ColorStream Reviews

I don’t understand why the features of ColorStream are so ridiculously limited. Why can you fade on multi, but every other color option/combination must flash like a neon sign? Why do the timing options range from fast to epileptic-seizure-faster but with the one single fade option they can be slowed down to a reasonable timing that you would be comfortable with in your living room? That kind of control is obviously possible since it can be done with the multi fade setting, but they just aren’t there for literally every other color combination. I’m fine with using ColorStream , but I feel like it should have been made clear upon purchase that you can’t do anything except plug it in withOUT ColorStream .

Phillips has such a great compliment of options with ColorStream -controlled light bulbs. I’m surprised this a) uses a different app in the first place and b) seems like preschool level compared to those.

The lights are great, but if you want a user friendly interface with a load of customization, and a stable app that doesn’t crash… well this is not it. Return your lights and get a different brand. My icicle lights cannot have a schedule for automation, as in turn on and off by themselves. ColorStream crashes. I have one C9 strand that won’t pop up to connect… and customer service is… still on-going to replace the strand. ColorStream is not user friendly from the start. You must search for your lights each time, select the kind of lights you want to control, select the group of lights or individual strand… and from there you are limited to your customization options. I do like that the icicle lights can have their brightness adjusted to what I like. The C9 strands don’t have this option…why is this? ColorStream itself needs a complete overhaul.

I tried multiple times scanning different light sets in and grouping them together, still can’t control them as a group, have to do each strand individually so I basically don’t change them as often as I would like to because it’s not easy. Also I have to scan them in every night as ColorStream does not save my group or light strands I have scanned in.
I wish Phillips could improve this because at $50 per strand, it’s quite an investment!

Take too long to open and connect every time when I just wanna use ColorStream to turn my tree on and off and it also does not follow the instructions given for the light moods ColorStream automatically closes all the time when I’m using it too. I won’t be buying these lights again.

The instructions do not explain anything pertaining to using the menu items. The music portion does not work and the instructions do not explain music. The Bluetooth connects & then disconnects & and when I try to reconnect it either takes 10 minutes or just does not connect.

ColorStream constantly crashes, and has a lot of trouble connecting. I’ve had my lights and app for about a month, and they won’t communicate properly.

We have it set to a solid color, but every evening it flashes. The timer set on ColorStream to turn it off doesn’t work anymore either

The lights are great, but ColorStream has a weirdly limited selection of options for our string lights (no FADE between two colors? Only flashing??) and as other people have mentioned, it crashed and disconnects constantly. App needs a huge overhaul especially seeing as it’s from a brand as big as Philips. I would expect this from some no-name budget brand, but come on.

Go figure, $50 bucks for Christmas lights and the only way to operate them is basically through Bluetooth. Ok, no biggie right ? WRONG.. it CONSTANTLY FREEZES, or DISCONNECTS and then you have to go through the ENTIRE PROCESS AGAIN.. open ColorStream , select your lights and then hurry up turn them on and select your mode because your on borrowed time and it’s inevitably going to freeze up and their you are AGAIN…

I gave it one star and that is generous. The lights seem to work fine, but like virtually everyone else has noted, ColorStream is about as clunky and useless as you can possibly make it. ColorStream seriously needs upgrades. It really wouldn’t be that difficult to expand options for colors and light effects. I sure wish Phillips would take this seriously and support their products. You can do better Phillips.

Why can you set the timer to turn on at a certain time, but not to turn off? Also, the options for the timer are all very annoying flashing lights instead of a calm, steady light choice like are on the main page. I have to re-open ColorStream , find the connection via blue-tooth, and select my product in order to change the lights and to turn it off. Extremely lackluster lights and app. Wish I could return.

In 2023 there is no reason that a billion dollar company with countless smart products and a separate WORKING app can’t make an app the works and looks good for a seemingly well selling light string. The box even says control brightness which there is no feature in ColorStream to do so false advertising…? Don’t waste your money on these. Just get a different brand, anything is better than this shameless cash grab. Returning them for sure.

For Christmas lights, well let’s just say it’s more pastel looking and not very bright. It lacks features in ColorStream . The bulbs are very big and not very bright. I heard this about the Philips RGB products and now I know it’s true. I was thinking about outdoor and indoor LED RGB lighting with one brand but unfortunately, Philips will not meet my needs. I’m definitely taking them back. I’d rather have old fashion lights which are much cheaper, more for Christmas and much cheaper than spending $50 for something I’m not satisfied with.

We bought these lights 4-5 years ago and they were amazing (and controlled by remote). Had WAY more color options and versatility plus lasted us many years over. We finally replaced them and the new iteration is absolute trash. Fewer options, colors, and modes. Plus once we connected the second strand half the lights won’t work and they don’t respond to ColorStream commands. For the price these lights cost and how good they used to be, the new model is a HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT. Save your money.

I purchased the lights about a week ago. Installation went smooth and the initial connection was fine. All of a sudden last night I had no control through ColorStream or with Alexa. The lights have power. I can turn them on and off with the switch manually but ColorStream will not connect. When I swipe down on ColorStream , I get a “no light string detected” error. I unplugged the lights for two minutes as suggested, and still nothing. I also tried deleting and reinstalling ColorStream but that didn’t work either.

There’s should just be like normal lights and when plugged in, turn on. I’ve been working on connecting the lights to my phone and but it’s saying that there are no lights near by, it’s pretty irritating. I’ve tired moving all over my house and still nothing… I just wish they turned on like normal plug in lights, but with the Bluetooth option available to change and get fancy because right now i am putting them back in the box, I would have really loved to use them- but I can’t connect to my phone.

Spent ridiculous amount of money for these lights and they’re so limited. The functions aren’t any better than inexpensive ones. Music feature of ColorStream won’t load any of the music from my media. I can’t keep the multi color on the red green white and not have the whole string flash at the same time. I want to rotate just through Christmas colors randomly, not pink, yellow, purple, blue too. ColorStream won’t save my lights and the lights or group and I have to research for them every time. It should at min store what I saved. I love the Philips Hue light system and plugs so expected similar quality and good features but extremely disappointed here, especially for the price point at >$50 a set.

ColorStream is difficult to manage your lights. It constantly freezes up and you have to reload it. Having it loaded on different devices (like my phone and my wife’s phone at the same time confuses the lights. It doesn’t want to be named in groups on two different phones.

Having to swipe your phone when ColorStream first opens to find your lights is dumb, it should automatically load it when you open ColorStream . It opens to a confusing blank white screen, so why didn’t the company take that opportunity to put their brand on that screen so people remember who they bought it from (missed opportunity for marketing, future money left on the table because they didn’t take the time to do it).

ColorStream Keeps crashing, plus the functions for light does the opposite for example multicolors option puts out solid white light instead of colors, and the solid white light function puts out multi color function instead! ColorStream has been broke for over a year. I wish I could report the issue but ColorStream Store won’t allow me to report crashing or glitches

This should be a better app. Not on par with other Philips products. The color choices are very basic. The light patterns are annoying.
Wish there was a color wheel so you could come up with your own color choices.
Also it crashes or fails a lot.

Love the lights and what you can do with them. The lights are actually very bright and beautiful. You can change them in any color scheme you want and you can make them go faster or slower. It is ingenious. However, ColorStream keeps crashing. Have to constantly unplug and replug them in and/or restart ColorStream over and over again. Being that it’s the holiday season and I just spent quite a bit of money on these lights; ColorStream should work a lot better.

When using the timer, there is no option for solid color lights - lots of flashing choices though.

I’m a bit surprised by the negative reviews for this product/app. Yes, the accompanying instructions leave out important details, but I’ll share some tips I’ve learned. When you program your lights you need to create separate on and off rules (I.e turn on at 4pm; turn off at 10:30pm). I have 4 rules that turn my lights on for 2 hours in the morning and 4.5 hours in the evening.

Now for some shortcomings. The compatible Phillips LEDs are dimmer than other sets and I’m only using them in an area where that is desirable. The warm white color option has a greenish hue to it. Other than that, ColorStream and lights have worked well.