Happy Saturday! Stop buying Hue!! 🤣 Buy Aqara stuff instead below!... BUY THE AQARA T1M CEILING LIGHT HERE: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. By buying through any of the links below I will earn commission at no extra cost to you :) UK: amzn.to/3TzR9qV US: amzn.to/4a9qXZF AQARA SPRING DEALS UP TO 27% OFF As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. By buying through any of the links below I will earn commission at no extra cost to you :) UK: amzn.to/4alw48X US: amzn.to/3TqN078 Also!… Checkout my mate for his review and for all things Apple HomeKit 😁
This light along with the G3 hub does not work for me as they seem not to talk to each other. I only bought these 2 items on your recommendation. Funnily enough, my ancient Phillips Hue setup is still working. I'm not a happy man.
Never pay for potential or promised future features. If the vendor cannot support something now, the changes are that the support will never come, no matter the marketing speech.
Apparently the Aqara T1M ceiling light isn't available from Amazon USA yet. Paul's link doesn't go to the light, it just lands me on my Amazon home page where there is no T1M to be seen. When I do a search for Aqara T1M ceiling light (or any variation) the search brings up other similar lights but not this one. Most often I don't need or want whatever Paul is reviewing, I just come here every Saturday morning to watch Paul's antics while I have my morning coffee. There's always a chance he's going to cover something I can use and if not it's always great fun anyway. It's become a habit that I sincerely enjoy. However, this time this *_IS_* something I'd be interested in. This T1M light would be great for replacing the can lights in my man cave/home theater room. There's a French door (under an awning so very little outside light) plus one tiny window in that room and lighting is a serious issue. Even with the highest powered LED bulbs I can get my hands on it's still dark in places in that room. Colored lights just make things worse so a light that can do both color and white at the same time would be really good. I think these T1M lights would be a fantastic, really cool addition to the room. Sadly I have no idea what they cost in U.S. dollars and can't find them on Amazon U.S.
Maybe its a USA vs UK thing, but my Phillips Hue products are the most consistently reliable smart home hardware I've ever owned. I know you don't want to hear it Paul, but here goes: "IT JUST WORKS!"
I have 7 hue devices + hub. About 25 Tuya devices in the same location. Hue stuff was twice the price and not as bright. It is pretty reliable to be sure, but no more than the tuya stuff is.
But, it just works!!!! Is literally a description of every Philips Hue fan. Also, thanks for making fun smart home content I've now been watching for.... 6 years!? (Wow time flies...) You are the main reason I got into smart home, and I greatly thank you for that. Hope you reach 1M subs, you deserve it.
Obviously everyone’s experience is different, but objectively speaking Hue is one of the worst. Rands out there for brightness, saturation of colour and in my personal experience reliability. Below is a copy and paste from an answer I gave to another comment to expand a bit on that… The main issue is the lack of brightness compared to FAR cheaper products, I once did a video comparing their stuff to Lidl’s supermarket brand, and the supermarket brand was significantly brighter on my lux meter 🤣 Other issues include the time I tried to set one of my lights to a Halloween theme in the Hue app and it froze ALL my Hue lights. In order to fix it their customer service team nonchalantly took me through resetting my account without apology at which point I had to recreate every scene and automation. When I complained they shrugged it off as an issue with the “third party” Halloween theme that I found in THEIR app and genuinely refused to apologise. I’m not exaggerating, their customer service team refused to apologise 😳 The ONLY LED strip I own with a dead LED including the 5 quid ones off Amazon is Hue. There are so many more examples, but the main reason I hate them is their disgusting levels of corporate greed. They do everything they can to lock you into their ecosystem and force you to use their products. For example, if you buy any 3rd party product then it arbitrarily doesn’t work with their entertainment system, nor will they advertise it to Apple HomeKit. There’s no technical reason, they’re just greedy. Their stuff can’t be reset without purchasing their remote in some cases, which is utter madness. I could go on, but I think you get the picture; Way too expensive for mostly inferior products, and general greediness. If you google for “the Phoebus cartel” you’ll find that they have been this way for well over a hundred years, and used to work together with other manufacturers to intentionally reduce the lifespan of light bulbs to force us all to buy more! Disgusting organisation with garbage products.
I appreciate your insights Paul, always thoughtful. I began building a small Hue ecosystem 6 years ago because I’m an idiot and to me Hue and their app are idiot proof 😆. I still enjoy watching your videos to keep me up to date with the other options out there, specifically the Matter products. Thanks for another great video.
@@paulhibbert 😂 "Hi, is that Govee, I've got a great proposition for you... Can you fund all my marketing costs until I reach a million subscribers and I promise to demolish Philips Hue bulbs in every video using one of your LED floor lamps whilst screaming 'Luke, I am your father!!!'... "
I do like this light but I’m not sure how many people want this kind of centre light these days? Just my opinion. Bathrooms and kitchens tend to have an increasing number of spot lights, lounges and hallways often candelabra style fittings or wall lights. It’s great for the intended use case but the old round centre light is IMO a thing of the 70’s era.. perhaps it’s just me. :-)
Matter is not a comparison to Zigbee. Zigbee is a wireless protocol, Matter is a connectivity standard. One does not replace the other. A device can be Zigbee and be Matter-enabled via a hub.
I feel like you’re both right. Matter is not a competitor for Zigbee but it was advertised as a be all and end all product in the same was Zigbee was originally advertised. So far it has not really ticked that box either
@@paulhibbert I mean I definitely have to interject here. Matter is supported over WiFi and Thread. If Aqara had built this with Thread instead of Zigbee then it would do matter out-of-the-box. However Thread obviously requires a Thread Border Router. Aqara - as you note - has MANY devices that have a Zigbee hub built in, so in terms of adoptability - obviously it makes the most sense to Aqara to release the product with the wireless communication technology that the majority of their customers are already going to have, than it does to release it with Thread and then deal with the massive amount of the non tech people who buy the light and discover that they don't have any way of connecting to it. If Thread Border Routers were more common (and it's likely they will probably start being added to set to boxes and ISP routers) it wouldn't be as much of a problem. What about WiFi then? Well let's be honest, how many smart bulbs or plugs that use WiFi - are actually *that* reliable? WiFi lights and plugs have an annoying habit of dropping off the WiFi network for absolutely no reason, and the cheap ESP chips that they use, still only support 2.4GHz - which is one of the main reasons that they tend to be not that reliable.
@@paulhibbert yeah, I do agree with this. I have a matter Tapo plug for example which lists power monitoring, but this in reality only works via the Tapo app. I know this is down to what the matter spec includes currently but a device that can ‘work with everything’ but one of the main features requires a separate app is… not progess.
Lewis did this lamp two weeks ago. The CRI and Lumens are impressive and despite people moaning it is expensive, a DIY retrofit solution is expensive too. Here is s report of my orignal comment: Shelly Dimmer 30 Euro, 10 Philips 2700K Dim2warm CRI>90 50 Euro, 10 Lamp holder with bracket 25 Euro. Some solid core wires and Wagos 20 Euro. Some nice lamp with metal base plate and crap ultra blue flickering leds but a nice form XX Euro. Drill, rivet gun.... If you find a really nice lamp and just don't like the light quality then go for it. if not pay the 150 Euro for the Aqara. I recently did the DIY and love it.
@@timcxWe know Paul is an English youtuber secret Home Assistant nerd. Lewis is a Scottish youtuber Home Assistant nerd. Nope sorry no published details apart from the text above. I am not about to advise people on how to strip solid core and use push fit e14 lamp holders and Wagos and power drills and rivet guns in 230 Volt land.
Aquara shipped these to every single online influencer and everyone has released a video - and they’ve been out of stock everywhere for weeks. Super job on the launch, Aquara. I was ready to give them money but had to get the project done. Missed your shot Aquara.
For my lighting system I have a full ORVIBO system that I bought on a business trip to China. They offer ceiling, wall lights etc. with features that outclass this Aquara and any Hue lights. Even the wall switches (Mixpad D1) are entirely touchscreens that allow for any custom control of anything in your home. I really hope you can get your hand on some ORVIBO devices in the future and showcase them. They are also the only ones that have insane display wall hubs that can control anything and work fully with home assistant (if set up correctly).
Looks cool and £100 cheaper than the Hue version, especially like the fancy effects. Sidenote: Hue does the different light time of day thing as well. Great vid 👍👍
@@paulhibbertit's certainly possible to use a sensor to dmx for the newer aperture lights. The problem as ever is the software, sidus app is a pain, but even worse are all the DMX controllers which are just scripting languages it seems Do you know of any good ones? And I pulling your chain about Aperture. You are an absolutely stunning UA-camr, for all I know you could be presenting for the gadget show and if I ever get well enough not to have to lie in bed regularly that I can stop screaming in pain to actually make some content then I hope on day to be as good as you
Paul love the channel...but...stop giving MATTER a break. It is broke, it sucks, it has not made anyone's life better and they lied to us. Other than that it is fabulous :0
So long as it connects to hues bridge I’m good as that shir works if internet goes down. No calling home for schedules and routines to work with hue bridge.
I installed one of these last weekend. I used the Aqara lightswitch in remote mode, as you mentioned, and it works well. Since it's a double switch I use 1 switch for the outer ring and the other for the main light. The tunable white light is great, although the outer ring isn't anywhere near as bright. That being said the latter is supposed to be a mood light, so that's ok. It was expensive, but it really does fill the room with light. I'll wait for a discount later in the year to buy a couple more, since this was a test purchase. I don't begrudge the cost on this purchase though.
I have this same setup for the bedroom and living room. The main issue I have it's either on or off. The app needs an option 'if held' so you can increase or decrease the brightness, as it remembers the last setting you had set.
I got a load of Phillips hue switches for a tenner each on eBay. Then put a plastic faceplate on top of all my light switches. The hue switch does a good job. I know it's hue... but they are linked to HA using zigbee instead of the hue stuff. It keeps the other half happy....
Oh, and as you mentioned it. I would just like to have a rant at *all* smart home device manufacturers and just say that the "toggle the power 5 times" to reset and re-pair is really annoying in countries where the mains power is not particularly stable. Its so easy for outages to set all 16 ceiling lights flashing and it a real pain to fix, especially if its a rental property. Would be better if they had a physical button like most curtain motors.
Nothing like watching Paul Hibbert videos on your laptop in a quiet public place with the volume up. I get strange looks when the Amish guy starts chanting "Home Assistant! Home Assistant!! Home Assistant!!!"
Will the echo show 8 gen 3 work as a zigbee hub for this light? Or does it need an Aqara hub to access all the features? Another entertaining and awesome review. Thanks Paul
I’ll be replacing my bathroom light with one of these and also link it with a motion/presence sensor, so when my kids wake up at night and go in to the hallway, the light can turn on at a low level to not fully wake them up when doing their business.
8:25 They sell cheap white and beige switch covers, that are also easily removable (by hand) for times you absolutely must have temporary manual control.
So, i have had nothing but grief with all LED lighting. They are supposed to last years but within a year the electronics usually fail and you get the blinking LED scenario. We had one whole floor renovated on a house we owned and all the lights were replaced with LED. Every one of those lights have failed and i have had to replace at least 7 of them with traditional lights where i can screw in an LED bulb. That way when it fails it is easy to replace.
you have lots of video security videos. As of now, what system (one wired and one wireless) do you recommend right now? Also, I am replacing 70's era kitchen tube style lights like the school I went to. I would like your choices for replacing these with better working and looking led lights. I don't want to have to hire an electrician if possible.
Hi Paul, tahnks for a great video once more! Sadly I have so far been unable to kick that nasty Hue Habit... But maybe I could reduce my HH a bit? Do the Aqara lights work on the Hue bridge, especially with iConnectHue, and if they do, can you keep most of the functionality?
what is the point in making a Matter device that only works with their Matter hub? Wasn't the whole point of Matter is that you can use any device with any hub you wish?
Hey, Paul. I don't know if you remember me. I told you a while back I was falsely accused of sexual harassment when I refused to sleep with a colleague. Well, I have a court date to take this company to court. 31st of May. It's to get the NDA annulled. I have every confidence the agreement will be annulled as I had no legal advice or representation. That is a legal requirement to make the agreement binding.
@@paulhibbert It's even crazier when I'm allowed to tell everyone the name of the company which I obviously cannot do right now. But this is a company that everyone uses without their knowledge.
You mention using the Aqara Zigbee hub, I'm using a combo stick with Zigbee and Z-wave in my current smart home setup. Will this still work, or do I have to add Aqara's Zigbee hub to connect to it? Just want to make sure before I pull the trigger.
Nice one! Now I only have to find an excuse how I 'accidentally' put 4 of those in my shopping basket and slipped so unfortunately that I released the order...
Hi dude, Have you been able to pair the t1m to your flic twist via mater to remotely control brightness? I was an early adaptor of the twist, and baised on your advice, I'm looking at investing in the t1m.
"Please stop buying Phillips Hue." Already done, but thanks for reminding me why I won't buy them. Aqara is better than Hue: I am not shocked in the least. Way to go Aqara (again.) You hear "Kelvin" and think of "the Wonder Years." I hear "Kelvin" and can't help thinking of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies. Workarounds: I don't immediately sigh in resignation when yet another mention of having to work around a system to get it to do what it should happens, but it is disappointing. I do wish equipment makers would try harder to work with other stuff. The only thing I don't like about this light is the modern look. For our decor, I'd like to see something like this in a vintage style. (Yes, even with the "red-alert band.") Thanks again for a great review. If I wasn't already watching Aqara, I'd be watching them now.
As it is Zigbee the answer SHOULD be yes, but as it’s Aqara and Hubitat hate Aqaras Zigbee stuff the answer could be no. Not sure if Hubitat have improved the Aqara integration or not
The one flaw I see is that it requires turning on and off the entire light for pairing mode. Where I'd use smart lights is circuits that are always on, and in fact, have no switch.
Right! That's it! I'm going back in time, not buying those Hue ceiling lights, pooing in the dark for 3 years and eventually getting these. Unfortunately I got into Hue when they 1st appeared when nothing else was available and it's got to the point where I've spent so much over the last 10 years that it'd be foolish to bin it all and start again, no matter how annoying their system can be sometimes (it rarely just works). To be fair though, I have never had a single thing fail but I do seem to replace batteries in the buttons too often. I'm so deep into Hue that I'm wearing Mr Philips like a sleeping bag.
It's nice and all but didn't big ass ceiling lights in the center of the room go out of fashion somewhere in the 90s. Would be nice if Aqara started releasing all kinds of ceiling spots, ceiling strips, wall lights etc. Then maybe they could really call themselves an ecosystem. I would love to go full-on Aqara, but they really don't make enough variety of lighting. Anyways, good news is I have the M2 hub to go with my Aqara door lock and it is pretty awesome, has IR blast support too so I can control my dinosaur AC. Glad you did the wizard cutaway, could see that coming a mile off. 🙂
It’s Kevin, you dolt! But yeah, Winnie was a massive tease…. I’ve got loads of those Aqara light switches, they are a very lovely thing and I’ve had visitors tell me how nice they look
Will this work with the Broadlink TC3 light switches to keep it always on, or would it have to be programmed as a smart option on a switch not wired to it like you said with the Aqara switches?
Hello, I have hue, Aqara fp2, Govee, nest, google, Alexa, and Lutron Casseta, nividia shields.I have a lot of motion sensors as well. Only routines is really turning on home theater. I also have iPhones. Is the Aqara ecosystem best to run everything in? I bought and returned homey pro. It seems good but not USA ready and I don’t right that in depth of routines. I use google and Alexa . Would Aqara hub make everything integrate and easier? Thank you
Looks nice but still ridiculously expensive for a basic room light. A$299 here in Australia (US$193 inc tax). Plus as you recommend more for a smart switch. And due to our nanny state rules in 240V territory, more for an electrician.
I'd love to install us in my laundry room. Do they make a wall switch that's compatible with this? I need to replace the thumb switch in the laundry room with something that won't kill a power to this smart light when the switch is thrown
I use google home app for a better UI to simply manage switching devices. Complete shite for automations though and use Alexa for that. Amazon really needs to upgrade their UI.
Just gotta wait for Amazon to get more in stock then "accidentally" buy one and hope the wife doesn't notice.... She also does that red eye glowing thing..... 😂
Aye, it ain’t cheap sadly, but perhaps that’s reassuring. I know Shane had a super cheap Tuya equivalent in his ceiling before and he’s of course swapped it for this
You must have missed the video where I gave a run down of all the issues I’ve had with Hue. 😂 The main issue is the lack of brightness compared to FAR cheaper products, I once did a video comparing their stuff to Lidl’s supermarket brand, and the supermarket brand was significantly brighter on my lux meter 🤣 Other issues include the time I tried to set one of my lights to a Halloween theme in the Hue app and it froze ALL my Hue lights. In order to fix it their customer service team nonchalantly took me through resetting my account without apology at which point I had to recreate ever scene and automation. When I complained they shrugged it off as an issue with the “third party” Halloween theme that I found in THEIR app and genuinely refused to apologise. I’m not exaggerating, their customer service team refused to apologise 😳 The ONLY LED strip I own with a dead LED including the 5 quid ones off Amazon is Hue. There are so many more examples, but the main reason I hate them is their disgusting levels of corporate greed. They do everything they can to lock you into their ecosystem and force you to use their products. For example, if you buy any 3rd party product then it arbitrarily doesn’t work with their entertainment system, nor will they advertise it to Apple HomeKit. There’s no technical reason, they’re just greedy. Their stuff can’t be reset without purchasing their remote in some cases, which is utter madness. I could go on, but I think you get the picture; Way too expensive for mostly inferior products, and general greediness. If you google for “the Phoebus cartel” you’ll find that they have been this way for well over a hundred years, and used to work together with other manufacturers to intentionally reduce the lifespan of light bulbs to force us all to buy more! Disgusting organisation with garbage products.
@paulhibbert Can't disagree with any of what you said Paul, especially the brightness. When I started buy Hue there wasn't as much choice for this type if system. Zigbee was just being set up in Scotland. But I have bought Govee and they aren't much brighter.
Have you got names for "It Just Works! gall', "Puritan boy", "H A H A Fan Zellot (and his 'wife')", the guy who loses the point, and Munchy Mumbles" so that you can reference them as "not actual Patreons"? An alternative to the putting a smart switch in place of the light switch is to hide an Aquara or Shelly relay behind the switch, wire it up so that it detects the switch being thrown, and then toggles the light as appropriate, and then also responds the home automation tools so that the light just continues to work even if your wife turns it off at the physical switch. Yeah, it's not as humiliating as sitting in the dark, but it might do the trick. And no I'm not suggesting that you should be looking at playing with your house wiring again, invite your dad over. Offer him an upgrade to his TV... or something else.
I can't help but note that you did not film anything on the fly this week. Perhaps next week you could instead do one off the cuff (which should in no way be mixed rapid squelching noises).
Hoping someone can help….. I’m at a stage of my house refurb project where I want to add lighting. I previously purchased Philips Hue GU10 bulbs for the living room, a few single bulbs other rooms and a couple of strips which i wish to keep but not sure if I want to go ahead with Philips in others areas of the house. This is mainly because I like strips that can do multi colours at the same time rather than a single colour that cycles. The next stage calls for led lighting in the kitchen and up the staircase and on slatted wall panels on a tv wall. I want this for ambient lighting but also to “dance” with colours if I’m hosting a party. I want the leds that are installed in the slatted wall panels to sync with what I’m watching on the tv whether that be movies or games. Please advise which brand would be best to go with or can multiple lights from various brands be setup to work with each other? Your help is greatly appreciated.
Checkout Govee's range of lighting products. They will sync to your TV but require a camera, other than that one flaw they are the only option for what you're describing.
I was looking at the round Hue Surimu lamp with the main draw being the fact it is a big defused RGB Light. Seeing how much brighter this one is, how it integrates with HomeKit dynamic lighting, How much brighter it is, How much cheaper it is and lastly also how simply stunning the auxiliary light is I will go with this one and matching Hub and light switch 100% It is literally €20 for me to buy this lamp with hub and switch than it is to buy a small Hue Surimu lamp BEFORE adding accessory costs. Shows how scandalous hue is.
After switching to the new M3 hub, I couldn't re-bind the T1M. The T1M Light says turn the light on/off 5 times. I wasn't thinking to do it RAPIDLY. That was my issue. This might help someone else.
I have spent thousands on smart home products over 10 years. All of my Philips hue products still work as when I bought them. All of the non Philips hue product are intermittent or no longer supported. I spent $1000 on flic products based on your recommendations…. And they no longer support Alexa routines … and are unused. Software support is more important than the initial cost. I’m buying more Philips hue
Bought and installed one of these a few days ago. Was working great for two days Now suddenly its completely dead and won't turn on. Wired the old light back up and that works fine. Anyone know what the problem could be?
Happy Saturday! Stop buying Hue!! 🤣 Buy Aqara stuff instead below!...
BUY THE AQARA T1M CEILING LIGHT HERE:
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. By buying through any of the links below I will earn commission at no extra cost to you :)
UK: amzn.to/3TzR9qV
US: amzn.to/4a9qXZF
AQARA SPRING DEALS UP TO 27% OFF
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. By buying through any of the links below I will earn commission at no extra cost to you :)
UK: amzn.to/4alw48X
US: amzn.to/3TqN078
Also!… Checkout my mate for his review and for all things Apple HomeKit 😁
Links are not working; they only take you to Amazon and not the item?
This light along with the G3 hub does not work for me as they seem not to talk to each other. I only bought these 2 items on your recommendation. Funnily enough, my ancient Phillips Hue setup is still working. I'm not a happy man.
The US one doenst seem to be working
good vid
@@HangingShoesI have two of these and the G3 hub working perfectly.
Do you recommend installing this in the bathroom?
Never pay for potential or promised future features. If the vendor cannot support something now, the changes are that the support will never come, no matter the marketing speech.
An mkbhd quote that did not age well for him.
Apparently the Aqara T1M ceiling light isn't available from Amazon USA yet. Paul's link doesn't go to the light, it just lands me on my Amazon home page where there is no T1M to be seen. When I do a search for Aqara T1M ceiling light (or any variation) the search brings up other similar lights but not this one.
Most often I don't need or want whatever Paul is reviewing, I just come here every Saturday morning to watch Paul's antics while I have my morning coffee. There's always a chance he's going to cover something I can use and if not it's always great fun anyway. It's become a habit that I sincerely enjoy. However, this time this *_IS_* something I'd be interested in.
This T1M light would be great for replacing the can lights in my man cave/home theater room. There's a French door (under an awning so very little outside light) plus one tiny window in that room and lighting is a serious issue. Even with the highest powered LED bulbs I can get my hands on it's still dark in places in that room. Colored lights just make things worse so a light that can do both color and white at the same time would be really good. I think these T1M lights would be a fantastic, really cool addition to the room. Sadly I have no idea what they cost in U.S. dollars and can't find them on Amazon U.S.
It was available. It just sold out. Similar to the fp2 when it came out. Think they cost around 140-170US
They’ve been sold out for weeks. Paul is late to the launch party amongst the influencers. The company wasn’t actually ready for a product launch.
Maybe its a USA vs UK thing, but my Phillips Hue products are the most consistently reliable smart home hardware I've ever owned. I know you don't want to hear it Paul, but here goes: "IT JUST WORKS!"
I have 7 hue devices + hub. About 25 Tuya devices in the same location. Hue stuff was twice the price and not as bright. It is pretty reliable to be sure, but no more than the tuya stuff is.
But, it just works!!!! Is literally a description of every Philips Hue fan.
Also, thanks for making fun smart home content I've now been watching for.... 6 years!? (Wow time flies...)
You are the main reason I got into smart home, and I greatly thank you for that. Hope you reach 1M subs, you deserve it.
Exactly... there is a reason "it just works" and Hue show up together in a sentence quite often...
Obviously everyone’s experience is different, but objectively speaking Hue is one of the worst. Rands out there for brightness, saturation of colour and in my personal experience reliability. Below is a copy and paste from an answer I gave to another comment to expand a bit on that…
The main issue is the lack of brightness compared to FAR cheaper products, I once did a video comparing their stuff to Lidl’s supermarket brand, and the supermarket brand was significantly brighter on my lux meter 🤣
Other issues include the time I tried to set one of my lights to a Halloween theme in the Hue app and it froze ALL my Hue lights. In order to fix it their customer service team nonchalantly took me through resetting my account without apology at which point I had to recreate every scene and automation. When I complained they shrugged it off as an issue with the “third party” Halloween theme that I found in THEIR app and genuinely refused to apologise. I’m not exaggerating, their customer service team refused to apologise 😳
The ONLY LED strip I own with a dead LED including the 5 quid ones off Amazon is Hue.
There are so many more examples, but the main reason I hate them is their disgusting levels of corporate greed. They do everything they can to lock you into their ecosystem and force you to use their products. For example, if you buy any 3rd party product then it arbitrarily doesn’t work with their entertainment system, nor will they advertise it to Apple HomeKit. There’s no technical reason, they’re just greedy.
Their stuff can’t be reset without purchasing their remote in some cases, which is utter madness.
I could go on, but I think you get the picture; Way too expensive for mostly inferior products, and general greediness. If you google for “the Phoebus cartel” you’ll find that they have been this way for well over a hundred years, and used to work together with other manufacturers to intentionally reduce the lifespan of light bulbs to force us all to buy more!
Disgusting organisation with garbage products.
I appreciate your insights Paul, always thoughtful. I began building a small Hue ecosystem 6 years ago because I’m an idiot and to me Hue and their app are idiot proof 😆. I still enjoy watching your videos to keep me up to date with the other options out there, specifically the Matter products. Thanks for another great video.
Ahhh yes, the highly coveted hip thrust…thanks for making my Saturday as usual, Paul! 😄
Some of the best editing I have seen on a tech video.
Hilarious...
Easily on the road to 1 million subs.
Great advice too.
At the current rate of growth I will be in my 60’s before I reach a million 🤣 might be time for me to start paying for UA-cam’s “promote” feature 💸
@@paulhibbert 😂 "Hi, is that Govee, I've got a great proposition for you... Can you fund all my marketing costs until I reach a million subscribers and I promise to demolish Philips Hue bulbs in every video using one of your LED floor lamps whilst screaming 'Luke, I am your father!!!'... "
@@paulhibbert Noooo... that's what evil Google *want* you to consider
I do like this light but I’m not sure how many people want this kind of centre light these days? Just my opinion. Bathrooms and kitchens tend to have an increasing number of spot lights, lounges and hallways often candelabra style fittings or wall lights. It’s great for the intended use case but the old round centre light is IMO a thing of the 70’s era.. perhaps it’s just me. :-)
7:16 so we already see the promise broken, that matter will be what zigbee was not, a true one for all solution
Matter is not a comparison to Zigbee. Zigbee is a wireless protocol, Matter is a connectivity standard. One does not replace the other.
A device can be Zigbee and be Matter-enabled via a hub.
@@benjaminmaiden1347 And both let the producers the opportunity open, to not be compatible with other competing devices using that standard
I feel like you’re both right. Matter is not a competitor for Zigbee but it was advertised as a be all and end all product in the same was Zigbee was originally advertised. So far it has not really ticked that box either
@@paulhibbert I mean I definitely have to interject here. Matter is supported over WiFi and Thread. If Aqara had built this with Thread instead of Zigbee then it would do matter out-of-the-box. However Thread obviously requires a Thread Border Router. Aqara - as you note - has MANY devices that have a Zigbee hub built in, so in terms of adoptability - obviously it makes the most sense to Aqara to release the product with the wireless communication technology that the majority of their customers are already going to have, than it does to release it with Thread and then deal with the massive amount of the non tech people who buy the light and discover that they don't have any way of connecting to it. If Thread Border Routers were more common (and it's likely they will probably start being added to set to boxes and ISP routers) it wouldn't be as much of a problem. What about WiFi then? Well let's be honest, how many smart bulbs or plugs that use WiFi - are actually *that* reliable? WiFi lights and plugs have an annoying habit of dropping off the WiFi network for absolutely no reason, and the cheap ESP chips that they use, still only support 2.4GHz - which is one of the main reasons that they tend to be not that reliable.
@@paulhibbert yeah, I do agree with this. I have a matter Tapo plug for example which lists power monitoring, but this in reality only works via the Tapo app. I know this is down to what the matter spec includes currently but a device that can ‘work with everything’ but one of the main features requires a separate app is… not progess.
Before the Aqara ecosystem, you recommended the Tuya ecosystem. I would be nice to hear if the Tuya stuff can still be used in the Matter era.
Lewis did this lamp two weeks ago. The CRI and Lumens are impressive and despite people moaning it is expensive, a DIY retrofit solution is expensive too. Here is s report of my orignal comment: Shelly Dimmer 30 Euro, 10 Philips 2700K Dim2warm CRI>90 50 Euro, 10 Lamp holder with bracket 25 Euro. Some solid core wires and Wagos 20 Euro. Some nice lamp with metal base plate and crap ultra blue flickering leds but a nice form XX Euro. Drill, rivet gun.... If you find a really nice lamp and just don't like the light quality then go for it. if not pay the 150 Euro for the Aqara. I recently did the DIY and love it.
Who is Lewis? Do you have details of your DIY solution e.g link? Thanks
@@timcxWe know Paul is an English youtuber secret Home Assistant nerd. Lewis is a Scottish youtuber Home Assistant nerd. Nope sorry no published details apart from the text above. I am not about to advise people on how to strip solid core and use push fit e14 lamp holders and Wagos and power drills and rivet guns in 230 Volt land.
Aquara shipped these to every single online influencer and everyone has released a video - and they’ve been out of stock everywhere for weeks. Super job on the launch, Aquara. I was ready to give them money but had to get the project done. Missed your shot Aquara.
Aqara doesn't have a "u" ... just sayin' 🤭
I actually just switched to Hue and LOVE it.
For my lighting system I have a full ORVIBO system that I bought on a business trip to China. They offer ceiling, wall lights etc. with features that outclass this Aquara and any Hue lights. Even the wall switches (Mixpad D1) are entirely touchscreens that allow for any custom control of anything in your home. I really hope you can get your hand on some ORVIBO devices in the future and showcase them. They are also the only ones that have insane display wall hubs that can control anything and work fully with home assistant (if set up correctly).
Looks like a amazing light, my only issue is its 1 giant LED panel that looks like it wont be cheap to replace when it starts to fail.
Looks cool and £100 cheaper than the Hue version, especially like the fancy effects. Sidenote: Hue does the different light time of day thing as well. Great vid 👍👍
Good to know! Thanks man ❤️
@@paulhibbertit's certainly possible to use a sensor to dmx for the newer aperture lights.
The problem as ever is the software, sidus app is a pain, but even worse are all the DMX controllers which are just scripting languages it seems
Do you know of any good ones?
And I pulling your chain about Aperture. You are an absolutely stunning UA-camr, for all I know you could be presenting for the gadget show and if I ever get well enough not to have to lie in bed regularly that I can stop screaming in pain to actually make some content then I hope on day to be as good as you
Paul love the channel...but...stop giving MATTER a break. It is broke, it sucks, it has not made anyone's life better and they lied to us. Other than that it is fabulous :0
what do you suggest? for lighting?
Yey! The home assistant fan boi is back!
So long as it connects to hues bridge I’m good as that shir works if internet goes down. No calling home for schedules and routines to work with hue bridge.
I installed one of these last weekend. I used the Aqara lightswitch in remote mode, as you mentioned, and it works well. Since it's a double switch I use 1 switch for the outer ring and the other for the main light. The tunable white light is great, although the outer ring isn't anywhere near as bright. That being said the latter is supposed to be a mood light, so that's ok. It was expensive, but it really does fill the room with light. I'll wait for a discount later in the year to buy a couple more, since this was a test purchase. I don't begrudge the cost on this purchase though.
I have this same setup for the bedroom and living room.
The main issue I have it's either on or off. The app needs an option 'if held' so you can increase or decrease the brightness, as it remembers the last setting you had set.
I got a load of Phillips hue switches for a tenner each on eBay. Then put a plastic faceplate on top of all my light switches. The hue switch does a good job. I know it's hue... but they are linked to HA using zigbee instead of the hue stuff. It keeps the other half happy....
Hey Paul that lamp would be great idea for deaf people like myself to know when the phone is ringing.
Oh, and as you mentioned it. I would just like to have a rant at *all* smart home device manufacturers and just say that the "toggle the power 5 times" to reset and re-pair is really annoying in countries where the mains power is not particularly stable. Its so easy for outages to set all 16 ceiling lights flashing and it a real pain to fix, especially if its a rental property. Would be better if they had a physical button like most curtain motors.
Adaptive lighting sounds like a game changer, I can’t believe I haven’t heard of this before.
Apple have some annoyingly good ideas!
Nothing like watching Paul Hibbert videos on your laptop in a quiet public place with the volume up. I get strange looks when the Amish guy starts chanting "Home Assistant! Home Assistant!! Home Assistant!!!"
BIG fan of Aqara. And I’d love to replace my hue lights. Just hope we can get some more outside lights soon.
Happy Saturday Paul. I’m a bit of a Aqara fan boy so I will be getting this one also.
You won’t regret it, it’s a proper statement piece
Will the echo show 8 gen 3 work as a zigbee hub for this light? Or does it need an Aqara hub to access all the features?
Another entertaining and awesome review. Thanks Paul
Hmmm using it for a timer, can you control the speed? That would be even more epic than a notification the timer has completed.
I’ll be replacing my bathroom light with one of these and also link it with a motion/presence sensor, so when my kids wake up at night and go in to the hallway, the light can turn on at a low level to not fully wake them up when doing their business.
I've been waiting for this one for a while. It would be even better if it were capable of being a bathroom light.
8:25 They sell cheap white and beige switch covers, that are also easily removable (by hand) for times you absolutely must have temporary manual control.
So, i have had nothing but grief with all LED lighting. They are supposed to last years but within a year the electronics usually fail and you get the blinking LED scenario. We had one whole floor renovated on a house we owned and all the lights were replaced with LED. Every one of those lights have failed and i have had to replace at least 7 of them with traditional lights where i can screw in an LED bulb. That way when it fails it is easy to replace.
God, I loves lights. It’s too bad I’m broke. Otherwise I’d be buying this light.
Still buying hue. Have govee and others and Hue still is the best for speed and reliability.
This looks nice, I bet there's a way to do the alert idea with addressable LEDs. Maybe an Idea for a future video, Paul?
you have lots of video security videos. As of now, what system (one wired and one wireless) do you recommend right now? Also, I am replacing 70's era kitchen tube style lights like the school I went to. I would like your choices for replacing these with better working and looking led lights. I don't want to have to hire an electrician if possible.
This would be great for the kitchen disco on greatest hits radio 😂👍🏻
Oh this is a nice option for my bedroom actually.
Bloody loved The Wonder Years xxx
Hi Paul, tahnks for a great video once more!
Sadly I have so far been unable to kick that nasty Hue Habit... But maybe I could reduce my HH a bit?
Do the Aqara lights work on the Hue bridge, especially with iConnectHue, and if they do, can you keep most of the functionality?
I'm waiting for them to release the M3 Hub they showed off at CES in the UK before I get into the Aqara ecosystem.
what is the point in making a Matter device that only works with their Matter hub? Wasn't the whole point of Matter is that you can use any device with any hub you wish?
Hey, Paul. I don't know if you remember me. I told you a while back I was falsely accused of sexual harassment when I refused to sleep with a colleague. Well, I have a court date to take this company to court. 31st of May. It's to get the NDA annulled. I have every confidence the agreement will be annulled as I had no legal advice or representation. That is a legal requirement to make the agreement binding.
I remember man! Hope you win dude, the whole situation is crazy!
@@paulhibbert It's even crazier when I'm allowed to tell everyone the name of the company which I obviously cannot do right now. But this is a company that everyone uses without their knowledge.
Thank you for the review. One question how dim can it go for night light ?
You mention using the Aqara Zigbee hub, I'm using a combo stick with Zigbee and Z-wave in my current smart home setup. Will this still work, or do I have to add Aqara's Zigbee hub to connect to it? Just want to make sure before I pull the trigger.
Paul do you need the gateway to be able to use on alexa or apple still?
Nice one! Now I only have to find an excuse how I 'accidentally' put 4 of those in my shopping basket and slipped so unfortunately that I released the order...
Hi dude,
Have you been able to pair the t1m to your flic twist via mater to remotely control brightness?
I was an early adaptor of the twist, and baised on your advice, I'm looking at investing in the t1m.
"Please stop buying Phillips Hue." Already done, but thanks for reminding me why I won't buy them.
Aqara is better than Hue: I am not shocked in the least. Way to go Aqara (again.)
You hear "Kelvin" and think of "the Wonder Years." I hear "Kelvin" and can't help thinking of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies.
Workarounds: I don't immediately sigh in resignation when yet another mention of having to work around a system to get it to do what it should happens, but it is disappointing. I do wish equipment makers would try harder to work with other stuff.
The only thing I don't like about this light is the modern look. For our decor, I'd like to see something like this in a vintage style. (Yes, even with the "red-alert band.")
Thanks again for a great review. If I wasn't already watching Aqara, I'd be watching them now.
Cheers, do you know if there’s Hubitat support? I know it’s not realistic to expect you to answer all tech enquiries, just wondering 🤗
As it is Zigbee the answer SHOULD be yes, but as it’s Aqara and Hubitat hate Aqaras Zigbee stuff the answer could be no. Not sure if Hubitat have improved the Aqara integration or not
@@paulhibbert cheers Paul, and thanks for my regular Saturday morning entertainment
There is a similar light from govee, the H60A1, would you consider doing a comparison?
If these lights had a smart motion sensor integrated, I'd even consider bying one
The one flaw I see is that it requires turning on and off the entire light for pairing mode. Where I'd use smart lights is circuits that are always on, and in fact, have no switch.
US link just took me to Amazon home page. Please give it a check. Love your videos!
Does the effects work in Home assistant yet?
Video idea for you - smart kit for a kitchen disco setup?
Not available in the US yet darn, darn, darn! I really want to replace my Phillips hue ceiling fixture with a cleaner brighter light.
Thanks Paul. Happy Saturday.
Right! That's it! I'm going back in time, not buying those Hue ceiling lights, pooing in the dark for 3 years and eventually getting these.
Unfortunately I got into Hue when they 1st appeared when nothing else was available and it's got to the point where I've spent so much over the last 10 years that it'd be foolish to bin it all and start again, no matter how annoying their system can be sometimes (it rarely just works). To be fair though, I have never had a single thing fail but I do seem to replace batteries in the buttons too often.
I'm so deep into Hue that I'm wearing Mr Philips like a sleeping bag.
🤣🤣🤣 this really made me laugh
@@paulhibbert much like myself, you got older but didn't grow up.
Winnie broke all of our hearts when she broke Kevin’s.
It's nice and all but didn't big ass ceiling lights in the center of the room go out of fashion somewhere in the 90s. Would be nice if Aqara started releasing all kinds of ceiling spots, ceiling strips, wall lights etc. Then maybe they could really call themselves an ecosystem. I would love to go full-on Aqara, but they really don't make enough variety of lighting. Anyways, good news is I have the M2 hub to go with my Aqara door lock and it is pretty awesome, has IR blast support too so I can control my dinosaur AC. Glad you did the wizard cutaway, could see that coming a mile off. 🙂
What light switch would you recommend for this light? Aqara or just keep a dumb switch always on / remove face plate? Thanks
Both will work, the aqara switch can be put into like a remote mode though, which is a tidy solution 😁
Happen know which Aqarua light switch I would need to get? On their site there is like 3 different ones. Not sure which to pick.
It’s Kevin, you dolt! But yeah, Winnie was a massive tease….
I’ve got loads of those Aqara light switches, they are a very lovely thing and I’ve had visitors tell me how nice they look
Enjoyed the video Paul.
Love the jokes. 👍🏻
If you use the aqara light switch and hardwire then how do you turn the power on and off 5 times to connect to device via wifi to the nerwork?
ua-cam.com/video/TjgbADTLrEE/v-deo.htmlsi=KccT-2l25KpDbJ7k is my usual solution for this problem 😊
Good morning geezer, hope your well. What would be the best LED strip light for outside?
Happy Saturday dude! Check out Govee’s outdoor range. They do some really nice stuff 👍🏻
Great vid. Not in the realms of Phillips but at £150 still expensive for what it is
Aye, it isn’t cheap! Fantastic build quality though as always
Will this work with the Broadlink TC3 light switches to keep it always on, or would it have to be programmed as a smart option on a switch not wired to it like you said with the Aqara switches?
You do know that 'Switchbot' make ceiling lights too right? I know they will read this so they need to bring out a non-Japan only version.
Hello, I have hue, Aqara fp2, Govee, nest, google, Alexa, and Lutron Casseta, nividia shields.I have a lot of motion sensors as well. Only routines is really turning on home theater. I also have iPhones. Is the Aqara ecosystem best to run everything in? I bought and returned homey pro. It seems good but not USA ready and I don’t right that in depth of routines. I use google and Alexa . Would Aqara hub make everything integrate and easier? Thank you
hang on, these would be great for a transporter pad in your office...
So it's zigbee, and acts as a repeater "for other Aqara products"....does it act as a regular zigbee router for non-Aqara zigbee devices???
Any news when Aqara will support above 2.4 GHz. More frequencies.....better connection...?
Any word on Aqara releasing the M3 and TBR plugs that they showcase at CES?
Perfect for your Ready Room xxx
Already installed! 😁 just getting painting and decorating done xxx
@@paulhibbert Dude I’m so excited for you, I know how much you’ve wanted a room like this, so cool it’s becoming a reality ❤️ xxx
Looks nice but still ridiculously expensive for a basic room light. A$299 here in Australia (US$193 inc tax).
Plus as you recommend more for a smart switch.
And due to our nanny state rules in 240V territory, more for an electrician.
It not a basic room light, but it is expensive.
I'd love to install us in my laundry room. Do they make a wall switch that's compatible with this? I need to replace the thumb switch in the laundry room with something that won't kill a power to this smart light when the switch is thrown
Well that's what I get from commenting before I've watched the entire video. In
I use google home app for a better UI to simply manage switching devices. Complete shite for automations though and use Alexa for that. Amazon really needs to upgrade their UI.
Just gotta wait for Amazon to get more in stock then "accidentally" buy one and hope the wife doesn't notice....
She also does that red eye glowing thing..... 😂
Morning dude! I do want one for my front room as that always seems dim. The price does seem a bit steep though.
Aye, it ain’t cheap sadly, but perhaps that’s reassuring. I know Shane had a super cheap Tuya equivalent in his ceiling before and he’s of course swapped it for this
Bought Hue about 10 years ago when they where affordable. The prices today are crazy.
And its all still working fine?
@jordanc3233 Yes all good mate never had an issue.
@@gordoncoburn5567 thought as much. Hibbert seems to hate it because of the price but you get what you pay for.
You must have missed the video where I gave a run down of all the issues I’ve had with Hue. 😂
The main issue is the lack of brightness compared to FAR cheaper products, I once did a video comparing their stuff to Lidl’s supermarket brand, and the supermarket brand was significantly brighter on my lux meter 🤣
Other issues include the time I tried to set one of my lights to a Halloween theme in the Hue app and it froze ALL my Hue lights. In order to fix it their customer service team nonchalantly took me through resetting my account without apology at which point I had to recreate ever scene and automation. When I complained they shrugged it off as an issue with the “third party” Halloween theme that I found in THEIR app and genuinely refused to apologise. I’m not exaggerating, their customer service team refused to apologise 😳
The ONLY LED strip I own with a dead LED including the 5 quid ones off Amazon is Hue.
There are so many more examples, but the main reason I hate them is their disgusting levels of corporate greed. They do everything they can to lock you into their ecosystem and force you to use their products. For example, if you buy any 3rd party product then it arbitrarily doesn’t work with their entertainment system, nor will they advertise it to Apple HomeKit. There’s no technical reason, they’re just greedy.
Their stuff can’t be reset without purchasing their remote in some cases, which is utter madness.
I could go on, but I think you get the picture; Way too expensive for mostly inferior products, and general greediness. If you google for “the Phoebus cartel” you’ll find that they have been this way for well over a hundred years, and used to work together with other manufacturers to intentionally reduce the lifespan of light bulbs to force us all to buy more!
Disgusting organisation with garbage products.
@paulhibbert Can't disagree with any of what you said Paul, especially the brightness.
When I started buy Hue there wasn't as much choice for this type if system. Zigbee was just being set up in Scotland. But I have bought Govee and they aren't much brighter.
Have you got names for "It Just Works! gall', "Puritan boy", "H A H A Fan Zellot (and his 'wife')", the guy who loses the point, and Munchy Mumbles" so that you can reference them as "not actual Patreons"?
An alternative to the putting a smart switch in place of the light switch is to hide an Aquara or Shelly relay behind the switch, wire it up so that it detects the switch being thrown, and then toggles the light as appropriate, and then also responds the home automation tools so that the light just continues to work even if your wife turns it off at the physical switch. Yeah, it's not as humiliating as sitting in the dark, but it might do the trick. And no I'm not suggesting that you should be looking at playing with your house wiring again, invite your dad over. Offer him an upgrade to his TV... or something else.
What is the Alexa routine integration like? Aqara sometimes doesn't get listed in the devices options for alexa routine triggers
I can't help but note that you did not film anything on the fly this week. Perhaps next week you could instead do one off the cuff (which should in no way be mixed rapid squelching noises).
Hoping someone can help…..
I’m at a stage of my house refurb project where I want to add lighting.
I previously purchased Philips Hue GU10 bulbs for the living room, a few single bulbs other rooms and a couple of strips which i wish to keep but not sure if I want to go ahead with Philips in others areas of the house. This is mainly because I like strips that can do multi colours at the same time rather than a single colour that cycles.
The next stage calls for led lighting in the kitchen and up the staircase and on slatted wall panels on a tv wall.
I want this for ambient lighting but also to “dance” with colours if I’m hosting a party. I want the leds that are installed in the slatted wall panels to sync with what I’m watching on the tv whether that be movies or games.
Please advise which brand would be best to go with or can multiple lights from various brands be setup to work with each other?
Your help is greatly appreciated.
Checkout Govee's range of lighting products. They will sync to your TV but require a camera, other than that one flaw they are the only option for what you're describing.
@@paulhibbert thank you. Is there a particular model in their range you’d suggest for kitchen under cabinet lighting?
Hope the release a smaller version too
I was looking at the round Hue Surimu lamp with the main draw being the fact it is a big defused RGB Light.
Seeing how much brighter this one is, how it integrates with HomeKit dynamic lighting, How much brighter it is, How much cheaper it is and lastly also how simply stunning the auxiliary light is I will go with this one and matching Hub and light switch 100%
It is literally €20 for me to buy this lamp with hub and switch than it is to buy a small Hue Surimu lamp BEFORE adding accessory costs. Shows how scandalous hue is.
100% guilty as charged. Philips Hue all over my house.
IT JUST WORKS!
Paired with both Siri and Google for my needs.
After switching to the new M3 hub, I couldn't re-bind the T1M. The T1M Light says turn the light on/off 5 times. I wasn't thinking to do it RAPIDLY. That was my issue. This might help someone else.
Ohhhhh the Zigbee
I don’t know what you mean by matter. Is this stuff only for folks who are tech savvy?
I have spent thousands on smart home products over 10 years.
All of my Philips hue products still work as when I bought them.
All of the non Philips hue product are intermittent or no longer supported. I spent $1000 on flic products based on your recommendations…. And they no longer support Alexa routines … and are unused.
Software support is more important than the initial cost.
I’m buying more Philips hue
Welcome to the world of Deaf culture😂. We've been using technology like this for years for notifications🤟🏼
OH! I wonder which room you got this for?
Looks nice not in stock at the moment though
Bought and installed one of these a few days ago. Was working great for two days Now suddenly its completely dead and won't turn on.
Wired the old light back up and that works fine.
Anyone know what the problem could be?
I miss the Wonder Years