Wifi smart devices have one big issue you don't mention, which is security. There are a number of different security scenario's ranging from remote access to your house, leaking of information to the outside (privacy) and more recently, your smart devices being used for denial of service attacks on outside targets. While in theory non-wifi devices could have similar issues, and often have an IP enabled hub (Hue bridge, AppleTV, etc), those are usually secured far better than a cheap light with off the shelf Wifi chips like ESP8266/ESP32.
Reliability: Zigbee > Thread > Bluetooth > WiFi I’d rather have a 100% Thread network but it’s not as reliable as zigbee. Thread tends to create several separate thread networks and when a device is removed from the network, it creates latency in the network.
I love Hue but man - as you say, the price is painful! I’ve picked most of my bulbs up on eBay, for considerably less than from other main online retailers.
