Philips Hue Floodlight Camera Review

The Philips Hue Floodlight Digicam was introduced at IFA 2023 as a part of the Philips Hue Safe launch, together with three different cameras.

It joins a rising variety of floodlight cameras available on the market, however its integration with the Philips Hue ecosystem units it aside.

As I’m closely invested in Philips Hue, I’ve been wanting to check out the floodlight digicam and see how effectively it really works with Hue, so I’ve lastly changed my ageing Netatmo Good Outside Digicam.

Associated Opinions

Specification / Options

Decision: 1080PSensor: CMOS – F35Field of View: 141.2Floodlight:Lumen output at 4000K: 2,250 lmLumen output at 2700K: 2,050 lmMotion Detection: Sure, together with individuals, automobiles, animals, packagesNight Imaginative and prescient: YesMicrophone / Audio: Sound alarm  Two-way audioWeatherproof: Sure, IP65 digicam, IP44 floodlightConnectivity: Zigbee  WiFi (2.4GHz – 5GHz)

Unboxing

Upon unboxing the Philips Hue Floodlight Digicam, you’ll discover the digicam itself, then the massive metallic physique it mounts to with the floodlight.

What’s fascinating is that the digicam is separate from the primary floodlight, and it attaches magnetically to the primary physique with a small safety cable working to the digicam to keep away from it being stolen.

It’s a little bit of an odd design choice, as it might be fairly straightforward to dislodge the digicam whether it is at arm’s attain. I additionally reside in a notoriously windy city, so I used to be involved the digicam may get dislodged when the climate is unhealthy, however up to now, so good.

Set up

As I used to be swapping out my Netatmo, the set up was comparatively easy as I had the bodily wires in place already.

I did run into some points, however these have been associated to me making an attempt to make use of the outdated wires and the location of the earlier digicam.

The primary physique of the floodlight digicam has a big footprint, so it would be best to be sure that it matches the place you intend. The place I put in the digicam, I’ve an ornamental sandstone encompass and the primary physique virtually didn’t match, I needed to give it a little bit of a bash to get it to squeeze in.

The precise set up is intuitive. You take away the again plate from the physique and run your cables by the outlet with the rubber grommet to scale back the chance of water ingress. Then, wire the cables into the terminal block.

I then bumped into one other situation as the prevailing wiring was minimize quick to suit neatly into the earlier digicam. With the Hue floodlight, the terminal block is screwed into place additional up from the entry gap.

The terminal block wants to remain in place as a result of the primary physique doesn’t have wires to screw into place. There are three pins that slide into the block. It’s a good suggestion because it ought to simplify the set up in case you have wires lengthy sufficient.   

Lastly, you simply want to attach the safety cable to the digicam (or do that earlier than mounting the physique in case you are up ladders) and join the info cable.

Set Up with Philips Hue App

As soon as the digicam is put in, you possibly can set it up utilizing the Philips Hue app. The app guides you thru the method of connecting the digicam to your Philips Hue bridge and configuring its settings. The app supplies a user-friendly interface for managing the digicam’s options and settings.

I skilled a number of extra points with the set-up course of, which I’m sure was because of the digicam not connecting to my WiFi with a robust sufficient sign. The app would discover the digicam and hook up with the WiFi, however the firmware replace saved failing, and the digicam wouldn’t add correctly to my system.

I had minimal information charges assigned to my SSIDs and the band, so I decreased these and elevated the output energy on my entry factors.

With these settings modified I used to be in a position so as to add the digicam and replace it. In its present place, it states that my WiFi sign is truthful, and I’ve an entry level on the bottom flooring within the room subsequent to the digicam, and one other in my workplace above and to the proper of the digicam.

Lastly, I used to be confused about why the floodlight digicam was all the time on. I later realised that the floodlight is added individually as a light-weight inside your private home, so you have to assign it to a zone or create a brand new one. This then permits the sunshine to operate like every other gentle you’ve got within the Hue app.

App Settings

The Philips Hue app provides a spread of settings to customize the digicam’s behaviour. You possibly can regulate movement detection sensitivity, arrange exercise zones to deal with particular areas, and configure gentle and sound alarms. The app additionally lets you handle video recording and storage settings.

Movement Detection

The Philips Hue Floodlight Digicam’s movement detection characteristic is extremely efficient. It could possibly precisely detect and distinguish between individuals, automobiles, animals, and packages, lowering false alarms. You possibly can obtain prompt notifications in your smartphone when movement is detected, permitting you to remain knowledgeable about exercise round your private home.

There are a number of quirks that make this fairly completely different out of your common floodlight digicam.

For cameras just like the Eufy Floodlight Digicam E340, the floodlight, digicam and all of the features are restricted to the digicam as one unified system that doesn’t discuss to my different Eufy cameras.

The Hue floodlight works extra like three separate gadgets: the digicam, the floodlight, and the movement sensor.

You possibly can management the sunshine through the Hue app similar to every other Hue gentle. This contains setting schedules and having equipment like movement sensors or dimmers management the sunshine.

Then, throughout the digicam settings, you possibly can outline which movement sensors are used for the two-armed modes, dwelling and away.

Then, you possibly can outline which lights can be activated in movement and the completely different time zones.

So, for me, I assigned my workplace lights and hallway lights. Then, I outlined which scenes to make use of and the time. I saved the floodlight shiny for every of the time zones, then off after 5 minutes, whereas for the opposite lights, I set an acceptable scene for the time after which reverted to the earlier state.

Alarms & Lights

Along with movement detection, the digicam helps gentle and sound alarms that may be arrange within the dwelling and away armed modes.

When triggered, the floodlight illuminates the world, whereas the digicam’s built-in speaker emits a loud alarm to discourage potential intruders. These alarms will be customised and managed by the Philips Hue app.

Floodlight Efficiency

The floodlight on the Philips Hue Floodlight Digicam delivers spectacular efficiency. With a lumen output of two,250 lm at 4000 Ok and a couple of,050 lm at 2700 Ok, it supplies shiny and even illumination to your outside house.

The floodlight’s color temperature will be adjusted to fit your preferences, making a welcoming atmosphere or a deterrent impact. It’s also RGB, so you’ve got the complete vary of colors obtainable. That is fairly helpful in case you have the digicam put in masking a non-public backyard, permitting you to light up the surface with a extra nice lighting have an effect on than you get off regular floodlights.

The Philips Hue Floodlight Digicam is restricted to 1080P, which is kind of low for a floodlight digicam at this value level. Eufy has a 3K and 2K floodlight digicam, and the Arlo floodlight digicam is 2K.

That stated, throughout the day, the digicam captures clear and detailed footage that appears to be higher high quality than lots of the different outside cameras I’ve used.

The large 141.2-degree discipline of view ensures complete protection of the monitored space. The digicam’s picture high quality is superb, with correct colors and good distinction.

One other quirk of this digicam is that it doesn’t do color night time video. Most competing choices will report in B&W when the highlight or floodlight is off then change to color when the sunshine is activated. Hue bizarrely stays in B&W.

I reside in a well-lit avenue, and I discovered that the digicam sensor was ok to disable night time imaginative and prescient altogether, leaving it to report my color all day and night time.

With the sunshine off, the footage is satisfactory, you possibly can clearly make out individuals strolling up my path, however there’s quite a lot of noise and lack of element.

When the sunshine prompts, the standard is significantly better. Nonetheless, as I’ve the digicam put in low down, the sunshine does glare again off anybody strolling previous, however this is a matter with my placement, not the digicam.

Philips Hue Safe Pricing

You don’t want a Safe plan to make use of the floodlight digicam. Nonetheless, a plan offers you entry to extra options, resembling video historical past and exercise zones. If you initially arrange the digicam, you’re going to get a 30 day free Safe trial.

With the free plan you get:

Stay streamingLight and sound alarmsInstant movement notificationsEnd-to-end video encryptionBlackout zonesVideo snapshots

The fundamental plan prices £35 per yr per digicam and offers you entry to:

Again-to-back video clip recordingActivity zonesAI-powered particular person, animal, car and bundle detection30 days video historical past

The plus plan prices £85 per yr however that is for 10 cameras and supplies 60 days of video historical past.

As compared, Arlo cost £45 for a single digicam, £110 for 4 cameras, or £150 for limitless cameras with 60 days recording and as much as 4K decision.

Value and Various Choices

The Philips Hue Floodlight Digicam has an RRP of £300

The eufy Safety Floodlight Digicam E340, which is a dual-lens floodlight digicam with pan and tilt, has an RRP of £220 and is out there for £180 at the moment.

The Ring Floodlight Cam is £140.

The Arlo Floodlight Safety Digicam Outside is out there for £150.

The Netatmo Good Outside Safety Digicam is £190.

The Google GPLE9 Nest Cam with Floodlight (Outside, Wired) is £210.

The Reolink Duo Floodlight isn’t fairly the identical as this makes use of PoE however is priced at £130.

Eufy and Netamo work and not using a subscription, and so they each have facial recognition.

General

In my view, the Philips Hue Floodlight Digicam and the opposite Hue cameras are designed particularly for people who find themselves already invested within the Hue ecosystem.

Like all Hue merchandise, it has a premium value, and there are higher floodlight cameras at a cheaper price level should you simply need a good floodlight digicam.

Nonetheless, as all the time with Hue, the digicam integrates completely with the Hue ecosystem and can be utilized along with your present movement sensors and lights. Both alerting you to when somebody is on the door or used as a primary alarm system.

Manufacturers like Ring and Eufy have expanded into the sensible alarm market, however they don’t combine into your sensible dwelling fairly in addition to the Philips Hue Floodlight Digicam.

There are a number of quirks that would do with ironing out. The primary one being the choice to have color night time video.

I’m James, a UK-based tech fanatic and the Editor and Proprietor of Mighty Gadget, which I’ve proudly run since 2007. Obsessed with all issues expertise, my experience spans from computer systems and networking to cellular, wearables, and sensible dwelling gadgets.

As a health fanatic who loves working and biking, I even have a eager curiosity in fitness-related expertise, and I take each alternative to cowl this area of interest on my weblog. My various pursuits permit me to convey a novel perspective to tech running a blog, merging life-style, health, and the newest tech traits.

In my tutorial pursuits, I earned a BSc in Data Methods Design from UCLAN, earlier than advancing my studying with a Grasp’s Diploma in Computing. This superior examine additionally included Cisco CCNA accreditation, additional demonstrating my dedication to understanding and staying forward of the expertise curve.

I’m proud to share that Vuelio has persistently ranked Mighty Gadget as one of many high expertise blogs within the UK. With my dedication to expertise and drive to share my insights, I purpose to proceed offering my readers with partaking and informative content material.