What took them so long? Philips Hue may be moving into smart home security

Philips Hue is arguably the biggest name in smart home tech: it’s been making excellent if expensive smart bulbs for over a decade now, but there’s always been a glaring home in the line-up: where rival smart home firms were quick to offer wireless cameras, sensors and other smart home security kit, Hue has remained completely focused on smart lighting. But that may be about to change. A new report says that Signify, the brand that owns Hue, has four Hue-branded security cameras and a new door and window contact sensor.

The report comes from a leaker, Hueblog.com, so as ever a pinch of salt is recommended. But Hueblog has been proven right before, and the range and price predictions do seem very Hue.

Here’s what the leaker says is coming.

Hue cameras and security sensors: what’s on the horizon?

According to Hueblog there are four cameras: two wired ones and two battery powered ones. The cameras are:

• Hue Camera Wired — €199.95 (about £171 / $218.79 USD)
• Hue Camera Wired Desktop — €229.99 (about £197 / $251.66 USD)
• Hue Camera Battery — €249.95 (about £215 / $273 USD)
• Hue Flood Light Camera — €349.95 (about £300 / $382 USD)

Those prices are high, which is why I suspect they’re genuine: Hue bulbs are pricier than almost all rivals and their light fittings even more so, so it makes sense that any Hue smart home security would cost a lot more than the likes of Ring and Blink.

Hue is of course a strong and trusted brand, but is there anything in the hardware to differentiate these devices from more affordable rivals? According to the same blog, Signify CEO Eric Rondolat says that Hue’s cameras will have end-to-end encryption. That’s something we’ve already seen in the Wiz security camera, part of the same group, so it makes sense that Hue will get the same feature. However it’s unclear whether the cameras will work with Apple’s HomeKit Secure Video feature.

As for a release date, Hueblog doesn’t know – but Signify does like to launch new Hue kit at the IFA trade show, which is happening in September, so an autumn launch seems likely.