The Philips Hue range has been setting the smart lighting pace for several years now, but the company just unveiled its first white bulbs with temperature control. Its new White Ambiance lights offer color temperatures that mimic natural light, which means your bedroom can automatically reflect the cycles of day and night.
Philips is promising "every shade of white light" is catered for, from cool daylight (6,500 Kelvin) to warm white (2,200 Kelvin). Light routines can be set through the accompanying smartphone app for iOS and Android or via the connected dimmer switch available as an accessory. If you want, you can have the lights slowly dim or brighten to match your sleep patterns.
While these are the first Philips Hue white lights to offer temperature control, we've previously seen similar bulbs from the likes of Fluxo and Retina Light. Color temperature controls not only enable users to mimic different types of natural light, they can also create different moods in each room – helpful if you want to chill out in the lounge, but get some work done in the study.
There's also going to be a Nightlight mode available for the new bulbs, designed to let you see your way around a room while minimizing the amount of blue light that's known to disrupt sleep patterns.
It's likely that the new Ambiance line will sit somewhere between Philips' basic white Hue bulbs (that can only be switched on or off) and the more advanced versions offering millions of different colors.
As with the rest of the current generation Hue line-up, the White Ambiance lights can be controlled through the Apple Homekit standard, so you can use Siri's voice control capabilities to change their settings. As yet Philips hasn't made any announcement on price, but the products will be out from the spring (Northern hemisphere). The bulbs can be bought individually or as part of a White Ambiance Starter Kit that includes a dimmer switch and the Hue Wi-Fi hub as well.
Source: Philips
