Review: Philips Hue Lightstrip Plus vs. Hue Play Gradient Lightstrip
See the new Gradient Lightstrip side-by-side with the original.
I recently received my Philips Hue Play Gradient Lightstrip and I was curious to see a direct comparison to the original. So I made one:
On the left is the “regular” Hue Lightstrip Plus ($80 U.S.). There are actually two units used here, one on the left and one on the right side of the TV. Both are part of an “Entertainment Area” configured in the Hue app, and require either the Hue Play HDMI Sync Box or Hue Sync for PC to synchronize with content on your screen.
I use the HDMI Sync Box ($230), though it can still be hard to find at retail. The Hue Sync for PC app is free, but only works if your content is playing back from a PC or Mac connected to your big-screen TV, which isn’t a typical (or convenient) setup for most people.
In general, the original Lightstrips are great and are among the best options available for adding smart accent lighting to your home, but are only capable of emitting one color at a time.
Having them react to live content on a TV (be it movies, TV shows, or video games) wasn’t part of their original design, but they still do an admirable job of adding ambience to fast-moving onscreen content—even if this type of bias lighting isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. I certainly don’t always use it.
On the right in the video is the new Hue Play Gradient Lightstrip ($200), capable of changing colors per LED, giving the new Lightstrip a distinct advantage over the original model, especially when it comes to synchronizing onscreen content with the HDMI Sync Box.
To create this comparison, I used two test videos:
Dave Madison’s Ambilight Color Test and MrPacMan36’s beautiful Fluid Sim Hue Test. I used Mr. Madison’t test primarily because I wanted a “torture test” of sorts: a full spectrum of RGB color simply rotating in place. Both test videos are synthetic as opposed to “real-world” movies or video games, since I was primarily interested in how the two Lightstrips handled a high degree of full color in motion.
The test videos are being displayed on the outstanding LG C9 55" OLED display.
Note: My display is wall mounted much higher than normal, as it’s used at a treadmill rather than in a seated living room setting, so light diffusion isn’t as good as it should be. In a more traditional setting, you’d have more open space around the lights (and therefore softer diffusion) before the lights start reflecting off the walls.
Comparison results
Bearing in mind the original Lightstrips were not designed to synchronize with live content on a TV (and it requires at least two $80 units to cover a typical 55" TV), the older Lightstrips hold up well, but can’t compete with the color reproduction of the Gradient Lightstrip, as expected.
I ran both Lightstrips using the “Extreme” setting in the Hue app, which is usually overkill for real-world content, but gives the best demonstration of color intensity and motion capability in a test like this.
In the video above, you can see that the original Lighstrip and Gradient Lightstrip are of course totally fine with 1-color and most 2-color content—but that’s not really something you’ll see in real-world movies or video games.
However, I noticed in the 2-color section of the test video that the original Lightstrip had some issues with the transition between two colors: it’s forced to “give up” and creates a whitish bloom in the transition area between two colors rather than a smooth blend—not surprising since the LED strips on the original model are only capable of emitting one light color at a time.
Color transitions were smoother when the colors were split vertically 50/50 but this is more a virtue of physically mounting two units to the left and right of the TV. Either way, it’s not a real-world scenario but I found it interesting.
The difference becomes much more apparent in the Multicolor section of the video, where the original Lightstrips simply can’t reproduce the gradation in the color spectrum where the (aptly named) Gradient Lightstrip can.
Here you can see the Gradient Lightstrip really shines (sorry) with graduated multicolor content. All of the hues (sorry again) are picked up and there are smooth transitions between each color. The original Lightstrip is forced to simplify its color reproduction, determining which color is the most prominent at the time (per Left and Right side), and emitting that—even though updates to new colors are quick, with little if any perceptible lag, so it can certainly fool your eyes a bit when you’re actually focused on your content.
One notable difference—and an area where the newer Gradient Lightstrip comes up short—is that for some reason Philips decided that you don’t need LED lighting along the bottom of your TV.
For table-mounted displays this isn’t much of an issue, but I’d reckon there’s a high percentage of people who wall mount their large, flat displays, and there is certainly important content and color information along the bottom of the picture in real-world movies, TV shows, and video games.
One notable difference — and an area where the newer Gradient Lightstrip comes up short — is that for some reason Philips decided that you don’t need LED lights along the bottom of your TV.
In the shot above you can see even the original Lightstrips actually fare better here.
The Gradient Lightstrip installation kit and process are also much simpler, with Philips realizing in this generation that they need to help consumers mount the product at 90° angles through the use of some well-designed plastic corner units. But the strip included for each size television simply does not extend to the bottom of the TV.
Coming up short
Gradient Lightstrips are available for 55", 65", and 75" displays (sold separately), and are installed by first centering the strip across the top of the display (a handy arrow in the center of the strip makes this easy to identify), and then draping it down the left and right sides of the TV.
But as mentioned, there isn’t enough strip to cover the bottom edge of your screen, and I don’t think installing a longer strip (say a 75" strip on a 55" TV) would magically register a bottom edge properly—but I’m happy to be proven wrong on that if anyone has tried it—let me know.
Meanwhile, because my two Lightstrip Plus units were able to easily extend all the way around my 55" TV with extra to spare. Some enthusiasts even go so far as to installing four separate Lightstrips on each edge of the TV, since you can configure Top, Bottom, Left, and Right placement in an Entertainment Area within the Hue app.
Some people have opted to supplement their Gradient Lightstrip with a couple of Hue Play Light Bars to add that elusive bottom edge, but I’ll wait and see how I feel about real-world performance before muddying the waters (and the cabling behind my TV) with another $150 worth of lights.
Conclusion
It’s clear that the Gradient Lightstrips are superior for what they are designed to do: synchronizing a wide range of RGB colors with smooth transitions. While the original Lightstrips are nothing to sneeze at when you pair two or more units with an HDMI Sync Box, they simply can’t keep up with the color reproduction of the more sophisticated Gradient Lightstrip.
Two Lightstrip Plus units will run you about $160 while a single Gradient Lightstrip goes for $200, but the extra $40 is worth it for the improved color reproduction. If you don’t have any Lightstrips currently on your TV at all, choosing the newer Gradient Lightstrip is an easy decision. If you’re considering upgrading, it’s a matter of priority and budget.
Hopefully the side-by-side comparison video (and other reviews online) will give you enough information to make a decision you’ll be happy with.
If you don’t have any lightstrips currently installed behind your TV, choosing the newer Gradient Lightstrip is an easy decision.
