Written By:
To determine the best smart light bulbs on the market today we considered vital factors like remote smart features, easy app interfaces, and plenty of lighting options to choose from – including brightness and color manipulation. We looked at hundreds of different brands to find our readers the best smart light bulb and lighting system that’s perfect for any home.
Philips Hue bulbs, our top pick, are one of the oldest and most trusted brands of smart bulbs. They’re incredible at combining ideal features with ease of use. The white bulb pack in particular makes a perfect replacement for older bulbs where you prefer adding new capabilities to your lighting. But it’s not the only smart bulb with great features available, so check out our full list for bulbs that change color, bulbs that work with complex smart home setups, and much more.
Award: TOP PICK
WHY WE LIKE IT: The excellent design of these bulbs is backed up by the great Hue app and all the smart features you can enable. They’re the best picks for replacing old bulbs around your house offering 22 years or 25,000 hours.
Read Full Review: Philips Hue White 4-Pack Review
These Philips bulbs have all the features we like to see: That includes excellent app controls, a great 25,000 lifetime hours rating, Energy certification, and voice command options via Alexa or Google Home. There are also lots of brightness options, including a soft night light mode. The narrow design of the Bluetooth light bulb also makes it easy to install and fit them into most lamps and sockets without trouble (although Philips does provide a number of alternative base options you can check out, too). Philips also offers additional customizable features and control of all your Philip Hue devices through their Philips Hue Bridge 2.0. You can access the hue bridge even when you’re away from home, and the system is compatible with Alexa, Apple Homekit, and Google Assistant.
Just about the only thing these Philips bulbs don’t do is change color – they’re more designed to replace traditional white lights around the home, and aren’t really made to act as mood lighting. Though Philips sells those too, albeit at a premium over these, though our pick includes a pack of 4. You might also like the best smart thermostat for your smart home.
Award: HONORABLE MENTION
WHY WE LIKE IT: These bulbs can switch from warm white to any other color you want – either from the app or with a voice command! They also have great modes and lighting effects so you can get precisely the look you want.
Read Full Review: Peteme 4-Pack 60W Review
If you’re looking for bulbs that change color, you need to check this useful pack. You can set the colors yourself to anything you want, or you can use voice commands with assistants like Alexa and Siri to change colors at any time, which is ideal for turning normal lighting into mood or accent lighting at a moment’s notice. Light effects are also included!
The app is also smart enough to group bulbs together or split them apart depending on how many lights you want to control at one time. Brightness adjustments and thorough scheduling are also supported! Lastly, for these smart lights no hub is needed, though these bulbs only connect over 2.4Ghz, which is a common standard on most routers. The best smart lock is another great home addition.
Award: BEST QUALITY BULB
WHY WE LIKE IT: This tunable bulb from the Kasa line has all the typical smart features for control, plus the ability to directly set the white temperature to whatever you like. It’s a perfect pick for those who like to tinker until they find just the lighting for their favorite activities. If you’re interested in warm white lighting, then check out our best white led strip lights.
Read Full Review: TP-Link Kasa Tunable Review
The Kasa line of smart devices is easy to recommend – they’re durable products with a great app and excellent support from TP-Link. It’s no surprise that Kasa also has some of the best and brightest smart bulb packs around: This bulb has easy scheduling and remote control settings, and is compatible with all the voice assistants for quick commands.
This bulb is also “tunable” which means that you can control the temperature as well as the brightness. That affects how warm and natural the bulb’s light is: different temperatures are suitable for different rooms, times of day, and so on, so this is a great feature to see. Also, no hub is needed to operate these. Smart bulbs are one of the best smart home devices for saving money.
Award: BEST WHITE LIGHT BULB
WHY WE LIKE IT: This bulb ditches color temperature changes for a simpler brightness setup that’s easier to learn and saves some money. The result is a high quality white bulb that’s great for anyone, even those without much smart device experience.
Read Full Review: TP-Link Kasa Review
This bulb is like our first Kasa pick, but without that tunability feature that lets you set the color temperature – just normal brightness controls from 1% to 100% on this model. That actually creates a couple different advantages: It makes this bulb even more affordable than its alternative, and it’s one less thing for buyers to learn when they’re setting the bulb up and getting it to work.
Otherwise, all the great features are still here, including easy schedule via the Kasa app, voice control with Alexa and Google Assistant – in fact, with the swift setup, these may be the best smart light bulbs for Google Assistant that we’ve seen.. It’s also Energy Star certified! The best smart outlet will also add some versatility to your smart home.
We’re sorry, this product is temporarily out of stock
Award: BEST BUDGET
WHY WE LIKE IT: Alexa’s amazing smart home compatibility combines with support for IFTTT scenes on this bulb, making it excellent for setting up complex smart situations. Also, if you buy them in the recommended 4 pack, they’re our budget pick!
Read Full Review: Saudio Smart Wi-Fi Bulb 4-Pack Review
So far, all our bulbs have had compatibility with Alexa (assuming you have an Echo device around to talk to, of course). What makes these the best smart light bulbs for Alexa? Well, it’s also compatible with IFTTT (if this then that), a smart platform for setting up more complicated scenes and controlling multiple smart devices more easily in unique situations. That combines perfectly with Alexa’s broad smart home compatibility – and there’s also Google Assistant and Siri support if you prefer those voice commands.
The other smart features here are also great, including color change options, quick scheduling, and a variety of light modes that make it very easy to set up groups of your own and control multiple lights throughout the house. If you prefer strip lighting to a bulb, take a look at the best waterproof strip lights instead.
Award: BEST LIFE SPAN
WHY WE LIKE IT: If you like changing colors for various mood lighting or setting the scene, you’ll love these bulbs that last a whopping 35,000 hours! They’re durable, easy to set up, and have voice control options that make switching colors a breeze.
Read Full Review: Above Lights Smart Light Bulb 2-Pack
These bulbs offer a default soft white light, but are happy to switch to any of over 16 million different colors for mood lighting, fun scenes, and much more. Combine this with the great brightness settings, and it’s easy to see why the bulbs are so great at making your home colorful – when you want it to be.
The bulbs also come with voice assistant compatibility for Alexa and Google Assistant, which can indeed change colors as well as brightness with a word. The bulbs are also well-rated at 35,000 lifetime hours, one of the highest on our list. Compare this to the best warm LED strip lights to figure out what’s best for you.
Award: BEST TRADITIONAL BULB REPLACEMENT
WHY WE LIKE IT: Wyze’s well-designed bulbs give you the perfect scheduling options and voice control, plus great integration with other platforms. They’re ideal for replacing old bulbs and upgrading lighting around your house at the same time!
Read Full Review: Wyze Bulb 4-Pack
Wyze’s no-nonsense approach to smart bulbs makes these 60-watt equivalent models the best option for swiftly replacement old bulbs with new versions that look and act a lot like the replaced bulbs – plus some great extra smart features. In this case, those features include scheduling, IFTTT integration, an extra vacation mode, and easy group controls.
The Wyze bulb also supports dimming, which you can do either on the app or with voice commands via Alexa or Google Assistant. If you want to invest in other Wyze products, the bulbs are also compatible with the Wyze Sense platform, so they can respond to motion sensors, etc. If you prefer strip lighting for your home, take a look at the best LED strip lights instead.
Just having an app doesn’t say a lot about a smart bulb: It’s all about what features that bulb has. So to get started we first looked for bulbs that give you the most smart features packed into one light.
That includes being able to change the bulb’s brightness levels, setting schedules, controlling the bulb color with pinpoint accuracy, and even adjusting the bulb’s color temperature. Having access to both white and colored light variations will also allow you to freely set the mood you desire for each room. The more customization the bulb has, the better!
We also care a lot about usability. In our tests and research, we favored bulbs that have great apps with easy-to-learn interfaces. We also like to see handy modes that can kind of act as shortcuts to various settings, like sunrise/sunset modes, reading modes, “travel” modes for when you’re away, and similar options. Voice assistants like Alexa and Google assistant are also great for easy usability. Oh, and no modern smart bulb should require a hub to use. Whatever brand you decide to go with, without a hub is always the superior choice.
Then we look for nice extras that make a great pairing with smart features. For example, we awarded extra points for Energy Star certifications. We also liked to see support for setting “scenes” with other smart devices around your home so they can all be controlled at once (dim the lights, play some music, etc., all with one command).
Smart bulbs are noticeably more expensive than even their LED counterparts, but prices have gone down greatly in recent years, making initial costs much more affordable. Then there are the long-term savings: smart LED light bulbs use very little electricity and can last for a very long time -- Philips Hue bulbs, for example, are rated for 25,000 hours, which is much longer than most normal LED bulbs. You can also net some extra savings by carefully scheduling smart bulbs to only turn on at certain times in the day. After a few years, thosee smart led bulbs will be paying for themselves. Then there’s the extra usability that smart bulbs provide. If you really want a bulb that you can schedule, dim, or shift colors on demand with, then paying a little extra for those capabilities is probably worth it for you. Ultimately, it’s rarely worthwhile to make every light in your house an LED smart bulb, but very worth it to choose one or several important lights to give these capabilities to
The average smart bulb is designed to fit into the traditional United States sockets with a medium screw based - the same kind that used the old-fashioned incandescent lights. Fortunately, this medium based is so common that it’s probably the type of socket you have throughout your house (except for fluorescent tubes, of course). However, there are some exceptions: Chandeliers may use mini light bulbs, Some small lamps may use double-contact bases, and other alternative designs also exist. Finding smart bulbs that fit these kinds of sockets is possible, but will take some research.
Absolutely not. A smart plug is designed to fit into a home outlet, and give smart capabilities to whatever device you plug into that outlet (setting schedules, measuring energy use, etc.). It’s an entirely different kind of smart device than a smart plug. In fact, the two are largely exclusive: If you have a plug-in lamp, you can either buy a smart bulb and and screw it in, or buy a smart plug and control the lamp that way while still using a normal bulb - but using both together is useless and confusing. The same is true of a smart light switch.
Yes....if you want to use any of their extra features. The bulb can still turn on and off with the switch like a normal light bulb, but it will need a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi connection to connect to the app and allow you to do things like set colors, dim the lights, create schedules, work with voice assistants...and every other additional feature. Without Wi-Fi, a smart wi-fi led bulb is a waste - but it will still light up.
A tiny bit, yes, as they need to stay connected to your Wi-Fi system, but when not being actively used or controlled they enter a sort of hibernate mode that saves a lot of power. So, maybe 0.15 watts per hour or so, which adds up to around 2 cents a month, depending on your electricity rates. In other words, it’s quite negligible.
Amazon Alexa Google Assistant? Judging which smart assistant beats the other can be a challenge since both offer similar features for roughly the same price. Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant, Alexa or Google, Alexa Google Assistant... Your mind is probably jumping back and forth, trying to determine which choice is right for you. And to tell you the truth, both are excellent choices that offer a variety of features, and the decision honestly depends on what you're looking for in an AI assistant. If we had to choose, we would recommend Alexa as the superior choice for smart home integration. Smart devices can do a lot more when you connect them to Alexa. Even something seemingly simple such as smart lighting works with Alexa in unique and innovative ways. For instance, your Smart Led Lights will turn on if Alexa hears a window breaking or a fire alarm going off. To get started have a look at the Alexa Smart Light Starter Kit. The kit includes 1 Amazon Smart Plug, 1 LIFX Mini White Wi-Fi Smart Bulb, and an introductory smart lighting pamphlet. LIFX bulbs are dimmable and allow you to alter the brightness with an output of 800 lumens.
Homekit is Apple's smart home solution that lets you control and communicate with smart home devices. Their Homekit support allows users to control appliances with voice commands through Siri and boasts many similar features to Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. But which AI assistant is the better choice? Homekit Alexa Google? As we've mentioned above, in comparison to Google Assistant, Alexa is the better choice and remains superior – only if you're not an Apple fanatic and own every Apple product available. For users who have yet to purchase multiple Android or Apple products, Amazon Alexa offers a variety of compatible smart gadgets to choose from, including a range of both essential and fun features to explore.
After taking all of the below criteria into consideration, we...
Walk around with your very own customizable light source when...
There’s a lot to hate about IKEA. It’s not an...
Meet the new best smart light bulbs for recessed lighting....
If you like what the Philips Hue Bulbs have to...
The 60’s were big on mood rings and lava lamps...
Adjusting brightness is great and all, but what about color...
Browsing the best smart light bulbs and you’ll find that...
Finding the best smart light bulbs can be time consuming....
If these white bulbs look strange to you, it’s because...
If you couldn’t live with the TP-Link Kasa Tunable’s pricing,...
Path lights not only add some fresh value to the...
The Above Lights Smart Light Bulb 2 Pack may not...
You might’ve crossed paths with smart lighting before, and quickly...