# Philips Hue Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/philips-hue/ 33 people recommended Philips Hue in Hacker News comments, 16 had mixed feelings and 22 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. Owners report keeping it a median of 8 years, among 18 owners. It was recommended in 10 of 12 months, in 18 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Owners say Hue bulbs last many years, rarely fail, and work reliably with smart home systems. Critics say recent app updates require an account to control them. Summary written by Claude from 52 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 51 of those comments still count. ## Why people recommend it - Bulbs last many years (10 comments in the sample): "I have probably around 60 Philips Hue bulbs or lamps, I bought the first one over a decade ago, and so far…" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49132950)) "have Philips Hue bulbs for the past 10 years, some 50 of them and only had one failure unrelated to the LEDs themselves" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49129506)) "my Philips hue bulbs have been going strong for about 7 to 8 years now I'm not a single issue" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49129270)) - Stable, reliable connectivity (3 comments in the sample): "Hue seems to be one of the most if not the most stable ecosystems for smart lighting" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49877770)) "they're the only bulbs I've had with zero connectivity issues ever" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48962235)) "Easily one of the best Zigbee implementations out there." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49977044)) - Better than cheap Zigbee clones (3 comments in the sample): "my Philips Hue E27 bulbs last far longer than any of the China Zigbee clones I've bought" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49129237)) "they're at least not the dodgy nonsense you can find on Amazon and Wayfair" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49965379)) "The only fine zigbee stuff for him was the Hue lights though." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49976767)) - Strong Zigbee and Home Assistant support (2 comments in the sample): "It is for this reason that my lights (Hue) and switches (Inovelli) are bound in ZigBee groups." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50019268)) "Just buy Hue, maybe Aqara sensors, use zigbee2mqtt with Home Assistant and be happy" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46013022)) ## What people warn about - Requires account or app login (5 comments in the sample): "the official app is now just a popup requiring me to create an account" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46321616)) "They started requiring an account to use the lights, and support started stating stating that the bulbs will not be usable without an account or…" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45838284)) "Philips tried to push an app update that required you to log in to an account to manage your Zigbee Hue hub and devices" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49193549)) - Bulbs fail or misbehave (3 comments in the sample): "I started with Philips Hues but then gave up and migrated to Cree light bulbs with Lutron Casetas because the Hues kept dying" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49129292)) "3 bulbs stopped shutting off completely. When I would turn them off they would stay around 5% brightness." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49130340)) "started dying within a couple of years or less and the replacement costs were ridiculous" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49129269)) - Company degrades product over time (3 comments in the sample): "it really pisses me off when I spend money on something, and then after that it enshitifies" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46328287)) "my Philips Hue system (hundreds, maybe thousands of euros I spend on that), ads ads ads" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46323767)) "Philips does this with their hue lights every time. Hilarious in how obvious it is." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46452502)) ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://www.philips-hue.com/en-us) ## The badge A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged. ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Philips Hue", https://hackerapproved.com/p/philips-hue/ (33 recommend, 16 mixed, 22 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026). Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.