Lines get blurred in tech all the time, and IFA 2025 has been no exception. You’ve got a projector that’s also a party speaker, a party speaker that’s also an amp, a washer and dryer that’s also a dock for robo vacuums, and now… light bulbs that are also tiny motion-sensing surveillance machines.
Philips Hue took the wraps off a bunch of new products this week, and while there’s a lot to sort through, one thing that jumped out to me is an update to its Hue Bridge—the $99 Hue Bridge Pro. According to Philips, with an update to its Hue smart home hub, almost all of your existing Hue smart lights can now be set up to detect motion and trigger your lights automatically. The company says the feature, called MotionAware, uses three to four lights in the same room to create an area that detects your movement. What’s even more impressive is that it doesn’t require a new bulb. Instead, the feature (as long as you buy the Hue Bridge Pro, which is capable of running the right algorithms) can be used retroactively with almost every Hue bulb, thanks to their use of radio frequencies, which double as motion sensors in this case.
© PhilipsIt’s an objectively clever use of preexisting hardware that Philips says will apply to all bulbs dating back to the second-gen Hue lights from 2014, and the capabilities apparently don’t stop at turning your lights on and off. According to Philips, MotionAware also extends to its array of home security products (cameras and sensors) sold under the Hue Secure umbrella. As noted by a deeper dive from The Verge, when motion is detected, lights can be configured to flash red, and can also trigger Hue’s new security bell and even send alerts to your phone with an additional option to call the police. Yep, that’s right. It’s 2025, and your lightbulbs are your new guard dog.
© PhilipsThe Verge also notes that while MotionAware costs $1 per month (to cover cloud costs allegedly), you’ll need to pay $40 per year to use security alerts, which is the cost of a Hue Secure subscription. Whether you want to turn your bulbs into a security narc or just program them to turn on when you walk into the room, the idea is pretty cool, and Philips says all of the motion data is kept locally on its Hue Bridge Pro, which is good because I’m not sure I want any company to know which room of my apartment I’m in and when. Even if none of that motion-sensing appeals to you, it may be worth buying a Bridge Pro since it supports 3x the amount of lights over the last generation and also works via Wi-Fi as opposed to having to connect to your router via Ethernet. If any of those capabilities sound attractive to you, you can buy the Huge Bridge Pro starting today.
English (US) ·