Is there a safe way to Setup Philips Hue without a Hue Bridge? and does it have any downsides?
According to Philips Hue, you can make use us a Philip’s Hue without a hue bridge, however, you might not be able to access advanced features without a hue bridge. So, the hue bridge is an intergral part of the Philip Hue’s bulb and other gadgets to function properly.
For some users, setting up the whole structure might seem complex or they are having issues like the internet going out for minutes, which means the Philips bulbs would go off,
That alone is enough reason to consider if you can use your Philips Hue without a Hue Bridge.
And there is a safe way to do that. But, before we do that let me explain what Philips Hue is:
What is Philips Hue
Philips Hue can be regarded as a smart, energy-saving bulb, that can switch its colour, which makes it a perfect choice for any kind of environment.
In addition to that, Philips Hue can be controlled wirelessly, and it is leading the way when it comes to the smart bulb space.
Now, among the Philips hue setup, we also have the Hue bridge which is equally important. So what is the Hue bridge about and what is it used for
Philips Hue Bridge
The Hue Bridge acts as the controller of the light bulb system. This allows the app to communicate effectively with the bulbs.
The Hue Bridge has the shape of a small squared white box. with a big circular button, two connectors and three(3) LEDs.
Although setting it up could be a bit tedious, which usually involves connecting it to a bridge > Pugging it to a socket > Connecting bridge to the Wi-Fi router and in most cases, it always comes with some little issues while setting it such as your led lights not blinking.
If you want to set up your Philips Hue without a Hue, there are a few things you have to take note of.
One of them is, Before you can consider setting up your Philips Hue without a Hue Bridge, you have to make sure the bulb comes with Bluetooth. In most instances, you should be able to see the Bluetooth icon under the bulb or on the pack.
Now, if you have a Philips Hue that comes with Bluetooth here are how you can set it up without using a Hue Bridge.
How to Setup Philips Hue Without a Hue Bridge
To set up the Philips hue, you can set it up by either getting the Dimmer Switch setup or through using the Hue Bluetooth App and I will be talking about the two procedures.
Setup Philips Hue Using a Dimmer Switch
To Set up your Philips Hue bulb using the Dimmer you need to get the Hue Dimmer switch Pack that comes with a Hue bulb, The reason why is because they are usually linked together.
Once you have both, you don’t need to go through any complex setup. Simply unpack the box, get the bulb and screw it to a socket that is not in use.
After doing this, follow these steps closely
- Switch on the bulb
- Now, get the Dimmer Switch and Hold it close to the bulb
- After doing that, press down and hold the power ON and power OFF for about 10 seconds
- As soon as the bulb flashes, it is now reset to its default factory stage and ready to use
In addition to all that, with the Philips Hue Dimmer Switch you can add up to 10 bulbs to the same Dimmer Switch, yeah, it does give you that functionality.
If you want to add a new bulb(without a Hue Bridge) simply do these:
- Install the Philips Hue Bulb
- Now, switch the bulb on
- After doing that, get the Dimmer Switch and bring it close to the bulb
- Now, Press and ON the power button
- As soon as a small LED light appears on the Dimmer Switch, the bulb will blink to confirm the connection.
After doing this you should be able to control the hue Bulb with the switch, although you might not be able to do stuff like change the color.
Moving forward, The other way to set up your Philips Hue without a Hue bridge is to use the Hue Bluetooth app.
And here’s how you can do that:
- First and foremost, screw the Philips Hue bulb to any vacant socket,
- Then, go on the play store or App store and download the Hue Bluetooth app
- Launch the App and tap on “Get Started“
- After doing that, now hit “Yes” on the next screen that appears
- Now, you will be required to set up your account
- Enter your Email address and name and accept terms and conditions
- On the next screen select “Yes” Since we will be using a voice assistant like Alexa to setup Philips hue, However, if you don’t plan on using a voice assistant, click on “No“
- Now, go the Philips hue switch and turn on the light,
- As soon as you do this, the app will start looking for the Hue light
- Now, tap “pair” to allow the app to access your Bluetooth device
On the next screen, if you still have more bulbs that you want to install, tap “Search for more”, to install them all, however, if that’s all, you can tap on “next”
Once you’re done with this, it will ask you to choose a voice assistant between “Amazon Alexa” and Google Home” scroll down to the next heading.
Now, you might want to set it up later, or maybe you don’t have a voice assistant. if you want to do it later, click on “Setting up voice assistant later”
Now, Assign a name to your hue Bulb and finally tap on “Next ” to End the setup Process.”
However, if you have either google home or Amazon Alexa, here is how you can connect Alexa with your Philips Hue Bulbs
How to Connect Philips Hue Bulb to Alexa
To Connect your Philips Hue Bulb to Alexa follow these simple steps:
Since you should have installed your Philips Hue Bulb by screwing it into a vacant socket and you have the Alexa app installed on your device go to the next steps:
- Launch your Alexa app and tap on the “more” icon at the bottom right corner
- On the next screen at the top select “add a device” then tap on “light”
- Now on the list of brands shown here, if you see “Philips Hue” tap on it
- Next, tap “Yes” if it asks whether your Philips Hue light is Bluetooth enabled and select “Discover device”
- Now bring your phone close to the Philips Hue bulb so that Alexa can easily pick your device once it starts searching for nearby devices
- While doing that, wait for Alexa to connect to your Philips Hue bulbs
Now, it will tell you how many light bulbs were found, if it didn’t get all your light bulbs choose “add another device”, else tap on “setup device”
- Now tap on “choose group”
- Finally, select the specific room where your light is
- Finally, Tap “Continue” on the next page to finish the setup.
Once you have successfully connected Alexa to your Philips Hue bulbs, you can use voice commands to control them.
Try saying “Alexa turn off the lights in the kitchen”, or “Alexa, dim the lights in the toilet”
Now, in a scenario where you have Google Home here are the steps you should follow
How to Connect Philips Hue Bulb to Google Home
To set up Philips Hue Bulb on Google home do these:
- Install your Hue Bulbs and switch them on.
- Now, Launch your Google Home app. If you don’t have it installed you can either get it here for Android or here for App Store
- After launching it, tap the “Plus Sign icon” at the top left corner
- On the next screen simply tap on “set up Device” and select “setup new device”
- Now, choose “home” if you’re at home or “work” and then hit “Next“
- On the next screen, “Google Home” will ask you what you are setting up, choose “light Bulb”
- Next, select the right smart bulb name and tap “set up“, if you can’t see your bulb, tap on “Don’t see my light”
After selecting it your Hue Bulb should start blinking, but if it doesn’t, tap on “light dint blink”
If after trying this you are not able to get your Hue Bulb Connected do these:
- Move your Google smart speaker closer to your Bulbs
- Now, turn Off the lights for a minimum of 10 seconds
- Now turn them on again and restart the process on Google home
- Now, choose a room where your device is. and tap “next”
- Once you’re done with that, choose a name for your bulb.
- If you have multiple smart lights, you will have to repeat the final few steps for each bulb.
Conclusion
Setting up your Philips Hue Bulb without a bridge is quite easy, as you only need to connect your bulb with either your Alexa app or your google home app.
Since it comes with Bluetooth you can equally make use of the Hue Bluetooth app, which makes it quite easy.
If you have Philips smart Tv you can check this out Here