Your Philips Hue lights can now sync to the beat of your Spotify music

By Patrick Hearn Published September 1, 2021

Smart lights have long been able to sync up with music, but it has always been through your phone’s microphone. Philips Hue and Spotify have partnered to create what it calls the “first-ever deep lighting and music experience.” The process works by linking the both your Philips Hue and Spotify accounts, and that’s where the magic happens.

Philips Hue pulls the metadata from each song played on Spotify, regardless of what device you’re playing it on. It then uses an advanced lighting script that causes the lights to shift not only to the beat, but also based on the genre and mood of the song. This means you won’t run into the problem of a too-cheerful light show set to the dulcet tones of Helpless as you jam out to Hamilton for what you know is the 175th time.

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The Philips Hue App is also getting a new tab called Sync that lets you adjust the brightness, intensity, and color palette of the lights to completely personalize the experience. The new program will begin rolling out today as an early access program for Philips Hue App 4 users, but will become a permanent part of the app after October.

Man dancing to Philips Hue lights and Spotify song. — Image used with permission by copyright holder

In addition to these new music-syncing capabilities, Hue is adding more smart bulbs to its collection with a new White Filament E14 candle bulb, as well as 75-watt and 100-watt equivalents of its existing smart bulbs. Early in 2022, Philips Hue is launching new Infuse ceiling lights for users who want white and colored indirect lighting on the ceiling.

Another addition is the Philips Hue Play gradient light tube, which features the same gradient technology as the lightstrip, but is designed to sit above or below a TV to provide ambient, immersive lighting.

For gamers, Hue is updating its Hue Play HDMI Sync Box this fall to keep up with the higher refresh rates of the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 consoles. The HDMI Sync Box will receive 120Hz support with a resolution up to 1440p, as well as a rate of 60Hz up to a resolution of 4K.

The new gradient light tube has an expected availability of January 18 and will cost $180 or $200 based on size, while the new Filament candle bulb is available now for $30 for a single bulb or $50 for a two-pack.

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Patrick Hearn writes about smart home technology like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, smart light bulbs, and more. If it's a…

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