I didn’t expect to be making yet another lighting video so soon, but Philips Hue finally tackled the biggest pain point: price. The new Hue Essential A19 comes in at about $15 per bulb (in a 4-pack) and—this is the real headline—Hue is now doing Matter over Thread on both the Essential A19 and the updated Hue A19. I added both to Apple Home as Matter devices, confirmed in the Eve app that they were actually on Thread, and then ran side-by-side tests for color, brightness, and dimming. Here’s the catch: you kind of have to pick a lane. The Hue Bridge is not a Matter controller or a Thread border router, so once I paired these bulbs to Apple Home via Matter over Thread, I couldn’t also add them to the Hue Bridge/Hue app. And without the Hue Bridge path, I lost Hue app control and I also lost Adaptive Lighting in Apple Home—same issue people saw after the Hue Bridge Matter update. If you want Hue app features and Adaptive Lighting, you’re still living the Bridge life (Zigbee to Bridge, then into Apple Home). If you’re ditching the Bridge to prioritize Thread, the Aqara T2 is still really compelling because it kept Adaptive Lighting over Thread—though Hue still looked a bit more vibrant in my comparisons.