Your Philips Hue lights may soon double as sensors – here are the rumours so far

It’s highly likely that Philips Hue lights will soon receive a free firmware update that could transform them into motion sensors. This potential update is linked to an enhancement of the Zigbee wireless protocol, enabling the best Philips Hue lights to detect your presence without the need for additional hardware, such as the Hue motion sensor.

The speculation was originally rumoured back in December, but is now pretty much confirmed following the CSA's announcement of a new feature called Ambient Sensing. This feature will allow Zigbee devices, like Hue lights, to detect your presence and automatically adjust the lighting based on whether you're home.

Whilst the CSA hasn't provided a specific timeline for when it'll be rolled out, WiZ launched a similar feature called SpaceSense earlier this year. As both brand are under Signify, it’s expected that Philips Hue will soon adopt this feature as well. However, some WiZ users have reported issues with SpaceSense, suggesting that Signify may be fine-tuning its performance to ensure a smooth rollout to its flagship Hue brand.

This isn't the first update Philips Hue will roll out in 2025, with the brand announcing the introduction of its first-ever AI-powered lighting assistant a few weeks ago. However, there have been no rumours of new products recently, and there wasn't anything unveiled at CES. It will be interesting to see whether the brand focuses on enhancing its performability throughout the year, or surprises us with new innovations to explore.