Smart bulbs offer a simple and affordable way to upgrade your home. These products are just as easy to install as traditional bulbs, but come with heaps of functionality – including the ability to program schedules, change their color, or alter their brightness at the press of a button.
Finding the right smart light bulb can be a challenge, however, as there’s an abundance of products to choose from and many of them share similar specs. Ideally, you’ll want a smart bulb that integrates with the rest of your smart home and comes with a smartphone app that’s easy to use.
You typically won’t have to worry about one bulb using more electricity than another, as all LED bulbs are incredibly energy efficient. Most are also simple to install, as they feature the same corkscrew design as traditional bulbs. You will, however, want to pay attention to which smart home platforms it works with. Some offer support for Matter (making them great for most setups), while others only work with Alexa, Google Home, or Apple HomeKit.
If you need help hunting down the best smart light bulbs, here’s a look at five of our favorites. If you’re looking for something more festive, be sure to check out the best holiday lights to brighten up your home.
Philips Hue Smart Light Bulb Starter Kit
Best smart bulb kit
- Useful features
- Great range and responsiveness
- Extensive third-party app compatibility
- Works with Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant
- Bridge must be plugged into your router
- Expensive
Though it’s a bit expensive, the Philips Hue White Ambiance Smart Light Bulb Starter Kit is the best by far. The kit comes with four A19 LED smart bulbs that project a soft, white light, that can be warmed up or cooled down to your liking, from “warm white to cool daylight.” Up to 50 bulbs can be linked together using the Philips Hue Bridge that comes in the kit. To change the brightness, put the lights on a schedule, or dim the bulbs, you can use the Hue app on iOS or Android.
While the kit works with the app, the Philips Hue Smart Light Bulb can also be controlled with a wide range of hubs, such as Amazon Echo, Google Home, Apple HomePod and more. This means you can control the bulbs using just your voice.
Sengled Element Classic A19 Kit
The best budget kit
- Affordable
- Energy efficient
- Support Alexa and Google Assistant
- Not as premium as other options
The Element Classic A19 Kit by Sengled is an affordable all-in-one kit that includes two bulbs and one hub as well as an Ethernet cable. Emitting the power of 800 lumens on a mere 9 watts of energy, these super-efficient bulbs will last up to 25,000 hours. They also connect to your Amazon Echo and Google Home devices, allowing for hands-free voice control.
The Element Home app is compatible with both iOS or Android, and the group control function lets you turn all the lights in your home on or off at the same time. You can also schedule when you want your lights to turn on, and plan your mornings with the Wake-up Time feature. The performance section shows you how much power you are using relative to the money you are saving. The Sengled Element Classic A19 is the perfect kit for newbies.
Sengled Wi-Fi Smart Bulb
The best starter bulb
- Easy installation
- Intuitive smartphone app
- Affordable
- Lacking some smart home integrations
The Sengled Wi-Fi smart bulb connects to your 2.4 GHz network without a hub. It is super easy to set up. You just download the Sengled Home app, twist in the bulb, and the bulb flashes on and off to indicate it is ready to set up. Once you go through the usual steps (log in, connect the device to Wi-Fi, etc.), you have dimmable smart lights you can control with your phone or with your voice via Amazon Alexa.
The low cost and easy setup make the Sengled Wi-Fi Smart Bulb the perfect starter bulb. The Sengled WiFi bulb comes in 2700K soft white.
Wyze Color Bulb
The best budget bulb
- Really bright output
- Colors are very saturated
- Doesn’t require a bridge
- Ridiculously low-priced
- Basic scene modes
At under $10 (and under $40 for a four-pack), the Wyze bulb is a no-brainer. You can control all of your bulbs, or just one, using your Alexa or Google Assistant or the Wyze app. The bulb is dimmable and you can control how cool or warm the light it emits is to set the mood you want in a room. The Wyze Bulb’s temperatures range from 2,700k – 6,500k and a dimmable 800 lumen (60W equivalent).
Nanoleaf Matter A19 Smart Bulb
The best smart bulbs for Matter
- Tons of color options
- Full support for Matter
- Control with voice or app
They’re a bit expensive at $20 a bulb, but the Nanoleaf Matter A19 Smart Bulbs are a solid pick if you need something with support for the interoperability standard. Featuring more than 16 million color options, easy control using the Nanoleaf app or voice control, and dozens of ways to customize their performance, these bulbs are among the best on the market. They’re also one of the few smart bulbs that actually support Matter, putting them ahead of the curve and making them stand out from the competition.
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