Black Friday Smart Lighting Deals: Hue Essential Bulbs from €11 & More Hot Offers!

Black Friday is officially set for the end of this week, yet Amazon has already been offering some very attractive discounts for several days. If you’ve been waiting to equip your home with smart devices, now is the perfect time to dive in, as there are some great deals to be found in the online aisles of this retail giant. This is particularly true for lighting, especially with the price cuts on the brand-new Hue products and an unprecedented price for a bulb from the brand: starting at just 11 euros each!

Here are the top deals currently available if you’re looking for discounted smart lighting.

Hue Essential Range at Incredibly Low Prices

Until now, Hue has been synonymous with quality, but not necessarily affordability. The newly launched Essential range has changed this perception by offering lower prices without compromising on quality. We verified this ourselves by testing the new Hue Essential E27 bulb, which produces 806 lumens. This bulb can display either warm or cool white light, or color, with features comparable to previous models but at a significantly lower price plus the added benefit of dual connectivity. In addition to Zigbee for the Hue bridge, these bulbs can now connect directly to home automation via Matter using Thread.

This represents an excellent value at its base price, and since the product is new, we did not expect to see it on sale so soon. However, a four-pack is currently offered at 45 euros instead of 60, which works out to just 11.25 euros per bulb. At that price, it’s a bargain, as you’d struggle to find anything cheaper without sacrificing visual quality. The brightness is adequate, though you may need several to properly light a room, and both the warm and cold white as well as the colors are of very high quality.

Don’t have a Hue bridge? You can use these bulbs with your Apple TV 4K with Ethernet, HomePod 2, or HomePod mini, thanks to their Thread connection and native compatibility with Matter. To access all features, including adaptive lighting from Home, you’ll still need to switch back to Zigbee and use the home bridge. If you don’t have one, a starter kit with four bulbs and the hub is priced at 80 euros instead of 100, which is also a great deal.

Additionally, a four-pack of GU10 spotlights is also on sale for the same price of 45 euros, down from 60. These spotlights have a lower brightness (345 lumens), but otherwise share all the features of the standard bulbs, and this format is typically expensive. There is also a starter kit available with the Hue bridge, three spotlights, and a switch, priced at 80 euros instead of 100.

Other Exciting Products from Hue

Given such discounts, it’s hard to recommend the older, more expensive Hue bulbs that don’t offer any technical improvements. Although the manufacturer has updated its range with enhanced bulbs, these models are not yet for sale on Amazon and are not currently discounted. However, a four-pack of the E27 White 1100 lumens bulbs is still a decent option for brighter lighting at 35 euros instead of 60, even though you’ll miss out on color and adjustable whites, with only the brightness being adjustable.

If you prefer style over brightness, a three-pack of E27 White Ambiance filament bulbs (adjustable white) is available for 75 euros, reduced from 100. Expect up to 550 lumens from these bulbs, which are designed to be visually appealing regardless.

The Hue range includes many other types of ambient lighting. The two-meter Lightstrip Plus (adjustable white and color) LED strip is now selling for 35 euros, down from 60, while the three-meter version is priced at 40 euros instead of 72. The higher-end Flux strip, which displays multiple colors along its length, is also on sale, available for 80 euros for a five-meter strip, reduced from 100.

More Smart Lighting Deals

The Hue Essential bulbs are tough to beat, but it’s worth noting that the E27 Nanoleaf Essentials bulb, which only connects via Thread for Matter, is priced at 16 euros, down from 20. It’s more expensive than its competitor, but it holds a specific advantage within the Apple ecosystem: compatibility with dynamic home lighting. It’s one of the few, if not the only, Matter bulbs to offer this feature. If Thread is not a priority for you, a two-pack of Wi-Fi Matter bulbs is also on sale for 22 euros, matching the price point of Hue.

Lastly, if you’re really on a tight budget, there are even cheaper Wi-Fi Matter bulbs available, such as the Tapo model currently on sale for 9 euros instead of 14. While affordable, expect these to be technically inferior. For instance, their whites range only from 2700K to 6500K, whereas the best products go down to 2200K for a much warmer white. Similarly, color reproduction may not be as accurate.

It’s up to you to decide if these differences are significant or negligible. Also, make sure to check out the entry-level Wi-Fi prices: most current models on the market are not compatible with Matter and thus won’t integrate with Home.