I don’t buy the colored lights myself, but I will still only buy Hue for three reasons:

[1] Reliability - in my experience, Hue bulbs literally last for years, don’t glitch or flicker, and always respond immediately. I have some Hue bulbs in my house that have been running 24/7/365 for about 8 years.

[2] Proper ZigBee protocol implementation - I run Home Assistant with a third party ZigBee controller. Because Hue adheres to the ZigBee protocol, my controller is fully able to control all Hue bulb functions (including the color stuff) without requiring the use of the Hue Hub. It’s not even plugged in.

The controller also allows me to use any protocol-compliant ZigBee device that “requires” the use of a hub, without the hub, which means no data is sent out of my network from these hubs to cloud servers somewhere, which increases my security.

[3] Hue bulbs are powerful ZigBee mesh network repeaters - they are the backbone of my Home Assistant network. The placement of at least one in every room strengthens the network and allows non-repeater battery-powered ZigBee devices (like motion sensors) to pass their data through the network to the controller more quickly and efficiently than they would if my bulbs were a) cheaper models with weaker signals, b) bulbs with incomplete ZigBee protocol compliance, or c) non-ZigBee bulbs (like wi-fi models).

The strength (and thus, range) of the Hue ZigBee signal also allows for the usage of smart devices at the edge of my network - like an automated pet food dispenser in a room with no plugs and an old, definitely not ZigBee fluorescent tube light.