Philips Hue has announced that its smart light bulbs - both new and existing models - are being upgraded to feature built-in motion sensing. The new feature, called Hue MotionAware, uses radio-frequency (RF) sensing to detect changes in the Zigbee signal between bulbs, allowing them to respond to movement without the need for separate motion sensors. It's a major upgrade for Hue users, introducing a powerful new capability to existing hardware at no extra cost
The Philips Hue store on Amazon's UK site is hosting a number of new products that have yet to be announced as the big IFA 2025 show gets under way in Berlin, Germany. We're seeing that rumored Hue Doorbell, a new Hue Bridge Pro (in black), a new Essential lighting sub-brand, and something called MotionAware that turns "light devices into motion sensors," by using the bulbs' Zigbee radios to detect motion between Hue lights.
First off, packaging for two unannounced bulbs appeared on Amazon, with a Matter logo prominently displayed on the box. While Hue devices have been capable of connecting via Matter using the Hue Bridge as a middleman, they've never supported the protocol directly. That's in part because Matter only works via Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and Thread; Hue has been a Zigbee and Bluetooth-only ecosystem for years.