Smart LED light bulbs are one of the easiest ways to upgrade your home with smart lighting solutions that are both practical and fun. These color-changing bulbs let you customize your space with vibrant RGB color options, cozy warm white or any light color you can imagine. They’re compatible with popular systems like Google Home and can work seamlessly with smart switches and other light switches, making them a key part of your home automation setup.

With app control, you can adjust the brightness (no need for a separate dimmer), set schedules and even program the lights to turn on or off under certain conditions, like when you connect to your home network. Whether you’re setting lights for movie night, creating a relaxing atmosphere or adding a pop of color to your room, these smart lighting solutions are easy to install and surprisingly affordable.

What to look for in smart light bulbs

Connectivity (To hub or not to hub)

One of the biggest appeals of smart lighting solutions is being able to control them from your phone. Most of them are able to do so by connecting to it via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, or via an external hub, which handles the connection for them. Bluetooth connectivity limits the range in which you’ll be able to control the light, so it’s only best for a limited number of bulbs and ones you don’t expect to control when you’re away.

Wi-Fi color-changing bulbs are easy to set up and can be cheaper overall since they don’t require a hub to connect them. However, having something like a central Zigbee hub can make your whole system more reliable since its connection is separate from your home’s network. For that reason, hub-based bulbs tend to be more expandable, so we mainly recommend those if you want to eventually have dozens of smart lights around your home.

White or color?

Most color-changing bulbs you’ll find today are “white and color” bulbs, meaning they can glow in vibrant RGB color-options like blues, pinks, greens and everything in between, as well as shine with different temperatures of white. But there are some white-only bulbs out there, and they are often a bit more affordable than their color counterparts. While we recommend springing for the white-and-color devices, if you’d prefer white only, make sure you’re getting a bulb that can span the color temperature spectrum (typically from about 2000 to 5000 Kelvin), offering you various levels of cool and warm white light.

App features

One of the perks of smart lighting solutions is the amount of control you have over them thanks to their various app-control capabilities. Most companion apps let you do things like set lighting schedules and timers, group individual lights into room designations and create your own custom light “scenes” with different RGB options. But we have seen other features that aren’t as ubiquitous like vacation mode for automatically turning lights on and off to enhance your home security, and sync with media, which changes the colors of lights depending on the music you’re listening to or the game you’re currently live-streaming.

Smart home compatibility

If you use a smart assistant like Amazon’s Alexa or the Google Assistant regularly, make sure the smart lights or smart switches work with your favorite. All of the bulbs we tested supported both Amazon’s and Google’s virtual assistants, allowing you to use voice commands to turn lights on and off, dim them with a virtual dimmer and more. The wildcard here is Siri and Apple’s HomeKit; while numerous smart bulbs have added HomeKit support, not all lights are compatible with Apple’s smart home system.

Expandability

We alluded to this above, but you’ll want to consider how many smart lights you eventually want in your home. Some brands and lighting systems are easier to expand than others, and we generally recommend going for hub-based bulbs if you plan on putting smart lights in every room in your home. If you’re only looking to deck out your home office or living room with some fancy color-changing bulbs, Wi-Fi options should serve you well. Thankfully, these are some of the most affordable smart home devices you can get, so even if you don’t have a clear answer to this question now, you can reconsider your options down the line if you do decide to outfit your home with multiple smart bulbs.

Other smart bulbs we’ve tested

Nanoleaf Smarter Kit

While we’ve recommended Nanoleaf’s Smarter Kits in guides in the past, they’re a bit more niche than other smart lights on this list. They’re best for adding flare to your living room or game-streaming setup as they come in different shapes like hexagons and triangles and can sync with music. In addition to different colors, light animations and schedules, Nanoleaf’s Smart Kits also support Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice commands.

FAQs

What’s the best smart light bulb for Alexa?

There is no best smart light bulb for Alexa. Amazon doesn’t make its own smart bulbs (like it does for smart plugs and thermostats), but rather there are dozens of smart lights made by third-parties that work with Alexa — including all of the ones we tested. Before picking the best smart light bulb for you, make sure to check the voice assistants that the contenders support. You’ll find that most smart light bulbs available today work with Amazon’s Alexa and the Google Assistant, and plenty of them also have support for Apple’s Siri and HomeKit.

Can you put a smart bulb in any lamp?

Smart light bulbs can go into most modern light fixtures — but just like regular bulbs, they need to be the right shape/size for the fixture. A standard A19 smart light bulb should work properly in most table, floor and other lamps. If you have a fixture that takes a specific type of bulb, look for smart bulbs that will fit properly.

Do smart light bulbs use electricity when off?

Smart light bulbs do use a negligible amount of electricity when their fixtures are turned off. This is due to the fact that the smart bulb needs to stay in constant contact with your home’s internet connection or Bluetooth in order to work properly. However, their energy-saving benefits usually outweigh the small amount of power they consume even while turned off.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/best-smart-led-light-bulbs-143022856.html?src=rss

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