Philips Hue Secure announced including cameras, sensors, and app features to help secure your home

By: Author James Smythe

Posted on 31st August 2023

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Following on from yesterday's post about the imminent launch of Philips Hue Secure, it has now been made official.

This rollout includes the Philips Hue Secure cameras for home surveillance, alongside the Philips Hue Secure floodlight camera, capable of lighting up expansive spaces in any hue of your choosing. Also in the mix are the Philips Hue Secure contact sensors, designed for versatile placement on doors, windows, and more, that keep you in the loop with real-time alerts for opening or closing events. Managing your luminous home security setup has never been easier, thanks to the freshly introduced Security Center within the Philips Hue app. Upon receiving an immediate motion alert, the app provides options for initiating light and sound-based alarms, as well as enabling two-way communication.

The Philips Hue Secure cameras come equipped with crisp 1080p HD video and night vision capabilities, providing real-time monitoring and immediate motion alerts straight to your device. To discourage unwanted guests, the system offers a unique synergy of Philips Hue lights and sound alarms. Alternatively, the two-way talk function lets you communicate directly, whether it's instructing a courier to leave a parcel or merely greeting someone familiar. Security is a given, with end-to-end encryption as standard. Notably, the on-device processing can discern whether motion detection is triggered by a human, pet, or package, ensuring encryption remains uninterrupted from end to end.

Offering suitability for both indoor and outdoor applications, Philips Hue Secure cameras are available in either battery-powered or wired configurations, and in a choice of black or white finishes. The wired model boasts an adaptable desktop stand, allowing you to place it as you see fit within your home. Both camera versions are compatible with outdoor placements, thanks to the Secure camera mount with a ground spike. They integrate seamlessly into Philips Hue's existing low-voltage outdoor ecosystem.

Exclusively designed for external areas, the Philips Hue Secure floodlight camera amalgamates the best features of the Philips Hue system. It gives you oversight of spaces like the garden, terrace, or driveway. Using the Philips Hue app, you can activate a light alarm that instantly lights up a large vicinity in your choice of colour—be it brilliant white or perhaps even red.

Complementing the entire range of Philips Hue Secure cameras are low-voltage outdoor charging cables and anti-drop cables, rounding off the offering for a comprehensive security solution.

The Philips Hue Secure contact sensor, available in either black or white, is designed for versatile placement on doors, windows, cabinets, and beyond. It keeps you informed with real-time alerts whenever the sensor is engaged or disengaged. Take, for instance, a setup where your front door sensor activates the hallway lighting while simultaneously sending you a notification. This enables you to swiftly evaluate any security concerns. Beyond just security, the contact sensor also offers a level of home automation. It can trigger light settings in various parts of your residence—like powering on or off lights when you operate a cabinet or a bathroom door.

The Philips Hue app has been updated to include a dedicated Security Center for overseeing your intelligent home protection setup. Upon receiving a notification, a simple tap opens the app to a ‘Take Action' interface. From here, you can manually set off a light-flashing alarm, activate your Secure camera's siren, or even contact local law enforcement or a reliable individual.

Within the app, there's also room for customisation when it comes to your camera settings. You can establish ‘Blackout Zones' to obscure certain segments of the video feed for privacy or configure ‘Activity Zones' that refrain from sending notifications—particularly handy for bustling pavements directly outside your property. The interface allows for arming and disarming the system, defining specific armed statuses depending on whether you're home or away, maintaining a chronological log of events, and much more.

The Philips Hue Secure starter kits and bundles offer a convenient amalgamation of assorted products, allowing for an immediate experience of the new Philips Hue Secure ecosystem. A Philips Hue Bridge is a requisite for leveraging the full array of advanced features offered by the Philips Hue Secure range. This includes contact sensors, floodlight cameras, light and sound alarms, automation functions, and more.

To bolster the privacy and security of your Philips Hue smart home system, it's imperative for users to establish a Philips Hue account. This account provides instant access to your Philips Hue setup and its myriad security functionalities—even when you're not at home. Moreover, it empowers system administrators to manage individual permissions through the app, ranging from basic light control to comprehensive oversight of both lighting and security settings.

On the topic of advanced security attributes, additional layers can be accessed through a subscription-based model. These extra features encompass Activity Zone customisations and differentiated alert triggers—identifying whether it’s a person, package, animal, or vehicle that initiated the alert. The Basic plan offers a video history archive stretching back 30 days, while the Plus plan extends this coverage to a 60-day timeframe.

My general opinion of Philips Hue Secure hasn’t changed much since I posted about the expected launch yesterday.

I love Philips Hue, and it makes sense for them to expand into the home security business.

I currently have nine smart home apps on my phone, and it gets quite confusing and, therefore, understandable why many people pick a brand and stick to it.

If you have not spent the time and effort to integrate Hue with other systems such as Home Assistant, Homey, SmartThings and others, then this is a convenient solution to have both your smart lighting and surveillance in one place.

That being said, Philips Hue will be facing an uphill battle with the security side of the business. They were one of the first smart lighting companies and, in my opinion, the best consumer-friendly smart lighting ecosystem.

But, they are considerably behind the curve for smart home security. You have well-established brands such as Arlo, Eufy, Google Nest, Reolink and Ring. All of them have a more comprehensive range of cameras, including their own floodlight cameras.

Just looking at the floodlight cameras, you have:

Then Eufy and Reolink don’t require monthly subscriptions. Though Arlo, Ring, and Google Nest require a subscription, the Philips Hue Secure price is about the same as Arlo.

That being said, I am so heavily invested in Philips Hue myself that I am tempted to replace my Netatmo Presence with the Hue floodlight when it becomes available.

I am a UK tech blogger and have been in the industry for over 10 years now, running Mighty Gadget and its sister sites and contributing to other sites around the web. I am passionate about all tech, including mobile, wearables, and home automation. I am also a fitness fanatic, so I cover as much fitness tech as possible.

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Posted on 31st August 2023

Categories News, IFA 2023, Smart Home & Home Automation News & Reviews