Philips Hue Introduces Advanced 2025 Product Line and Hue Bridge Pro

Philips Hue has unveiled its most ambitious product launch yet, introducing over ten new products that redefine its smart lighting ecosystem. From the long-anticipated Hue Bridge Pro to a budget-friendly Hue Essential range, the 2025 lineup offers cutting-edge features aimed at smart home enthusiasts and newcomers alike. The announcement, made in September 2025 near the IFA tech event, marks a major milestone for Signify, the company behind the Philips Hue brand.

Hue Bridge Pro: The Heart of an Expanded Ecosystem

At the core of the 2025 product launch is the Hue Bridge Pro, a powerful upgrade to the existing Hue Bridge V2. Designed for larger and more advanced smart home systems, the Bridge Pro supports up to 150 lights and 50 accessories - three times the capacity of its predecessor. Priced at $89.99, the hub also introduces built-in Wi-Fi connectivity, a significant departure from the Ethernet-only requirement of earlier models. This addition allows more flexible placement options in the home.

The Bridge Pro features a 1.7 GHz quad-core processor and 1 GB of RAM, which deliver faster response times and support up to 500 custom lighting scenes. It also integrates Hue products into the Matter smart home standard, although the bridge continues to use Zigbee for its lights. Importantly, the Bridge can serve as a Matter controller, enabling older Hue products to work smoothly within modern smart home ecosystems.

One standout feature of the Bridge Pro is MotionAware. Using Zigbee signals from at least three Hue lights in a room, the hub can detect motion based on subtle changes in signal strength. This feature effectively transforms Hue lights into motion sensors, automating lighting without the need for separate sensors. "MotionAware is included for lighting automations", the company noted, while more advanced applications like security alerts require a subscription to the Hue Secure plan.

Users can also transfer settings from the Hue Bridge V2 to the Pro using the Hue app, ensuring a seamless upgrade process. A future software update will even allow configurations from multiple Bridges to merge into a single Bridge Pro network.

Budget-Friendly Hue Essential Line

Philips Hue is expanding its reach with the launch of the Hue Essential range, a more affordable line of smart bulbs and light strips. The Hue Essential A19 color bulb is priced at $24.99, significantly lower than the $60 price tag of Hue’s premium White & Color Ambiance bulbs. A 5-meter Essential Lightstrip costs $100, offering an entry point for cost-conscious consumers.

The Essential line supports Zigbee, Bluetooth, and Thread, ensuring compatibility with Matter-compatible platforms or the Hue Bridge. However, Essential products come with pared-down features, such as reduced brightness and limited dimming capabilities (down to 2%, compared to 0.2% in higher-end models). Despite these compromises, Signify assured consumers that the range "bridges the affordability gap without compromising reliability."

Starter kits featuring Essential bulbs and accessories, such as a Hue Bridge and smart switch, will also be available for $90 to simplify adoption for new users.

New Premium Lights and Gradient Innovations

Philips Hue’s premium lineup also received a significant refresh. New White, White Ambiance, and Color Ambiance bulbs replicate full-spectrum daylight, offer improved Chromasync color matching, and boast 40% greater energy efficiency. These bulbs include Thread radios, enabling them to connect directly to Matter-enabled hubs without a Hue Bridge. Pricing for these bulbs ranges from $15.99 (White) to $59.99 (Color Ambiance).

Building on the popularity of gradient lighting, Philips Hue introduced new light strips such as the Hue OmniGlow and Flux Gradient series. The OmniGlow lightstrip delivers a "perfectly spot-free" neon-like glow, with densely packed LEDs creating a uniform light band. Available in lengths of 3m, 5m, and 10m, OmniGlow starts at $139.99 for a 3m kit.

The Flux Gradient Lightstrips expand Hue’s multi-color capabilities, offering indoor and outdoor options and flexible designs like the Hue Neon, which can be bent into shapes. Meanwhile, the Hue Festavia Outdoor String Lights provide decorative gradient lighting for patios or rooflines, available in lengths ranging from 7m to 21m.

Software Updates and Ecosystem Expansion

The Philips Hue app has been updated to support the new devices and features, including MotionAware automations. Users can now create routines like dimming lights when motion is detected, without requiring dedicated motion sensors. Additionally, Hue’s 2025 software updates introduced Sonos Voice Control integration, allowing users to control Hue lights via voice commands on Sonos speakers.

The Hue Secure system, which launched in 2023, also received a boost with the introduction of the Hue Secure Video Doorbell. This doorbell features 2K video resolution, motion detection, and seamless integration with Hue lighting. For example, pressing the doorbell can trigger porch lights to turn on, or indoor lights to flash as an alert. Signify also announced that 24-hour video storage would be free for Secure camera and doorbell users by the end of the year, undercutting competitors like Ring and Nest, which require paid subscriptions for similar services.

Competing in a Crowded Market

Philips Hue’s 2025 expansion reflects a response to increasing competition from brands like Govee, Nanoleaf, and TP-Link. While Hue’s premium products remain more expensive, the introduction of the Essential range positions the brand to compete with budget-friendly alternatives. The integration of Matter also ensures interoperability, a critical feature as the smart home industry moves toward unified standards.

However, challenges remain. Some users have questioned the omission of Thread border router functionality in the Bridge Pro, while others note that Hue Secure devices currently lack integration with third-party platforms like HomeKit.

Looking Ahead

With its most extensive product launch to date, Philips Hue is doubling down on its role as a leader in the smart lighting market. By balancing premium innovations like the Hue Bridge Pro and MotionAware technology with more accessible options like the Essential line, Hue is adapting to the needs of both high-end and entry-level consumers. As the smart home landscape continues to evolve, Philips Hue’s 2025 lineup underscores its commitment to staying at the forefront of lighting innovation.

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