The Best Color-Changing LED Bulbs to Add a Rainbow of Colors to Your Home

Best Overall

LIFX A19 Led Light Bulb

4.7

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This LIFX A19 Led Light Bulb is a Wi-Fi-enabled smart bulb that doesn’t require you to set up a hub or bridge to use it. It's our favorite for its simple, hub-less setup, compatibility with various smart home ecosystems, and easy-to-use lighting features.

You can change the color of this bulb, dim it, or turn it on and off via the compatible app. It’s also compatible with Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple HomeKit, so you can control it with voice commands. This bulb has a heftier price tag than other models, but it offers many convenient features in return. You can set light schedules to turn the bulb on and off at certain times in the day or use the Day & Dusk feature. This setting automatically adjusts your light’s brightness, color, and temperature to get gradually brighter in the morning and dimmer and warmer toward evening. 

The main downside of this bulb is that it needs Wi-Fi to work, so if you have Wi-Fi connectivity issues, it may not be the best option for you. Otherwise, the bulb offers 1100 lumens of brightness and over 16 million different colors. It has a lifespan of up to 22.8 years and relies on only 11 watts to bring you the equivalent of 75 watts, making it a long-lasting and energy-efficient option too. 

Price at time of publish: $100

_{Lumens: 1100 lumens | Watts: 11 watts | Compatibility: LIFX app, Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple HomeKit, Microsoft Cortana | Color Options: Over 16 million}

Runner-Up, Best Overall

Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance Smart Bulb

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Philips Hue smart bulbs are a well-known and popular option among color-changing light bulbs, thanks to the Hue app’s user-friendly and intuitive design. This bulb offers two setup options, including Bluetooth, which doesn’t require a hub or a Hue Bridge-reliant setup. If you choose the Bluetooth option, install your light bulb and connect your bulb to the app to control 10 lights in a room at once. Just note you need to be in the same room as the bulb to control it. If you want expanded control options, you need to purchase the Hue Bridge separately. While it adds to the cost, it allows you to control up to 50 lights at once across different rooms and manage your lights from anywhere.

Regardless of your setup choice, the light bulb is Alexa- and Google Assistant-compatible, so you can control it via voice commands. If you use the hub, you gain Apple HomeKit and Siri access. The app lets you easily choose from 16 million colors, dim your lights, and set timers, while the bulb packs in an impressive 1600 lumens of brightness. There’s a variety of color presets available in the app’s scene gallery, but you can also select a photo from your camera roll to serve as the scene inspiration, and the lights will change color to match the photo’s mood. 

Price at time of publish: $65

Best Budget

Lighting EVER LE Dimmable Color-Changing LED Light Bulb

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This light bulb offers color-changing features and app controls in a hub-free, budget-friendly design. You can adjust the temperature of the light bulb's white light from 2700K to 6500K and dim it to your desired brightness. This bulb isn’t as bright as other models, and when you select a light color from the gradient on the app, the color may not show as accurately as you’d expect. However, if you buy more than one, you can choose from 16 million different colors and six lighting modes and group and control multiple Govee LED bulbs simultaneously. The app also has a handy memory mode, so it will turn on to your last-used light setting and lets you set timers and schedules for bedtime and morning.

Setup is straightforward, with only three steps: Screw the bulb into your desired and compatible fixture, download the compatible app, and connect your bulb to your phone via Bluetooth. Once it's all set up, you can take advantage of its energy-saving design that uses only 9 watts to bring you the equivalent of a 60-watt incandescent bulb. 

Price at time of publish: $13

_{Lumens: 800 lumens | Watts: 9 watts | Compatibility: Lepro LampUX app | Color Options: 16 million}

Best Bluetooth

Govee Smart LED Bulb

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The Govee Smart LED Bulb is a highly customizable Bluetooth-only option that's simple to use and set up. Just download the compatible app and connect your phone and light bulb via Bluetooth to get started. The app lets you choose from 16 million colors and access all customizations, including picking a lighting color from a photo or a scene you focus your camera on. To make setting the ambiance you're looking for even easier, there are eight different scene modes you can choose from, including Sunset and Sunrise modes, which are excellent options for waking up and going to sleep. There’s a group control option, too, so you can adjust multiple light bulbs at once. However, group control doesn't give you access to all functions. 

This 7-watt light bulb is equivalent to a 60-watt incandescent bulb, making it an energy-conscious choice for your home. The light bulb lacks Alexa and Google Assistant compatibility, but you can set on/off timers and sync the bulb to your music, so it switches colors to the song's rhythm. 

Price at time of publish: $14

_{Lumens: 800 lumens | Watts: 7 watts | Compatibility: Govee Home app | Color Options: 16 million}

Best for Outdoors

Kuniwa Outdoor LED Color-Changing Spotlight Bulb

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With the Kuniwa Color-Changing Spotlight Bulb, you can light up your pool, yard, or deck in all the colors of the rainbow. You can use this PAR38 90-watt-equivalent bulb—that screws into any standard E27 socket—to highlight a garden tree or planter or provide light to an outdoor entertainment area. The bulb is also suitable for indoor use, but the IP65 rating means it's waterproof and safe against rain and other outdoor moisture.

Operation is simple with the included remote control that allows you to choose from warm white light, 16 different beautiful colors, or rotate through them all. You can also select from four different “special effect” modes (strobe, flash, fade, and smooth) and use the remote to dim or brighten the light to your choice of four intensities. Unfortunately, there is no option to set schedules or timers, but it does have a memory mode feature, which means it will turn on to your last-used light setting.

Price at time of publish: $25

_{Lumens: ‎1800 lumens | Watts: 30 watts | Compatibility: Remote control | Color Options: 16}

Best for Smart Homes

Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance A19 Starter Kit

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If you're a smart home enthusiast, this Philips Hue Smart LED Starter Kit comes with four Philips Hue smart light bulbs and a Philips Hue Bridge to make the most of this product's smart compatibility and intuitive features. Much of the customization happens in the user-friendly Hue app that offers over 16 million different color choices, has ambiance presets in the Hue scene gallery, and the option to use a photo from your phone as the scene inspiration. You can sync your lights to match the mood of movies or video games or set them to music to create a rhythmic lighting experience. If you want a simulated sunrise effect, you can also set the bulbs to gradually brighten in the morning.

The main downside of this lighting kit is its high price tag. However, the included Hue Bridge adds value by giving you advanced lighting controls that you can't get with Bluetooth alone—including setting up to 50 Hue lights at once from any location and managing smart home routines and timers. This light set is also compatible with Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, and Microsoft Cortana, so you can control your bulbs with voice commands in addition to the app.

Price at time of publish: $180

_{Lumens: 1100 | Watts: 10.5 | Compatibility: Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, Microsoft Cortana | Color Options: Over 16 million}

Best for Playing Music

GE LED + A21 Full Color Dimmable LED Light Bulb

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The GE LED + A21 Full Color Dimmable LED Light Bulb is more than just a color-changing light bulb. It’s also a speaker that lets you create the perfect ambiance through a combination of music and light. You can connect up to 10 of these bulbs so they play music together, making it a great option for party hosts. No app is required either: Connect the bulb to your phone via Bluetooth, click the song of your choice on your preferred music app, and the bulb will play the song. It comes with a user-friendly remote with lower buttons for controlling music and the upper half dedicated to adjusting the light’s brightness, color, and features such as Party Mode, which synchronizes the light show to the beat of the music.

This light bulb’s color and brightness range isn't as expansive as other models, offering 10 different light colors and 760 lumens of brightness. But 760 lumens is a decent amount of brightness, and if you don’t mind not having complete color customization, this light offers a warmer white and a cooler white, as well as a blue, green, orange, pink, purple, red, blue-green, and yellow color preset. It’s also compatible with any lighting fixture that works with typical A19/21 light bulbs, BR30 floodlights, and 6-inch recessed lighting fixtures.

Price at time of publish: $35

_{Lumens: 760 lumens | Watts: 9 watts | Compatibility: Remote control, Bluetooth | Color Options: 10}