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After years of consumer complaints and mounting frustration with capability limitations, Philips has lastly delivered the Bridge Professional. Obtainable now for £79.99, this upgraded management hub addresses essentially the most vital bottleneck within the Hue ecosystem while introducing a number of genuinely helpful new capabilities.
Associated Content material
Pricing
The Bridge Professional retails for £79.99, representing a £25 premium over the present bridge’s typical £55 value level. Contemplating the premium value level of Hue merchandise, I believe the Bridge Professional is kind of affordable, and folks needing the additional capability will view it as a cut price.
The present bridge’s 63-device restrict has been a real bottleneck for a lot of installations, and albeit, it’s about time Philips addressed this basic limitation. For small setups, you’ll be able to nonetheless use Bluetooth to manage most Hue merchandise, however the Bridge is nicely definitely worth the investment.
The gadget is out there by Philips’ on-line retailer and main retailers, with numerous bundle packages deliberate to assist cut back the efficient value when bought with lights and equipment.
Capability Enhancements: The Major Occasion
Probably the most vital improve addresses the gadget restrict that has plagued customers with bigger installations. The Bridge Professional helps as much as 150 lights and 50 equipment, in comparison with the present bridge’s exhausting restrict of 63 units whole. This represents practically triple the earlier capability and may remove the necessity for a number of bridges in most residential setups.
I at the moment run a few bridges throughout my set up, so consolidating to a single Professional unit would simplify administration significantly while lowering community complexity. For customers approaching or exceeding the 63-device restrict, this improve isn’t simply helpful, it’s important.
{Hardware} Specs: A Generational Leap
The efficiency enhancements are substantial and characterize a whole architectural overhaul:
Processing Energy:
- 1.7GHz quad-core Cortex-A35 CPU (Hue Chip Professional)
- Claims of 5x quicker efficiency than present {hardware}
Reminiscence and Storage:
- 8GB DDR4 SDRAM (up from the earlier bridge’s modest 16MB)
- 8GB eMMC flash storage for firmware and scene storage
- Help for 500+ personalised scenes
These specs characterize a generational leap in functionality. Response occasions ought to enhance dramatically, and the expanded reminiscence permits for considerably extra advanced automation routines and scene storage.
Energy Consumption: Regardless of the upgraded internals, energy consumption stays affordable at simply 0.1 watts in standby mode and peaks at 5 watts throughout operation. This effectivity is spectacular contemplating the substantial {hardware} enhancements.
Connectivity Enhancements
Wi-Fi Help: The Bridge Professional introduces Wi-Fi connectivity as a substitute for the standard Ethernet connection. The Ethernet port stays obtainable with cable included, however Wi-Fi functionality provides deployment flexibility for areas the place working cables proves problematic.
Energy Supply: Energy supply switches to USB-C, changing the proprietary energy adapter utilized by the present bridge. A devoted energy adapter with fastened cable is included, although the USB-C commonplace ought to make substitute adapters simpler to supply if wanted.
MotionAware Know-how: Genuinely Revolutionary
Maybe essentially the most intriguing new function is MotionAware, which transforms commonplace Hue bulbs into movement sensors. The system requires a minimum of three lights in a room to triangulate motion, successfully changing devoted movement sensors in lots of eventualities.
This functionality may cut back the necessity for extra {hardware} while offering extra granular presence detection. Nonetheless, privacy-conscious customers might have considerations about lights monitoring motion patterns, even when the processing happens regionally on the Bridge Professional.
The function will initially be unique to the Bridge Professional and requires a Hue Safe subscription to unlock, although it’s unclear whether or not older bulbs will assist the performance or if newer fashions can be required. Equally, it will likely be fascinating to see if this works with third-party bulbs comparable to Paulmann Zigbee Filament & GU10 Good Bulbs.
Enhanced Safety and Future-Proofing
The Bridge Professional contains enhanced safety controls utilizing the brand new Zigbee Belief Middle to forestall unauthorised entry to your lighting community. This addresses rising considerations about good house gadget safety.
Matter assist is confirmed, enabling compatibility with the rising good house commonplace. Nonetheless, the mixing seems restricted to creating Hue units obtainable to different Matter-compatible techniques reasonably than permitting third-party Matter units to be managed by the Hue app.
Migration and Compatibility
Philips will present a migration wizard to switch present setups from present bridges to the Professional mannequin, mirroring the method used in the course of the earlier bridge improve cycle. The corporate can also be reportedly engaged on a long-awaited backup operate, although particulars stay scarce.
Help for combining a number of present bridges right into a single Bridge Professional is promised earlier than the tip of the 12 months, a function that can be significantly precious for customers like myself working a number of bridges.
Limitations and Disappointments
Leisure Zone Restrictions: One space the place enhancements stay unclear is Hue Leisure and Sync performance. The present bridge helps just one sync session with a most of ten lights, and there’s no affirmation whether or not the Professional will broaden these limits. Given the {hardware} enhancements, expanded Leisure zones would appear possible, however Zigbee bandwidth constraints should impose sensible limitations whatever the bridge’s processing energy.
Vary Unchanged: The wi-fi vary stays unchanged from the present bridge, as all Hue units create a mesh community that extends protection by interconnected bulbs and equipment. The Bridge Professional doesn’t alter this basic structure.
My Evaluation
The Bridge Professional represents a stable, if overdue, improve for customers approaching the present bridge’s gadget limits. The {hardware} enhancements ought to ship noticeably higher efficiency, while MotionAware provides genuinely helpful performance that might cut back dependency on further sensors.
The £80 value level sits in affordable territory, and I’d argue the extra options are definitely worth the value premium over the common hub for anybody taking a look at beginning to use Philips Hue merchandise. For present customers with a small variety of units, it might not be value spending an additional £80.
Backside Line
The Bridge Professional addresses essentially the most vital complaints about Philips’ present providing while introducing genuinely helpful new capabilities. The capability will increase alone justify the improve for customers with in depth installations, while the efficiency enhancements ought to profit all customers.
For customers pushing the boundaries of the present bridge, the Professional represents a logical and obligatory improve. These with smaller setups would possibly wish to look forward to the inevitable value drops or bundle offers that usually comply with Philips product launches.
The timing feels applicable, arriving as good house adoption continues rising and customers demand extra subtle automation capabilities. Whether or not the enhancements justify the fee relies upon largely in your present setup’s complexity, however for critical Hue customers, this improve has been a very long time coming.
I’m James, a UK-based tech fanatic and the Editor and Proprietor of Mighty Gadget, which I’ve proudly run since 2007. Obsessed with all issues know-how, my experience spans from computer systems and networking to cellular, wearables, and good house units.
As a health fanatic who loves working and biking, I even have a eager curiosity in fitness-related know-how, and I take each alternative to cowl this area of interest on my weblog. My various pursuits enable me to carry a novel perspective to tech running a blog, merging way of life, health, and the most recent tech developments.
In my tutorial pursuits, I earned a BSc in Data Methods Design from UCLAN, earlier than advancing my studying with a Grasp’s Diploma in Computing. This superior research additionally included Cisco CCNA accreditation, additional demonstrating my dedication to understanding and staying forward of the know-how curve.
I’m proud to share that Vuelio has persistently ranked Mighty Gadget as one of many prime know-how blogs within the UK. With my dedication to know-how and drive to share my insights, I goal to proceed offering my readers with participating and informative content material.
Final replace on 2025-09-05 / Affiliate hyperlinks / Photographs from Amazon Product Promoting API
