Philips Hue’s budget-friendly Essential starter kit has hit a new low price

Although most of Prime Day’s unusually good Philips Hue deals have ended, a few remain, and some, including the black Philips Hue Twilight Sleep and Wake-Up Light, are even cheaper. None, however, have fallen to a new all-time low price like Philips Hue’s Essential starter kit. Right now, you can buy a bundle containing four white and color E26 bulbs and a Hue Bridge for $79.99 ($40 off) at Amazon. Since that’s the same price as the two-bulb Essential starter kit, it’s like getting two bulbs for free.

Each of the color-changing bulbs can display millions of colors or tunable white light ranging from a warm 2200K to a cooler 6500K, while producing up to 800 lumens of brightness. The Hue app also offers a preset lighting scenes for everything from movie nights to the holidays, though you can also create your own. Meanwhile, the included Hue Bridge lets you control the lights when you’re away from home, create schedules, connect up to 50 lights throughout your home, and set automations so they can, for instance, turn on automatically when you arrive home. It also allows you to control the lights through all the major smart home platforms, thanks to Matter compatibility.

As Philips Hue budget-friendly kits, there are a few premium features they lack that are worth mentioning. Most notably, the bulbs only dim to two percent instead of 0.2 percent. Philips Hue also doesn’t guarantee they’ll match the color accuracy of its flagship bulbs across generations. If you’re simply looking to fill your home with colorful smart lighting at a reasonable price, though, those differences may not matter much to you.