The Nanoleaf Essentials Matter A19 smart bulbs are reliable and easy to control thanks to support for Apple Home, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings. You’ll even benefit from Matter support, allowing you to sync them with any other products with Matter, regardless of the smart home platform. They’re a bit expensive for smart bulbs, but most shoppers will find them to be a great addition to their home.

Nanoleaf Essentials Matter A19

Best Smart Light Bulb

$42 $50 Save $8

They’re not cheap, but the Nanoleaf Essentials Matter A19 light bulbs are reliable, support millions of colors, and work with most smart home platforms.

Pros

• Supports Matter
• Access over 16 million colors
• Tons of customization options

Light strips are a great choice if you want to install vibrant lights on the underside of cabinets, the back of a computer monitor, or any other piece of furniture. Few options are as compelling as the Philips Hue Bluetooth Lightstrip, as it’s built to the high standards of Philips and is available in a gigantic 80-inch bundle (which should be more than enough for most applications).

Part of the appeal of this light strip is that it works via Bluetooth—an uncommon feature in a marketplace dominated by Wi-Fi. You can also trim the strips down to size depending on your needs or check out prebuilt scenes, the latter of which makes it easy to quickly enjoy the lights without tinkering with dozens of settings.

However, you’ll need to bundle in a Hue Bridge for more automation and out-of-home controls. That shouldn’t be a dealbreaker, but will inflate your budget if you want to access everything the Hue Bluetooth Lightstrip has to offer.

Philips Hue Bluetooth Lightstrip

Best Smart Light Strip

You’ll need a Hue Bridge for some features, but the Philips Hue Bluetooth Lightstrip is easy to operate and reliable, making it a great choice for all your lighting needs.

Pros

• Reliable Philips construction
• Easy installation
• Powerful companion app

Cons

• Hue Bridge required for some features

Whether you want to decorate your home’s exterior or light up an entire room, the Nanoleaf Essentials Matter String Lights are up to the task. They are IP44-rated for weatherproofing and offer Matter support so you can easily sync them with the rest of your smart home.

You can use the mobile companion app to dive into prebuilt scenes, create custom lighting effects, or set up a schedule for your lights to toggle on and off. You’ll also have plenty of string to work with, as the lights are 20 meters long and feature 250 addressable lights. They’re expensive when not on sale, but that’s about the only fault you’ll find with these premium LEDs.

Nanoleaf Essentials Matter String Lights

Best Smart String Lights

$60 $120 Save $60

The Nanoleaf Essentials Matter String Lights can be used indoors or outdoors and work with all Matter products. Thanks to the intuitive Nanoleaf mobile app, you can also easily create your own scenes.
 

Pros

• Includes 250 addressable LEDs
• Easy to create your own scenes
• IP44-rated for outdoor use

The majority of light bars are designed to be placed horizontally in your home, but the Govee RGBIC Floor Lamp is different. This product features vertical construction and is best placed near walls or the corner of a room. While it may not be as versatile as horizontal light bars, this vertical light bar is great at lighting up large spaces with its comforting glow.

Like any good smart light, this Floor Lamp gets you access to thousands of colors, is highly customizable, and works with Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple Home, and Matter. Most shoppers will also love its design, which features a sleek base attached to a slim rod, both of which can be programmed to glow in different colors. If it fits with your space, this is a great option for any smart home.

Govee RGBIC Floor Lamp

Best Smart Light Bar

$120 $150 Save $30

As long as you don’t mind its vertical orientation, the Govee RGBIC Floor Lamp is an ideal companion for a stylish living room.

Pros

• Unique design
• Easy to install and customize
• Matter support

Cons

• Not a traditional light bar

The Govee TV Backlight 3 Lite is an ideal companion for your home theater. It is easy to install and uses a camera to track what’s happening on screen and customize its backlights on the fly. The lights are quite expensive (and grow more expensive if you have a TV over 65 inches), but that’s a minor knock on an otherwise well-rounded device.

Beyond adding an alluring glow to the back of your TV, the Govee TV Blacklight 3 Lite can sync with up to seven other devices. So, if you want to make your home theater pop, consider adding a few other Govee lights. And because the lights use a camera to mimic onscreen content, it’s compatible with movies, TV shows, video games, or anything else running on your display. The TV Backlight 3 Lite is particularly enticing to Google Home and Alexa users, as it works flawlessly with both assistants.

Govee TV Backlight 3 Lite

Best Smart TV Backlight

Using a camera that sits on top of your TV, the Govee TV Backlight 3 Lite offers an affordable and easy way to add ambient lighting to your TV viewing experience. It’s bright and responsive, and with DreamView mode, you can expand your system with other Govee lighting. 

Pros

• Works with Google Home and Alexa
• Innovative design for easy install
• Supports all TV content

Cons

• Larger TVs require more expensive model

FAQ

Q: Do smart lights need Wi-Fi to work?

Most smart lights require Wi-Fi to communicate with your smartphone. You might be able to find models that work with other communication methods, but Wi-Fi is by far the most common way to interact with your smart lights.

Q: Do I need a smart home hub to have smart lights work?

No, many smart lights can be controlled without any other devices. The vast majority let you customize their performance with a mobile app without the need for a hub.

Q: Do I need a smart light switch to make a smart light work?

No, a smart light switch isn’t required to use smart lights. Smart lights can be paired with a smart light switch for additional functionality, but most users will find pairing them together is excessive.