These Philips hue smart light bulbs are half price at Amazon

A two pack of E27 Philips hue bulbs has been reduced by £30

The bulbs are currently just half their usual price (The Independent)

Home automation fans will know just how pricey smart lighting can be. With bulbs often priced in the £30 to £50 range, turning a whole room smart can get very expensive, very quickly.

So when we spotted a massive 50 per cent on Amazon for a pair of Philips hue E27 smart bulbs (£29.99, Amazon.co.uk) we jumped straight on it.

What’s more, these are the latest-generation hue bulbs that can connect directly to your smartphone via Bluetooth. So, while they can be hooked up to the Philips hue bridge (which attaches to your router and unlocks extra features) if you want, they can also be controlled directly from the hue app on your phone.

It is also worth noting that these are the brighter 1,100 lumen bulbs, as opposed to the 800-lumen models also offered by Philips hue. This means they are suitable for illuminating an entire room, rather than being installed in a bedside lamp.

Although Philips hue kick-started the smart lighting industry, cheaper options from lesser-known manufacturers have forced prices down. As such, we’re now seeing deals like this, which works out at just £15 per bulb.

Read more:

• 8 best light-up alarm clocks to brighten your morning routine
• 10 best multi-room speaker systems for wireless sound
• 8 best smart plugs to save on energy bills and cut your costs
• 8 best smart lights: A bright idea for your connected home

But while deals may be more common, that’s not to say they’ll stick around forever so you may need to act fast. Here’s how to get your hands on these smart bulbs for half-price.

Philips hue white ambiance E27 bulb two-pack: Was £59.99, now £29.99, Amazon.co.uk

(Signify)

• Bulb type: E27
• Fixing type: Edison screw
• Max brightness: 1,100 lumen
• Connectivity: Bluetooth and Hue bridge
• Colour: No, but 50,000 shades of warm to cool white
• Voice control: Alexa and Google Assistant

We think this is a great deal for anyone who is either starting a smart home from scratch, or is looking to add more lighting to an existing system in a cost-effective way. With 50 per cent off, the two-pack works out at just £15 per bulb, and given these are the brighter 1,100 lumen bulbs, they can be used to illuminate two entire rooms in your home, spreading the cost even further.

It is worth pointing out that these are not colour-changing bulbs. They cannot produce hues of red, green and blue (or anything in-between), but can instead have their temperature adjusted. This means that, although they are always white, the shade can be anything from a cool, blueish white, all the way to a warm, orange glow.

There are 50,000 shades between those extremes to pick from, and we think temperature changing bulbs like these are far more useful during our daily life than bulbs that can produce primary colours. For example, they can be set to a bright, cool white to help concentration during the day, then dimmed to a soft, warm glow to help lower your blue light exposure and prepare your body for sleep in the evening.

Read more: 10 best smart home devices that make life easier, from speakers to cameras

When connected with Bluetooth to the Hue app, these bulbs can be controlled by speaking to the Alexa and Google Assistant systems, and via wireless Philips hue dimmer switches too. The app can be used to set timers and have the bulbs wake you up by simulating a sunrise each morning (or a sunset at night).

If you add a hue bridge (£29.99, Amazon.co.uk), which connects to your router and is sold separately, the bulbs can then be controlled by Siri and Apple Homekit, and they can also be controlled through the Hue app when away from home. Up to 10 bulbs can be connected to the app via Bluetooth, while up to 50 can be connected to the hue bridge.

While we haven’t reviewed these ones specifically, a number of Philips bulbs featured in our round up of the best smart lights, including some that are even cheaper than this set or can change colour.

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Voucher codes

For the latest discounts on wireless earbuds and other tech offers, try the links below:

• AO discount codes
• Very discount codes
• Apple discount codes

Want to find out how Philips hue bulbs compare to low-cost rivals? Check out our comparison between the market leader and Govee to see which bulbs are best.