Ikea's Zigbee connections also help extend battery life on remotes and sensors. Unlike a constant connection to Wi-Fi, Zigbee only communicates with a hub when sending and receiving commands. In other words, Zigbee devices essentially sit on standby until needed. They won't slowly drain a battery like Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

Unlike Philips Hue’s other light strips, the Hue Gradient lightstrip can glow in multiple colors at once, allowing you to blend the colors for elaborate lighting effects–and yes, plenty of Halloween themes are available in the Hue app, plus additional multicolor scenes for your other favorite holidays.

The AR feature is exclusive to iPhone Pro and iPad Pro models with a lidar sensor, which was first introduced in the iPhone 12 Pro in 2020. Using the Explore tab in the app, users can preview twelve different Philips Hue products.

It's not just about the bulbs, though. Hue also has a rather large assortment of accessories, too. One accessory that, to me, is one of the best, is the Philips Hue Hue Tap Dial. Available in black and white with a $50 price tag, the Tap Dial is a small puck shaped light controller that you can press and twist on, giving it a "smart analog" vibe.

The AR preview is only available on lidar-equipped Apple devices, but all app users will get some new features.