Just in time for the holidays comes Philips Illuminate C9 Lights ($109.99 for a 25-count starter set), which bring the Internet of Things (IoT) to your holiday light show.
Who needs IoT for their holiday lights? You do! If you ever wanted to add a little (more) holiday cheer — or perhaps you’ve wanted to out-Griswold Clark Griswold — to your holiday lights, the Illuminate C9 light sets are ideal for you. The customization features on the light set allow you to virtually change your lighting every day, without the hassle and cost of purchasing several different sets of lights to achieve a certain look.
These LED light sets allow you to customize your light show by giving you the option to choose from pre-set functions and colors or you can create your own. To get the lights to do your bidding, you’ll have to download the Illuminate app on a smartphone or tablet. Once you have the app, you can choose any of the pre-loaded colors — cool white, warm white and multicolor — and the brightness of your lights. If none of those options float your boat, you can use the color wheel to find just the color you’re looking for. If you’re finicky, you can change the colors each day to suit your mood. (We think this means there’s no need to even take down the lights since you can customize the colors for every holiday of the year.)
The light’s 21 preloaded functions include chasing warm white section, chasing red green and warm white and twinkling warm white. You can also adjust the speed at which these functions perform. If that wasn’t enough, you can select music from your smart device to set the lights to your favorite holiday song for a fa-la-la-rific light display. You can up to 11 add-on sets (25-count, $42.99) to each starter kit.
If you’re just dipping your feet into home holiday light shows, Philips Illuminate C9 Lights are an excellent way to get started. Did you create a light show with your Philips Illuminate lights? Send us a link to your video in the comments section.
Jim W.
I’ve used the Illuminate lights for about 3 years now. The idea is awesome, but the app is pretty weak. The main thing missing from this app is a timer to allow you to have the lights turn on and off automatically at specific times. Seems like that would be a very basic option, but they don’t seem to want to update this app at all.
Dean Zimmermann
Using a simple outdoor timer or any of the IoT power modules to turn appliances on and off, you can control the on/off state of the lights, and they will resume the pattern that was running when they were shut off.