Philips Hue Go Table Lamp Review
An easy-to-recommend portable light with good battery life
Verdict
The Hue Go Table Lamp is an easy-to-recommend portable light with good battery life, a water-resistant body and a handy charging dock
Pros
- Good battery life
- Handy included charging dock
- Strong colours
Cons
- Design won’t suit all styles
- Limited controls on the light itself
- Expensive
Availability
- UKRRP: £139.99
- USARRP: $159.99
- Europeunavailable
- Canadaunavailable
- Australiaunavailable
Key Features
- Smart systemsThe Hue Go Table Lamp works with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Samsung SmartThings, Apple HomeKit and more
- NetworkingWorks with an existing Hue Bridge or via Bluetooth
Introduction
Designed to look like a modern table lamp, the Philips Hue Go Table Lamp does an excellent of hiding away its smarts inside a relatively attractive body.
While many know the Hue brand for its smart bulbs, the line of portable Go products are a good choice for those who want some smarts without adapting their current lights.
This Table Lamp sits alongside the older Hue Go as an easy-to-use portable light that connects to the wider Hue ecosystem – or can be used solely through Bluetooth.
Design and Features
- Available in either white or black
- A grip adds a further accent colour
- IP54 rated for some protection from water
The Hue Go Table Lamp comes in two parts – a charging dock that plugs into the mains and the lamp itself, which rests atop the stand.
It’s available in either a white or black finish and stands around 36cm tall meaning it’s a good fit either on a table or, as I am using it, nestled on a shelf. Along with the main colour, there’s a choice of accent colours too in the form of a silicon grip. The grip can be either green or teal on the white model or dark grey or orange on the black model.
Whichever colour you go for the charging stand will always be black, which makes it look a little odd and out of place on the white model. It would have been nice to have a colour-matched charging base. It would also have been nice to have a few design choices for those who don’t like the overly modern look, or even a few more shade options.
Having an included charging base means you can keep the lamp charging in one place and then move it around when you need some extra light, For instance, while I set it up in the corner of my lounge, I have found myself moving it around to add some tasteful light when reading.
It’s got some level of protection from water too, with an IP54 rating for the lamp itself (though not the charging base). That’s enough to protect from the moisture given off from a shower or bath, although it’s not recommended to be used outside. If your bathroom lacks a dimmable light this a great way of adding some customisable light to the room, without the need for a plug close by.
There’s a single button on the Hue Go Table Lamp and it’s placed right on the top. A press turns the light on, with further presses cycling through preset colours and scenes. A longer press then turns it off. It’s a simple system that’s easy to learn, yet it lacks much customisability and I’d assume most will do a lot of control through the Hue smartphone app. You can’t, for instance, alter the light’s brightness without delving into the app and this is a bit of a pain, especially when not everyone in the house might have a phone or the app handy.
The lamp can be setup with either an existing Hue hub or Bluetooth through the Hue app. I found the setup to be very quick and painless, with the Hue app noticing a new light was available and adding it to my existing collection of products. I decided against adding the Table Lamp to a specific room, as I planned to move it around, and set it as a Zone instead.
You can, of course, add it existing rooms and the app is where you can tweak the colours and scenes. I particularly like the candle effect, which creates a flickering effect from the lamp.
Performance
- Battery life is heavily dependent on brightness levels
- A full charge takes around four hours
- Gets bright, but best for a room accent light
At £139.99/$159.99, the Hue Table Lamp is one the more expensive portable lights, but it does a good job of making itself worth the outlay.
The first thing I noticed was how sharp and strong the colours were as I skipped through various options and scenes. Everything packed a punch, from purples to reds and this is something often lacking in cheaper options. The range of colours Hue products like this can display is fantastic, and it makes this a very versatile lamp.
Unlike something like the Hue Gradient Floor Lamp, this Table Lamp isn’t great at adding light to a whole room. It’s bright, yet it’s much better as an accent light – adding some colour to a corner for reading or for use on a desk. All the light comes out of the bottom of the shade, shining down.
Battery life really depended on how I used the light. Full brightness with a bright colour tended to leave the lamp needing a charge after six hours – which is pretty good going – while using the much dimmer candle effect got me closer to 24 hours.
The product spec does list a battery life of up to 48 hours, but I couldn’t get anywhere near that figure in my tests. That’s hardly an issue, as it’s so easy to charge. A full charge tended to take me four hours, though there’s no way to obviously tell it’s at 100%.
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Should you buy it?
You want a portable light with long battery life: This is a great lamp for moving around a house, adding light to different areas.
You want a light that can fill a room: This isn’t a lamp for room-filling light, instead it’s more of an addition.
Final Thoughts
The Hue Go Table Lamp is an easy-to-recommend portable light with good battery life, a water-resistant body and a handy included charging dock that makes ensuring it’s always fully charged an easy task.
The range, and quality, of the light it provides too is fantastic – just as I would expect from a Hue product. It’s also rather pricey, something else I expect from a Hue product.
It would have been nice to have a slightly nicer design though, ideally with the option for more shade customisations and a few more available colours. Still, if you’re looking for a tasteful accent lamp that can be easily moved around – and you’re in the Hue ecosystem – this is a good choice.
How we test
Unlike other sites, we test every smart light we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
Used as our main smart light for the review period
We test compatibility with the main smart systems (HomeKit, Alexa, Google Assistant, SmartThings, IFTTT and more) to see how easy each light is to automate
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FAQs
While Philips doesn’t recommend it to be used outdoors, it does have an IP54 rating.
Yes, it can be setup with Bluetooth.
Full specs
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Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
