About The Blogger

My name is Tammy Lim and I am an award winning blogger from Top 10 Malaysia Magazine and Cleo Malaysia Magazine. I have been blogging since 2008 and I am also the founder of a local Malaysian beauty & lifestyle community called The Butterfly Project. People often tell me that I'm a wonder woman, but in reality - if it's something you love, you can do wonders.

When I'm not wondering, I'll be on my computer searching for the next fountain of youth or hunting down a fantastic deal. I'm also a shopaholic, wanderluster, spa enthusiast and proud hipster who loves planning special occasions and surprises for her loved ones.
  • Top 10 Female Bloggers in Malaysia Award
  • Cleo's Next Top Blogger Malaysia Award
  • Founder of The Butterfly Project Malaysia



  • Meet Hue, My New Boyfriend

    12.21.2017

    meet Hue, he's really smart

    I'll be honest here. I would have never thought of changing my home lighting until Philips Malaysia contacted me to review their Philips Hue products. For every review, I take on, I am quite picky. I don't like to review rubbish on my blog, I rather review things I love, or ones who spark my interest otherwise it's just a big waste of time for me. It also won't benefit my readers to read it. However, for Philips Hue, I went googling information and reviews by tech bloggers and was intrigued to take on the challenge to also get on the bandwagon of the smart home lighting movement. I call it a movement because we're moving towards the era of connectivity, from our smartphones to Google Home and Alexa.


    before and after Philips Hue

    However, there are pros and cons to everything out there, in which I will break it down in my review. here. Bear in mind that I'm not a tech blogger, so I'll be reviewing this from a consumer point of view.  The one who hates to read manuals, set up things and messing things up in the end. I like it easy, simple and fun.

    With Philips Hue you can transform your everyday lighting into an extraordinary experience. Connected home lighting offers infinite possibilities for playing with colors, syncing lights to your music, TV and games for immersive effects. And with hundreds of apps to choose from, the only real limit is your imagination.


    SO What is Philips Hue?


    this video explains it all plus the guy is so cute

    Philips Hue is a smart lighting system that combines brilliant and energy-efficient LED light with intuitive technology. It can last 15,000 hours according to Philips Malaysia. That's 2 years if you have all your lights 24/7. Philips Hue is based on ZigBee Lightlink, a low-power, safe and reliable technology to control your lights. New improvements and updates are a continuous effort to make home automation the future of smart homes.

    Why Would I Buy This?
    First I love the idea of being able to change how I feel at home. I could make it Christmasy, party ready or romantic (aha). Second, I love that I can make my home beautiful instantly just by coloring the walls with lights. Lastly, I love that I am able to control my lights from my smartphone without getting up or on the timer, whether I am outside or inside the home. Many people will find this useful, especially when you're away from home, you could turn on your lights to show "someone's home".

    Reason 1 - you get to set the mood

      Reason 2 - your home looks much better 

    Reason 3 - controlling your lights from smartphone
    (good for lazy people like me)

    Curious to find out more? Then here's more information on how you can get started. First, you must have the following in order to control and experience Philips Hue - LED Light bulbs (3 types), the Bridge and the Smart Controls (Philips Hue app).

    all you need to be smart (I mean your home)
    1. The LED Light Bulbs
    There are three types to choose from, all in different shapes, sizes and models for different usage. I shall explain the different light types:
    • Hue White 
    • Hue White Ambiance
    • Hue White & Colour Ambiance
    Hue White - easy control and comfort
    This is what I call the basic. They're soft white lights with smart control, away from home control and light schedule.

    Hue White Ambiance - relaxing warm white light to cool daylight
    Choose from 50,000 shades of white to create the perfect ambiance at home. You can also choose from the app, preset lighting scenes like relax, read, concentrate, and energize. It comes with the same smart functions.

    Hue White & Colour Ambiance for an immersive experience
    16 million colors, 50 thousand shades of white, brighter and more vivid colors that will turn your home into a light playground. With this, you can also sync with music, games, and movies.

    2. The Bridge
    This is the small square wireless device that connects your lights to your apps so you'll be able to control them whether at home or outdoor. I called it the command center haha! 

    3. The Smart Controls a.k.a Philips Hue app
    Download Philips Hue app or one of the third-party apps developed for it to control your Philips Hue system from any device (android/apple) wherever you are. With this, you can set brightness, create timers, change colors, sync with your music, game, or movies to create a world of endless possibilities right in your living room.
    • turn your lights on/off
    • dim them
    • change colors (not applicable for Hue White)
    • create ambiance
    • select ambiance recipe e.g Savannah Sunset / Tropical Twilight (my fave)
    I tried one app that allows me to sync my lights to music and eureka! There's a new private disco club in town with my name on it. Syncing means the lights would change colors or frequency of change according to the sounds of your music, movie or gaming. Pretty neat right?


    the Philips Hue Starter Kit RM899

    information behind

    3 white & color ambiance light + 1 bridge

    I would recommend getting the Philips Hue Starter Kit RM899 which comes with 3 white and color ambiance LED light bulbs and the wireless control bridge. You can buy it from Lazada Malaysia but I bet with all the promotions and deals going on the site, you can save more.

    I'm going to make my whole apartment, hue connected!

    I was fortunate to be able to test the Starter Kit and White and color ambiance LightStrip Plus thanks to Philips Malaysia. The lightstrip is a cool way to complete the whole ambiance by adding more light to under bars or cabinets and entertainment systems. It's flexible to bend, cut and extend. I use this behind my bedframe instead (stay tuned for a separate post on this).

    How To Set Up Philips Hue?
    Make sure you jot down all the serial numbers of the light bulbs before you start adding them to your app. I had to unscrew some of my lights because it couldn't be detected by the app.

    changing my old light bulbs to Philips Hue

    the step-by-step easy guide

    Step 1 - Putting up your lights
    Change your lights as normal. Remember to write down the serial number in case the app could not detect it automatically.

    Step 2 - Plugging in your bridge
    The bridge comes with a charger and a router plug. Just plug it into your wifi-router and power on!

    Step 3 - Install & Connect to Philips Hue App
    Download the Philips Hue app, and follow the step-by-step installation to pair it with the bridge. This is user-friendly so don't worry about being stressed out about apps. Once you successfully paired it you can add your lights automatically or manually. The app will auto-detect the lights (make sure the lights are on) and then you can name your lights anything you want. Lastly, group them to according to rooms e.g Kitchen, Living, Bedroom.

    Step 4 - Enjoy!
    You can now paint your rooms with colors from the app! I use the preset scenes since I'm still exploring hue. I want to try commanding Siri to turn on my lights lol. 

    selecting scene & the brightness level

    Now, wifi-lighting (smart lighting) isn't new but Philips (being one of the first) is getting really good at it by coming up with a whole ecosystem for consumers to use. From lights to lamps, motion sensors, to accessories and apps that you can pair and make your home smarter. It's relatively easy to get started even without needing to read the manual if you're like me but if you need help, get on Youtube and watch the many videos dedicated out there to installing and getting started (which is what I did when I needed to know something (hate reading manuals).

     my bedroom before Philips Hue

    My bedroom after Philips Hue

    There are of course some issues that I read from joining the Philips Hue FB Community that needs to improve but overall if you're looking to start making your home smarter and fun, why not invest in Philips Hue? For more information about this click here. I'll be writing another post specifically on my home improvement project by making my whole apartment Hue connected so watch out for that. I'm going to show you how awesome it is.

    Pros:
    Philips is a trusted brand
    Wide selection of smart lighting products (lamps/bulbs/apps)
    Easy to use, set up, control
    Dimmer, color change, ambiance maker
    Music, gaming, movie
    Alexa, Google Home, Apple Home Kit (Siri) ready
    Can purchase from Lazada.com.my
    LED lighting (energy efficiency)
    Configured and controlled via your smartphone.

    Cons:
    Expensive
    Hard to purchase offline

    Where To Buy?
    Philips Lighting store located at Menara Axis, authorized Philips Lighting specialists and selected Apple Reseller stores, and Lazada Malaysia.

    Philips Hue WACA Starter Kit: MYR 899
    Philips Hue WACA Bulb 10W A60 E27: MYR 279
    Philips Hue Bridge: MYR 279
    Philips Hue WACA Light Strip: MYR 129 – MYR 399

    Got a question about Hue? Ask me!


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