The Best Smart Bulbs of 2020

The Lifx bulbs offer something rather unique in that it has an app for Microsoft phones as well as iOS and Android. It’s compatible with Apple's Home app, Alexa, Cortana, and Google Assistant, so it can assimilate easily into the ecosystem of your choice. The Lifx A19 is a color bulb that has lots of options in the settings for interesting effects: It can respond to sound picked up by your phone’s mic, adjust the light according to the time of day, and perform wake-up and bedtime routines. Lifx integrates with Nest, so when there is activity in one of your Nest Cam’s motion zones, or if a person is detected, you can choose which lights turn on, or you can have random bulbs turn on in unpredictable patterns. If you use your Nest thermostat with your power company’s Rush Hour Rewards program, your lights can blink green and orange to let you know that you are entering a rush hour (the power company will adjust your thermostat during times of high energy use). And if your Nest Protect smart smoke alarm detects a problem, you can set Lifx to blink in response. The Lifx bulbs can do lots of things, but all that functionality comes at a price—it’s the most expensive bulb we tested.

If you’re a little wary of delving into smart bulbs, then your best bet is to go for something that’s a little more affordable. You’ll also want something easy to use and gives you a good idea of what it's like to use them.

The TP-Link LB100 checks off each of these boxes and does it with style. For around $20 a bulb (usually), you can try out smart lighting in your own home. You won’t be able to adjust the color of the bulb at all, but there's still plenty else you can do. Dimming the bulb, setting a schedule, and creating scenes are all things that are possible with the TP-Link—and you don’t even need a hub. Our only gripe with this budget pick is how long it took for commands from the app to register on the bulb itself, but it really was only an issue when it came to dimming. Even still, $20 is a small price to pay for such an affordable smart light bulb.

We found lots to love about the Sengled A19 smart bulb. It's a color bulb that works smoothly with Alexa, Google Assistant, and the SmartThings platform. The setup process was quick, and the app is intuitive. One common complaint among smart bulb users is that some turn back on at the previous brightness level and some turn on at full power. Sengled's bulb remembers your last setting and turns back on to the same settings you used last time. Depending on your needs, that might be a positive or a negative. Power consumption monitoring is another noteworthy feature of this bulb. Light bulbs don't tend to use a lot of electricity, but if you're interested in tracking energy usage, the Sengled app graphs your smart lighting's power consumption over time, and you can view that data for each bulb or all of them together.

The Yeelight app could have been more intuitive. Getting signed up for an account was confusing, and the app would not show the bulb when I tried to sync it to my account. However, once we got past the initial setup, Yeelight was very responsive to app commands and actually not that bad to use. The app allows you to use custom icons for your favorite lighting presets; can save schedules and scenes; and it integrates with Amazon, Google, and IFTTT.

GE's C-Sleep and C-Life smart light bulbs did well in our testing. The app is easy to use, and the C-Sleep can even automatically adjust the color temperature as the day wears on to help prep your body for sleep. They're great when you're controlling them by Bluetooth, but we had serious issues connecting with the C-Reach, which is the accompanying hub. Without the hub connection, you can't control the lights when you're away from home, nor can you use voice assistants like Alexa and Google Home to turn them on or off.

If you're not worried about remote control and like the idea of a smart bulb that's incredibly easy to use, C by GE is a clear winner.

Kasa’s bulb offers all the features we'd expect from a smart bulb: WiFi connectivity; app control on Android, iOS, and Microsoft; Alexa and Google Home compatibility; and the ability to control the bulb from anywhere. Less common is the Kasa’s compatibility with Cortana. This bulb’s performance in our testing, however, was subpar. Setup was slightly more involved than our favorite bulbs but worse than that, it wouldn’t stay connected to our internet despite being only about eight feet away from our router. No internet connection means no app or voice control. It only functions as a standard bulb at that point. This is one of your few options if you need a smart bulb that can be controlled by Cortana, but let's get real—that's pretty unlikely.

Each of the Philips Hue bulbs has a near-identical app experience and setting up each one was about as flawless and painless as it could be. The only real difference in each kit lies in the level of control you get over each type of bulb.

The Philips Hue White Ambiance bulb lets you adjust the color temperature of the bulb. That means you can adjust the light through a range of warm yellow and cool blue/white colors. There are also four default “recipes” that alter the light based on whether you’re relaxing, reading, concentrating, or looking to get energized. If you don’t need a bunch of flashy, vivid colors, the White Ambiance is a great runner up that gives you some white color options without paying for the premium package.

• Get additional Hue White Ambiance bulbs on Amazon.

While the White and Color Ambiance and the White Ambiance smart bulbs topped our charts, the standard White bulb came in a little lower on our list. While the app and setup were identical to the higher ranking Hue bulbs, the lack of features or control left us a little disappointed.

You’ll still be able to set a schedule, control them remotely, and dim them (the same as the other Philips Hue bulbs), but that's about it. The Hue White bulbs are the definition of a regular bulb that’s gotten only the barest bit of smart features, which is reflected in the starter kit's low price. While that might be all some people are looking for, in a roundup of the top-performing smart bulbs, it just doesn’t compare.

The Sengled bulbs, like most of the others on this list, are exceptional because each one offers a variety of excellent features. The Element Plus kit includes a tunable bulb that will let you adjust the color temperature of the bulb from a warm yellow to a cool white. It's compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant and can create scenes and schedules via the app.

Sengled also includes a nice touch by promising to plant one tree per bulb that's set up—with more promotions coming soon. While it shouldn't be the deciding factor when it comes to choosing the smart bulb that's right for you, it'll certainly make you feel good.

• Get additional Sengled Smart LED bulbs on Amazon

In terms of features and setup, the Element Classic Kit is nearly identical to the slightly more expensive Element Plus Kit. The only real difference is that the Element Classic bulb is not tunable and you'll only be able to control brightness. At around $35, this kit is an absolute steal if you're just looking for a reliable smart bulb that isn't bogged down with extraneous features.

• Additional Sengled Element Classic bulbs - $9.99 at Amazon

The smart bulbs from Ikea are cut from a slightly different mold than the others that appear on this list. In addition to using your phone to control the bulbs, you can also pair them with one of the remotes Ikea offers. There's a small disc remote for dimming that's about the size of a half-dollar, or a larger disc remote that's more akin to a hockey puck. Through the latter, you can control brightness and color temperature, as well as turn them on or off.

While the remotes are definitely a different take on the smart bulb concept, I found them a little awkward to handle. Smart home tech is all about simplifying your life and making it more convenient. A remote that can easily be lost in couch cushions or misplaced around the house is pretty much the opposite of that.

Still, the Ikea bulbs worked like a charm when it came to responsiveness and handling different brightness settings. They're a solid choice if you're not a fan of the others on our list.

The LIFX + A19 Night Vision adds something either totally amazing and applicable to you or nothing at all. Nearly identical to the LIFX A19, this model features the addition of infrared light. What does that mean? Well, when the bulb is turned off via the app, it'll emit infrared light that's meant to enhance any night vision used by your security cameras. It worked brilliantly during our tests but it ultimately won't matter much if your home isn't equipped with night vision security cameras.

The LB120 is nearly identical to the LB100 we mentioned earlier. The only difference is that you're able to change the temperature of the bulb from a warm yellow to a cool blue/white light. It might not seem like much, but having even that amount of customization in your lights can go a long way—especially when paired with the ability to dim the lights for the time of day.

Like the other TP-Link bulbs though, the LB120 was disappointing in how responsive the lights were to commands from the app. While on/off worked like a charm, dimming or changing the temperature noticeably took a few seconds longer than we would have liked to see.

Another entry in the realm of affordable smart bulbs is the TP-Link LB130. For a mere $40 you can get a bulb that doesn't require a hub, can cycle through the full-color spectrum, and is easy to set up. So why didn't it earn top marks? Well, like the other bulbs from TP-Link, the LB130 wasn't very responsive. There was a serious delay when it came to dimming the bulb or changing colors that made the whole experience more frustrating than convenient. Still, at such a low price, there's only so much you can ask for.