Philips Hue taps Sonos Voice Control in partnership for hands-free smart home lighting

What you need to know

• Philips Hue announces partnership with Sonos and its Voice Control feature, bringing hands-free assistance to users for their lighting needs.
• Users can turn lights on or off with their voice, activate scenes, and alter the brightness and color temperature of devices.
• Philips Hue also states this update, which will arrive in September, takes user privacy into account, meaning your voice never leaves the device.

Philips Hue is announcing a new partnership and future update that consumers can expect to improve their lighting experience.

In a press release by Philips Hue, the company announced that it has partnered with Sonos to bring its Voice Control to its selection of lighting devices. The post states this integration with Sonos Voice Control will give users the ability to "switch lights on or off, dim or brighten, and activate scenes with their voice." Regarding lights, the email to Android Central earlier today (Sep 4) states users can adjust the brightness and color temperature of their Philips Hue lights with Voice Control.

This update will also bring smart plug control capabilities via mic-enabled Sonos products.

Philips Hue highlights a privacy-focused update between it and Sonos. The company states your voice is "processed entirely on the device." It says what you're saying is not sent to the cloud for processing and that there's no "recording," nor is an internet connection required to utilize Voice Control. Nathan Hart, senior product manager at Sonos, adds, "We built Sonos Voice Control to make controlling your music with your voice faster and easier than ever before, all with the privacy of your data staying right on your speaker."

This update is looking at a September launch in U.S. English and French for users worldwide. However, Philips Hue states Voice Control will skip out on China, and it's unclear if users in the region will see it in the future.

Sonos & Philips Hue partner

Sonos had a huge update earlier this year, but for its Ace headphones for the home. The free update in June brought "dual listening" to users watching the same content at home on the TV. Sonos stated users could listen to the same broadcast as audio is "synced" for both parties, thanks to their Sonos Soundbar. Additionally, TrueCinema grabbed more "realism." The company stated its Ace headphones can "understand" your environment to "perfectly tune" your audio.

Elsewhere, the headphones also grabbed an update for its ANC (active noise cancellation). Now, the Ace headphones will consider the user's glasses, hair, and hat in "real-time" to better block out sounds that would take you out of your audio content.