I’ve just setup my ST hub and plugged in 2 hue bulbs. In my ignorance I believed that I’d be able to control the hue bulbs without a hue bridge. I don’t feel it was clearly stated anywhere obvious that a hue bridge was needed. So after wondering why my lights weren’t controllable from the ST app, I discovered my error.
Are there any bulbs out there that do work with ST that I don’t need a separate hub for?
And to to it all off, I’ve just spent 20 minutes trying to add the title to this post as the website didn’t display properly on mobile. Grrr
You can pair Hue bulbs to ST without a Hue Bridge.
I have 3 Hue strips and 1 white and 1 RGBW bulb.
They are using this Device Handler. Improved Zigbee Hue Bulb MA
Sorry you are having a frustrating experience so far. Cree Connected bulbs will work directly with SmartThings, I have 13 of them all performing very well both inside and outside my home.
I’m sorry you had such a frustrating experience! If you had gotten in touch with support, they would’ve told you that while it’s technically possible to connect hue bulbs directly to smart things without a hue bridge, the only officially supported method uses the hue bridge, and there are a couple of technical reasons why that’s a better way to go.
The same information is also posted in the support resources on the website.
Official support article:
Entry from the official “works with SmartThings” list:
So… If you really want to use the hue bulbs with the smartthings hub without also using a Hue bridge, it’s technically doable as other people in this thread have said. But it can also cause you additional problems down the line, and to be honest, it’s just easier to go ahead and get a bridge. If you’re going to have more than a few bulbs, the additional cost isn’t that bad. (One Bridge can support up to 40 Hue devices)
Are you in the US or the UK?
SmartThings is a very powerful, flexible platform, but unfortunately not very intuitive. Next time if you get stuck on anything, come to the forum right away and people can probably help save you some time in finding the answer.
Cree bulbs are not available in the UK. You will likely have a choice between Hue, Osram/Sylvania, sengled, Aeotec, IKEA Tradfrii and LIFX for smartbulbs. (The IKEA integration is still pretty glitchy although there are some community members using it, but I would recommend waiting another few months on that one.)
The plain white Phillips hue bulbs typically run around £15. You can get a starter kit with two of those and a bridge for £49.99 at the regular price, so you are only paying an extra £20 pounds for the bridge.
Next time if you get stuck on anything, come to the forum right away and people can probably help save you some time in finding the answer.