Philips Hue is expanding beyond making some of the best smart lights in the business: the Signify-owned brand has announced its first smart home security cameras at IFA 2023, and as you would expect, they work neatly with current Philips Hue products.
As previously hinted at, two cameras have been unveiled in a blog post from Philips Hue. First up is the Hue Secure camera, which is available in both wired and battery-powered form, and in either black or white. It can go indoors or outdoors, and it’ll set you back $199.99 / £174.99 / €199.99 (wired) or $249.99 / £219.99 / €249.99 (battery).
The features look fairly standard from what we can tell, with live video feeds, motion alerts, night vision, and a built-in siren. A paid subscription starting at $3.99 / £3.99 / €3.99 per year will give you extras like the ability to set individual motion zones and a longer activity history to browse back through.
If you want to accessorize, you can do: the camera can be supplemented with a $39.99 / £34.99 / €39.99 mount with ground spike, a $29.99 / £26.99 / €29.99 outdoor charging cable, and a $14.99 / £12.99 / €14.99 anti-drop cable. The desktop stand is $49.99 / €49.99 – we don’t have a standalone UK price for that, but the wired camera with stand is £199.99.
Add a floodlight and sensors
The Hue Secure camera can be used inside or out, but the second camera is for outdoors online: it’s the Hue Secure floodlight camera (above), and as the name suggests it comes with a floodlight – otherwise it’s much the same as the first camera. This one will set you back $349.99 / £299.99 / €349.99.
You can add sensors to your setup too, which can separately send alerts to your phone via the Philips Hue app. They sit on gaps between doors and windows, so you’ll be notified when anything is opened. A two-pack sensor kit costs $69.99 / £59.99/ €69.99.
Signify has worked hard to integrate all of this with its existing smart light range. When the cameras or sensors detect something, you can customize a response from your lights – brighten them instantly for example, or have them flashing red. This is all handled through the new Security Center section inside the accompanying app.
The Hue Secure camera, sensors and accessories are arriving in the fall (or autumn) in the US, UK and Europe, but the floodlight camera won’t be available until early in 2024. We will of course do our best to get them tested and reviewed as soon as we can.
