Smart lights are probably one of the first gadgets you think of when you hear “smart home devices.” That’s no surprise, as automated bulbs, LED light strips, and floodlights have been around about as long as smart home ecosystems have existed. Combining peace-of-mind security with some wildly entertaining features, smart lights are practical, fun, and usually aren’t too expensive either. They’re also relatively easy to install.
But as you can guess, because smart lights have been around since the early days of smart home tech, there are hundreds of products to choose from. Thankfully, we’ve been vetting and testing this type of hardware for years. So, when we say we know a thing or two about smart lighting, we don’t mean that lightly. Here are the best smart lights available now.
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Source: Sengled
Sengled Wi-Fi Color Changing Light Bulb
Best overall
Top smart lights available
Best overall
Sengled Wi-Fi Color Changing Light Bulb
Nothing beats the ease of a Sengled system
$25 $30 Save $5
Sengled is the kind of smart lighting company that wants you to experience the thrills and convenience of automation as quickly and easily as possible. The app is a breeze to use, the setup is extremely basic, and the price is right, too.
- Very user-friendly
- Over 16 million color options
- Works with Alexa and Google Assistant
- Glitch out every now and then
It doesn’t get much better than Sengled. These user-friendly smart bulbs come in a four-pack and typically cost less than $30. And one of the best parts of the package is there’s no hub required. That’s right; these bulbs connect directly to 2.4GHz Wi-Fi and are even compatible with Alexa and Google Home. Your main control tool will be the Sengled app, but simple voice commands via smart speaker can change colors and brightness levels, as well as toggle lighting on and off.
Within the Sengled app, you’ll find additional customizations for scheduling and mood scenes, and the ability to choose from over 16 million color options. Each Sengled bulb is guaranteed to last up to 25,000 hours, and there’s little in the way of maintenance, save for a software update periodically. At times, we’ve experienced some random glitches, where lights may turn on or off without a command, but these rare occurrences are pretty par for the course with any smart lighting product.
Premium pick
Philips Hue Smart Bulb Starter Kit
The O.G. smart lighting brand is still a mainstay
$149 $200 Save $51
When we think of smart lighting, Philips Hue is practically synonymous. Hue bulbs are some of the best in the business, and that begins with this handy starter kit.
- Tried and true smart light brand
- Solid ecosystem integrations
- Over 16 million color options
Philips Hue is to smart lighting as iRobot’s Roomba is to the world of robot vacuums. If you’re looking to outfit your home or business with automated lighting with access to some of the most advanced controls in the game (including IFTTT compatibility), invest in a Philips Hue system. If you’ve never purchased Hue hardware, the Philips Hue Smart Bulb Starter Kit is the perfect place to start.
Bundled with four 60W color-changing light bulbs and the Philips Hue Hub — which connects directly to your Wi-Fi — the Hue Starter Kit can do it all. Adjust brightness, change colors, create schedules, build scenes, and easily link your bulbs with other Hue peripherals. With the hub connected, controlling up to 50 Hue bulbs is possible. If you don’t leverage the Hub, the bulbs can be controlled via Bluetooth from the Hue Bluetooth app, but you’ll only be able to set up ten smart bulbs.
It’s compatible with Alexa, Google Home, and Apple HomeKit, and one or two voice commands can automate the lighting for entire rooms and floors of your home.
Best value
TP-Link Kasa Smart Bulb
Smart bulbs that cost less than the rest
$20 $30 Save $10
Not every smart home device should cost an arm and a leg. If you’re looking to add smart lighting to your home or business without breaking the bank, the TP-Link Kasa KL135 kit is a reliable option that looks and performs like smart products priced much higher.
- As good (or better) as bulbs that cost twice as much
- Bold, brilliant colors and warm/cool whites
- Simple setup and easy to use
- Wi-Fi can be glitchy
- Bulbs can get pretty warm
Another brilliant (lighting pun intended) example of plug-and-play automation, the TP-Link Kasa KL135 bundle, comes with two 1000-lumen bulbs that connect directly to 2.4GHz Wi-Fi. That means no hub is required, so there’s less to set up and maintain. Since they are the best value pick, you may wonder if the Kasa bulbs are as cheap in quality as they are in price. However, that’s simply not the case.
About as capable as any other smart light bulbs, the KL135 bulbs let you choose from over 16 million dimmable colors (via the Kasa Smart app), as well as warm to cool whites. Color temperature can even be matched to sunlight patterns, one of our favorite features. The Kasa Smart app also gives you access to custom lighting schedules, group controls, assistant integrations (Alexa and Google Home), and more.
While some users have reported intermittent problems with Wi-Fi connectivity, these are typically issues that can be resolved with a simple bulb reset.
Best strip
Govee White LED Strip Lights
Hang them under cabinets, above mirrors, or on the ceiling
LED light strips are a great way to add style and illumination to your home on the cheap. One of our favorite options is the Govee White LED Strip Lights. They can be cut into size and are simple to install. While some folks will want more advanced smart features, the attached remote still offers six brightness settings.
- Peel-and-stick LED light strips
- Budget-friendly
- Six brightness settings
- No Wi-Fi or Bluetooth controls
- Not compatible with voice assistants
LED strip lights are super-cool to use and about as simple to set up as any other smart lighting product. Our favorite version has to be the Govee White LED Strip Lights, though. Available in 16.4 and 32.8-foot spools, you can choose between Daylight White and Warm White bulb colors. Designed to be cut into multiple sections, the powerful adhesive will keep the strips sealed to your home’s many floor-to-ceiling surfaces.
Power-wise, everything loops back to a 12V power adapter with an attached remote. You can choose between six brightness settings and power on and off the LEDs. What you haven’t heard us cover is an app or voice assistant compatibility. This is because this product doesn’t support advanced smart features. That said, if those features are important, you can invest in the Govee 50-foot strand instead.
Best for entertainment
Nanoleaf Shapes Light Panels
Turn your living room into an all-out disco
$180 $200 Save $20
Nanoleaf Shapes bring boatloads of fun to the party, and they’re not overly difficult to get going. Connect them any way you want, and then enjoy features like rhythmic music syncing, touch controls, and Match Mode, which mirrors the colors of your TV screen to the Nanoleaf panels.
- So many ways to install
- Intuitive app
- All kinds of entertaining features
- Expensive
- Needs to be plugged in for power
- Not the best app
We’ve highlighted how smart lights change colors, dim, and receive automation from apps and popular voice assistants like Alexa and Siri. These features are convenient and can add quite a bit of atmosphere to your living space, but shouldn’t some smart lights just be purely entertaining? The answer to that question is a resounding “yes,” and such a product does exist. It’s the Nanoleaf Shapes.
These LED panels, available in multiple shapes, can be attached in several configurations based on your space and preference. Once all the pieces are connected, Nanoleaf’s Connect+ tech links the panels via Wi-Fi, which is where the Nanoleaf app comes in. The app can be used to change panel colors, brightness, and configurations, as well as create schedules and scenes as you would with other smart lights. But wait, there’s more.
The built-in Rhythm music sync is one of our favorite features. It allows the Nanoleaf panels to pulse along with your favorite songs. Haptics are onboard, too, so the panels will react to touch. You can even create custom Touch Actions to execute an automation medley when a panel is touched.
Best for outdoors
Nanoleaf Multicolor Outdoor String Lights
Illuminate your exterior spaces
$120 $130 Save $10
Here’s a set of LED string lights that will work outside. In our hands-on testing of the Nanoleaf bulbs, we found them to be easy to install, bright, colorful, and simple to control. That being said, the Nanoleaf app could do with some TLC.
- Cool gemstone design for the bulbs
- Works with Alexa, Google Home, and HomeKit
- Supports Matter
- Expensive for string lights
- Glitchy app
Do you know what’s even better than LED light strips? Outdoor LED light strips. That’s why we’ve included these Nanoleaf Multicolor Outdoor String Lights. This 49-foot strand has 20 multicolored bulbs that tie back to a power adapter. Controls are handled by the Nanoleaf app, with compatibility extending to Alexa, Google Assistant, and HomeKit. You can even control them via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Matter over Wi-Fi.
Read Our Review
Nanoleaf Multicolor Outdoor String Lights review: Smart and bright
These smart string lights will turn your backyard into a multi-hued wonderland
Of course, no outdoor product is complete without a proper IP rating. The Nanoleaf bulbs are IP65 rated (the power supply is IP44 rated), so, rain or shine, they can be used. And as far as hanging them, you’ll have your choice of screws, S-hanger hooks, Q-hanger hooks, and zip ties.
Best for security
Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Camera
Lights properties at night
$180 $250 Save $70
The Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight is far more than a smart, very bright, lighting product, it’s a complete floodlight camera system. With a lens that captures a 160-degree field of view at 2K resolution, you’ll never need to worry about prowlers crossing your property line.
- Very bright floodlight
- Sturdy mounting equipment
- Works with several voice assistants
- Ball-and-socket mount is tough to work with
- App could use some work
A smart floodlight is one of the best investments you can make for your property’s exterior, and the Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight just happens to be one of our favorite products for the job. When we tested the device a few years back, we were floored by how bright that floodlight gets. Better yet, it’ll show up in Alexa and Google Home as a standalone smart light, which means you can control the lighting without messing with the camera. Speaking of which, this thing has a mighty beast of a cam.
Read Our Review
Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight review: Bright lights, big value
Cameras and floodlights are the new chocolate and peanut butter
It delivers a wide 160-degree field of view and 2K resolution, and you’ll also have the choice of IR-powered night vision or colored night footage when assisted by the floodlight itself. While we do wish it were easier to adjust the Pro 3 to get the perfect angle (the ball-and-socket mount makes this difficult), it is a terrific smart home device for surveillance and a helpful bit of tech for when you arrive home late at night.
Also consider
Philips Hue Lightguide Ellipse bulb
Behold the boutique
Sometimes you divert the norm to experience the more boutique side of smart home devices. Such is the case with the Philips Hue Lightguide Ellipse, a big smart bulb that looks rather otherworldly, and that’s why we love it. Beyond its appearance, though, it’s another great Philips Hue product you can automate with several control methods.
- Unique design
- Works just as well as any other Philips Hue gear
- 25,000-hour bulb life
- Pricey for only one bulb
- Doesn?t get very bright
The Philips Hue Lightguide Ellipse is a real statement piece for whatever room in your home it will live in. Featuring a rounded design with an LED fixture in the middle, the Ellipse delivers a spectacular array of bright and bold colors. Like many other RGB products on this list, you can use the Hue app to choose from over 16 million colors and brightness settings. Setting custom automations, build schedules, scenes, and more are also possible.
Read Our Review
Philips Hue Lightguide Ellipse bulb review: If it fits, it’s gorgeous
Just don’t assume this will be the only light you need to illuminate your space
Price is our biggest gripe. This is a $90 smart bulb, and you only get one. But this is more of a boutique product than a practical automation tool. You may find it’s not bright enough, either, which will be okay when combined with other smart lights.
Add automated illumination with smart lights
Smart lights are more than just a bunch of web-connected bulbs that can be controlled with your phone, they’re a lifestyle. Okay, that might be a bit much, but they are some truly fun automation devices that you can manage and customize to your heart’s content (in most cases). And the Sengled Wi-Fi Color Changing Light Bulb leads the pack as the best overall pick.
A breeze to install and a thrill to use, the Sengled bulbs don’t even require a Wi-Fi hub. They pair directly to your network and even feature Alexa and Google Assistant compatibility. The bulbs are also cheap enough for most folks to afford. But if you’re not concerned with saving a buck or two, the Philips Hue Smart Bulb Starter Kit is a great option.
Philips Hue has been around since the dawn of smart lighting, and as one of the O.G. brands, they’ve really got the technology figured out. The Smart Bulb Starter Kit includes four bulbs and a Hue Bridge, an add-on that brings so much more to the equation, including controlling up to 50 Hue bulbs simultaneously.
For those on an ultra-scrimp-and-save budget, there’s the TP-Link Kasa Smart Bulb. Sold as a pack of two A19 smart bulbs (with no hub required), these smart lights are bright, colorful, and simple to control via the Kasa Smart app and voice assistants like Alexa.
Best overall
Sengled Wi-Fi Color Changing Light Bulb
It doesn’t get better than Sengled
$28 $30 Save $2
Whether it’s your first smart lighting purchase or your twentieth, the Sengled Wi-Fi Color Changing Light Bulb is an excellent choice. It’s easy to set up, can be controlled in several ways, and connects directly to your Wi-Fi network.
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