Philips Hue has finally made its foray into smart under-cabinet kitchen lighting. But since it’s Hue, they’re doing it in the most expensive way possible, and it’ll take at least a year to get to the United States. Still, if you’re craving full-color lighting to go with your avocados and toast, the new fully integrated smart lighting solution looks like a pretty good one — with no plugs or wires in sight.
At the IFA technology show in Berlin this week, Signify, the parent company of Philips Hue, announced a partnership with Nobilia, Europe’s largest kitchen manufacturer, to integrate customized Philips Hue smart lights into its kitchen furniture.
To date, Hue has only offered plug-in light strips that can be controlled via wireless switches, and hardwiring them into your kitchen requires the use of third-party solutions – so this is an exciting step in the right direction. Other companies have some options for this type of integrated color-changing smart lighting — GE Cync recently released a smart kitchen lighting system that can be hardwired — but Hue fans lack a simple solution.
The Pergo partnership includes two new Philips Hue lighting options designed specifically for kitchen furniture – colored recessed spotlights for cabinets and linear gradient light strips for shelving, created exclusively for the partner. They connect to the Hue bridge to work with your Hue lighting system and sync with other lights.
The new lights are integrated into Nobilia cabinets and hardwired into your home’s electrical system, so they are only suitable for new kitchens; this is not a simple remodel or DIY solution.
George Yianni, CTO of Philips Hue, told us edge This is the first step for the company. He said they hope to learn from this collaboration and potentially develop more DIY-style products for kitchen lighting in the future.
While this week’s announcement is specific to Europe, the partnership is scheduled to launch early next year, but it may appear stateside at some point. edge spoke with Nobilia’s Steffen Hagemann at the press conference, who said Nobilia North America is working to bring the product to the U.S., but not earlier than 2026.
Speaking of better kitchen and dining room lighting, Signify also announced that the Philips Hue Ensis pendant light is now available in the United States. This $479.99 hardwired chandelier is available in black or white and can hang over your kitchen or dining table. It has two individually controllable lights – a downlight and an overhead light, both of which offer full-color and tunable white light.
