Philips Hue Smart Wireless Dimming Kit (Installation-Free, Exclusive for Philips Hue Lights, Compatible with Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit and Google Assistant)

Philips Hue Smart Wireless Dimming Kit contains an ambient white bulb and a switch with a magnetic remote, plus instructions.It's easy to set up even without any other equipment if you want to use this as a stand-alone bulb with dimming and a remote. The bulb comes connected out of the box, so very little setup is required. The casing of the switch has a strong sticky backing tape so it can be placed on the wall directly, we have ours in 3 rooms right next to the proper light switch, though you can also buy a cheap kit that allows you to place it directly over the light switch. Then just plug in the bulb as normal, turn on the switch and go.The switch has an on, off and two dimming buttons to easily set the light up how you want it. It will remember the dimming setting the next time you turn it on. Of course, you can also take the remote section of the switch off the wall (it's connected with a magnet) to use when you want to dim the lights from the sofa without a word. You can also pair coloured lights to the system if you want at a later date.For a more intelligent connection you will need the Philips Hub or an Amazon Echo Plus which contains a hub in already. With these set up you just go into the app and assign it to a room using the code on the box. It should pair the device and the bulb at the same time and will take you through the process on the app.I've got all my upstairs (bedroom, kids room, study and landing) on one command if I want to turn them all on or off at once and you can also have multiple groupings, like 'bedrooms' or, if you have other lights in a room, you can assign a single room to several lights. It's really versatile and Alexa can turn them off and on from around the house. You can tell it to take the light to 50% or another figure or pre-set certain levels for certain situations like night time or movie watching.Overall, it might seem a little expensive, but these intelligent bulbs are pretty much the best you can buy and work fantastically alongside Alexa or on their own.

I bought this to go in my front porch. No fancy colours with this, just plain white. You will need the hue hub to make it work. The bulb itself is an Edison Screw so make sure make sure that it's the right sort of bulb for the lighting fixture that you want to use the bulb in. It's worth taking a nice clear picture of the bulb before you put it up - the bulbs have individual codes that you can use it the hue hub doesn't automatically find your new bulb so make sure the code is in focus. I have other hue light bulbs and the hue hub found all the others straightaway but not this one - probably because it 's the furthest from the hub. Unfortunately I hadn't read anything about the code so I ended up going up and down stairs and up and down a ladder a couple of times before I got it right. Once I typed the code into the app the bulb connected straight away.Once it was set up along with the dimmer it all works wonderfully. I use the dimmer switch just to turn the porch light on and off if someone comes to the door and I don't want to shout at Alexa or get my phone. The backing plate sticks to the wall and is battery operated so no need to do any drilling or wiring. The switch it's self is detachable and acts as a remote control that you can take anywhere in the house, as this one was for the porch light I just leave it in situ. I have another dimmer switch that's connected to my bedroom lights and with that set up I do use it more like a remote control and often remove it from the base plate - as it's magnetic it really easy to do and shouldn't present any problems for anyone with limited dexterity in their hands.The icing on the cake is the 'routines' within the app that allows you to turn the selected light on or off when leaving and returning home. It works in concert with the location of your phone - you set the area so it knows not to turn the light off before you've left your dive way. You can also set it so it won't trigger unless it's after dark that way you're not wasting electricity if your just popping out in the middle of the day.Not cheap but I don't have any buyer's remorse and I'll certainly be adding to my hue lights as time and finances allow.