Review & Demos: Philips Hue Motion Sensor

Are you "all-in" on Philips Hue smart LED lighting? The new Hue Motion Sensor lets you activate and control Philips Hue lighting in new and unexpected ways. Now works with HomeKit devices & scenes!
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Disclosure: Philips provided the Hue Motion Sensor to Smarter Home Life for this review.

[@muzzbrudr]

It gets addictive, buy one bulb then a bridge then its downhill from there lol, I need one of these cool.

[@SmarterHomeLife]

Try entering our Ultimate Philips Hue Giveaway ;-)

[@muzzbrudr]

Smarter Home Life I think its cos one or two bulbs look lonely in the app when you use it, feels good to add another one and make the list bigger so you can scroll through them ha.

[@Im_Just_A_Dreamer]

muzz brudr Lol try 2 starter kits (one I got my sister for Christmas), as well as 5 individual lights and one light strip. Yeah, it's pretty addicting lol, that's over $700 total

[@muzzbrudr]

TheLegendaryDreamer2 My kids dont fight when the lights go on, it can be very calming in the evenings!

[@jorgenmalmo]

Did a review about it and the accessories. And its dangerous. You want more :)

[@Mooregirl]

Thanks for the review, I use it as a silent doorbell. If anyone enters my home my bedroom lights goes on.

[@SmarterHomeLife]

That's a great use case!

[@siretrasher1]

Only reason why you would do that is that it alarms you when you are awake in the bedroom and dont wanna get caught doing whatever it is you and... is doing ;) . Otherwise seems pointless...most of the time you're asleep in your bedroom. I dont wake up from lights so will a lot of people. Better would be colored lights connected to it throughout the house ;) Great idea though ;) Gonne buy me some sensor as wel ;)

[@Competitive_Antagonist]

Hopefully it never becomes useful.

[@angelambca]

Great idea for the hearing impaired.

[@jacinthabellairs7028]

that's such a great idea!

[@thegaryvibes]

Thank you for this in depth product demo. I've been going all in on Hue. Didn't know this was a thing.

[@Chaoitcme]

I just upgraded my house to smart lights. I am looking forward to getting these motion sensors. They have some really cool options and capabilities.

[@sevrin1965]

Hi, love the vids, can the motion sensor once triggered be over-rided by Alexa voice command? and also can the dimmer switch once turned on be over-rided by Alexa to turn off lights etc? atb Sev.

[@DarkDude-iu9xd]

You had me laughing with the sensor placement. Great Show

[@gnatnbfr]

Love your videos Joe! Keep up the great work bud

[@SmarterHomeLife]

Thank you!

[@LiLBitsDK]

If you have et setup to some lights can you still use the lights as you normally would aka turn on/off change colors etc. without the sensor going "poof timer is up" and you sit in the dark?

[@Taino871]

This young man BY FAR is the best person to explain these awesome gadgets. Hue lights are like tattoos get one...... next thing you know you have them ALL OVER. Hue lights are great.

[@SmarterHomeLife]

Thanks, and yup! ;-)

[@mikestix88]

I’m thinking about getting this for my kitchen which is the main room in the house, Can I control which specific bulbs it turns on or is it just by the rooms I have set up?

[@oOLLOYDOSOo]

It is a huge shame it doesn't interact with Apple home kit currently as the hue app seems to be quite limited. It seems to work perfectly as a hall/landing/stairwell solution. Currently not working well for me in bathrooms as it's sensitivity doesn't seem great enough. I've quite literally been left in the dark while in the shower at night 😂. Perhaps playing around with placement would help this a bit

[@Christopher112ful]

Joe, I love your videos, you're one of the best tech vloggers. I have an apartment about the sized of yours, and I totally geeked out with Hue. Do you know if you can configure the motion sensor to trigger my window AC unit via Harmony Hub? IFTTT?

[@juanpaulr]

Nice video very detailed appreciate that.Going to purchase this week.

[@SmarterHomeLife]

Thanks!

[@carlosgallardo5236]

Is it possible to set this motion sensor to light up just one bulb? for example, as a motion sensor for lights on a stair?

[@Akephalos204]

Dude, you made a good video about a motion sensor, that’s awesome ahahah

[@Tonychopper42]

is it possible to leave the light on in the evening with a scenario without the detector turning off the light in the room. I want to know if we can leave the light on without the detector interfering in the scenario of a room.

[@MsCMR80]

I know I’m super late to comment, and if anyone has the knowledge, please advise: We have this annoying extractor fan which comes in every single time we switch the lights to the bathroom. Questions here is: because there are two separate lights and the fan controlled by the main switch to the bathroom, would changing the lights AND the sensor, help us avoid having the noisy fan also coming on when it’s not needed? Can lights be switched on/off manually and still be able to rely on the sensor in the middle of the night for, say, middle of the night trips to the loo? Thx!

[@misterxraiin6243]

Great video! Is it possible for the motion sensor to change the color of lights that are currently on as some sort of alarm system. For instance, if I am currently doing something with blue lights on, when someone triggers the sensor, can it turn the blue lights to red for a few seconds to alert me that someone has entered?

[@SmarterHomeLife]

The sensor, via the Hue app, can be set to change color and brightness of any of the Hue lights, yes.

[@isaacrichter5093]

Is a there a way where I can make it so only my light strip comes in we not any other of my devices?

[@yurasis]

Great review! Is it possible for a single Hue bulb to be activated two ways : 1) via Motion Sensor, then 2) on/off at a scheduled time? This way a single bulb would turn on, say at late night hours when someone is coming home from work ( via Motion Sensor ) as well at a scheduled time such as 8:00 PM to 11:00 PM ( standard scheduling ... I imagine ). I don't currently own a Hue bulb ( I have TP-Link bulbs ) so am not familiar with what Hue bulbs can do. Thanks in advance!

[@SmarterHomeLife]

Thank you! Totally possible, yes!

[@jasonborrelli3633]

Have you tried this with Hue Halloween app. The app now supports the motion sensor? Now is the season. I am trying to figure out if the app can be triggered with motion and then when no motion detected go back to my regular hue app scene.

[@SmarterHomeLife]

The Hue Halloween app is pretty cool :)

[@alecruzcruz9047]

It works just fine. I like it.

[@NewWalls98]

I saw the Philips Hue products last night at Apple Store it's all white box package now instead of Black like at Best Buy still carry . I wonder it there any different ?

[@SmarterHomeLife]

Probably not, but Philips could be packing them different for Apple stores to keep a more uniformed look at all 3rd-party products. No opinion on that really here, but anyways, the products inside are most likely identical to other stores.

[@Branagorn]

Is it possible to have a lightbulb that is triggered by the motion sensor be a different colour depending on the time of day. For example, late at night it might be nice for a less obtrusive colour (red/blue) when going to the bathroom, but during regular day time, or it to be white light?

[@theapeshitmonkey]

Yeah, you can set schedules for certin times of the day to do different things

[@jeffreySEEhawkins]

Nice review. Thank you!

[@SmarterHomeLife]

Thank you!

[@gurkangur9716]

I have bridge and lightbulb, but still i cant know why do i need it?

[@Tyrch]

if I have only hue bulbs connected via smart things can I use the motion sensor to trigger the lights according to rules in the smart things app!?!? I e. motion detected on hue motion sensor, turn on my hue lights and switch mode to home!? or hue motion sensor detects x threshold of light via ambient sensor turn lights on and switch mode to night!? cheers in advance.

[@SmarterHomeLife]

From what we know from Philips, the motion sensor can only trigger and interact with lights controlled from the Hue bridge itself - which we'd assume you're using even with SmartThings. There may be additional functionality beyond the Hue bridge itself, for systems like SmartThings, Wink, HomeKit, etc but there isn't now.

[@rustyfox81]

Thanks for the review, maybe you mentioned this but I missed it, can it be used outdoors or can it detect motion the other side of a pane of glass ?

[@SmarterHomeLife]

It's IP rated 42. Philips doesn't specifically state outdoor usage, but IP 42 means it can survive dripping water. So, if it's not directly exposed to the elements it -probably- will be ok. It may, however, not survive well in extreme temperatures.

[@SmarterHomeLife]

It is unable to detect movement through glass or a transparent material.

[@ovihaliuc5405]

great video. Thanks for sharing

[@curtisshaw7688]

thanks and nice kitchen.

[@SmarterHomeLife]

Thank you.

[@trevisthomas9628]

I'm very interested in this product. I mainly want it because I'm watching my grandmother and it would be nice to have a light come on in the middle of night in the hall. However the question I have is will it Interact with the hue go lamp

[@SmarterHomeLife]

The Hue Motion Sensor can be set to interact / activate any Philips Hue lighting product. We have no information from Philips that any of their lighting products are excluded, but we'll double-check.

[@Aand3n]

Hi again :) Are you going to do reviews on the new Fibaro Homekit enabled products?

[@SmarterHomeLife]

It's in the plans, yes.

[@adrianmusteata888]

Awesome!

[@lionelfranklin4529]

I decided to buy 2 of these sensors, work nice however I have 2 issues that I don’t like: Situation 1: You are in the living room with ambient lights on that you set yourself manual through the app, for example very low Edisonlight. Every time someone else or yourself walks or stands up the light turns bright again because of the sensor. My issue is technically the Hue Sensor should know that you are already in the room with sufficient light. If you are enjoying a family dinner and your dogs or somebody walks in you have bright light all the time. Is there a function that the manual setting can overrule the sensor as long as it’s on ? Situation 2: In my kitchen the lights turn on and stay on for 5 minutes, because I usually need something from the fridge or a glass or whatever. Now when I am cooking the lights dim after 5 minutes even though the sensor knows I’m still cooking ??? Why can’t this thing notice I’m still there and keep the lights on ? I mean every time it sees me moving just add 5minutes again ?? Anyone has a solution for this ?

[@joevitti10]

Can you use as a home security device ? For example notify you if motion detected when you are not at home.

[@SmarterHomeLife]

We had the same idea, but unfortunately, not at this time. However, it's technically possible as there is a Home and Away mode built into the Philips Hue app - but those modes currently don't connect to the sensor's settings. Philips might add this in the future, but no idea on when. We've already suggested it to them, and if enough people ask for it, they'd probably consider it :-)

[@market_garden_44]

Can you set it to turn on a different light during the day than during the night? I got a main light and a night light.

[@SmarterHomeLife]

Yes, it is customizable. You can set up the "time ranges" to behave differently, although it would be even better if they had 3 different customizable "time ranges" instead of just two - for daytime, nighttime and "overnight / sleeping".

[@TheTCOLL]

What is a have a timer on for a light to dim off in 30 minutes or so and I walk by the motion sensor. Does it affect that?

[@SmarterHomeLife]

If the time-out hasn't expired, the behavior is to trigger the lights again, which will re-initiate the time-out timer once it detects no activity.

[@TheTCOLL]

Smarter Home Life So say there is 10 minutes left, it would turn the lights up to full then continue at 10 minutes?

[@ClarkyAv]

Can other sensors be used to activate the Hue bulbs via homekit? For example, the ones included with the Ecobee3 which sense your presence for the purpose of heating just the room you're in. It would be nice to have a totally open sensor that can be used to do a variety of things. I like the idea of being able to trigger a night light if you're walking around the house at night - kind of like the Nest smoke detector which lights up when you walk under it.

[@SmarterHomeLife]

+Clarky Av Yes, as long as it can be triggered via a Rule in HomeKit. In general, this usually works OK in the Home app and other apps that are quite functional such as the Eve app.

[@Aand3n]

Smarter Home Life Is Elgato Eve Sensor products useable as triggers to homekit yet?

[@SmarterHomeLife]

Certain products, yes. Specifically the Door and Window sensor will work directly with the Apple Home app. The other sensor products will work with the Eve app (and HomeKit). Most likely the new Motion Sensor should work with the Home app, too, although we've yet to review it.

[@minshum]

Clarky Av They do work, yes, but the delay makes this non-viable. I think it's to do with HomeKit's long-winded high encryption authentication process. I'm getting some of these as they talk directly to the hue bridge and as you can see from the vid have a fast response. Just wish these hue sensors also had HomeKit capability. That said, you could use a light as a trigger, so indirectly they are HomeKit capable 🤔

[@PAIHITECH]

Nice review. I wanna change my dumb bulbs to Hue bulbs, so i got a few questions about this motion sensor. Can you still turn on the light? i mean, now its attached to the proximity sensor, can I turn the bulb on and change its color using the app? will the sensor time out (no motion) turn if off ever if I had the bulb on (by telling alexa to turn it on, or by the tap switch). Can 2 sensors control the same bulb? Thanks

[@SmarterHomeLife]

Thank you. The answer to all of your questions is yes. The Motion Sensor can be configured in multiple different ways, and coexist nicely with the app. Hue just introduced some new "beta" features for it via HueLabs that open up some additional ways of controlling the Hue lights via the sensor, including using multiple sensors together. It will continue to get better as time goes on.

[@PAIHITECH]

Smarter Home Life thank you for your reply!

[@123robin]

nice vid !

[@hotdiamondzzz]

Do you know if there is a system similar to this that can be used with fluorescent lights? I have fluorescent lights in my laundry room and would like to replace with smart bulbs and motion.

[@SmarterHomeLife]

Do you mean specifically the long tube type of fluorescent lighting? Or compact fluorescent screw-in bulbs? At this time, there do not appear to be "smart lighting" replacements for the tube-based lights. However, you could upgrade the switch that controls it, and have a separate motion sensor that triggers the lights. Or, as a lower-tech solution, replace the switch that currently controls the lights with a motion sensor switch, such as this one: amzn.to/2fMrdC4

[@hotdiamondzzz]

Smarter Home Life Thank you. I'll give that a try.

[@r3kop]

Can you program the light to turn on during the night with a timer (it will turn off 15 minutes after turning on)? Instead of manually turning it off after it turns on at night.

[@SmarterHomeLife]

+Robert Tang Yes

[@itsAustinJordan]

That pulsing light next to your wall outlet, mind sharing what it is?

[@SmarterHomeLife]

It's a KeypadLinc controller and dimmer from Insteon, will be featured in some how-to videos and Insteon tech videos in the future.

[@itsAustinJordan]

Smarter Home Life Awesome, thanks!

[@rob40wilson03]

What's the thing in the wall with 8 lit up squares to the left of the 2 outlets?

[@SmarterHomeLife]

It's an Insteon KeypadLinc dimmer and controller. We'll have episodes on Insteon technology coming soon!

[@jorgenmalmo]

That Motion Sensor was the only thing that i not dig get to my review :) Have to test it som day :)

[@larsbrentzen5546]

Great video!

[@SmarterHomeLife]

Thank you!

[@Hustler1339]

Would it be possible to have one single motion sensor turn on one single bulb when motion is detected while also programming it to turn on various different bulbs in different rooms when it gets dark? Would appreciate a response, particularly from those who own a sensor. Thank you!

[@SmarterHomeLife]

This should be possible. They've recently added the ability to have day vs night abilities, in addition to just motion detection abilities. It's part of their experimental HueLabs right now but probably will roll-out to the real app at some point soon. Check out labs.meethue.com for details.

[@DennisWarner]

i haven't figured out to make just one bulb turn on. I think it will only turn on the room.

[@egh789]

Can the motion sensor manually dim the lights without the Phillips Hue dimmer switch?

[@SmarterHomeLife]

Yes, not exactly "manually"...it still needs to be setup by the Hue Bridge.

[@QUICKVAPEREVIEWS1]

have you noticed in no light conditions the 16 foot range dropped to about 8 feet?

[@SmarterHomeLife]

Not in our testing. It still seemed pretty responsive 10 feet out or more.

[@DeeDee-be1mo]

How about installing just a simple motion sensor light switch and use it your current lighting setup?

[@SmarterHomeLife]

That's a great solution and keeps things minimal. This particular product works best for the Philips Hue ecosystem.

[@crisaman73]

How this Hue motion sensor compares to Samsung SmartThings motion sensor in terms of functionality, range, battery life?

[@SmarterHomeLife]

We're unable to provide a true comparison at this time. However, the Hue Motion Sensor currently only works with lights connected to the Hue Bridge. The SmartThings sensor can obviously control devices from multiple vendors via the SmartThings Hub.

[@toddjonesmusic]

Wow I just bought that coffee pot an hour ago.. cool thing is, when the lid is open it resembles Darth Vader:) Thanks for the Vid

[@SmarterHomeLife]

haha, nice. Thanks!

[@RicardoLandinginJr]

Can I use this sensor to have bulb in low light mode(normal) and when motion is triggered have the light go up 100% ?

[@SmarterHomeLife]

Those functions are all available and customizable in the Hue app.

[@Regelos]

couldn't you use IFTTT to have it trigger other kits.

[@SmarterHomeLife]

Sadly IFTTT doesn't support Hue devices it for triggers.

[@reyesmontemayor6998]

What camera did you use to record this?

[@SmarterHomeLife]

Sony RX100 III

[@DagOdenhall]

What Hue compatible bulb are you using in that IKEA LYKTA lamp?

[@SmarterHomeLife]

It's just the "regular" A19 screw-in Philips Hue color-changing bulb.

[@DagOdenhall]

The reason I'm asking is that here in Sweden, the LYKTA requires an E14 bulb, and in the US those are usually E12, but to my knowledge Philips doesn't sell any Hue bulbs with those sockets. I guess the answer to this mystery is that IKEA used to sell E26/27 versions of the LYKTA, maybe?

[@SmarterHomeLife]

Actually, the way it was done is via a screw adapter from E26 to E12. There are many varieties of adapters, including for E14 :)

[@DagOdenhall]

Ah, I have adapters like that, but the E27 to E14 version was banned before I was able to get one. Supposedly it's dangerous to be able to put high-powered E27 bulbs in low-powered E14 lamps, or something silly like that. I say silly because there are now lamps designed only for the low-powered modern LEDs but with a socket that accepts bulbs that require hundreds of watts. And you can put a non-dimmable LED in a lamp with a dimmer and you get smoke and fire, but that's not banned. Oh, bureaucracy.

[@jorneantoni1921]

Do you know if it's waterproof/ resistant? I want to place one in my bathroom, but i'm afraid the steam of my shower might kill it.

[@SmarterHomeLife]

Most likely ok for bathrooms, it's IP rated 42, which should be fine for your application and damp locations, even if a bit of water gets on it it should be ok if wiped down afterward.

[@jorneantoni1921]

Thank you :-)

[@andrew1977uk]

I still prefer the smartthings motion sensor as it's much more open. Having said that, I wish it had an ambient light sensor.

[@DennisWarner]

your videos are great! Im not a big fan of this sensor though only because its sensitivity isn't that great. I was in my kitchen at the table eating (moving hands head and shoulders) and the room went dim and I had to wave my arms in the air because it didn't detract motion. Kind of annoying. Im looking for other options with better sensitivity that work with Hue.

[@SmarterHomeLife]

Thank you for your kind words. It is a good sensor but I had limited time with it. Do you only have Hue products, or are you also on another platform like HomeKit, SmartThings.....? There are some other good sensors out there.

[@DennisWarner]

I have 16 Hue lights and 3lifx bulbs, not sure which direction I should go yet but I am an Apple user so I'm leaning on all HomeKit. I'm just looking for the best motion sensor option with the best sensitivity. I've considered smarthings, insteon and lutron.

[@SmarterHomeLife]

Cool, that's a lot of Hue! You might want to take a look at the new motion sensors for HomeKit from Elgato and Fibaro, here are some links: amzn.to/2pBYMfb and amzn.to/2pC9YZg

[@DennisWarner]

Smarter Home Life hey thanks. I was thinking about the Eve one but it doesn't seem to have good reviews (3 out of 5⭐️) the fibaro kinda creeps me out cause it looks like an eye lol

[@DennisWarner]

What about anything from Insteon or Lutron?

[@badhairday462]

Try to set it to turn off after 2 minutes for example. on the night of the settings on the sensor, then go past the sensor during the day in the room where you have turned on the light because you want it on, then turn it well enough not nightlight, but it set the timer to turn off the lights 😕 which then turns off light for 2 min. Not smart when I'm about to have my lights on and the sensor should only be active at night. Missing an update from Philips ..

[@jesperbomholt3682]

Karsten KJagd lige mine ord...

[@minshum]

Karsten KJagd Well, it looked like English, so I tried to read it. However, after a few attempts, I have now given up 😖

[@panagiotispantazopoulos6141]

i have no idea what you just said

[@ErrorCDIV]

Wat?

[@BBarbosa1974]

Thanks I don't have a hue bridge

[@oldmacnewclip7019]

Mine is not flashing Orange

[@julvialinares1395]

tip: if you have a corgi and worried about getting hurt in the stairs put a motion sensor in upstairs and downstairs your lights will alert you if your corgi want to go up stairs or down stairs by carrying him

[@tribalfromthetrapdontrappi3030]

Sick!

[@dwightbaldwin2221]

I have 21 bulbs tied to 5 motion sensors about $800 investment, a family that thinks im insane and some very jealous nerd friends. Also have harmony hub Alexa and IFTTT to make light switches a thing of past

[@Flying90]

dwight baldwin I can't get my bridge to link with the IFTTT app. It says it's connected but when you click return to the app it says failed to connect

[@DanielJohnHowTo]

I have a smaller setup but it's pretty good. I'm actually using the motion sensors to turn on upstairs lighting + bathroom at night, so if you wake up and need to go something/bathroom it's automatic and makes it safer. The only thing is though you will have to think it through, ie how many motion sensors you'll need for it to work 100% for you.

[@hanwagu9967]

You probably should write a correction to your day vs night test. These PIR motion sensors do not actually detect motion, they detect IR emitted from objects differing from ambient. On your day test, the sensor was already on and you were within the field of view, so of course the motion sensor is not going to have tripped since you were part of the ambient. The night test, you had the sensor off, then turned it on before you started moving backward. Not to mention the day test you were using your arm vs night time you used your entire body. Anyway, good video otherwise.

[@johnnygoodface]

Can't believe it won't trigger HomeKit scene! What a disappointment.

[@SmarterHomeLife]

True. It might be possible in the future, but just not yet.

[@MrAndreasstache]

Cool you look like at hobbit

[@agassidr]

Great video...Sir you may want to switch to contact lenses than those glasses. You'd look much more cooler if you don't find this comment too offensive...

[@SmarterHomeLife]

Wore contacts for a very long time to correct for a different condition. The glasses are for reading, but some users have said they tend to add "intelligence" to my look. Everyone has a different opinion. Please watch this video for more details: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eKOwkqyZar-ii7s

[@chrisogrady28]

I think this guy was born as a 45 year old Dad

[@kipepeo75]

This is nice but may not be a good thing to have at night if you have pets.... they run all over the place hence create a disco kind of environment when you get to sleep

[@Pauluz_The_Web_Gnome]

Hahaha

[@akshaikumar644]

This is boreeeeeee

[@ovihaliuc5405]

i think he is talking to the little people on the tip of his nose

[@anpexroblox3371]

He looks werid