TECHWEEK
Every year we have more and more opportunities to control the lighting of our own house or apartment. But smart fixtures usually require a Wi-Fi connection. But what if this is a veranda where the router signal does not reach? Or even a picnic in nature? For such cases, you can use luminaires with a rechargeable battery – for example, the Philips Hue Go, which has recently appeared in the Signify range of lighting solutions.
Design and management
The lamp is made in the form of a hemisphere in a translucent body. The lamp is installed in the direction of a flat surface – the rest of the body is simply illuminated by reflected light. The device is easy to operate – it has only one button. To turn on the Philips Hue Go, you just need to press it. With subsequent clicks, you can cycle through all the operating modes sequentially (we will talk about them a little later).
Another useful option is the selection of the desired backlight color. Let’s say for decorative lighting you need a well-defined shade. Then press the button twice and hold it – the color of the glow will change, you just have to wait until the desired one appears and release the button. An alternative option is to connect via Bluetooth using the Philips Hue Bluetooth app, everything is much more convenient there.
The Philips Hue Go has a small stop on the semicircular surface. So you can put it both on the back side (so that it shines into the ceiling), and on this stop – in this case, the light will hit the wall at an angle of about 45 °.
From lighting to lighting
Philips Hue Go has many different functions. First of all, it is a full-fledged light source, and its shade can be chosen (all options from very warm to cold). The 12-watt LED lamp provides a luminous flux of up to 540 lumens, which is enough to illuminate a room.
The device can be connected to the network and used in stationary mode. But it does have a rechargeable battery, so the Philips Hue Go can be used as a portable light. For example, on a veranda where there is no general lighting. Just keep in mind that there is no protection from water here, so you can leave the device in the open air only if rain is not promised.
Of course, it would be too trite to make a simple portable lamp. Philips Hue Go has the ability not only to change color shades, but also to run different lighting scenarios. For example, “cozy candlelight” is a warm light that simulates a candle burning. Such scenarios are not created for full-fledged lighting, but for decorative lighting or simply to create a certain mood (for example, during a romantic dinner). Several are directly in the device, others are available through the application. This is how Starlight looks like, for example.
In the same place, in the application, you can configure such scenarios as “Waking up” or “Falling asleep”. In the first case, the device will gradually increase the brightness, imitating the sunrise, in the latter, it will decrease.
An important feature of working with the application is that you can not only use predefined scenarios, but also change the brightness of the glow (with the slider at the top of the screen). It is impossible to do this using buttons (more precisely, a button) on the case. And, of course, switching on / off from a smartphone is also provided.
Like many other devices, Philips Hue Go can operate within an ecosystem. To do this, you will need to purchase a control unit. But you get the opportunity to control all smart lighting devices from the Philips Hue line: create scenarios, remotely turn on and off …
Autonomy
When the device operates as a full-fledged lamp, the battery lasts for 2.5 hours of operation. If it serves as a decorative backlight, autonomy can be much higher: in the most economical modes up to 18 hours. To charge, you need to use the adapter from the kit – the connector here is traditional, in the shape of a cylinder. If it were USB-C, it would be much easier.
Conclusion
What we definitely liked was the presence of a battery and a huge number of possible shades of light (to be more precise – 16 million), not to mention the different lighting scenarios. What was missing was the ability to charge the device with a more popular adapter and adjust the brightness of the glow using the buttons on the case. However, this is another nice piece of the Philips Hue family – if you love experimenting with light, you will love it.
