Philips and Xiaomi are well-known brands for developing smart technology. Both brands also produce smart lighting, including outdoors and indoors. Xiaomi is known for its cheaper options, whereas Philips is known for its wide variety of choices. Philips was one of the first brands to step into smart light technology and a well-known brand. But, Xiaomi, with its production from China, has budget-friendly options. We have provided a detailed comparison between Philips Hue and Xiaomi Yeelight.
Customize Color, temperature, and brightness for a healthy Lighting experience.; No hub required: Control via Mi Home APP.
Our Verdict
Quick Navigation
The Xiaomi Yeelight seems to be in the spotlight for us. It offers the required features any smart lights need. It has music syncing and provides a wide range of colors for the bulbs that too at an affordable cost. Today we will review and compare the Philips Hue and the Xiaomi Yeelight and try to find which is the best out of them.
Philips has added this feature to save energy. In this feature, it allows the bulbs to turn or off based on your location. The feature uses your phone’s GPS to identify your location and adjust the lightings. This particular feature helps in saving energy, and turn on lights only when required. Unfortunately, the Xiaomi Yeelight lacks this feature. The winner over is the Philips Hue.
2) Technology And Connectivity
Both of them use a different technology to operate. In the case of Philips Hue, it requires the Philips Hue Bridge to work. It connects using Zigbee technology. The hub is later connected to your router through the Ethernet Port. Hence, there might be an additional expense in the case of Philips Hue. In the case of Xiaomi, it has no complications. It connects to your 2.4GHz 802.11 b/g/n router. Hence it is easy and no effort required.
3) Entertainment
Both the system can sync with your favourite music and add colours along with the beats. But Philips has included an extra feature that allows you to sync the lights with your movies or games. Using the Philips App, it can detect the colours on the screen and changes it. Xiaomi lacks this feature. Hence in entertainment, Philips Hue is one step ahead.
4) Apple HomeKit
Having control over your devices is the main feature any smart devices need. Voice Commands can make your control even more comfortable.
Philips Hue works smoothly with your Apple HomeKit through the Hue Bridge. Even Microsoft Cortana is unique to Philips Hue. For people, who want to bind with the Apple products, Philips Hue is a must-have. Xiaomi Yeelight does not support Apple HomeKit or Microsoft Cortana.
5) Fitting
When it comes to sockets, Philips Hue has many choices like E26, E12, BR30, GU10 & PAR16 fittings. Contrarily, Xiaomi offers limited options with E26 or E27 setup.
6) Smart Home Integration
Philips Hue is on the finer side in case of smart home integrations. Hue products will work flawlessly with Nest, Logitech and Razor products.
Hue also supports some home devices like Xfinity Home, Vivint, and SmartThings. But, Xiaomi Yeelight offers integrations with most of its devices like Mi Band or Misfit Bulbs.
Both Xiaomi Yeelight and Philips Hue offers 16 million colours for your bulb. It allows you to choose your colour, and play along with different shades. The color can change according to the occasion or around your mood. The best part is you will never run out of colours.
2) Dimming And Scheduling
Philips Hue as well Xiaomi Yeelight gives you a choice to dim the colour bulb anytime you wish to. Another exciting feature is that you can also schedule and adjust your light. We can do this using the away from home feature through the Philips or Xiaomi App.
3) Music Sync
Both the devices are compatible to adjust the colour of the bulb, depending on the music. It can change the colours depending on your favourite tune.
4) Life Span
Finally, both offer a life span of 22.8 years if used 3 hours per day on average, which makes the investment on the product a worthy one.
If you are planning on expanding your home smart devices, then Philips Hue is the one. It can integrate with most of the common devices. It includes Nest, Logitech, Razor, and Xiaomi products as well. Not only this, but it is also capable of integrating with Microsoft Cortana and Apple HomeKit. It offers 16 million shades of color, and you can change it to your preference. The additional and different feature in Philips Hue is geofencing. This feature helps you control your lighting based on your location through your GPS.
Hence a smarter step to save energy. The connectivity is through the Ethernet port, which only works if you own a Philips hue bridge. Music syncing is something most of the light bulbs have, but in Hue, it also syncs with your movies and games. With an extra cost, you will, in turn, be getting a lot of additional features that most of the smart lighting systems lack. By the way, do check out Philips’s comparison with Osram.
Things We Like
Syncs with your Music/movie/game
Geofencing
Integrates with Apple HomeKit, Cortana and many other devices
Brighter
Away from home feature
Things We Don't Like
Bit expensive
Connectivity is complicated due to the Philips Hue Bridge.
Xiaomi Yeelight is an affordable replacement for the Philips Hue. Most of the features of these devices are almost the same. Xiaomi is compatible with devices like Alexa or Google Assistant. But, unlike the Hue, it fails to integrate with Apple HomeKit and Cortana. Also, it has a few options for integrations and mainly is compatible with its products. All though, this might not be a negative point, because compared to the cost we are getting almost the same features seen in Philips Hue. , it offers 16 million range of colours and syncs with your music to give you the required mood. It can connect to your Wi-Fi seamlessly, without any port. If you are looking for a cheaper yet efficient alternative to the Philips Hue, the Xiaomi is the one for you.
Things We Like
Affordable
No complications in connectivity
Integrates with Alexa and google assistant
Syncs with your music
Away from home feature
Things We Don't Like
Not compatible with Apple HomeKit or Cortana
Does not sync with movie or games
No geofencing feature
FAQ’s
1) Will Yeelight LED bulb show the same light every time after it’s powered on?
By default, the power-on state is 100% brightness and 4000K colour temperature. This can be configured as well.
2) Does it work with Google Home, Alexa and Apple HomeKit?
Yes, it does work with all these.
3) Is the Hue Bridge wireless?
No, it must always be connected via a network cable to your home router.
4) Can it be used outside?
The bulbs are designed for indoor use only.
Final Thoughts
After the comparison, Yeelight seems to superior to the Philips Hue. The Yeelight is a more budget-friendly option. There is no extra budget you would be spending in Yeelight, unlike the Hue, where a Hue bridge is required. There are only a few features that the Yeelight lacks. Make sure you check the differentiation done with Philips light strips and yeeligh strips. It still offers a variety of colour options for your bulbs. It also syncs with your music and lets you control your lights when you are away.
The only biggest downfall is that it does not integrate with a lot of devices. Still, we would recommend you to get the Xiaomi Yeelight if you want a device with cheaper cost and fewer integrations. If you still prefer Phillips make sure that you check the comparison between Philips hue being and Philips fair.
Philips Hue - Editor's Choice
4.9
Summary
If you are planning on expanding your home smart devices, then Philips Hue is the one. It can integrate with most of the common devices. It includes Nest, Logitech, Razor, and Xiaomi products as well. Not only this, but it is also capable of integrating with Microsoft Cortana and Apple HomeKit. It offers 16 million shades of color, and you can change it to your preference.
Andrea is a Senior Content Editor who digs into the very minuscule details to give her readers the best hands-on experience of the products. She brings her years of research and engineering experience to help us consistently create immaculate engaging content and products that hold the highest technical integrity.
Leave a Reply