Review: The New Philips Hue Festavia Lights Offer More Versatility at a Higher Price

Philips Hue parent company Signify debuted a new version of the Hue Festavia string lights back in August, with plenty of availability now that the holidays are approaching. If you're up to date with Hue, you might know that the Festavia first came out last year, but the first version was available in limited quantities and was hard to get.

After the holidays, the Festavia lights seemed to disappear entirely until the new version came out in this year, and that's because this is a new model. The new Festavia lights and the old Festavia lights are similar in design, but there are tweaks to the sizes of the light strings, the price, weatherproofing, the design of the power supply, and a few other features.

Last year's Festavia lights were priced at $160 for 250 LEDs on a 65-foot strand, and this year, the same 65-foot strand with 250 LEDs is priced at $220. I don't know why the lights are priced higher, but there are two new size options, including a 500-LED 131-foot model and a 100-LED 26-foot model. The Hue website sells the two longer strands right now, but not the shorter version.

I tested the 250 LED model, which has the LEDs positioned about three inches apart on the strand. The lights themselves are flat at the top with a circular body, which is the same design that was used last year and the shape you'll also see in smart lights from brands like Twinkly. The cord connecting the LEDs is black, which is one of my complaints about the Hue lights.

Black does not blend in as well with a tree as green does when used on a typical Christmas tree, and I feel that it makes the cord stand out more than it should. It would be nice to have color options for the wires rather than being limited to black. Even in non-tree use, black stands out on white trim or white walls. Nanoleaf and Twinkly are using the same black cord for their lights, so maybe it's a color most people don't mind.

Last year's Festavia lights were designed to be used indoors, but this year's version has weatherproofing and can be used indoors or out. You can use these outside on your porch, outdoor trees, around windows, on eaves, and more, so you're not just limited to inside use. I wouldn't put lights this expensive outside, but I appreciate the versatility for those who do want to use them for outdoor landscaping purposes.

Other than the new weatherproofing rating, the only other difference between the 2022 Festavia and the 2023 Festavia that I found was the design of the power supply. The 2023 version has a 30W plug that you can unscrew from the controller so you can use the Festavia outdoors with other outdoor power you might have.

With traditional holiday lights, you can connect two or more strands together to run off of the same power supply, but that is not an option here. Every strand has its own dedicated power supply and these are bulky, especially when used indoors. I put two strands on my tree, and it's a lot of cabling hefty power supplies to deal with. For a Christmas tree that's about seven feet tall, I can get away with one strand, but two strands covers the front and back more fully at a better density. I wish there was an option for a 65-foot strand with a higher LED density, because 65 feet is the right length for a standard tree, but a single strand doesn't feel like quite enough due to the spacing.