Imagine yourself in a situation where you have already spent a handsome amount of money for buying smart bulbs, and then you got to know, you’d require a dedicated hub in order to give life to the smart features of those bulbs.
That would certainly not be a pleasant experience, because nobody wants the extra up-front cost and additional complexity.
Now if you ask, do smart bulbs need a hub? I’d say, in general, yes some smart bulbs do require a hub, and some don’t. With popular companies upgrading their smart bulbs with built-in Wi-Fi connectivity or Bluetooth, there is no longer need of a hub to operate them.
But you have to bear with a few limitations of the hubless smart lights. And what are those? For the unawares – read on to the following sections.
Which smart bulbs don’t require a hub?
By now, you must know that not all smart bulbs necessarily need a hub. But the question is, then which certain brands or product models do?
If you do a simple Google search, you’d probably get a long exhaustive list of the smart bulbs varients. Out of all – there are few names which have been recommended by experts and smart home enthusiasts including, brands like C by GE, Anker Eufy, LIFX, and now even Philips Hue has joined the race.
These smart bulbs either make use of built-in Wi-Fi connectivity, which requires wireless network and an internet connection to work or Bluetooth functionality that enables you to control the bulbs using smartphone application.
However, smart bulbs with built-in Bluetooth couldn’t entirely eliminate the need for a hub. Since they have a much shorter connection range than the wireless system, and you cannot control them remotely, incorporating a hub becomes the necessity in some cases.
With no doubt, one would certainly want to go for the smart bulbs that operate over Wi-Fi instead of Bluetooth. Although, it’s a general point of view and not an imposition of an idea; whether or not a bulb with Bluetooth is a right choice is more of an individual’s preference and significantly dependent on the available resources and needs.
LIFX is a prominent name in the market that makes bright and vivid WiFi compatible LED bulbs that requires no hub. You can control it by integrating with your phone or smarter voice assistants like Google Home and Alexa. LIFX bulbs have plenty of options to choose from that offers a variety of configurations to fit various lighting fixtures and budgets.
And for the smart lights that function over Bluetooth – Eufy, Anker, and C by GE are the reliable brands you can go for.
Philips Hue has entered the arena
Philips Hue – if you don’t know – it’s the most popular name in the smart lighting space. Its parent company Signify, has recently started integrating Bluetooth functionality to its bulbs, namely the A19 (click to see on Amazon) and BR30 flood light bulbs (click to see current price on Amazon).
Earlier, for Philips Hue models, for even performing the basic functions a hub was mandatorily needed, known as Hue Bridge. Which is not the case anymore with the addition of the built-in Bluetooth connectivity to the smart bulbs; now you can set them up with using a smartphone app and get a full control without any accessories.
The only downside, as mentioned above, you can only control the bulb smart functions as long as you are in staying within Bluetooth range or about 30 feet. Without a hub, you would be limited to employing advanced features like Hue Sync and IFTTT.
A question which has been frequently asked by smart light fanatics is that, is it possible to make use of a hue bridge which the new Philips Hue Bluetooth smart bulbs. So, if you have the same doubt, the answer is yes these bulbs still have Zigbee included thus, you can use the Hue Bridge (click to see on Amazon) with them for enabling additional features such as away-from-home control and Friends of Hue functionality.
It’s probably the best idea to buy these Hue line bulbs, for the peoples who only want to use one or two smart lights and not a home full of them. Coming to the price comparison, these are also inexpensive to the WiFi compatible smart lights.
Is a hub indispensable?
For the smart lights neither having WiFi connectivity nor Bluetooth support, a hub is absolutely necessary. Even with the availability of smart bulbs with WiFi we haven’t yet completely overcome the need of having a hub, let alone with Bluetooth compatible lights.
As previously mentioned, buying a hub – in the case where you can even manage the smart bulbs without it – is undoubtedly a choice made by the homeowner. A hub is nothing but just an upgradation to your smart lighting.
For instance, if you wish to group the Bluetooth lights into different rooms, it couldn’t be feasible without incorporating a hub as an intermediary. But for a single room, you probably won’t require the hub, unless the internet is down and you still want to tweak changes the bulb functions.
So it really depends on you, the type of convenience you are striving for, what satisfies your need, and most importantly, the budget and essential requirements. Considering all the mentioned factors, you can easily make yourself a choice that you’d not regret later for making it.
