After Philips Hue came out with the beautiful Festavia cord lighting for your Christmas tree and/or as mood lighting in 2022, we only had two wishes left: can you also use the Festavia cord lighting 2023 outside and can the price be reduced slightly? Read the answers and much more in the review of the Philips Hue Festavia cord lighting 2023.
It is the time of year when many homes and gardens receive extra lighting. In the past, only simple lights were hung on the Christmas tree, but now you can find all kinds of mood lighting both indoors and outdoors. In addition, there are more and more smart devices in the field of (mood) lighting. Some people use a smart plug to turn their Christmas tree lights on and off. Nice, but you actually want your Christmas lights to offer more and the first version of the Philips Hue Festavia string lights already offers that. In 2022 we thought this was the most beautiful and fun solution to provide your Christmas tree with festive lighting with 3 lighting zones, almost endless color options and synchronization with Spotify music. You can also use it for parties, but only indoors. Now that Philips Hue came out with a new version of the Festavia, we were almost the first.
3 Variants with different length and number of LEDs
You can now choose from three different lengths, each with a different amount of mini smart LEDs to decorate your home with dynamic colorful light or just one color for a traditional look. For example, the 8-meter long version has 100 LEDs, the 20-meter version has 250 LEDs and the 40-meter version has no fewer than 500 LEDs. Read the review of the Philips Hue Festavia review outdoor cord lighting of no less than 40 meters with 500 LED lights.
Philips Hue Festavia outdoor cord lighting
Compared to the previous Festavia box, the box of the Philips Hue Festavia outdoor cord lighting is smaller. This is partly because the large and handy storage roll is no longer there. And important to know about the 40 meter version: the cord is not one 40 meter long cord, but 2 x 20 meters. The cord first has a connector and a fairly large 40W power adapter, then it splits into the two separate cords A and B. The cord up to the connector is nice and sturdy and it is also of good quality, also for outdoor use. .
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to install
Installing the Festavia is of course done via the well-known and nice Philips Hue app (both Android and iOS). Installing is easy, especially if you already have other Hue products so that you only have to add the Festavia. By the way, you have to rename this Festavia if you also have the first Festavia; the new Festavia will initially be referred to as ‘New.’
Because this Festavia is intended for outdoor use, I only tested it outdoors. So, for example, I have not linked it to a Hue Bridge where there are more options.
Scenes and effects
For example, you can easily turn these smart lights on and off, change color, dim and light up, and you can also set schedules and timers. There are 3 new lighting effects for the Philips Hue app with Prism, Glisten and Opal and these are also available for the first Philips Hue Festavia light cord. Philips Hue color lamps can also have the Prism effect.
They also work together with other Philips Hue lamps, so you can also synchronize them with your favorite music via the Spotify and Samsung SmartThings integration.
So in our case you can let the 100, 250 or 500 LEDs flash, dim and light up together with your favorite song or playlist. Unfortunately, you do need a Hue bridge, which we fortunately had. This option also indicates that you can use the Festavia for a party and that it is suitable for a teenager’s room, for example.
Usage
As mentioned, the Festavia splits into two parts: cord A and cord B. When the cord went outside, cord A went to our fence and went nice and far back. Cord B went through the window frames to the left fence (seen from the house). It is a beautiful and atmospheric sight and we have already received many compliments from the neighbors, so it is highly recommended.
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Conclusion
Just like last year, in my opinion the Philips Hue Festavia is the nicest and most beautiful mood lighting available. There are dozens of options to make the 500 lights shine outside. Thanks to the Spotify synchronization, you can also use it for a party or pub room. The two downsides of the 2022 version have been half resolved: it can now be used outdoors, but it remains pricey with suggested retail prices of €119.99 for 100 LEDs, €219.99 for 250 LEDs and no less than €359.99 for 500 LEDs. . Instead of 4 stars, it now gets 4.5 stars (was incorrectly indicated in PC-Active 333).
Philips Hue Festavia outdoor 500 LEDs
Recommended retail price: €359.99
+ can now be used outdoors
+ dozens of color options with 500 lights
+ 3 lighting zones
+ easy operation
+ synchronization with Spotify
– pricey
