Philips Hue just made its smart light system much simpler (and cheaper)

Smart light bulbs are a dime a dozen these days. One of the most popular options currently on the market is Philips Hue. The biggest downside to these smart light bulbs is that they require a hub (bridge) to communicate with to work.

Now, the company behind the bulbs is releasing Philips Hue with Bluetooth for direct control without any additional accessories.

Below are the following features you can access without the Philips Hue bridge:

• Use on/off control and dim or brighten the lights to your preferred setting
• Choose from millions of colors and any shade of white light to paint the wall and Instagram your space
• Use the pre-set scenes to set the mood or to match your daily routine
• Control your lights with ease as multiple users can control the same lights

At launch, the Philips Hue lights with Bluetooth will only work with Amazon’s Alexa. The company plans to bring Google Assistant compatibility in the future, but, for now, the functionality is only available for those pairing the bulbs with a Philips Hue bridge.

The white bulbs range from $15 to $25. The color changing Hub bulbs is $50. All three items are available today directly from Philips in the U.S. The bulbs will be available in Canada on July 2 and in Europe later this fall. 

The company says it’ll be adding Bluetooth to more of its lineup in the coming year. To control these new light bulbs, you’ll need to use Philips’ new app. Download the Bluetooth app by clicking on the button below.