Philips Hue Motion Sensor has more to offer, but doesn’t do it.

I must write about this first before I cover the rest of the HomeKit accessories I bought earlier.  I just bought 2 units of the Philips Hue Motion Sensor from Changi Airport in Singapore, and realized that with HomeKit you can see more than just motion detection.

Setting up is not like the standard HomeKit code that you need to scan.  The accessories are added within the Philips Hue App via Bluetooth detection.  It’s pretty straight forward, however, initially you would think that it’s primarily for the use of Philips Hue Bulb.  The following images are what you would see after the setup.

 

From the Philips Hue app, you would see the basic setup of the Philips Hue Motion Sensor : which room lights to control, when should the motion be detected, the daylight sensitivity, and also the motion sensitivity (in case you have pets that might trip the sensors).

THEN, what pleasantly surprised me was when I opened the Home App, I can see the sensors, but not only did I see the sensors in the favorites, I also get to see the light intensity measured in lux, and the temperature of the area near the sensor!    You can also see this in the Koogeek App.

Unfortunately, you can set some Automation with the sensor to turn on switches, or lights, but you can’t control them with the temperature nor the light intensity.  What a pity.  I was hoping that I can turn on pacific lights around my house when the light intensity dropped below 18 lux.

Philips, if you’re reading this, can you please open up these control options.  The sensors are very compact, and cool, way better that the Eve Motion, which I will review soon.  You’ll be able to sell more.