Senic Introduce Outdoor ‘Friends of Hue’ HomeKit Switch

Senic, the German manufacturer of a small but beautifully designed series of switches compatible with Philips Hue (as part of the ‘Friends of Hue’ range), has introduced the first Hue compatible wireless switch capable of withstanding various standard (non-extreme) weather conditions, like water splashes, rain, direct sunlight etc. with an IP44 rating.

As first reported by our friend Fabian over at HueBlog.com, with its use of Zigbee technology, the switch requires the Hue Bridge, which also exposes the switch to HomeKit. However, even though it’s wireless, it actually uses no batteries, instead, relying on EnOcean energy harvesting technology, much like the Philips Hue Tap, generating just enough energy from the pressing of the buttons, to send the relevant signal to the Bridge.

The switch itself comes with four buttons, divided into two oblong-shaped rocker switches. Typically, these would be programmed by default to dim, turn on, or turn off your smart bulbs, but as they’re compatible with both Hue and Apple HomeKit, you can programme them to operate almost anything in your HomeKit home, although each switch would be limited to a single press via HomeKit, as standard for Hue compatible switches.

Here are some basic specs;