‘Tis the season for smart homes with Philips Hue’s Festavia smart string lights

The festive season is just round the corner, after Black Friday, of course. With smart home tech covering just about every gadget we have in our homes, it’s time to move to the stuff we don’t always have on show – Christmas decorations. Diving head first into the Crimbo spirit, Philips is expanding the Hue line-up with its new Festavia string lights.

• Read more: The best smart light bulbs 2022: banish the darkness with Alexa, Google and Siri

Philips Hue’s Festavia lights are set to be the showstopper to your Christmas decorations, giving Santa something to put on his own list. The Wi-Fi connected string lights feature 250 mini smart LEDs along a 20-metre cord. Forget crawling behind the tree and getting stabbed with needles, the Festavia lights let you control everything from the app.

At the tap of your smartphone, you can control the basics, such as switching the Festavia lights on or off. You cab also change the colour, dim or brighten them, and set schedules for them to switch on. That’s not all, though. Since each LED is controllable, you can create gradients and patterns with different colours to create your ideal lighting. You’ll be able to use the lights with other Philips Hue products, as well as connect them to Spotify and Samsung’s SmartThings.

Inside the Hue app, you’ll find two new Christmas lighting effects: Sparkle and Scattered. You’ll also be able to use the existing lighting effects from other Philips Hue gear. And of course, you’ll find your usual compatibility with smart home assistants – Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri. Bear in mind, you’ll need a Hue Bridge (for an extra £60) to use Philips Hue lights with Siri (she’s a bit of a grinch).

You’ll be able to order the new Festavia lights directly from Philips Hue after 15 November, whether you’re on the naughty or nice list. They’ll set you back £140, which is slightly more than your bog-standard set of string lights. But as they say, you can’t put a price on Christmas…

• Related: Christmas Gift Guide 2022: the best tech gifts for every gadget fan

Connor Jewiss

About

Connor is a writer for Stuff, working across the magazine and the Stuff.tv website. He has been writing for around seven years now, with writing across the web and in print too. Connor has experience on most major platforms, though does hold a place in his heart for macOS, iOS/iPadOS, electric vehicles, and smartphone tech. Just like everyone else around here, he’s a fan of gadgets of all sorts! Aside from writing, Connor is involved in the startup scene. This exciting involvement puts him at the front of new and exciting tech, always on the lookout for innovating products.

Areas of expertise

Mobile, macOS, EVs, smart home