We’re massive fans of smart lighting brand Innr here at The Ambient. Not only does the Dutch startup have a great (and ever expanding) array of smart lighting devices, at very competitive prices, it also makes it super simple to get bulbs working within popular systems such as Hue, Alexa and SmartThings.
That Hue integration isn’t really all that surprising, given the company was founded by a bunch of ex-Hue (and Ikea) people back in 2012.
Verdict: Innr smart light review
And the good news is â unlike getting Ikea’s TrÃ¥dfri smart lights working within the Hue app, which can be a bit of a fiddle â adding Innr bulbs to Hue is just as easy as adding regular Philips bulbs.
Adding Innr bulbs to the Hue app
Getting you Innr smart light bulbs appearing, and controllable, within the Hue app is easy. Just follow these steps.
1. Launch the Hue app and click Settings (bottom right corner).
2. Choose Lights.
3. Click the blue plus icon (top rightand then tap Search.
4. You need to power the Innr bulb on and off during the search – this is the only difference from pairing a regular Hue bulb.
5. The Innr bulb should show up. Name it, and assign it a room.
No bridge needed
The best thing about the method above is, you don’t even need an Innr bridge to get it to work. Sure, there is a very reliable Innr bridge on sale, should you want to start an Innr system from scratch but, if you’ve already got a Hue bridge, it’s not needed.
And it isn’t just Hue’s Zigbee bridge that plays nicely with Innr. It can also be connected to a Samsung SmartThings hub, or a Zigbee-hub Amazon Echo device.
Using the Hue method we went through above, your Innr bulbs will show as Hue bulbs within Alexa or Google Home. You can rename them, group them, control them, add them to routines… everything you could do with a Hue bulb, basically.
You can also use Hue accessories, like the Hue Smart Button or the new Hue Tap Dial, to control them
Sadly, there’s no HomeKit support, though.
The other way around
Innr recently introduced a new Zigbee bridge that can only drive Innr bulbs, but those of other brands too, including Philips Hue.
The Innr Bridge is a cheaper alternative to a Hue bridge or indeed a SmartThings Hub.
Innr uses the same Zibgee protocol as Philips Hue, Samsung SmartThings and Amazon Echo. Up to 30 bulbs can be connected to one Innr Bridge.
That’s less than the 50-device official cap of the Hue Bridge, but still more than enough for many homes.
