If you’ve ever wished you could dim the lights for movie night without fumbling for your phone, your smart home dreams have just gotten a major upgrade. In a significant move for interoperability, Sonos and Signify have officially rolled out a new integration that allows you to control your Philips Hue smart lights directly using Sonos Voice Control.
After being teased earlier this year, the functionality is now live for many users, arriving via a firmware update to compatible Sonos speakers. This long-awaited feature bridges two giants of the smart home world, creating a more seamless and voice-controlled entertainment experience.
What Can You Actually Do? The Commands Unveiled
The magic lies in simple voice commands. Gone are the days of needing a separate voice assistant; you can now use your Sonos system as the central hub for both your audio and lighting. In an official Sonos community forum post introducing the new feature, a company representative outlined the core commands you can use.
Imagine saying, "Hey Sonos, dim the living room lights to 50 percent," or "Hey Sonos, set the kitchen lights to blue." The integration allows you to:
- Adjust brightness: Increase, decrease, or set a specific percentage.
- Change colors: Command your Hue color bulbs to shift to millions of colors.
- Power on/off: Control individual lights or groups with a simple command.
- Trigger scenes: Activate pre-saved Philips Hue scenes like "Relax," "Concentrate," or your own custom creations.
- Control smart plugs: Manage compatible Philips Hue Smart Plugs to turn connected appliances on or off.
Compatible Devices and Setup: What You Need to Know
This integration isn't limited to just the newest hardware. A wide range of Sonos speakers with microphones are supported, including the flagship Sonos Arc (and Arc Ultra), both generations of the Sonos Beam, the Era 100, Era 300, Sonos One, and the portable Move, Move 2, Roam, and Roam 2 models.
Setting up the connection is straightforward, but it requires a crucial piece of hardware: a Philips Hue Bridge (or the Hue Bridge Pro). This means the integration works via the robust Zigbee connection managed by the Bridge, rather than a less reliable Bluetooth connection. If you need to pick one up, the standard Philips Hue Bridge is readily available on Amazon.
To link your accounts:
- Open the Philips Hue app (which you can download for iOS here).
- Navigate to Settings > Smart home.
- Tap the (+) plus icon to add a new service.
- Select Sonos and follow the in-app instructions to authenticate.
Within minutes, your Sonos system will discover your Hue lights, and you’ll be ready to command them with your voice.
Current Limitations and the Future
As with any initial rollout, there are a few limitations to note. The most significant is language support. The Philips Hue control via Sonos Voice Control currently only works with US English and French, mirroring the language availability of the Sonos Voice feature itself. There is no official timeline yet for when additional languages like German, Spanish, or Japanese might be added.
This rollout, as noted by smart home watchers at Hueblog, represents a key step in Sonos's strategy to make its own voice control a more compelling alternative to Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant on its platforms.
Hue App Update: Version 5.51.0 Brings Stability Enhancements
Coinciding with this major integration, Philips Hue has also released a new update for its smartphone app, version 5.51.0. The release notes are typically vague, mentioning general "bug fixes" and "stability enhancements" without providing specific details. While not as flashy as a new voice feature, these under-the-hood improvements are essential for ensuring the app runs smoothly, especially when managing complex integrations like the new one with Sonos.
You can download the latest Philips Hue app update now from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
A More Unified Smart Home
The new Sonos and Philips Hue integration is a welcome step toward a less fragmented smart home. By allowing users to control lighting with the same voice system they use for music, it creates a more intuitive and powerful ecosystem. For existing users of both brands, it’s a free and highly useful upgrade that enhances the value of their investments. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have a command to practice: "Hey Sonos, it's movie time."
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