The Best Smart Lights of 2021

We love Philips Hue smart bulbs because they are easy to set up, offer a robust suite of features, and can be controlled using Philips Hue’s intuitive app, making them the best smart bulbs you can buy.

Set them to a schedule, sync them to your existing Nest or Samsung SmartThings system, choose from 16 million colors and shades of white—these smart bulbs really can do it all.

Hue bulbs also support smart assistants like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple’s Siri. The lights can also be controlled via Bluetooth but a Philips Hue Bridge is required to control the bulbs when you’re out of range. Additional hardware isn’t usually a strong point, but it’s a small price to pay for the sheer performance and reliability that Hue offers—especially if you opt for the Starter Kit that comes packaged with the hub.

See more of the best smart bulbs we tested and reviewed.

When it comes to the best value smart bulb, Wyze’s more affordable price point makes it easier to outfit your whole home with smart bulbs. These tunable white bulbs don’t work with Apple’s Siri, but can easily be controlled using Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, or an iOS or Android device.

The setup is easy and you don't need a hub to use Wyze smart bulbs, but a 2.4 GHz WiFi connection is required. Like most smart bulbs, these can be set to a schedule and can be added to a group for multi-bulb control. Additionally, the brightness, coolness, and warmth can all be adjusted within the Wyze app or via a compatible smart assistant. For the price and features, you really can’t do better than Wyze smart bulbs.

Light strips are a fun and easy way to add smart lighting to just about anywhere in your home, like under kitchen cabinets, around TVs, along baseboards, and more. To get the job done right, you need a light strip that’s fast and simple to set up, stays securely in place, and comes loaded with fun and useful features to light up any room. For these reasons, the Lifx Z LED Strip 6.6’ Kit is the best smart light strip you can buy.

In what felt like a blink of an eye, we had these dimmable lights connected to Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri. They also work with IFTTT, SmartThings, Nest, Arlo, Flic, and more. The strip is very responsive when controlled using the Lifx app on iOS and Android devices (keep in mind that HomeKit is only available on Apple smartphones and tablets).

Although these weren't the brightest lights we tested, they put off a vivid glow that easily illuminates a dark room. They are also made from a noticeably thicker strip than other lights we tested, making them a reasonable option for long-term lighting.

The Lifx app also offers a handy guide, which new users will find helpful. Additionally, the app is loaded with useful controls like scheduling, groups, and a bevy of fun light effects and color themes that never get old.

See more of the best smart light strips we tested and reviewed.

With the option to connect over WiFi or via Bluetooth, Govee’s WiFi RGB LED Strip Lights offer a slew of fun and useful lighting features, a quick and simple set up, and an all-around pleasant user experience at a very affordable price.

The lights are easy to control using Alexa and Google Assistant, but the Govee Home app is what really makes these lights a delight to use. Within the app are options to adjust the brightness, create schedules, choose between warm and cool color tones from over 16 million colors, and pick from seven premade mood-lighting scenes. Each strip can be cut to your preferred length and comes in two sizing options: 16.4 feet and 32.8 feet. The one downside here is that you can’t extend these with more strip lights.

But by far the coolest feature of these string lights is that the built-in microphone syncs with whatever sound is playing—be it from a speaker, TV, or the sound of your voice—adapting the light pattern to the beat. Overall, this light strip is responsive, maintains a strong and reliable connection, and offers many useful features at a fraction of the price of other smart strip lights we tested.

Replacing every light in your home with smart bulbs can get expensive quickly, which makes smart dimmers and switches an appealing option for multi-bulb light fixtures. For dimmable fixtures, we recommend our top-performing dimmer switch: Lutron's Caséta Wireless system. We’ve tested it several times and it continues to impress. The app works well across Android and iOS, and we were able to connect and control it easily with all three major smart home ecosystems—Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, and Google Home.

The smart dimmer doesn’t have a neutral power line, and there’s also no native three-way switch support (where you have multiple switches for the same light). As an alternative, Lutron offers Pico wireless remote kits to mount its remotes over additional switch boxes. Additional Lutron dimmers and Lutron switches can be added to your smart home lighting system.

See more of the best smart in-wall dimmer switches we tested and reviewed.

The Martin Jerry dimmer is sturdy, a cinch to install, and the Smart Life app is delightful to use on both iOS and Android .

The Martin Jerry dimmer switch is pretty basic in terms of what it can do. Like other smart dimmers, you can set lighting schedules and control it with smart speakers. A hub isn't required to use Martin Jerry dimmer switches.

It’s not compatible with Apple HomeKit, but it does work well with Alexa and Google Assistant. A neutral wire is required to use this dimmer switch, as well as a 2.4 GHz WiFi connection. It doesn’t offer customizable fade on and off rates, but it does get the job done well and offers great value for the price.

Offering a simple setup and quick installation, Leviton's Decora Smart WiFi Switch is an obvious pick for the best smart switch. It didn’t take long at all to get it connected to both Amazon's Alexa and the Google Assistant. Although the companion My Leviton app wasn't the most intuitive of the bunch, it works reliably across Android and iOS devices and offers scheduling, auto-shutoff features, and more.

Where this WiFi-enabled smart switch really shines is in its responsiveness to app and voice commands and its remote control capabilities—no extra hubs or hardware required. Lastly, the features include support for three-way switches, meaning you can have multiple smart switches control the same light, which isn't something that its competitors can do. If you're looking for the best smart light switch, this is it.

See more of the best smart switches we tested and reviewed.

The Gosund Smart Light Switch is remarkably pleasant to install and use for its low price. In our testing, it scored slightly higher overall than our top pick, the Leviton Decora. It was pretty simple to install, it works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, and the app is polished and reliable on both iOS and Android.

The one downside to this smart switch is that the materials feel cheap. The wall plate that comes with the switch is very flimsy, like it might accidentally break during the installation or removal process. The wires are also so pliable that it made them difficult to work with. Aside from the lower quality materials, this switch is a fantastic pick for the price. (Just be gentle while installing it.)