Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K

The Sync Box 8K works really well and is pretty much a no-compromise way to sync up your Philips Hue lighting with your HDMI devices. It’s a bit spendy and it doesn’t work with built-in smart apps, only HDMi devices, but it makes gaming and movie watching a much more immersive experience.The box includes the Sync Box, a 3ft HDMI cable, and a power adapter. You get 4 HDMI inputs that all support 4K, 120Hz, VRR, and Dolby Vision/HDR10+, so pretty much anything you connect to this should be able to run at full bandwidth. You will need an existing Hue Bridge and lights to utilize the Sync Box. The setup happens over Bluetooth with the Philips Hue app and I did have to dig around a little bit to find the setup for the Sync Box, but once I found that and updated to the ... MoreThe Sync Box 8K works really well and is pretty much a no-compromise way to sync up your Philips Hue lighting with your HDMI devices. It’s a bit spendy and it doesn’t work with built-in smart apps, only HDMi devices, but it makes gaming and movie watching a much more immersive experience.The box includes the Sync Box, a 3ft HDMI cable, and a power adapter. You get 4 HDMI inputs that all support 4K, 120Hz, VRR, and Dolby Vision/HDR10+, so pretty much anything you connect to this should be able to run at full bandwidth. You will need an existing Hue Bridge and lights to utilize the Sync Box. The setup happens over Bluetooth with the Philips Hue app and I did have to dig around a little bit to find the setup for the Sync Box, but once I found that and updated to the latest firmware it was pretty seamless. From there, you just need to setup an Entertainment Area with the lights you want to sync with your display and position them in the app relative to where they are next to the TV. You can set the sync to happen manually or automatically based on an input detecting a video signal.I set up the Sync Box with my projector and synced it to the light strip I have running along the wall. It’s a pretty rudimentary setup right now and I plan to incorporate some Play Light Bars that I’m currently using on my PC at some point, but even with my single color light strip it added a lot to my viewing experience and the extra light helped to reduce eye strain without distracting from the picture. The lights react very quickly to the images on screen, even fast-paced games. And the Sync Box turns itself on and off with your devices using CEC.The Sync Box 8K is quite an investment and it adds a bit of complexity to my entertainment setup for something that can only be utilized with HDMI devices. I know there’s a Philips Hue app for Samsung TVs and I wish they’d make one for Google TV too. Overall though I’m very happy with it. It does exactly what says it does and it does it without much fuss.

The new Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K​ came out recently promising fixes and improvements over the previous generation, as well as future proof technology for when 8K content becomes more available. I already had the Hue Bridge for other lights around the house but I held off on a proper TV light strip until now.I setup the Philips Hue 75" Smart TV Light Strip on the back of my Sony A95L OLED TV to go with the new Sync Box. What a difference that makes in how much more expansive the image becomes, immersing you into the action, whether you are watching a movie or playing a video game.The setup itself is pretty straight forward. The Sync box has to be installed in between the video source like a 4K UHD Blu Ray player and your TV HDMI input. It is not designed ... MoreThe new Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K​ came out recently promising fixes and improvements over the previous generation, as well as future proof technology for when 8K content becomes more available. I already had the Hue Bridge for other lights around the house but I held off on a proper TV light strip until now.I setup the Philips Hue 75" Smart TV Light Strip on the back of my Sony A95L OLED TV to go with the new Sync Box. What a difference that makes in how much more expansive the image becomes, immersing you into the action, whether you are watching a movie or playing a video game.The setup itself is pretty straight forward. The Sync box has to be installed in between the video source like a 4K UHD Blu Ray player and your TV HDMI input. It is not designed to work with the built-in TV apps. I’ve hooked mine up to a Panasonic 4K player, a 4K Roku and a 4K Fire Cube and they all work great. There may be some quirkiness with some devices, especially when it comes to turning other connected devices On/Off via HDMI CEC commands from a single remote. For some reason my Denon receiver turns on fine, but no longer turns off from the Fire Cube remote, since the Philips Hue 8K Sync box was installed in-line with it. I may have to get newer HDMI 2.1 certified cables, tweak more settings or wait for a firmware update.As for the App setup, it was easy, discovered on the network, then had to scan the QR code to pair it, after which it performed a firmware update which took several minutes. There are many settings available from TV/Audio mode, to Intensity and Brightness settings (for the gradient TV lightstrip), Automation, etc. You do have to hit the Sync button in the App to enable the signal to pass through, otherwise your light strip or other lights you may have assigned to it will not synchronize with your video or audio signal.This setup that includes the required Hue Bridge, the 8K Sync box and the longest gradient TV lightstrip will easily cost you over $700, but it is a lot more responsive and accurate than other cheap brands that rely on a camera looking at the screen trying to sync the lights with the image.If you have a high-end setup and don’t mind spending even more to expand your setup with a perfectly synced ambient gradient light option, then this Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K is your best option.

As a long-time user of Hue lights, I have wanted to sync my light with what happens onscreen. While Philips did have a Sync Box that would do this, the problem though, was that the previous Sync Box wasn't able to utilize some of the newer HDMI features. 4K at 120 FPS and using VRR, I would have to sacrifice several features if I wanted to use the previous Sync Box. All of these things have been addressed with the new Sync Box. Not only am I able to sync what is happening on screen, I can do it without sacrificing any of the features that make my gaming, TV viewing, or movie watching features to do so.The setup process is fairly straightforward, though since I like to try and keep things as tidy as possible, my setup may not be typical for most, which is a credit ... MoreAs a long-time user of Hue lights, I have wanted to sync my light with what happens onscreen. While Philips did have a Sync Box that would do this, the problem though, was that the previous Sync Box wasn't able to utilize some of the newer HDMI features. 4K at 120 FPS and using VRR, I would have to sacrifice several features if I wanted to use the previous Sync Box. All of these things have been addressed with the new Sync Box. Not only am I able to sync what is happening on screen, I can do it without sacrificing any of the features that make my gaming, TV viewing, or movie watching features to do so.The setup process is fairly straightforward, though since I like to try and keep things as tidy as possible, my setup may not be typical for most, which is a credit to the Sync Box for making even my setup an easy process. For my setup, I previously had HDMI cables going from my devices through the wall to my TV, then another cable that goes back to my AV receiver from the receiver to utilize HDMI ARC to transmit audio. My main purpose for this was that my receiver doesn't support some features, but as it was a pricy receiver, I didn't want to replace it. Adding the Sync Box to my setup was pretty painless. Now, instead of having devices connect to the TV through the wall I just have one HDMI cable from the Sync Box to the TV, then another that goes out from the TV to the receiver. Using the Sync Box as an HDMI switch has not only simplified my setup, it adds other features as well. Other than connecting cables, setting up the Sync Box was as simple as adding it to the Hue app. After adding the box, assigning the input names and other optional features was very easy. I really like being able to control the Sync Box using Google Assistant. This makes things easier for my setup too. They also have a feature to automatically start syncing the lights when the Sync Box detects activity from the input. This is perfect for me too. There is also another useful feature that you can have the Sync Box "learn" a remote input to change the sync box too. For me, I have set the colored buttons on my Marantz remote to switch inputs. Even though I don't necessarily have to use them, as I mainly use the Google Assistant to switch inputs, or just turning on a console, and when the Sync Box detects activity, it switches to that input and starts syncing the lights, which is excellent.I kind of wish that there were more available HDMI inputs on the Sync Box, so I could utilize it for every device I have. I may have to do something to accommodate some other devices that I have, though I imagine for most people 4 inputs will be enough.Pros: Syncing Hue lights without sacrificing any modern HDMI features, excellent additional features like Google Assistant integration, Remote Learning, and Auto Syncing the lights when input activity is detectedCons: I wish it had a couple more HDMI inputs, it is a bit pricey