With smart light bulbs, you can light up any room in your home using your smartphone or a simple voice command. This way, you won’t ever have to fumble around in the dark looking for a light switch. Some smart bulbs also let you change the color of your lights or set them to turn on and off at scheduled times. Here is our list of the best smart light bulbs you can get for Alexa, Google Home, and Apple HomeKit ecosystems.
In order for your smart lights to work, you will need a strong WiFi connection. To find out how fast your internet is anywhere in your home, check out our guide on how to test your WiFi speed.
Wyze White A19: Best Budget Smart Light Bulb
- Works With: Alexa, Google
While most smart lights will save you money in the long run, some of them can be a lot more expensive than traditional incandescent bulbs. If you’re just looking for a basic smart light, this regular white bulb from Wyze is one of the best budget options you can find on the market today.
Since these budget smart light bulbs connect directly to your WiFi network, they don’t require you to buy an additional smart hub either. You can use voice commands to control these smart lights with an Alexa or Google smart speaker. And while they don’t change color, you can dim the lights or change the light temperature from a warm red-ish white to a bright blue-ish white.
Sengled Smart Light Bulb: Best Budget Color Smart Light Bulb
- Works With: Alexa
If you’re looking to add a little color to your smart home, this two-pack of smart bulbs from Sengled is one of the cheapest options you can find. These budget smart bulbs let you dim the lights or create your own mood lighting with over 16 million different colors.
Once you have your light bulbs installed, you can use the app to create color scenes. This allows you to instantly set the light level and color for any room with a single voice command. For example, you can create a movie scene and trigger your lights to dim when you say, “Alexa, goodnight.”
Read More: How to set up routines for your Alexa devices
Since these smart lights use Bluetooth, you don’t need to buy a separate smart hub to connect them to your Alexa smart speakers. However, that also means that it needs to be pretty close to an Alexa speaker in order to work. Unfortunately, these smart lights don’t work with Google Home or Apple HomeKit devices.
Nanoleaf Essentials A19: Best Smart Light Bulb for Apple HomeKit
- Works With: Google, Apple HomeKit
If you’re an Apple HomeKit user, there aren’t many compatible smart home devices to choose from. The Nanoleaf Essentials A19 is currently one of the only smart light bulbs available on the Apple Store, so you know it works with your other HomeKit devices.
This smart light is a standard size, but the bulb has an unusual geometric shape, which makes it perfect for exposed light fixtures. If you already have a HomeKit speaker or Apple TV, you don’t need a smart hub to set your lights on a schedule, create colorful lighting scenes, and more.
Nanoleaf Essentials is also the first smart bulb to use a network technology called Thread, which links all your smart lights together and creates a kind of “mesh network.” This way, the signal to your lights will be more reliable, and you won’t have to worry about them losing connection.
Kasa KL130: Most Energy-Efficient Smart Light
- Works With: Alexa, Google, SmartThings
The Kasa KL130 comes with a dedicated chip inside that can measure voltage, current, and power. So, you can use the app to monitor the real-time, average, and total power consumption of each individual smart bulb.
This smart light is also one of the most energy-efficient models you can get. Kasa claims that the KL130 uses 85% less power than normal incandescent bulbs. They also use less than 0.2 watts of power in standby mode, which is less than half of a normal bulb.
Read More: How to save money and energy with a smart home
This smart bulb works with both Alexa and Google smart homes. But since it connects directly to your WiFi network, you don’t need an additional hub. The app lets you control your lights remotely, set schedules, group devices, and more.
One of the coolest features of this smart light is the “away mode,” which turns your lights on and off randomly to make it look like someone is still home when you’re away. There’s also an Auto White mode that adjusts the color temperature of your smart lights to match the natural daylight, which should help you balance your natural circadian rhythm to focus more during the day and sleep better at night.
Philips Hue E26: Best Smart Light Bulbs Overall
- Works With: Alexa, Google, Apple HomeKit
While they are expensive, Philips Hue bulbs are widely considered to be the best smart lights you can get. Philips Hue uses Zigbee to connect directly to a Hue Bridge, which gives you a stronger and more reliable connection, so you won’t have to worry about them disconnecting.
With the Hue Bridge, you can add up to 50 Hue bulbs to your Alexa, Google, or Apple HomeKit smart home. Then you can control your lights from anywhere, create schedules, set up geofencing, and sync your lights with movies, music, or video games.
The Philips Hue app makes it easy to choose from over 16 million different colors and create “scenes” with different light combinations. You can instantly dim the lights with a simple voice command or use other accessories, such as the Hue Dimmer Switch or Hue Motion Sensor.
If you want to save a little money, you can also get the Bluetooth version of Philips Hue bulbs, which don’t require a hub. However, the Bluetooth model won’t work with Apple HomeKit, and you can only connect 10 Bluetooth bulbs without the Hue Bridge.
If you want to know how to turn all of your lamps into smart lamps, check out our list of the best smart plugs here.
HelloTech editors choose the products and services we write about. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission.
