There are many ways to control Philips Hue lights at home, including Google Nest Hub, Pixel Watch 2, and Pixel 9 Pro XL. You probably don’t need to consider other devices to control. My light, why, why?
But when Philips released the Hue Wall Tap Dial Light Switch, I was immediately intrigued and decided to buy it with the expectation that I would probably return it. However, in the end, exactly the opposite happened. I use this every day instead of all the other methods I used before.
Dial costs $50 but rarely goes on sale. So if you are thinking of buying it and there is some kind of discount, we recommend you go ahead and buy it. The biggest discounts I’ve ever seen are happening right now thanks to Amazon’s Labor Day sale. Tap Dial is currently 5% off, but with an additional 15% coupon, you can get 20% off a device that is rarely on sale in the first place. This discount only applies to the black version of the Tap Dial, the white version currently remains at full price.
If you’re not interested in Hue’s typical hefty price tag, you can find Govee’s great lights at even greater discounts right now.
What I like about this light switch
The dial itself looks like a hockey puck, with four buttons on the face and a rotating outer wheel that brightens or dims the light. Each of the four buttons has a little dot numbered from 1 to 4, so you can see which button you’re pressing even in the dark. Buttons can be assigned to a single light scene, cycle through all scenes, or activate automations created in the Philips Hue app. The amount of customization you can do with this is pretty impressive.
Initially the idea was to move away from light switches, but there’s something interesting about returning to physical objects to control lighting. There are more traditional light switch plates that can be mounted on the wall (I have a switch plate next to a neglected light switch that collects dust). The pack itself is magnetic, so you can easily place it on a plate or stick it on your refrigerator.
If there’s one complaint I have about Dial, it’s that it’s very specific and only works in one room or “zone” in your house at a time. You can reassign dials to different rooms from within the app, but I like the option of having each button control a different scene for each room. To cycle through scenes, I often only use one button, leaving the other three buttons mostly untouched.
This specific complaint probably doesn’t matter to most people, but I still highly recommend the Philips Hue Wall Tap Dial Light Switch. Check out our Labor Day Sale Under $25 for more information.
