Philips is refreshing its line of smart lighting products. Not only are its new Hue bulbs brighter, you can now control them with Siri using the $59.99 Philips Hue Bridge 2.0. Unlike the previous model that came bundled with the Philips Hue Connected Bulb ($199.99 at Verizon)(Opens in a new window) , the new bridge is now equipped with HomeKit, Apple’s smart home protocol that allows you to control old and new Hue lights through voice commands on your iOS devices. If you already have Hue lighting in your home, you need the Bridge 2.0 if you want HomeKit integration for voice control. If you’re new to Hue, the Bridge 2.0 is clearly the place to start, although outfitting your entire home with Hue bulbs can become rather pricey.

Design and Features
New users have to pay $60 for the standalone bridge, or get it bundled in various Hue starter kits. Veteran users can get it for $40(Opens in a new window) using a discount through Philips’ website.

The Bridge 2.0 ( at Amazon)(Opens in a new window)  is slightly smaller than the previous version, shaped like a square with rounded corners. It measures 3.5 inches across and 1 inch tall. It’s made of high-quality white matte plastic, with a large Philips button centered on top. The perimeter of the button glows blue when it’s plugged in and connected to a Wi-Fi signal. It’s smooth on every side except for the front, which houses both the power and Ethernet ports. On the bottom you’ll find four rubber feet, as well as a Philips Hue logo, serial numbers, the HomeKit number needed to pair the bridge with your iOS device, and notches you can use to mount the bridge on a wall. It’s a much cleaner, more attractive design than the last model.

If you’re unfamiliar with Apple’s HomeKit, it’s basically a platform that interconnects the apps that control your smart home products. Potentially, devices like lights, locks, and thermostats can turn on or adjust to your desired configuration, all at the same time, through a command on your phone. For example, saying a phrase like “Hey Siri, I’m home” could automatically open your door locks, turn on all your lights, and turn up the heat, while “Get ready for bed” could do the opposite. Link the Hue Bridge 2.0 with a HomeKit-compatible device like the Schlage Sense Deadbolt(Opens in a new window), for instance, and you can control your lights and locks simultaneously.

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If you’re a Hue user without an iOS device, you won’t reap any of these benefits. Apple Homekit, as you might surmise, doesn’t work with Android phones, so you can comfortably stick with your original Hue bridge instead of upgrading. In addition to HomeKit, the new bridge still supports third-party systems like If This Then That (IFTTT).

Setup
Installing the Hue Bridge 2.0 is pretty simple. First you need to download the Philips Hue app on your mobile device. The app works with iOS 8.0, but requires iOS 9.0 for HomeKit voice control through Siri to work. It also works with devices running Android 2.3 or later. I tested the bridge with an Apple iPhone 5c ( at Amazon)(Opens in a new window)  and a Samsung Galaxy S6 ($129.71 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) , and it worked perfectly with both devices. 

Once you download the Philips Hue app and create an account, you need to connect the bridge to your Wi-Fi router with an included Ethernet cable. The app will search for a hub connected to your Wi-Fi network when you open it. You will be prompted to press the button on the bridge once, and enter the HomeKit number on the back. The whole process takes about five minutes.

Adding bulbs and accessories, like the Hue Lux ($49.99 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) and the Hue Go ($122.74 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) , is also very easy. All you have to do is screw or plug them in, turn them on, and search for additional lights through the app. You can connect up to 50 bulbs and 12 accessories to the bridge. 

App, Performance, and Conclusions
The Philips Hue app remains the same, with no major layout or feature changes since the original bridge came out. The main screen is the Settings page where you can choose a bridge, view your lights and other devices, and adjust options like whether you want to randomize colors when making a Scene. Scenes, which you can access by pressing an icon in the upper left corner or by swiping left, let you set the exact level of color and brightness for a particular lighting scheme that you can activate with a quick tap—or, now, with a quick vocal command.

Integrating Siri with the Hue app is very easy to do. In the app, you just tap on New Siri Function and check off the scenes you want Siri to recognize. With Siri, you can utter simple commands like “Turn all lights on,” “Turn all lights off,” or “Set pink light,” to set scenes you’ve made in the Hue app.

In testing, I connected a Hue Lux bulb, a Hue Go, and a Hue Lightstrip Plus to the app through the bridge. Each light is assigned a name, which you can change if you want. I then held down my iPhone’s home button to activate Siri, and asked it to turn lights on, off, and set specific scenes. My voice commands worked perfectly every time. It’s a solid feature, and one that makes the prospect of smart lighting even more appealing. It’s worth noting that the Amazon Echo  also lets you control your Hue lights via voice (and with the first-generation bridge, no less), though you need to be connected to your home network in order to do so.

If you use an iOS device and live in a home filled with Philips Hue bulbs and dimmers, upgrading to the Hue Bridge 2.0 is a no-brainer. Using Siri to control your home lighting is a lot faster than dragging your finger across virtual sliders in an app. Android users, on the other hand, can comfortably stick with the original bridge, as HomeKit support is the big upgrade here. And if you’re completely new to smart lighting, you might want to check out an inexpensive starter option, like the Cree Connected LED Bulb ($25.00 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) .