New Philips Hue switch finally fixes the most annoying thing about smart lights

If you have Philips smart bulbs, you'll know that it's all well and good controlling your lighting from your Philips Hue app, but if some rascal has flipped the light switch off, your app and smart bulbs are useless – but not anymore.

Signify (formerly Philips Lighting) has introduced a way to kit out your light switch with smart technology, kicking your lighting  game up a notch. All you need is the new Philips Hue wall switch module. 

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The new Philips Hue wall switch module is possibly a bit of a faff to install, if you're not accustomed to doing handiwork around the house, but given that it sits behind your light switch rather than replacing it outright, it should be an easy enough job.

Each light switch in your home will need its own module, and once you've picked your candidates, you can pop the Philips Hue wall switch module behind them, to make sure your smart lights are always connected to power. 

The module is powered buy a coin cell battery, making it ideal for older homes as well as new ones; older houses often lack neutral wiring, so bypassing the light switch circuit is a clever workaround.

So every time you want to turn on the lights from your app, you won't have to get up to turn the switch on first. The Philips Hue wall switch module isn't exactly cheap, and things can get a bit pricey if you're considering one for every switch in the house, but it goes a long way to address one of the biggest bugbears of Philips Hue smart bulbs. 

The Philips Hue wall switch module is set to launch in Europe this spring, with a US release to follow in the summer. The device will retail for $39.95 / €39.95, but if you splash out on a pack of two, you can save yourself $10 / €10, with the price coming in at $69.95 / €69.95.

The UK pricing doesn't seem to be confirmed, but we imagine it won't be a direct conversion, and will instead be £39.95 for a single Philips Hue wall switch module, and £69.95 for a double pack. 

Source: Hue blog