Are you looking to build a smart home. Should you go with KASA Blubs or Hue? Read below;
I’d still go Hue if I had to choose one or the other.
Not only is router congestion a possible issue but coverage is usually a much bigger issue. Most people have terrible Wi-Fi coverage. The Wi-Fi chip in the bulbs usually is fairly low power so while it may be able to hear the command signal, it may not be able to send the return signal acknowledging. This can lead to some frustrating troubleshooting when the Wi-Fi checked using a phone with a much stronger Wi-Fi chip. Zigbee on the other hand, is a mesh network that can make strong coverage easier to manage because each bulb is a repeater.
Hue also has an advantage on integrations. There are more Hue integrations in other ecosystems than Kasa by a wide margin. This is great if you’re not using something like r/homeassistant or Alexa as a hub.
Hue has brighter bulbs. Hue’s new ones go up to 1600 lumens where Kasa is still at 800 lumens last time I looked. Yes, the difference is noticeable even with multiple 800 ln lamps vs 1 1600 ln lamp.
Controlling the bulbs from the wall is easier with Hue. It can be done with Kasa but Hue’s dimmer switches are so much easier to setup. It took about a month for me to fed up with only being able to turn on/off my lights with my phone to get some Hue dimmers for my wall. There are light switch replacements that can work with Wi-Fi bulbs but they tend to be expensive and usually require a hub anyway. The majority of them are designed with Hue and Zigbee in mind.
If none of those bother you, then it doesn’t really matter which system you choose. If you do choose Hue, to make the prices more palatable, it’s better to buy them over time as the go on sale or used bulbs. It took ~6 years for me to switch out ~50 bulbs for Hues on my limited budge.
That all being said, I still like my Kasa smart plugs over the Hue ones, mostly because of energy monitoring options from Kasa. I run Home Assistant so crossing ecosystems isn’t a big deal for me.
What I like best about hue is the open API, I hate that Kasa’s API is available but not open/supported/published by TP Link and they keep threatening to take it away. What I hate most about hue is the expense.
Hue has motion detector gadget, which would turn on the bulbs when movement is detected and shut them off because motion is no more sensed.
Hue bridge uses Zigbee. Zigbee creates a mesh network, and so each lightbulb may function as a repeater, discreetly passing messages through to the other in sequence.
This allows the user to take Hue much farther than your router might normally allow, creating it much more practical to get initiated with Philips’ wide range, including its huge diversity of inside lighting systems.
Philips Hue Home & Away function is extremely effective if you enjoy living alone.
References
https://www.philips-hue.com/en-us
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