Philips Hue Lights Can Now Sync With Your Samsung TV
SmartThings , Samsung’s smart home technology management brand, has announced a new partnership with smart lighting brand Philips Hue. Essentially, if you buy the Hue line of smart lights, especially the color ones, they will sync with Samsung TVs (2022 models and newer) through the Philips Hue Sync TV app without the need for any external hub. .
Hue Lights are exceptional, but they’re not the cheapest: the light strip you’d use behind your TV costs $94.99. Govee and Nanoleaf are comparative, but Hue requires you to also pay for the Sync app . Previously, this was only offered for a one-time fee of $130. Today the company announced a $2.99 monthly subscription, but that still means you’re paying for the service on top of the cost of the lighting, something neither Govee nor Nanoleaf require.
Samsung and Philips have specifically noted that the TV is the center of many homes—it’s essentially a “hub” whether you like it or not, and this integration appears to be doubling down on that idea. I have and like a similar system from Nanoleaf called 4D, and Govee and other manufacturers have these systems too. They give your TV an “aura” that lights up on the wall at any time based on the colors of the TV and can respond to sound in real time. As far as I can tell, Philips will be able to do this without the camera that both Govee and Nanoleaf require, and will instead rely on collaboration with other apps present on the TV.
In addition to the Hue integration, the SmartThings app now has a 3D spatial mapping feature that was first announced at CES 2024. I’m already impressed with the MapView (a 2D floor plan of my entire home with all my devices) that appeared in my SmartThings app back in January. The 3D option arrived this morning and it’s pretty impressive too.
However, it’s not very accurate out of the box: unless you have a Samsung mapping device like the Bespoke Jet AI Bot, Samsung’s robot vacuum cleaner, you’ll need to enter some data into the app to get rooms and items. lined up properly. It’s not a big deal, but considering I’m playing with LiDAR mapping robots and motion sensors that can easily figure things out without my input, it’s not very interesting either.
I’m also not entirely sure what benefit there is to spending time setting up a map as opposed to the benefits you can get from spending time mapping your robot’s vacuum. But if you like Minecraft, I expect you’ll enjoy hosting your smart home on the app. Samsung envisions benefits beyond the home into apartments and office spaces, where real estate partners can create distinctive user experiences based on space.