Hands-on with Philips Hue’s new Liane 360° Rope Lights

I love smart lighting, but I don’t love many of the form factors it comes in. With a few exceptions, most smart, color-changing lamps and fixtures fit better in my teenage son’s dorm room than my living room. So, I was pleasantly surprised to see Philips Hue’s new line of architecturally focused smart lights, launched at IFA this week and now available to buy at Philips-Hue.com.

I was very impressed by the Liane 360-degree Rope Lights, which I saw displayed in a trendy Berlin loft. Its versatility, range of brightness, rich colors, and infinite design possibilities really put the smart into smart lighting.

Using Hue’s OmniGlow technology, the Liane offers a 360-degree tube of diffuse light that emits in every direction without harsh pinpricks of light. This makes it capable of being a focal point in a room — both decor and illumination.

A flexible rope light, the Liane can be hung from a wall or ceiling and shaped into organic forms, using clear clips and mounts, or draped around furniture or architectural features.

This type of light is common in modern interior design, integrating the light source as an architectural feature, but it’s almost always just white light. Hue’s innovation here is bringing smart, color-changing lighting.

The catch is that Liane Rope Lights are expensive, starting at $399.99 for 3 meters, with the 5-meter model costing a whopping $549.99.

Along with the Liane, Hue has added three new lights to its popular Signe line, also designed to be used as interior design features. The Signe pendant, Signe pendulum, and Signe pole feature a slim black housing that can be hung from the ceiling, propped against a wall, or used in other strategic ways to incorporate both design and light. They start at $319.99 beginning in October.

Hue also showed off new entries in the popular Festavia indoor/outdoor line, including curtains, nets, and icicle lights.

Photos by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge