Verdict
Not just wise Christmas Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree lights , the Philips Hue Festavia String Lights are a full part of the Hue ecosystem , operating with the app and a full set of controls . Effortlessly blending in with any existing lights and scenes you have , this set is a great addition to any family . The underage downsides ( for some ) are the lack of more active result , such as flash and blinking , and the fact that they only amount in one distance .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The pick used to be wide-eyed if you wanted smart Christmas tree lights : you could bribe the Twinkly light . Now , there ’s a challenger : the Philips Hue Festavia String Lights . mix amply with the Hue ecosystem , let in the app and wireless control , these smart light source have an advantage over Twinkly .
Yet , despite its quality , the Festavia set does n’t have the full range of mountains of effects one would bear from Christmas tree lighting , so prefer the secure luminance is more unmanageable than you might remember .
Design and Features
The Philips Hue Festavia String Lights are 20 m farsighted and have 250 individual colour - changing LEDs . That ’s a considerable amount of light , and it should be enough to cover even the biggest tree . If you have a minuscule one , the lights need to be wind around it multiple times .
Twinkly has the advantage here , as its smart string lights can be bought in various lengths with 250 , 400 and 600 LED versions and in several wire color . Also , Twinkly light can even come prewired with theBalsam Hill Twinklytrees .
For frame-up purpose , the Festavia lights are like any other Christmas lights that need to be manually wrapped around a tree . Philips recommends working from the bottom up – so the baron supply remain in an ideal billet – and finishing at the top of the tree . It ’s significant not to mould up and then down , as this can ruin any gradient light effects you may want to employ .
There ’s a 40W power supply ( although the lights pull only 15W when on full brightness ) on this model , and it uses a similar connector to the Hue outdoor lights . However , it ’s important to think that the Festavia lights are for indoor function only .
Once wired up and turned on , the lights are summate via the Hue app . They can crop over Bluetooth , which could be helpful if you plan to have only these visible radiation and no other Hue ones . For the full experience and mountain chain of control , the Festavia sparkle work well when connected to a Hue Bridge , which is what I did .
As with all Hue light , the Festavia set can be sum up to a way or an area along with regular Hue lights . That ’s quite a cool trick : I put my Festavia brightness into the Kitchen elbow room , so when I change by reversal on my kitchen lights , the Christmas tree lights up and matches the same vista as the rest of the room .
With the right bent of controls , such as thePhilips Hue Tap Dial , it ’s easygoing to make the Festavia light cps through different zone , or merely to aline their luminance . This certainly goes some mode to make up for the lack of onboard controls . My Balsam Hill tree with Twinkly lights has a command boxwood with a button that allow me wheel through scenes without necessitate an app or wireless dominance .
Via the Hue app , the Festavia ( and any light in the same room or zona ) can have scene apply . Hue has a wide image of preset scenes , admit some cool Christmas - link up ones , plus it ’s easy enough to create your own .
dynamical scenes are available , where the lights slowly switch color . There are also three special modes : Candle , Fireplace and Sparkle . These apply preset colour temperatures and reflex brightness adjustments and are a trivial more dynamic than the standard scene .
However , there is n’t a choice for more dynamic scenes that you ’d usually get with Christmas Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree light , such as rapid blinking or a disappearance - out result . If you want that sort of thing , the beamish lights are better .
As with other Hue Christ Within , the Festavia can be operate individually , mark the colour , temperature or brightness level that you need . These light seem with the same controls as gradient lights , such as thePhilips Hue Signe Gradientlamps .
Essentially , the app splits the lights into three segments that are connected together , so I could pick different colouring to run along each third . Hue make this kind of control very simple .
Twinkly , on the other hand , can utilize your phone ’s camera to map out where each bulb is in 3-D , giving you the alternative to paint each bulb a different colour . In my experience , this take a leak Twinkly more customisable , but the Festavia is easier to control .
As the Festavia is a Seth of received lights , it ’s controllable via every major smart place system ( provided you have Bridge ) , let in Alexa , Google Assistant , HomeKit and SmartThings .
Performance
The principal advantage of the Philips Hue Festavia String Lights is how well they integrate into my home . As I plow on the kitchen lights , the Festavia light spring to life . When I interchange scenes , the string lights deepen to tally as well .
More than any other stage set of Christmas lights , the Festavia blend in with my other smart lights , matching and mime what ’s going on – it ’s a very not bad trick . Also , these lights are bright enough to abide out and blend in well with my other lights : four GU10s , two regular bulb and a 10 m lightsome strip .
desegregation with Hue remotes is also invaluable . I love leaving the kitchen , strike the off button on my wireless dimmer and seeing the Christmas tree wrick off at the same time . I find controlling the Festavia easier and faster than my Twinkly luminosity .
I do miss the option of take more active picture , though . At time , I wish my Christmas spark to blink , rain down down with colour or wheel through a whole rainbow of color . Here , the basic dynamic tantrum – and even the more in advance 1 , such as Candle – just are n’t as eye - catching as the Twinkly option .
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Should you buy it?
If you want your Christmas lights to go effortlessly with your normal smart lights , the Philips Hue Festavia is an excellent choice .
If you require a wider range of effects , include blinking and flashing – which you would get with normal Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree lights – look elsewhere .
Final Thoughts
If you do n’t have any smart ignition at menage , then the choice is light : bribe a set of Twinkly lights of the correct length for your tree diagram ( or built into the tree diagram ) . Twinkly sparkle are trashy and – while its app is n’t as good as the Hue one – have a broad range of scene including “ proper ” Christmas I .
If you have chromaticity light already , then the choice comes down to what you want . If you like traditional - mode flashing active lights with the selection of smart mastery , go with Twinkly . If you desire something that will immingle into your domicile and your kindling scenes that can be managed by a wide range of mountains of outside controls while having a more subtle lighting result , then the Philips Hue Festavia String Lights work bright .
Trusted Score
How We Test
Unlike other land site , we test every smart light we review soundly over an extended period of time . We practice industry received trial run to equate features decently . We ’ll always tell you what we find . We never , ever , accept money to review a product .
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FAQs
No , these are indoor - only lights .
They have three zone , and each one can be a different colour .
No , there ’s only one distance – 20 m and 250 light – available .
