The Best Smart Light Bulbs for Intelligent Illumination

Best Overall

Wyze Bulb Color

4.7

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Whether you buy in a pack of four, two, or one, the Wyze Bulb Color is one of the best deals on smart light bulbs and one that delivers everything most homeowners need. Its max brightness of 1100 lumens tops the 800 lumens typical of other options and can dim down to 30 lumens. 

You can also tune its white light temperature across a wide range, from an 1800 Kelvin soft, warm light to a cool, daylight-like 6500 Kelvin. It's fully adjustable across 16 million colors, with a 90+ color rendering index (CRI) out of 100 that shows objects in vibrant, true-to-life shades. 

The Wyze Bulb Color can connect to your home Wi-Fi network or directly to your phone through Bluetooth if you're in range. Like most smart lighting, it supports voice commands through Amazon's Alexa or Google Assistant. 

However, you access the majority of controls and settings through the Wyze mobile app. While it lacks advanced color-changing effects, the app offers plenty to customize, including pre-set scenes, wake or sleep routines, and vacation mode. You can even group multiple smart bulbs or sync with other Wyze products like security cameras to turn on when anyone walks past. 

Price at time of publish: $15

Watts: 12 watts | Usage: Indoor | Platform/Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | Voice Assistant: Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant

Best Value

Sengled Classic Smart Wi-Fi Multicolor LED A19 60W Bulb

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The affordability of smart light bulbs compared to other high-end home tech makes it easy to buy them in bulk to use around the house. Sengled's Classic Smart Wi-Fi Multicolor Bulb offers the lowest price we've seen for each full-color smart bulb, particularly for a pack of four. These bulbs are a solid investment when you factor in the 25,000-hour lifespan and energy savings from smart light bulbs in general. 

Installation is as simple as screwing in a lightbulb (with a standard E26 base and A19 shape) and connecting it to Wi-Fi—without a hub or other setup. You can use voice controls by syncing them to Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant devices and creating color scenes, routines, schedules, and groupings through the Sengled app. 

While this bulb lacks Apple HomeKit integration and many advanced color effects, it's dimmable with a brightness of up to 800 lumens, supports 16 million colors, and includes white with a color temperature tunable between 2000 and 6500 Kelvin. 

Price at time of publish: $30

Watts: 8.7 watts | Usage: Indoor | Platform/Connectivity: Wi-Fi | Voice Assistant: Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant

Best Features

Philips Hue 60-Watt-Equivalent White A19 LED Smart Bulb

4.2

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The Philips Hue brand, now manufactured by Signify, remains the biggest name in smart bulbs, reflected in the quality and depth of its indoor and outdoor lighting solutions. The biggest disadvantage is the noticeably higher pricing than most other smart bulbs, even for the standard White LED Smart Bulb that is only dimmable. Costs rise further for White Ambiance bulbs with adjustable color temperature and White and Color Ambiance bulbs with complete color control. 

Unlocking the total potential of these bulbs requires a Hue Bridge, which uses a Zigbee network and serves as a hub for up to 50 smart lights. You get complete remote control of your system, including sunrise/sunset schedules, location-based home/away routines, and other advanced automations. Besides Alexa and Google Assistant, the Hue Bridge also adds the less common support for Apple HomeKit and additional smart platforms. 

New to the latest version is the option to connect via Bluetooth without needing the hub. This alternative introduces much-needed simplicity with limits: You must be within range of about one room, you can control a maximum of ten bulbs only, and the separate Hue Bluetooth app sticks to more basic functions. 

Price at time of publish: $50

Watts: 9.5 watts | Usage: Indoor | Platform/Connectivity: Hue Bridge (Zigbee), Bluetooth | Voice Assistant: Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple Siri (via Hue Bridge), Microsoft Cortana (via Hue Bridge) 

Best Compatibility

Meross Smart Wi-Fi LED Bulb

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While most smart light bulbs are compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, Apple HomeKit support for Siri on iPhones or iPads is harder to find. The Meross Smart Wi-Fi LED Bulb is a flexible option that works with all of the above and, importantly, is still quite reasonably priced—especially for a multicolor smart bulb. (Look for model MSL120HK specifically to ensure HomeKit compatibility.) 

As a 9-watt LED bulb equivalent to a 60W incandescent, Meross's Smart Wi-Fi LED Bulb lists a 78.3 percent energy savings over the more traditional incandescent bulb. Even with reduced energy usage, it can reach a respectable 810 lumens of brightness. 

It's fully dimmable through the app or voice commands, and the white temperature can adjust from 2700 to 6500 Kelvin. You can set color scenes and schedule timers, with other automations possible through HomeKit. Just note that you need a primary device to serve as your HomeKit hub. Options include an Apple TV, Apple HomePod, or iPad.

Price at time of publish: $21

Watts: 9 watts | Usage: Indoor | Connectivity: Wi-Fi | Voice Assistant: Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple Siri

Best Starter Kit

Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance A19 Starter Kit

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Since the Philips Hue line of smart lights needs a Hue Bridge, the most cost-efficient way to get started with the high-end system is with a starter kit that includes the Hue Bridge itself. You can find it bundled with four smart bulbs or three bulbs plus a smart button that you can mount on your wall. 

Rather than crowd the Wi-Fi network many of your home's devices likely use, the Hue Bridge operates on the Zigbee wireless protocol that uses a low-power mesh network that gets stronger the more devices you connect to it. The current kits come with Bluetooth-enabled bulbs for quick, hub-free connection, but you'll miss out on many features only possible through the Hue Bridge. 

When connected to the hub, the bulbs work with Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple HomeKit, Samsung SmartThings, IFTTT automations, and other third-party platforms. On the Hue app, you can set up detailed schedules and geofencing (to trigger certain routines when you're close to or arrive home) and even sync your lights to music or movies. If you get a kit with general-use E26 multicolor bulbs, they'll be 75-watt equivalent bulbs with a nice maximum brightness of 1100 lumens.

Price at time of publish: $239

Watts: 10.5 watts | Usage: Indoor | Platform/Connectivity: Hue Bridge (Zigbee), Bluetooth | Voice Assistant: Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple Siri (via Hue Bridge), Microsoft Cortana (via Hue Bridge) 

Best Outdoor

Cree Lighting Connected Max Color Changing PAR38 Flood

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Smart light bulbs can offer various benefits when used outside your home, from general visibility to security and colorful accent lighting at different points in the year. You just want to ensure you're using an appropriately weatherproof bulb like the Connected Max PAR38 Smart Outdoor Flood Light from Cree Lighting. It offers excellent outdoor performance for a relatively low cost, with a set of four available if you know you need them in multiple spots around the house. 

The Connected Max flood light is UL wet rated, indicating that the UL organization tested its ability to hold up against rain and other water exposure, even when installed in a fixture that isn't waterproof. It also includes a five-year warranty from the manufacturer if you run into problems. 

The 14-watt LED bulb (a 120-watt replacement) produces a dimmable, tunable white light that gets decently bright at 1200 lumens, though the colored lighting is on the dim side. You get complete mobile app control when connected to your Wi-Fi, and the bulb supports Bluetooth, which can be handy if you have issues with your network.

Price at time of publish: $20

Watts: 14 watts | Usage: Outdoor | Platform/Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | Voice Assistant: Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant

Best for Security

Ring A19 Smart LED Bulb

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Even something as simple as a light that kicks on when it senses someone's presence can provide plenty of security and peace of mind for your home. Ring, a brand known for smart security products, allows its otherwise run-of-the-mill A19 Smart LED Bulb to serve that purpose when integrated into the ecosystem. 

Unsurprisingly, this bulb requires a Ring Bridge, which you can purchase separately or as a part of a bundle. Once connected, you can easily sync the bulb with Ring motion sensors, video doorbells, security cameras, and other smart lighting like path lights and spotlights. Certain compatible Amazon Echo devices can also serve as a hub, and since Amazon owns Ring, Alexa integrates quite well. On the flip side, this bulb doesn't work with Google Home or Apple HomeKit.

Ring also offers a waterproof PAR38 smart floodlight, but the standard A19 indoor/outdoor bulb is UL rated only for damp locations, so it's best to install it in covered entryways or closed fixtures. Its brightness caps at 800 lumens of dimmable white light only, locked at a cool-ish 3500 Kelvin color temperature. While it's not a pure outdoor light or a full-featured indoor smart light, Ring's A19 bulb provides a lot of versatility and cost-effective security as part of a Ring system.

Price at time of publish: $15

Watts: 8.5 watts | Usage: Indoor/Outdoor | Platform/Connectivity: Ring Bridge | Voice Assistant: Amazon Alexa

Best with Energy Monitoring

Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Light Bulb Multicolor

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Smart LED light bulbs, in general, save energy over traditional incandescent bulbs, but the smart bulbs from TP-Link's Kasa Smart brand can help you see how much energy you're using. With the bulb connected to Wi-Fi, you can use the Kasa Smart mobile app to monitor the device's energy usage in real-time, allowing you to adjust your schedules as needed. 

All smart bulbs do need to draw some power at all times to function, but Kasa Smart claims its products use 60 percent less standby power than other smart bulbs (less than 0.2 watts rather than 0.5 watts and higher), which would add up to even more savings in the long run. 

The KL130 model is a 60-watt equivalent bulb that uses 9.5 watts and produces up to a solid 850 lumens of brightness. It's well-priced for a fully adjustable multicolor smart bulb, but you won't get any advanced color effects like presets and syncing to media. However, if you need extra brightness, you can pay more for the 1000-lumen KL135 model that's otherwise the same. All Kasa Smart multicolor bulbs have the usual array of smart features, from schedules and preset scenes to away mode, so it looks like you're home. 

Price at time of publish: $22

Watts: 9.5 watts | Usage: Indoor | Platform/Connectivity: Wi-Fi | Voice Assistant: Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Microsoft Cortana

Best Edison Style

Sengled Smart Wi-Fi Vintage Filament Light Bulbs

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If you're looking to set a particular, vintage atmosphere in a controlled, modern way, Edison-style LED smart bulbs offer the best of both worlds. Designed to match the antique aesthetic of Thomas Edison's original light bulbs from the late 19th century, today's incarnations use thin LED strips to imitate the visible carbon filaments in those classic bulbs. 

Modern Edison-style LEDs often use a standard E26 base but an elongated ST19 shape, which is the case with Sengled's Smart Wi-Fi Vintage Filament Light Bulbs. This model is available in packs of two or four, representing a cost-effective way to achieve the retro style. Still, these bulbs are costlier than other LED alternatives.

These vintage-style bulbs cast a specific sort of light as well, which for the Sengled bulbs means a very warm 2000 Kelvin amber color. Unfortunately, this color temperature can't be adjusted, changed to any other colors, or get brighter than 600 lumens. It is fully dimmable, though, and you can still control this bulb from your phone or voice assistants, set timers and schedules, and enjoy other high-tech bonuses that Edison never had. 

Price at time of publish: $50

Watts: 7 watts | Usage: Indoor | Platform/Connectivity: Wi-Fi | Voice Assistant: Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant