How to Connect Philips Hue Lights to an Amazon Echo

Alexa can do much more than just dim or brighten lights

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Updated on February 4, 2021

What to Know

Open the settings menu in the Alexa app and tap Smart Home > Add Device. The app searches for smart home devices.
Create a group: Open Alexa settings and tap Smart Home > Groups > Create New. Choose a name and select which lights to include.
Enable the Hue skill: Open Alexa settings and tap Skills & Games. Type hue in the search field and select Hue from results.

When you pair an Amazon Echo or another Alexa device with a Philips Hue Smart Bulb, you get a powerful smart home setup that allows you to control your lights with hundreds of voice commands. In this guide, we show you how to connect any Hue light to your Echo, how to set up groups through the Alexa app, and how to enable the Hue skill.

Connect Hue Lights to Your Amazon Echo

The first step is to take existing Hue lights and connect them to your Echo device. To do this, download the Alexa app, which is available on iOS or Android mobile devices. This Alexa app is also used to set up the Echo.

Launch the Alexa app.
In the upper-left corner, tap the three horizontal lines icon.
Tap the Smart Home section.
Tap Add Device.
The app searches for all smart home devices, including all Hue lights, and displays those results.

Connect Hue lights to any Echo device you have, such as an Echo Dot, Echo Show, Fire TV Cube, and more.

Amazon Echo device resting next to a smart light bulb — Lifewire

Set up Groups Through the Alexa App

In the same Smart Home section where you searched for Hue lights, set up groups that will let you control multiple lights at the same time.

Open the Amazon Alexa app.
In the upper-left corner, tap the three horizontal lines icon.
Tap the Smart Home section.
Across the top, tap Groups.
Tap Create New.
Select a suggested name for your group or create one yourself.
Select an Echo device that’s closest to the light group, and choose which lights you want to be included in the group.
The Echo detects your Hue lights automatically.

There are ways to connect other smart lights to Alexa and your Amazon Echo.

Enable the Hue Skill for Added Functionality

Add additional functionality beyond basic lighting tasks by connecting Hue’s official Echo skill. With Philips Hue skill functionality, control lighting scenes and recipes, access lights in various rooms, control lighting colors, and more.

Scenes are sets of lighting controls that create a certain ambiance. In the Philips Hue app, default scenes are created for each room, e.g. Relax, Concentrate, Energize, Arctic Aurora, Dimmed, and more. Recipes are scientifically set light settings for day-to-day activities, such as reading or relaxing.

Tap the three horizontal lines icon in the upper-left corner of the screen.
Tap Skills & Games.
In the search box at the top of the screen, type Hue, then tap Search.
The first option should be Hue, from Philips Hue.
Philips Hue's skill functionality is now enabled. You can now interact with your Philips Hue lights, rooms, scenes, recipes, and colors.

Visit the Friends of Hue page to learn more about using Alexa with Philips Hue.

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