Philips Hue Bridge Pro review

Product Name: Introduction

• type: smart lighting bridge
• Connectivity: Ethernet, Wi-Fi

It took a long time, but the Philips Hue Bridge Pro is finally here and has solved all the little problems and issues with smart lighting systems. Future-proofed and with plenty of headroom, the new Bridge is an essential upgrade for anyone with a large existing system, or a new system that might outfit an entire home.

Design and installation

• Easy migration
• Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection

Hue Bridge Pro is an unassuming product, but it’s the most important component of any lighting system, new or old. Most Hue lights can be controlled via Bluetooth, but this control method provides basic local control. Bridge is required for all accessories, Matter support, and remote control. This is the best choice to buy.

As a quick overview, this new version fixes the shortcomings of the older Bridge, which was released over a decade ago. The main problem with older models is that they only support 50 lights and 12 accessories, giving you limited space to save scenes.

These limits may sound high, but it’s surprisingly easy to reach them once you start using Hue. Most of my homes are equipped with Hue lights inside and outside. I have seven lights alone in my kitchen, between strips, bulbs, and spots. Multiply this across the house and garden and 50 lights isn’t that much.

The same problem occurs with accessories such as light switches. Most switches are wireless, so place them where it’s most convenient. For example, I have three separate switches in my garden that depend on whether I want the lights on when I’m outside, in the garden office, or in the kitchen.

Once the number of lights and accessories reaches (or exceeds) its limit, the old Hue Bridge starts to look a little strange. At best, the response to light switches is a little slow. Even worse, weird things happen, like the switch losing its association with the room.

And the system started complaining about adding new scenes, so I had to clean each room to free up memory.

Running two bridges is one potential solution, but this comes with its own problems. Only one can be controlled remotely and the bulbs must be moved from one bridge to another for this setup to work. I’ve always resisted having two bridges for these reasons.

The new Hue Bridge Pro supports 150 lights, 50 accessories, and 500 scenes to fix all of these. This should cover most homes.

Cosmetically, the Hue Bridge Pro looks a lot like the older model, except it’s a little larger and powered via USB-C. There’s also an Ethernet port on the back, but it’s not really necessary since it has Wi-Fi. I used ethernet. Ethernet is much more reliable and I ran the cable in a cupboard specifically to accommodate the hub.

If you’re starting from scratch, your Hue Bridge Pro will be set up just like your old one, and you’ll add lights to it. If you have an existing system, don’t worry. There is an automatic migration process.

At launch, the migration supported a single bridge, but Signify, the company that owns Philips Hue, has just started migrating multiple bridges. I haven’t tested the latter, but I have tested one bridge migration. It was amazing.

It took less than 20 minutes to migrate all the bulbs and accessories. Most devices were moved automatically, but the Friends of Hue switch had to be moved manually by following in-app instructions. And I had to repair the Innr Globe Lights in the garden. This step was frankly awful because resetting the Innr light and putting it into pairing mode is a huge pain. I was about to give up, but suddenly the lights connected.

Features and performance

• Lights can be motion sensors
• Faster and more responsive
• Compatible matters

On a day-to-day basis, the Hue Bridge Pro does what the older Bridge did. Lights and accessories are connected via Zigbee and controlled via remote control or app. In fact, most of the time I don’t even think about Hue Bridge Pro.

What I can say is that the old bridge problem has been resolved. Your kitchen lights may be a little slow to turn on when you press the dimmer switch, but the Hue Bridge Pro responds almost instantly.

Coverage is still excellent. With one Bridge installed in the center of my house, the Zigbee network covers the entire house (3rd floor) and extends from the backyard to my office.

With more space for scenes, you no longer have to worry about how many rooms, zones, and devices you allocate.

Matter support is included as a default, and you’ll see a Matter code at the bottom of the Hub instead of the old HomeKit one. I was able to easily add Bridge Pro to Apple Home, Alexa, and Homey.

Setting up Apple Home (unfortunately, the migration process doesn’t migrate this integration) had the added benefit of re-enabling Apple’s Adaptive Lighting. This is an automatic light mode that adjusts the color temperature to match the sunlight throughout the day, which comes in handy when I’m working.

Adaptive Lighting worked with the old Bridge when connected via HomeKit, but “upgrading” to Matter disabled the option and I couldn’t turn it back on until I got a new Bridge.

There is also a new feature called Motion Area. This technology can turn lights into motion sensors by monitoring Zigbee networks and detecting interference from people walking around.

A motion zone requires three or four lights to work, ideally placed in different locations and at different heights. This should be fine for many rooms.

The Motion Zone has most of the same options as the Hue motion sensor, including sensitivity settings, control over which lights are on, and the scene to which it applies. It can use data from cameras and motion sensors, but the only thing missing is a light sensor.

For more basic control, motion zones can be set to only function between sunset and sunrise (offsets available). You can also disable zones at set times, such as in your bedroom where you don’t want to be woken up by a sudden light.

Once configured, the sensing works surprisingly well, but I personally used this feature as a way to turn off the lights after 10 minutes of inactivity to save power. In my office, I like my lights to turn on automatically as soon as it starts to get dark, so I’m sticking with motion sensors.

final opinion

A must-have purchase, the Hue Bridge Pro is a great upgrade for anyone whose existing system is breaking at the seams, or those planning to outfit their home with smart lights. Automatic migration is great and upgrades are easy.

Test method

When we publish a review, you can rest assured that it is the result of long-term testing.

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