Leading Innovations: The Premier Smart Lights of the Year 2024
Leading Innovations: The Premier Smart Lights of the Year 2024
Read update
- We’ve reviewed our recommendations and these are still the best smart lights you can buy.
Smart lights are not just a way to add extra convenience to illuminating interior and exterior spaces. They’re an opportunity to reduce energy consumption and create a personalized ambiance.
UPDATE: 07/15/2024
We’ve reviewed our recommendations and these are still the best smart lights you can buy.
GE CYNC Smart LED Bulbs
Best Smart Lights Overall
$24 at Amazon
Philips Hue Starter Kit
Best Smart Light System
$175 at Amazon
Kasa Smart Light Bulbs
Best Smart Light Bulb
$14 at Amazon
Govee RGBIC Bluetooth LED Strip Lights (65.6ft)
Best Smart Light Strip
$70 at Amazon
Govee Outdoor Ground Lights
Best Outdoor Smart Light
$60 at Amazon
What To Look For in a Smart Light in 2024
The hunt for the best smart light can be complicated. Not only are there different smart lights for different uses, but there’s also an abundance of brands and varieties lining the shelves. So, how do you know what to look for to ensure you’re choosing the best light for your home lighting? There are a few things to look at, but most importantly, you need to know what kind of smart light solution you need .
Are you illuminating a pathway, or do you need to start replacing your interior bulbs? Once you determine the purpose, you can navigate to different categories, which include whole-home smart light systems, individual smart bulbs, smart light strips, outdoor and weather-resistant smart lights, and Christmas smart lights.
No matter what you’re shopping for, you want to pay attention to three key elements. First, does the light need a hub, or is it Bluetooth-compatible? You may want a full system that runs entirely off your Wi-Fi, which may require a separate pricey hub or a smart home system installed, or you can opt for Bluetooth-only lights.
The latter may be cheaper, but you can only control the bulb when you’re near it. A hub or Wi-Fi-enabled bulb can also connect with other branded smart home devices for full-home automation.
Second, look at the lumens , or the number that measures the quantity of visible light. A base figure to remember is 800 lumens, the brightness of a 60-watt incandescent bulb. Smart lights are typically dimmable, but you want the base lumens to be high enough to produce a bright enough light for your space.
Finally, you need to consider whether you want a standard white bulb or a multi-colored one. This isn’t as important a requirement because colored bulbs almost always have a warm and cool white option. Still, a price disparity between all-white and multicolored bulbs may sway your decision-making if you’re not interested in colorful displays or customizable scenes.
Keeping all of this in mind, here are our top picks for the best smart lights.
How Did We Research | ||
---|---|---|
Models Evaluated | Hours Researched | Reviews Analyzed |
15 | 5 | 10 |
How-To Geek’s product recommendations come from the same team of experts that have helped people fix their gadgets over one billion times. We only recommend the best products based on our research and expertise. We never accept payment to endorse or review a product. Read More »
Best Smart Light Overall: GE CYNC Smart LED Bulbs
GE
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
No hub required | First-time setup isn’t as simple as it could be |
Option to add a motion detector or dimmer switch | |
Can be controlled with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth | |
Compatible with Matter smart home hubs |
In a market dominated by Phillips Hue, Govee, and TP-Link, the choice of the GE CYNC Smart Bulb as our top pick might seem odd. But there are several good reasons why we think these bulbs stand out, not the least being their excellent build quality and reasonable price.
The GE bulbs don’t require a hub, which can be a major plus for many users. Smart bulbs are often one of the first ways people dip their toes into the world of smart home tech, at a time when a hub is perhaps not required. If you decide more control is needed in your smart home setup at a later date, the newer GE bulbs are fully compatible with Matter hubs.
Controlling the GE smart bulbs can be done through their redesigned and much-improved app, or you can use voice commands by connecting to Alexa or Google Assistant. Unlike older GE smart bulbs, you can connect to those voice assistants straight out of the box rather than through a separate smart plug, which is a definite improvement.
You also have some extra control methods available in the optional motion sensor , dimmer switch , or GE remote, making these some of the most adaptable smart bulbs on the market. Another significant plus point of the GE smart bulbs is that you can control them via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. This isn’t unique to these bulbs, but the alternative control option is a handy backup if your Wi-Fi service goes down.
There are a couple of different versions of the GE bulb available, including full multicolor, soft white, and tunable white. All are available in a variety of form factors as well, like recessed spotlight bulbs. There is also a Dynamic Color version , which can be set to change color based on the music played in the room.
If you don’t require a smart home hub from the get-go, the GE CYNC Smart Bulbs are a high-quality and reliable way to add smart lighting to your home.
- Title: Leading Innovations: The Premier Smart Lights of the Year 2024
- Author: Eric
- Created at : 2024-08-31 14:52:42
- Updated at : 2024-09-01 14:52:42
- Link: https://buynow-reviews.techidaily.com/leading-innovations-the-premier-smart-lights-of-the-year-2024/
- License: This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.