makes sense if you own an Alexa or GH device. Makes 0 sense if you don’t since they instantly become dumb bulbs when you leave the house without the existing Hue bridge…
I’ve seen complaints of needing to have a Hue bridge, the new bulbs could possibly appease those people. At this point I find it less likely someone would purchase Hue lights without having a smart speaker. Apple HomeKit users still need the Hue bridge though. You also would no longer have access to “zones” and “entertainment areas”.
Might also be a good dorm room option, a lot of those folks aren’t looking for automations that occur when they aren’t home.
The bulbs are easy to add on ST without the HUE Bridge. Although I am trying to get the dimmer to work with the Hue Bridge.
Wait, are you talking about the brand new Bluetooth bulbs? I thought those weren’t released yet. Not the original zigbee bulbs.
If you are talking about the new Bluetooth bulbs, then You’re adding them as Bluetooth devices using the new V3 smartthings app, right? So they will only be controllable while your phone is within range.
I saw a vid ad on Instagram about these new bulbs today and it seems they are mostly targeting very small use cases (such as dorm rooms) and reducing the initial barrier to entry for new users. The bridge isn’t going away and they are trying to make it clear the bridge is still needed for more advanced cases, including most automatons.
These new bulbs have Bluetooth + Zigbee. I think the Alexa integration uses the same Zigbee connection as the prior Zigbee only bulbs that Amazon has been offering for free with Zigbee hub Echos. I assume that ST is able to connect to them. There’s supposed to be a 10 bulb and one room limit, which I can see for Bluetooth, but don’t understand if the bulbs are connected via Zigbee.
That’s how it was before these new bulbs. The news here is the ability to use a 3rd gen Echo Dot to connect to them via Bluetooth. Echo plus and show still use Zigbee. If the bulbs connect directly to an echo device without the bridge, SmartThings can’t see them.
What makes you think that? Here’s the description of the Dot’s Bluetooth - "
Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) support for audio streaming from your mobile device to Echo Dot or from Echo Dot to your Bluetooth speaker. Audio/Video Remote Control Profile (AVRCP) for voice control of connected mobile devices. Hands-free voice control is not supported for Mac OS X devices. Bluetooth speakers requiring PIN codes are not supported."
I believe the Hue bulbs’ BT, in addition to the new app, is designed to be “Made for Google” like the C by GE bulbs.
You can pre-order some now.
Very interesting, thanks! 
The 10 bulb limit is something you run into with other zigbee devices, and has to do with a groupcasting issue. For example, the Hue dimmer switch is limited to control of ten zigbee bulbs if you are not using the hue bridge as well. It’s not a hard limit of 10 (the lutron zigbee switch could go up to 12), it’s just that practically it’s a lower limit than when using the bridge.
As far as connecting the original zigbee hue bulbs directly to smartThings without using a Hue bridge, that’s not recommended, because they can mess up your zigbee network. 
I don’t know if they fixed this with the new model or not.
Its the Zigbee bulbs with ST V3!
Bluetooth and wifi both are off on the phone and it works like a charm! 
This thread is about the new Bluetooth bulbs. What model do you have?
As far as whether the older zigbee only bulbs “work like a charm,” They work just fine if you are also using the hue bridge.
However, if you connect them directly to a smartthings hub without using hue bridge, they can cause your other zigbee devices to lose messages. You won’t see any problem with the bulbs. You’ll just keep getting random off-line problems with your other zigbee devices. Or things will run slowly. See the following FAQ.
FAQ: Do I need the Hue Bridge/Hub to Use a Hue Bulb with SmartThings?