Philips Hue vs. Lux

When looking at Philips Hue vs. Lux, there are only a few minor differences. But before we talk about the differences, we need to look at where each of these products came so you can get an idea of how they’re related.

Philips Hue came about 4 years ago, in October of 2012, when it was first introduced to the market. Since that time, a new line of lights has been added along with new hubs. All generations of the Philips Hue family are based on ZigBee LightLink, which is a low-power, safe, and reliable technology that is widely used to control smart home appliances.

Since its first release, Philips Hue has been adding new features and improvements to the system to help make the smart lights even more useful. Philips Hue is widely used for smart homes. And one of the reasons for this is that all Philips Hue products use ZigBee protocol — This means that you can easily integrate Philips Hue with other ZigBee-based appliances for a wider range of home automation.

The Philips Hue lineup has quite an array of smart light bulbs and light fixtures to choose from, which makes it a little confusing when you’re looking to add some lighting to your home.

The Philips Hue Lux bulb is one of the first bulbs from the Hue family. The Hue Lux has been officially discontinued. It was replaced with the newer Philips Hue White bulb. However, you can still buy the Hue Lux bulb or Hue Lux kit from Amazon. And even if you have the newer Philips Hue Bridge, the Hue Lux bulbs will have no problem pairing with the hub.

Now that we’ve gone over how Philips Hue White is basically a replacement for Philips Lux, let’s talk about the minor differences between the two.

Philips Hue vs. Lux — Differences

  • Difference #1: Bulb shape – Both the Philips Hue White and Lux are A19 light bulbs, but their shape is slightly different. The Philips Lux has the same shape as Philips Hue White Ambiance and Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance. Whereas the Philips Hue White has a standard, traditional A19 base.

  • Difference #2: Light output – If you check the specifications. You’ll find that both the Philips Hue White and Philips Hue Lux have the same light output of 750 Lumens. Yet, when tested it looks like Philips Lux is a little bit brighter.

  • Difference #3: Heat output – We haven’t noticed it, however some customers have discovered higher heat output from the Philips Lux light bulb.

  • Difference #4: Hub – Philips Hue White uses the newer version of a hub — 2.0. Whereas the Philips Lux comes with the original hub 1.0. The difference is in shape and performance. The newer hub is square and compatible with Apple HomeKit. The first generation hub has a round shape. The hubs are interchangeable, yet (like most technologies) we never know when the next update will crash an older/different version. Usually, that’s how crashes happen and how companies get people to keep upgrading to their newer products. Though Philips Hue doesn’t look like one of those companies. Anyway, for a better formatted list of the differences, check out the chart of Philips Hue vs. Philips Hue Lux below.


Philips Hue vs. Lux — Comparison Chart

Philips Hue White Philips Hue Lux
Color Soft White Soft White
Brightness 750 lumens 750 lumens
Life hours 22.8 years (based on 3 hours per day) 13.7 years (based on 3 hours per day)
Light appearance 2700K 2200K – 6500K
Energy used 9.5-Watt 9 watt

Philips Hue vs. Lux — Our Thoughts

When choosing between Philips Hue vs Lux, you’re choosing between nearly two of the same thing. So, if you’re looking for a Hue bulb that only does soft white, just go with the cheapest option available. The Lux bulb will work perfectly with any Philips Hue hub.

If you don’t have a hub yet, and are looking to set up smart lighting in your home from scratch, then we have a different recipe for you: Get the Philips Hue Color and White kit and then just add GE Link lights. The GE Link lights work perfectly with the Philips Hue hub, plus they’re a little bit brighter than Philips Hue Lux bulbs. You can use the GE Link bulbs for spare bedrooms, and with the Philips Hue Color and White lights you can create a perfect ambiance in the places where you spend most of your time, like your living room or bedroom. The Hue lights also work very well as accent lighting, too. Switch all your bulbs to smart bulbs — you’ll pay more for the kit, but you’ll save on replacing all other bulbs.


Last update on 2024-03-28 at 05:01 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

0 thoughts on “Philips Hue vs. Lux”

Leave a Comment