The Philips Hue Go is the latest member of the Hue-family. It’s a lovely small lamp with in-built battery, so you can create a light show on-the-go.
The Hue Go has about the same range of colors as other products in the Philips Hue-line, but where all the other products have to have a continuous connection to electricity and the bridge (which follows in all starter kits of Hue-packages), the Hue Go can be picked up and create a nice atmosphere wherever and whenever you want.
The in-built battery (no word on the size) offers enough power for the lamp to give at least 2 hours of light but, depending on the setting and brightness, can offer up to 3 hours of light. When trying it out, I noticed the Hue Go could supply a warm white color for 2 hours and 10 minutes on full brightness. This is very impressive and often enough for a cosy evening outside.
When you take the Hue Go from it’s charging cable and leave the WiFi area, it will not be possible to change the light with the Hue-app on your phone. This app communicates with the bridge and the bridge then sends the color to the lamps connected to the bridge. Philips has, of course, thought of a solution for this problem.
With the single button on the back of the lamp, you can scroll through 5 dynamic effects and 2 different colors of white (warm white and clear white). Those 5 dynamic effects are:
– Cozy Candle
– Sunday Coffee
– Meditation
– Enchanted Forest
– Night Adventure
On the right you can see which colors these dynamic effects loop through.
That single button on the back is also made to put the lamp in rest mode (2 seconds) and turn it off (10 seconds). When the lamp is in rest mode for two hours, it will turn itself off to save energy.
Otherwise, it just functions as a portable Hue light bulb and that is just plain awesome. Whatever you do through your phone with your current Hue-setup, can be expanded to the Hue Go.
The small foot on the back (see the protrusion on the picture above) makes it possible to let the lamp shine it’s light in a 45° angle on wherever you want. Putting it on it’s back, it is also placed very sturdy on the table, since the button is sunk in the back of lamp and therefore creates a flat area on which it can stand.
The charging cable is the only flaw (as of now) of the Hue Go. I think it’s a horrible mistake that Philips didn’t include some kind of dock (either with contact or induction charging). When you have moved the lamp or took it with you somewhere, you have to charge it when you come home. No problem, if it weren’t for the fact that you have to push a cable in the lamp. This cable also has to be turned correctly if you want to use the lamp on it’s little in-built stand, luckily the cable is bent in an angle, so you quickly find out how to turn it. The process of charging the lamp is too much of a hassle, especially in the day and age of wireless charging.
All in all it’s a beautiful little lamp (a bit bigger than half a Galia melon) that is a great addition to anyone’s Philips Hue setup. When you’re thinking about buying a Philips Hue-activated lamp to cover a wall or corner (like the Bloom or Iris), you should definitely take the Hue Go into account, since it offers almost the same specs (it’s just a little less bright) for about the same price.
Purchase the Philips Hue Go for £79,99 on Amazon
