Philips Hue outdoor products have been available since this past July, when the first wave of light strips, luminaries, spotlights, and bollard lights went up for sale. For 2019, flood lights and an “Econic” line of contemporary fixtures have been created. Additional models will be available in the European market.
In person, each light in the collection offers even and clean lighting and felt suitably bright to light up a yard without casting harsh shadows. While the majority of the fixtures can display millions of colors, the Welcome Outdoor Floodlight is limited to shades of white and feels substantially brighter than the rest of the line. For color, Hue offers the Discover Outdoor Floodlight.
While the new lights give customers more design styles to choose from, the star of the show is the Philips Hue Outdoor sensor, a small, battery operated motion detector that mounts on flat surfaces and corners without any additional wiring required. Battery life is estimated at 2 years.
Two mounts are included in the box and attach to your wall with a screw. One mount allows for attaching to flat surfaces like home siding, while an angle bracket supports corner installation. By rotating the angle bracket, the outdoor sensor can be angled on a flat surface. The sensor itself is extremely light and small enough to fit in your hand. On a wall, it appears relatively discreet. The white dome on the sensor’s faces houses two lenses for motion detection and daylight sensing.
Both the new outdoor fixtures and sensor have been created with an emphasis on home security. Color and motion detection can be used as theft deterrents, and since the outdoor sensor is compatible with any Philips Hue product, outdoor motion can even be translated to indoor lighting scenes. Like earlier products, all of the new fixtures are HomeKit-compatible.
While each new lamp in the outdoor collection produces a similar quality of lighting, I must admit my favorite fixtures are those created especially for the European market. Hue representatives note these designs are more suited to international tastes, but I’d love to see them made available in the U.S. as well.
The Philips Hue Outdoor sensor and new fixtures will be available to purchase in February. Product specifications and pricing are already available on the Philips Hue website.
You can keep up with all of the latest product announcements from Las Vegas in our CES 2019 Guide.
