you're just getting started with smart light bulbs in your home, Philips Hue is one of the names likely on your radar. This brand has become synonymous with smart home lighting thanks to robust app support, a wide range of functions, and a routinely growing product lineup. What may confuse you when taking the plunge on a purchase is seeing another Philips brand on the store shelf called WiZ. In 2019, Signify (the lighting company spun off from Philips proper) acquired WiZ to bolster its lighting lineup. Unfortunately, WiZ and Hue smart light bulbs operate differently, so you really need to go all-in with one or the other to have a properly unified smart home lighting setup.

Hue uses a wireless standard called Zigbee, which has been around for a while as a means for low-power connections. Zigbee devices run on a different frequency than Wi-Fi and require their own physical hub. This hub connects to a Wi-Fi router, which in turn connects to your phone. The internet connection also allows for remote connectivity, so lights can turn off automatically as you leave the house, for example. Since its launch, Hue has added Bluetooth to its bulbs, so the hub isn't strictly necessary. Though the Bluetooth range is basically limited to within the same room as you, this can save the bit of time it takes to connect to the hub via Wi-Fi.

Read more