Smart light bulbs are useful because they can be controlled using just your smartphone. But the best smart light bulbs often support advanced features, like compatibility with a wide range of smart home platforms, such as Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple Homekit.
After testing dozens of smart lights, we've decided the best smart light bulbs are the Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance bulbs. Lifx's offerings are excellent as well. Fairly simple to set up, these smart light bulbs have the most features of any lights on the market.
If you’re on a budget, check out the Sengled Element Starter Kit or Wiz bulb. Both Wiz and Sengled lights are cheaper than Philips Hue’s bulbs, although they don’t have as many features and integrations.
Philips Hue’s White and Color Ambiance Starter Kit includes your choice of two or four dimmable colored bulbs plus a hub. What separates Philips from the competition is the depth of its app, which is packed with features, including routines, sunrise/sunset automation, scenes, geofencing and a vacation mode. Plus, Philips Hue works with just about every other smart home system or device you can think of: Alexa, Google Home, IFTTT, Nest, SmartThings and more. If you’re looking for a white smart bulb that can be a versatile addition to your smart home, this is it.
However Philips Hue systems have known security flaw. Make sure you're updating your software because malware can jump from your bulbs to your bridge to your network. To update your Philips Hue bridge, go into the Philips Hue mobile app, open Settings and click Software update.
Sengled's PAR38 floodlight is our favorite weatherproof bulb for security cameras and other outdoor fixtures. With built-in motion and daylight sensors, the bulb will light up when it detects movement within 30 feet, and will turn itself off during the day.
The Lifx+ is an expensive bulb, but it's just about the best one money can buy. Like Lifx's other high-end products, the Lifx+ can produce 16 million colors, and it's rated for 1100 lumens, making it one of the brightest smart bulbs out there. It can create a number of cool effects, such as a candle flicker and a strobe, and can sync up to your music or other sounds nearby. Its defining feature is its infrared light, which can provide extra illumination for a security camera.
Xiaomi's Yeelight Color LED bulbs are excellent, Wi-Fi-enabled lights that cost a tiny amount, take less than a minute to set up, and work with Alexa and Google Assistant.
In the Mi Home app, you can set schedules and timers for your bulbs, and dim or change color when another Xiaomi smart device turns on or off. These lights deliver 600 lumens and don't get particularly hot.
TP-Link's second-generation Kasa bulbs have Wi-Fi built-in, so you don't need a bridge to connect them. The lineup includes a soft white bulb, a dimmable bulb, a tunable bulb, and a multicolor bulb. All work with Alexa, Google Assistant, and Cortana; you can take advantage of several advanced automation features if you have TP-Link’s smart router.
Sengled's smart multicolor Wi-Fi LED bulbs aren't the cheapest in their product category but are still quite affordable. The Sengled app offers all the basic smart-bulb features, including timers, scenes, schedules, and routines. Sengled also offers a bright daylight bulb and a soft white bulb, all of which are easy to set up with no hub required.
The Philips Hue Lightstrip is 80 inches long and can display millions of colors. You can trim the strip to fit your needs; adhesive backing makes it easy to stick to a wall or other surface. Like other Philips Hue lights, the LightStrip works with Alexa, HomeKit, Google Assistant, Nest and Samsung SmartThings. However, you'll need to already own the Hue bridge to get these lights to work.
Govee's Minger DreamColor Lightstrip is a 16-foot strip of multicolor smart lights. You can cut it to whatever lengths you'd like, and stick its adhesive-covered back around your home, from your banister to under your kitchen counter. It's one of the easiest smart light products we've ever set up.
At just $39, it's cheaper than most competing lightstrips, and it can produce a number of unique and cool effects. For example, it can sync its color and animations to your music, or other sounds around it, using a built-in microphone.
If you want your home to make a statement, the Nanoleaf Canvas is one of the best wall decorations out there. You can get a set of nine square panels, each measuring 6 inches square, which you can easily hang in whatever arrangement you want. The panels are very easy to connect and stick to your wall; the Nanoleaf app recommends designs and helps you plot out the placement.
You can use the Nanoleaf app, Google Assistant, Alexa, HomeKit or buttons on the panels themselves to cycle through colors and effects to create a custom light show. The panels are also touch-sensitive; you can tap them to turn the lights on and off, long press to create a ripple, and map other gestures to various effects. And with a nifty feature called “Rhythm Mode,” the Canvas can also synchronize colors and effects to the music it hears.
