Light up my life, Philips. The Dutch company makes the best ambient light bars in the business. I own a few Philips Hue Light Strips and could never go back to a TV without one of these fantastic light accessories attached to the back. Good news if you own a 55-inch TV. Philips' backlight for that size is back to its lowest price ever on Amazon.
Right now, the The Philips Hue 55-inch Smart TV Light Strip is on sale for $199 on AmazonUsually, the list price of this awesome accessory is $249, which means if you take advantage of this deal, you save $50.
I’ve written before about how I made the best LG OLED TV even better with Philips’ light strip. I don’t remember when these wall-mounted lighting accessories first came out, but I’m really glad they did. While Govee has a good reputation when it comes to lighting equipment, in my opinion, no company does it better than Philips.
The Philips Hue app is available in both languages Apple And Android stores. In my experience it is reliable and works on smartphones and tablets.
With the app at your disposal, you can adjust the brightness levels of the Philips light strip, which attaches to the back of your TV using strong adhesive clips. But be warned: once you stick these clips to your TV, they stay stuck. I've had to remove them when selling old TVs in the past, and it took a considerable amount of effort to get the brackets off. On the other hand, it's nice to know that they're giving your new light strip all the support it's going to need.
Once you have your strip installed and the Hue app ready to go, Philips offers you a few different color presets. I have the 55-inch model connected to my LG C2 OLED in my home office and the 75-inch version connected to my LG G3 OLED in my living room, and the app lets me control both.
The great thing about the Hue lightstrip is the number of shades Philips gives you. There are dozens of different presets in the app, and I regularly switch between them depending on what I'm watching or playing.
If I'm watching one of the best horror movies on Netflix, I usually stick to the macabre preset “Disturbia.” But in most cases, I opt for “Blue Planet,” mainly because that light tone matches the color of my living room walls.
There’s also a Philips Hue Play HDMI sync box that mimics the color of the action on the screen you’re watching, which I highly recommend. Unfortunately, it’s not on sale right now, but I still think it’s worth the $248. Playing one of the best PS5 games and seeing Helldivers 2’s bug hunts go off with the glow instantly adds an extra layer of immersion.
So if you want to make one of the best TVs even better, I suggest you take advantage of this light strip deal ASAP. It's the best thing that's ever happened to my binge-watching sessions.