So depending on your set up, where your power socket is, how large the TV is, there isn’t a lot of cable to get from the power socket, up to the TV and into position.

At the end of (economic) life dispose the product according to local rules and do not dispose the product with regular household waste. The Philips Hue Play Bar offers some of the best color reproduction around (minus that pesky dark green), and is bright enough for most scenarios. You can operate the Hue light bars just like a Hue bulb, they are completely adjustable just like other Hue lights, so you can set one to blue and the other to green.Also, you should be aware that because TV areas can be a mess of wires, it may take some time to get everything unhooked and reconnected. You can then integrate these versatile devices into any lighting scenes you create using other Hue bulbs. Watch a movie, binge the latest show, or play a game with lights that brighten, dim, and change colour along with the action on the screen. Syncing Hue Play light bars to your computer monitor, on the other hand, is a much better experience. Although it comes with instructions it is simple to set up, each light bar has a wire coming from it with a small adaptor on the end which connects into the power transformer that gets plugged into the mains.

Sign up to receive daily breaking news, reviews, opinion, analysis, deals and more from the world of tech. Hue Sync is a Windows PC/Mac desktop app that lets you sync the Play Bars (and other Hue lights) with music, movies, and gaming action. Yes, there are light strips available that can work for many applications, however, the lamp-esque nature of the Play Bar just makes things easier to manage, and it can be re-used for other purposes in the future.Despite my affinity for adding smart home accessories whenever I can in my home, there is one area, or rather one company, that I haven't had in my life for quite a few years now. Still, when it's available so cheaply, it's certainly worth checking out, with colors changing according to how dramatic the music turns on whatever you're watching. Like some of Govee's devices, this one will only sync with the music and sounds it hears, so there's no chance of it paying attention to the visuals popping up on the screen. You'll need to commit to a set size light strip that works for you and your TV – 55-inch, 65-inch, or 75-inch – so if you’re planning to upgrade soon, it's a wise idea to hold off till you know what size you're getting.

The lights cast a soft, neutral tone on the wall that did a commendable job of keeping me from squinting at the screen, while also giving the black levels on my 10-year-old Sony Bravia TV a needed boost.Next, I swiped the brightness slider in the app all the way down, and then nudged it back up just enough to boost the apparent contrast on the screen without “crushing” black levels. Inside you get 2 Hue Play Bars with attached wires coming from them, a mains power plug transformer with plug adapters depending where you live, I got a UK and EU plug adapter. I got a huge kick out of blasting Dregs on Destiny 2’s Tangled Shore with my controller rumbling, my PC speakers cranked, and the Hue Play popping with every muzzle flash. However the cable length on each light isn’t massive, the total length of the cable that is built into the light bar is 2 metres long. When I was finished watching TV, I used other Hue scenes—everything from the warm glow of “savanna sunset” to the cool shades of “arctic aurora”—to add an attractive glow on the wall behind my set, a nice change from the dark shadow cast by my 46-inch screen.

The Hue Play Sync Box performs as advertised and the actual hardware performance has been rock solid.Here are two videos of the Hue play bars in action on an iMac using Hue sync, there is also a Hue Lightstrip in the mix too. My IFTTT applet to have the Play Bars light up when a Nest Cam IQ camera detected motion worked perfectly, as did my Alexa voice commands to turn the bars on and off. The double edge sword here is that for people most likely to invest in Hue Play Bar Lights and the Sync Box to enhance their entertainment area, are probably the same ones investing in the highest quality TVs and movie watching. After watching for a few minutes, I tended to forget the lights were there, yet I found myself missing them when they were off—always a good sign.