Philips Hue is introducing some new features that make it easier to match brightness levels on different lights and fine-tune motion sensor automation, manufacturer Signify announced. The company also unveiled three new lighting products, including a bulb and two panels, though only in the UK, it appears. 

The first update is called brightness balancer, developed in response user requests. If you have multiple lights in the same room with different brightness levels, the feature makes it easier to balance them by dimming bright lights more than dim lights. That allows users to create even lighting or “decide which part of the room gets the spotlight when you are syncing to your TV, movies, games or music,” Philips said.

The other feature enhances the functionality of Philips Hue motion sensors. Right now, the Philips Hue bridge app only supports two time slots for automating light conditions when a sensor detects movement, for instance cool in the morning and warm in the evening. With the update, you’ll be able to customize lighting conditions based on motion sensors with a total of 10 times lots when motion is detected. “The natural light scene can be selected as part of these time slots, to mimic the sun throughout the day,” the company noted. 

 

In the UK, Philips also introduced the E14 luster bulb (£30 for a 1-pack or £55 for a 3-pack), based on its smallest golf ball-sized bulb, offering millions of shades of white and color light. It also has a pair of new panel lights, the Surimu panel starting at £210 for the 300x300mm model, along with the Aurelle (above) in black, priced at £150 for a 300×300 panel. All of the lights arrive today in the UK, and the new Hue Bridge features are set to launch in Q3 2023.