Philips Hue Iris lamp returns with brighter colors and new style

The classic Philips Hue Iris lamp is making a return, with a new and upgraded version of the remotely-controllable smart lamp promising more flexibility and a sleeker design. Joining the rest of the Signify range – and controlled, as you'd expect, through the Hue app or via various integrations with smart home assistants – the new Hue Iris now goes even brighter than before.

It'll crank up to 570 lumens, in fact, significantly brighter than the old version. As before, it's primarily intended for indirect lighting: think along the lines of bouncing color or white light off a wall or ceiling, for example.

As well as being brighter, Signify says the new Hue Iris also delivers richer, and more saturated colors. It'll go lower, too, if you prefer: now it supports dimming below 1-percent brightness, in fact, making for a more suitable night light. Or, if you're relying on your Hue light to wake you up in the morning with a virtual sunset, it should make for a less dramatic start to the day.

The design of the lamp has been tweaked, too. It's still a vaguely tulip-shaped transparent bulb, but now the diffuser for the LEDs is partially translucent too. That means the lamp itself will glow with a backlight wash of whatever color it has been set to.

Signify has changed the cable, too, so it's now fabric-wrapped and looks a little more elegant. The body will be available in black or white, with tinted plastic. However, there'll also be four limited edition metallic colors – gold, rose, copper, and silver – which change the trim.

As with other recent Hue bulbs and lamps, the new Hue Iris will work both with the regular Hue bridge, for maximum control, or paired directly with a smartphone via Bluetooth. It'll go on sale come October 19, priced at $99.99.