Philips should be blushing after leaking its Hue smart doorbell

The Philips Hue brand has built a solid lineup of smart home devices, mostly focused on lights and security cameras. But there’s been one big gap: no video doorbell. Well, that might be about to change. Some unexpected clues in the Hue app hint at an unannounced smart doorbell.

According to Hue Blog’s findings, Signify’s work on a video doorbell just got some solid proof. The latest Philips Hue app update includes visual assets for a “Philips Hue Secure Doorbell,” spotted in the setup process for devices without QR codes. This marks the first official appearance of the doorbell, complete with a graphic rendering.

Hue Blog shared images of the once-rumored device, along with its connectivity details. The supposed Philips Hue doorbell sticks to a classic design, with a camera on top and a button on the bottom. It’s a sleek, rectangular video doorbell with a tall, slim build.

While the leaked images give us a good look at the doorbell’s design, they’re keeping the nitty-gritty specs under wraps. We’re especially in the dark about the camera sensor size. Most video doorbells these days shoot in 1080p, capturing full-length views of your doorstep, and it’s safe to assume that this Hue model will too. And you can pretty much bank on motion detection—after all, Hue has already nailed that feature with its security cameras and outdoor lights.

The Philips Hue Secure doorbell design as seen in the app

No battery option here, though

As with most smart doorbells, it looks like the Philips Hue Secure Doorbell will need to be hardwired, meaning no battery-powered option. That means you’ll need existing doorbell wiring, but the upside is it should play nice with your home’s chime system. From what we can tell, it’ll connect using both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, just like Hue’s current security cameras do.

According to the blog post, we might see the Hue Secure doorbell hit shelves this fall. The fact that it’s already popping up in the app tells us two things: first, Hue’s engineers are further along than we thought. Second, somebody might be in trouble for letting those details slip.

Despite the inadvertent disclosure, a Hue video doorbell would be the perfect missing piece for their security setup. Right now, Hue Secure includes cameras, such as the Philips Hue Secure Floodlight Camera, and contact sensors that already play nice with their smart lights.