Philips Hue Tap Dial switch review: a smooth way to control your smart lights

The $49.99 Philips Hue Tap Dial switch is a smart lighting controller for the Hue superuser. It’s the most powerful and innovative Hue accessory so far, with four buttons and a physical dial for dimming. Out of the box, the buttons and dial are tied to a zone or room, making it seem like an overpowered Hue Smart Dimmer Switch. But why limit yourself to one room when this can control your Hue lights throughout your house?

The Tap Dial is a wireless, battery-operated smart switch that can turn your Philips Hue lights on and off, brighten and dim them, and set lighting scenes. With a magnetic base, it can be attached to its included wall plate like a regular wall switch or placed on any metallic or flat surface for use as a remote control.

It’s part of Hue’s smart lighting ecosystem, which works with Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings. Signify (owners of Hue) also confirmed to The Verge that the switch will be upgraded to work with the new smart home standard Matter. That means one day, it might be able to control a lot more than just Hue lights.

How we review and rate products

The Tap Dial is hefty, weighing just over two and a half ounces (an ounce heavier than the Apple TV remote). But that weight is to its advantage; you can turn the dial while it’s sitting on the table, and it won’t slide around. The dial itself has a good solid feel as you turn it, with nice haptic feedback. It’s a lot like rotating a Nest Learning Thermostat, and it’s only a smidge smaller than that. It also worked quickly and reliably, and the dimming action was smooth and responsive, with no noticeable lag.

Out of the box, it’s set up to dim whichever lights, room, or zone you pair it with in the Hue app. Buttons one through three adjust the light levels, and the fourth cycles through five Hue scenes. The dial gives more precise dimming, and a long press on any button turns the lights off. (Hue scenes are different combinations of brightness, color temperature, or color, depending on the types of bulbs you have.)

But there’s no real reason to buy the Tap Dial if you’re just going to control a single room or zone. That’s what the Hue Dimmer Switch does well at about half the price. The Tap Dial shines as a multizone controller for people with lots of Hue lights.

I set up the Tap Dial in my entry hall,…