It’s hard to overstate the usefulness of smart lights, and once you have one at home, you’ll start to see dozens of different ways to use it: from simply creating a schedule to changing the temperature of the light based on the time of day, or even making it flash when someone rings the doorbell.
Smart lights don’t have to be expensive either. Of course, outfitting your entire home with premium Philips Hue color bulbs would be an expensive endeavor, but it’s not your only option. There are (literally) brilliant bulbs from other brands that offer impressive features and quality for much less money, and even Philips today offers a collection of lamps at an entry-level price.
Below are the three best smart bulbs I recommend for your home. I opted for Hue Essentials in my own apartment, but I would happily accept either of the other options, especially if I was in the mood to party.
Best overall
Philips Hue Essential
Philips Hue is the biggest name in smart lighting and has topped our list of the best smart lighting systems for years, but it’s always had one major drawback: it’s expensive. This is where Philips Hue Essential comes in.
Hue Essential, launched last year, is a more affordable alternative to the standard Philips Hue White & Color Ambiance series, with fewer bulb options and a much lower price. You don’t get to choose from such a huge range of sizes and styles (at launch there were only three bulbs and one light strip available), but in my testing I was very impressed with their performance compared to their full-price counterparts.
Like regular Hue bulbs, Hue Essential lights can be controlled individually via Bluetooth or through the Philips Hue app. Using the app unlocks many more features, including the ability to assign a set of bulbs to a particular room or area and control them together, create automations, apply scenes (themed color palettes), and link them to other devices such as sensors and switches.
The more advanced features also require a Philips Hue bridge, which is an additional expense you’ll need to consider when budgeting for your new smart lighting system, but it’s worth it if you’re adding them to more than one room, especially since it also lets you connect your lights to virtually any smart home ecosystem.
Colors are bright and bold, and in my testing, the Hue Essential bulb was just as responsive as a White & Color Ambiance bulb costing twice as much. The two bulbs use different color technologies. which means the more expensive bulb offers a wider palette, but in everyday life you’ll be hard-pressed to tell the difference.
The only real downside to choosing Hue Essential bulbs is that they can’t be set as low as regular Hue bulbs. This doesn’t matter in most situations, but if you want to use your smart lights to gently wake you up in the morning or for subtle lighting in your home theater, the more expensive bulbs may be the best option.
For everything else, though, Hue Essential bulbs offer an impressive range of features, excellent quality, a well-designed app, and the most extensive compatibility of any smart light you can buy today.
Read our full Philips Hue Essential review
Party lighting
GE Cync Dynamic Lighting Effects
The Philips Hue Essential lights are great, but the GE Cync Lighting Dynamic Effects bulbs offer something that Hue’s don’t: the ability to assign multiple colors to a single bulb so you can set the mood with a single light. Best of all, these party-ready smart lights can change their multiple colors in response to music without the need for additional sensors and accessories. It’s a party at your ceiling and everyone is invited.
“The dynamic effects available here are a treat, especially those that respond to the audio, and set it apart from the competition,” said our reviewer, James Holland. “Buy enough of these and you can probably throw your own rave.”
These bulbs connect directly to Wi-Fi, so unlike Philips Hue lights (which use the Zigbee wireless protocol), there’s no need for a hub to use all of their features. If you’re planning to outfit your entire home with smart lights, a Zigbee mesh network makes more sense (each light effectively acts as a repeater, providing more range), but if you just want fun lighting for one or two rooms, Wi-Fi will do the trick.
In testing, we found GE bulbs refreshingly simple to connect, and the accompanying Cync app is much better designed than many others we’ve tried over the years.
“The GE Cync Lighting Dynamic Effects bulb may be a little expensive compared to other models, but its connectivity is rock solid,” James said. “Actually, the closest issue I’ve had is a second or two of lag when turning off via the app, but that’s only if the light has been on for a while.”
Want to take the party further? There are also dynamic effect wall light panels, LED strips and fairy lights so you can design a setup to suit your room. These bulbs aren’t widely available outside of the United States, however, so if you want to have fun with smart lighting elsewhere, scroll down for my next recommendation.
Read our full GE Cync Dynamic Lighting Effects Review
Budget
The essentials of Nanoleaf material
Nanoleaf has carved out a niche in smart lighting for gamers. Whether you want a light-up pegboard to hold your headphones and controllers, flexible light strings that sync with the on-screen action, or stackable light-up storage cubes to show off your collectibles, Nanoleaf has you covered.
It does, however, have a more sensible side, including excellent smart bulbs that are particularly bright and bold, and which pair perfectly with Nanoleaf’s decorative lighting or be used on their own.
As the name suggests, these particular bulbs are Matter compatible, meaning you can use them as part of a smart home made up of devices from different brands – a significant advantage over many similarly priced smart bulbs.
We encountered some connectivity issues during installation, but once our Nanoleaf bulbs were installed, we were very impressed. We particularly liked how you can easily sync your Nanoleaf bulbs with what’s happening on your screen, as well as the circadian lighting feature, which changes the color temperature and brightness throughout the day to help you feel energized when it’s time to work and relax in the evening. Creating custom color scenes is also a breeze (and you can even share them with other Nanoleaf users if you’re feeling generous).
Like the Hue Essential series, Nanoleaf’s economy bulbs don’t give you a huge range of shapes and styles to choose from – there’s a screw fitting, a bayonet fitting, a spot for recessed ceiling lights, and that’s it – but the fact that you can use them with any major smart home platform opens up a world of options if you want to further expand your smart lighting.
Read our full Nanoleaf Matter Essentials Review
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