Philips Hue’s new video doorbell just got a free upgrade – and it’s a good one

We Philips Hue fans were over the moon when the brand finally launched its Secure video doorbell after months of rumours. I was especially excited as my house is already filled with some of the best Philips Hue lights, so adding a Hue doorbell into the mix just made sense.

I haven’t had the chance to fully review the doorbell yet (the chime has arrived… but I’m still waiting on the actual doorbell) but that hasn’t stopped me from keeping an eye on everyone else’s experiences. Reviews have been positive so far, but early users did point out that visitors struggled to see the doorbell at night, and often pressed the upper camera instead of the actual button.

After this popped up again and again, Fabian over at Hueblog recently uncovered that Philips Hue has quietly rolled out a free update to fix the problem.

Now, the LED ring around the doorbell button automatically lights up when someone approaches your door, making it much more obvious where to press. That said, it looks like users can’t currently adjust this motion-triggered lighting in the settings, which suggests it’s been added automatically – either through the latest Hue app update (version 5.55.0) or via a firmware update to the doorbell itself.

The Hue Secure Wired Video Doorbell is currently available for £139.99/$169.99/€169.99 on the Philips Hue site and from other retailers. It’s such a new product that we’re not expecting any Black Friday discounts, but that doesn’t mean the rest of the Hue range won’t be on offer. You can always check out my Philips Hue Black Friday deals hub to stay up to date.