Philips Hue Play White and Colour Ambiance Smart Light Bar Double Pack Base Unit, Entertainment Lighting for TV and Gaming (Works with Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple HomeKit), Black

Product Information

The content passing through is analyzed and translated to flashes of color on any connected Hue lights. This means that both of the lights included with the kit I purchased plugged into the same outlet, which was ok for my setup, but it could potentially limit placement depending on the situation.

For this particular setup, I set the light bars horizontally behind my set, which managed to throw a relatively large swath of light on the wall. After a little fiddling, I created a “scene” for the Philips Hue Play light bars that served nicely as a static TV bias light. With 3 lights you would have one either side of your display, and then one in the middle pointing upwards.Set the brightness and speed of how your lights sync depending on the type of content you’re playing or watching (or your mood). The plain, thin, design makes the lights look like speakers on my desk and doesn't scream "smart connected lighting", which is exactly what I was trying to avoid. Hue Sync is the brains and software behind ensuring the lights change the right colour and quickly, the lights themselves are clear, bright and responsive.

Although Hue Sync is a cool app, it only works with content that comes from your Windows or Mac PC and doesn't work with content streamed directly to your smart TV, nor does it work with Blu-ray players and gaming consoles. While there's no denying that Philips Ambilight TVs are fantastic for creating such an effect, there are also a few great Ambilight alternatives out there too. The Philips Hue Play light bar can be mounted to a wall or TV, laid flat on any surface or stood upright. That said, the constant glow on every show, movie, or onscreen content could be distracting depending on if you keep the lighting effect on all the time.Each color can be bought as a pair as shown in this review, a single light with power pack, or an extension light which doesn’t have a power pack and would be an addition to the twin pack as below, giving you 3 lights in total. Tyler Hayes is a Freelance Journalist and Contributor and has experience with corporate communications handlingmarketing,executive messaging, andPRinitiatives for multiple companies. Likewise, I'd love to be able to sync the Play Bars with Netflix movies streamed directly to my TV rather than have to use my laptop as the video source. Inside you get 2 Hue Play Bars with attached wires coming from them, a mains power plug transformer with plug adapters depending where you live, I got a UK and EU plug adapter. But if you're coming into this fresh without any prior experience, the setup and installation process will likely be more complicated needing to set up a bridge, lights, and then the Hue Play Sync Box.