The Best Smart Lights in 2023

Smart lights offer so many advantages over traditional lights that they have begun to dominate households. With a simple tap in an app, lights across several floors of a home can change color or turn off completely. Voice commands rather than physical switches also provide the same functionality, preventing people from stumbling in a dark room.

Related: Best Lighting for Your Gaming Room Although smart lights can take the form of a bulb and generate essential illumination in a room, this intelligent lighting is capable of so much more. Unfortunately, features vary greatly among smart light brands, and it’s often confusing to determine which options are ideal for a particular room or home.

When choosing which lights are the best choice for a space, consider these factors first

• Location: Some smart lights, like bulbs, are appropriate for almost any room with standard lighting fixtures. However, other lights call for more specific locations like gaming desks or the backs of monitors and TVs. Finally, there are smart lights intended for outdoor use that can withstand the wrath of nature.
• Application: The variety of smart lights available can serve very different purposes in a household. Light bulbs and even some LED strips provide critical illumination to safely climb steps and navigate around obstacles. Wall panel lights are more about setting a mood in a room or adding a finishing touch to a gaming rig. For TVs and monitors, screen-mirroring systems can enhance movie watching and gaming by replicating the colors that viewers see on displays through attached LED light strips and towers.
• Compatibility: Most smart lights are compatible with Google Home and Amazon Alexa, allowing grouping with many other lights and devices. Complicating matters, some lights may not support other platforms like Apple Home or Samsung SmartThings. Also, gamers may look for lights that can sync with RGB keyboards and mice or react to in-game events with customized effects.

Our picks for the Best Smart Lights in 2023

While wall panel lights and LED strips are more popular than ever, light bulbs are the foundation of lighting in any gaming room or living room. The Philips Hue LED Smart bulb offers millions of colors and complete control with one standard light bulb. This smart light bulb can be changed to any one of 16 million colors, either one at a time, synced with music, or according to a custom program created in the app. What’s special about this smart light is its simplicity; it’s just like a regular light bulb, except that it works with Alexa and Google Home and fits into most modern light fixtures.

Although it’s quite expensive, it’s one of the only smart light bulb options with the comprehensive functionality offered by the Phillips Hue smart bulb, let alone the ease of control. This smart light looks great and should last a long time, so for anyone looking to add a bit of futuristic prestige to their home, the Phillips Hue LED smart bulb is well worth the price.

A bright and colorful strip of light, the Govee LED Neon rope lights are the best smart lights for PCs thanks to a flexible design that presents the ultimate customization opportunity. Users can actually cut the rope at preset points to fit many desks and simply attach a power cap to one end. The bendable nature of the rope means that it fits any desk shape, and there are often extra savings to be had when buying more than one rope at a time.

Once attached to whichever gaming desk a player has, the lights can then be synced with games, music, and more through both the Govee AI Gaming Sync Box and Razer Chroma, plus of course Alexa and Google Assistant. Along with 14 customizable lighting zones per meter, and millions of colors to choose from, PC gamers can do basically anything with the style of their space using Govee’s Neon rope smart lights.

Make sure to check out our Govee Neon Rope Lights for Desks review!

They aren’t the prettiest lights around, but the Kasa smart LED light strip is one of the most affordable options when it comes to smart lighting. Ideal for backlighting, lighting on the back or under furniture, or simply decoration, this smart light strip is easy to customize.

Similar to the Govee Neon Rope Light for Desks, this light strip is flexible and can be cut to size without expertise. The trade-off that makes the Kasa smart lights so cheap is the fact that the lights aren’t as soft or finished looking as higher-end options like Nanoleaf Essentials. Ultimately, sacrificing a polished look for the sake of a lower price tag pays off for the Kasa smart lights. Considering that the lights can be controlled through Alexa, Google, or the Kasa app at a fraction of the cost of other light strips, users looking to save will have a lot to love about the Kasa smart LED strip.

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The best high-end smart lights are, unsurprisingly, some of the coolest smart lights around. Govee’s Hexa Light Panels come in packs of up to 10 and can attach to each other in any combination. These lights definitely add a sci-fi vibe to any room, but using them in a gaming space just feels right.

RGB PC fans will especially love the Razer Chroma support, which allows the hexagonal lights to sync up with the rest of their PC lighting. Additionally, there’s still the standard support for Alexa and Google Assistant built-in along with Govee’s own home app. As the cherry on top, the lights themselves are fairly large, work together to create beautiful fading colors, and can be synced up to music and gaming audio.

RELATED: Best Govee Smart Lights in 2023

Nanoleaf also offers some beautiful wall panel lights including their Shapes Hexagons. However, considering Govee’s expansive inventory of light bulbs and LED strips, buyers may find it easier to integrate their Hexagons into smart homes.

To add to a room’s ambience, LED lightstrips are some of the most versatile smart lights that a buyer can purchase. Homeowners can install these strips in many different locations like along baseboards, around doorways, or on or underneath furniture. The Nanoleaf Essentials Smart LED Lightstrip tries to distinguish itself from the crowd of lightstrips with some unique innovations.

As a basic lightstrip, the 2000+ lumen Nanoleaf Essentials are especially bright, to the point where it’s painful to look directly at them. While they lack RGBIC technology popular with Govee products and can only display one color at a time, these Essentials lights excel at displaying white hues. Buyers will be able to recognize the small differences between warm and cold white colors, although reds, greens, and blues are impressive in their own right.

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Available in lengths of 2 or 5 meters, the Nanoleaf Essentials lightstrip matches the brightness and color accuracy of the most expensive lights. Although not all buyers will have a Matter controller, the Essentials line is a great peak into the future of smart home lighting. Nanoleaf also manufactures Essentials Light Bulbs, which benefit from Matter technology. You can learn more about Matter and Thread and how it’s changing the smart home scene in Game Rant’s review of the Nanoleaf Essentials Lightstrip and Bulb.

Light bars are an attractive option for adding some illumination to an otherwise bland wall. Since the light emanating from the Nanoleaf Lines is projected behind the bars rather than coming from its front, the effects are somewhat more subdued than other wall panels. Lines are available in several different kits, with a popular bundle including 9 light bars. Buyers can connect the Lines lights in a variety of patterns, plus they can be expanded to use as many as 18 bars with one power supply.

Backlit lighting facing walls needs to be bright in order to impress, and thanks to a slightly raised design, the Lines produce a surprisingly expansive field of light. The Lines are lightweight making them easier to install but also are durable enough to potentially survive some falls to the ground. These Nanoleaf lights are also a great alternative to screen mirroring kits with LED strips, especially when a monitor or TV is not close to a blank wall. Screen mirroring is still a possibility with the Lines since Nanoleaf’s PC software has similar functionality built-in the app. Also, gamers with Razer peripherals can utilize Synapse to sync the Lines with RGB keyboards and mice or activate a screen visualizer module.

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Nanoleaf Lines packs most of the features of the company’s other smart lights including Rhythm Music Visualizer and voice commands possible with Google Home or Amazon Alexa. The price of the Lines kits does seem high considering the surface area of the lighting offered by the thin bars. Regardless, they are a tempting choice for intelligent accent lighting that impresses without hurting eyeballs. You can discover more about what makes the Nanoleaf Lines unique by reading Game Rant’s comprehensive review.

Fairy lights are perfect for decorating areas, especially when they can be controlled from afar. The Nobent smart fairy lights sync with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and the Nobent app to allow users to completely customize the color and brightness. There are also 44 preset modes for all kinds of activities, from gaming to partying.

Like most fairy lights, the wire the LEDs are attached to is a super fine copper wire that basically disappears when the lights aren’t on. The lights are very tiny, but together they create more than enough light to change the entire vibe of a space. Their slight size may also contribute to their cheap price. These lights won’t serve everyone’s needs, but gamers looking for fun, customizable decorations may want to add the affordable Nobent smart fairy lights to their list.

TV backlighting can enhance movie watching and gaming by casting screen-reactive lighting behind displays. Screen mirroring kits like the Nanoleaf 4D rely on cameras to monitor content and program lighting on back-facing LED strips that reflect changing scenes. While the setup of these systems is often tedious, the 4D features a camera that can mount above or below TVs in inconspicuous locations.

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As Game Rant discovered in its review of the Nanoleaf 4D, the bulbs on the light strip were especially bright and accurately mirrored content with subtle differences in colors. The Nanoleaf mobile app which new users can find difficult to navigate, is refreshingly straightforward when making adjustments to the 4D. With a handful of different modes available, buyers can set the 4D to continuously screen-mirror movies and games, or show an almost unlimited number of preset lighting patterns. Users can also set the 4D to sync with other Nanoleaf lights, making it possible to have an entire living or media room come alive with coordinated, reactive lighting.

If a buyer’s focus when shopping for smart lights is on their gaming rigs, then the Govee AI Sync Box uses some impressive technology to amplify the thrills of gaming. Although Govee manufactures a similar kit for larger TVs, this AI Gaming Sync Box is made for monitors from 27 to 34 inches in size. Like screen mirroring kits with cameras, the AI Sync Box connects to a lightstrip that changes colors with 99 percent accuracy according to what is showing on screens. However, this system works by connecting HDMI cables from graphics cards, consoles, or media players to the 3 ports on the back of the Sync Box.

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The Govee AI Gaming Sync Box can more accurately mirror the lighting of a scene since it doesn’t rely on a camera which can be slower to process changes. Also, the intelligence of the device really shines during gaming, since it can recognize in-game events in popular competitive titles like Apex Legends, CS:GO, and Overwatch. When a player wins a match or is killed, specific lighting effects signal these achievements or defeats. In the Govee Home app, gamers can also customize these effects with alternate color schemes or animations. At the moment, the number of supported games is still somewhat limited, but Govee continues to add more titles each month.

Even with some drawbacks, the AI Sync Box is a step forward in reactive lighting which previously struggled to keep pace with fast-paced gaming action. Make sure to check out Game Rant’s complete review of the Govee AI Sync Box for Monitors.

It can take a lot to make some people leave their gaming monitors, but installing trendy outdoor lights may encourage them to breathe some fresh air. The Govee Outdoor Smart String Lights are a simple yet impressive way to light an outdoor space. As with most smart lights, this string light works with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and the Govee home app. The bulbs’ color and brightness are adjustable, with the brightest setting being sufficient lighting for most small gatherings. The long string is easy to hang over patios and porches, plus each light has a small plastic hook for attaching to other strings or fabric such as an outdoor umbrella.

The lights are fully waterproof and shatterproof, so they can be left outside all the time without having to worry about typical summer storms. It’s fun to be able to change up the lighting without much effort, although some non-smart outdoor lights offer designs and features that add a bit more flair to spaces. However, for users looking for versatile, stylish outdoor lighting that they can control via app or voice, the Govee Outdoor String Lights are the best outdoor smart lights available.

The Future is Bright with Smart Lights

Smart lights have progressed significantly from simply replacing incandescent light bulbs operated with wired wall switches. Today, lights can take the form of slim wall-mounted panels that sync together to react to the pulsating beats of music or add to the atmosphere of a space. LED light strips are another popular type of smart lighting that trim doors and stairways to make moving around homes safer. If a buyer still can’t decide which lights to purchase, remember to concentrate on installation location, purpose, and platform compatibility.

The Philips Hue LED Smart Bulbs are Game Rant’s pick for the best overall smart lights because of their versatility to work in any room. These lights can replace traditional A19/E26 bulbs or overhead lights with smart devices that are compatible with nearly every smart home ecosystem like Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and Apple Home. If a gaming room is a target, then the Govee Neon Rope Lights for Desks can transform any dull-looking gaming desk into a more welcoming place to work or play.

Smart lights can serve many different roles in a home whether it’s to help buyers wind down after a stressful day or make watching TV and gaming more immersive. The Nanoleaf 4D includes a camera and LED lightstrip that work in conjunction to emanate lighting that continuously mirrors the content on a screen.

One headache that buyers face is getting an entire household of smart lights to work in unison. Not every brand of smart light is controllable in the same apps or can properly sync with other devices. Gamers have even more specific needs like integration with Razer Chroma to coordinate lights with keyboards, mice, and headsets. The Govee AI Gaming Sync Box fully supports Razer Chroma as well as many specific titles, allowing it to celebrate in-game achievements with spectacular light shows.

There is no reason why a buyer has to renovate an entire home with smart lights all at once. By focusing on one room at a time and thinking about what activities a purchase can enhance, anyone can gradually assemble a future-proof ensemble of smart lights.

MORE: Nanoleaf Shapes Review

FAQ

Q: Are Philips Hue still the best?

Yes, Phillips has led the charge in modernizing light bulbs to be smart lights and they still hold the top spot for the best overall smart light. The versatility of Hue bulbs enables them to add vibrant illumination to any room.

Q: Is a smart lighting system worth it?

Depending on how smart the rest of your home is, a smart lighting system may be the smartest thing you could add. Regardless of existing devices, smart lights are extremely convenient, if expensive.

Q: What are the disadvantages of smart lights?

While smart lights are almost identical to regular lights, their ability to connect wirelessly to devices like Amazon Alexa, Google, and various apps often makes them prohibitively expensive. Budget options exist, but they have far fewer features than the average smart light.

Q: What are smart lights?

Smart lights are lights that can be controlled remotely through wireless devices such as a tablet. Some smart lights can work autonomously, adjusting their settings according to preset triggers like the sun going down or a movie playing.