Best Smart Light Bulbs iMore 2019
Adding smart light bulbs to your home is a quick and easy way to make your place smarter without breaking the bank. Available in all sorts of sizes and styles, a smart bulb can set the mood through dimming or setting a scene with bursts of color. The LIFX Wi-Fi Smart LED Light Bulb strikes the perfect balance of quality and capability by producing bright vivid colors and connecting to your home network via Wi-Fi. We have gathered the best smart light bulbs around to help you decide which is the best fit for you.
- Best Overall: LIFX Wi-Fi Smart LED Light Bulb
- Best Value: Sengled Smart White LED Bulb
- Best Filament Style: Sylvania Soft White Filament Bulb
- Best Integration: Philips Hue White LED Bulb
- Best BR30 Bulb: FEIT Smart Wi-Fi LED Color Bulb
- Best Candelabra Bulb: Hue White Ambiance Smart Bulb
Best Overall: LIFX Wi-Fi Smart LED Light Bulb
The LIFX Wi-Fi Smart LED Light is the best option for those looking for a high quality bulb capable of producing millions of colors and bright whites. Rated at 1,100 lumens of light output, LIFX's smart bulb is one of the brightest smart bulbs around, and because it is an LED, it sips power, running at just 11 watts.
The LIFX smart bulb connects directly to your home's network via Wi-Fi, allowing it to work without the need for an additional hub. The bulb integrates with Apple's HomeKit, Amazon Alexa and the Google Assistant making it a highly compatible solution. This allows it to be mixed with other smart home devices, enabling complex automations and scenes.
Powerful dimming options and an abundant color selection make LIFX's bulbs a great way to set the mood in any area of your home. Backed with a 2 year warranty and a life expectancy of 22.8 years, means that LIFX's bulbs will be around for the long haul.
Pros:
- Bright
- Vivid Colors
- Compatibility
Cons:
- Expensive
- Uses Wi-Fi
- Non-Traditional design
Best Overall
LIFX Wi-Fi Smart LED Light Bulb
Light it up
The LIFX Wi-FI Smart LED Bulb produces bright, vivid colors, and connects via Wi-Fi directly to your home network. LIFX's smart bulb is compatible with Alexa, Google and HomeKit.
Best Value: Sengled Smart White LED Bulb
The Sengled Smart White LED Bulb is one of the lowest cost smart bulbs around. Despite the low price, the LED bulb produces bright light which is rated at 800 lumens and offers energy monitoring via Sengled's App which is available for iOS and Android.
Since Sengled's smart bulb uses ZigBee for connectivity, it means that a separate hub is required. This can be from Wink, SmartThings, or even Amazon's Alexa with smart home capabilities built in. Once connected, voice control support allows you to quickly turn off the lights on your way out the door.
Pros:
- Low cost
- Energy monitoring
- Bright
Cons:
- Requires ZigBee hub
- Does not work with HomeKit
- Only available in A19 size
Best Value
Sengled Smart White LED Bulb
Bang for your buck
Sengled's Smart White LED Bulb is a cost effective solution for those that have a ZigBee based home hub. The bulb produces bright light rated at 800 lumens and uses just 9 watts of power.
Best Filament Style: Sylvania Soft White Filament Bulb
Sylvania's Soft White Filament Bulb brings smart capabilities to the iconic light bulb style. Sylvania's bulb is capable of outputting up to 650 lumens, and does so using just 10 watts of power, making it a smart replacement for the older filament bulbs that you may still have around.
Connection to Apple's HomeKit enables Sylvania's Filament Bulb to work with Siri for voice control, as well as with scenes and automations. Bluetooth connectivity allows the bulb to pair directly with HomeKit and it will be ready to control via your iOS device in just a few moments.
Pros:
- Low cost
- Stylish
- No hub required
Cons:
- HomeKit only
- Not the brightest
- Limited range
Best Filament Style
Sylvania Soft White Filament Bulb
Stylish alternative
The Sylvania Soft White Filament Bulb is a stylish alternative to the traditional frosted globe light bulb. Bluetooth connectivity means you will be up and running in minutes.
Best Integration: Philips Hue White LED Bulb
The Philips Hue line is synonymous with smart lighting and is celebrated for bringing connected bulbs to the masses. The Philips Hue White LED Bulb is the company's low cost, entry level product, for those looking to expand their smart lighting without putting a dent in their wallet.
Even though the Philips Hue White LED Bulbs are cost effective, they still provide the same high quality light that the company is famous for. When paired with the required Hue Hub, these bulbs are able to be added to scenes or routines within the various smart home platforms enabling scheduling and powerful automations.
Pros:
- Cost effective
- Fast response
- Works with all smart home platforms
Cons:
- Requires Hue Hub
- Indoor use only
- Clunky App
Best Integration
Philips Hue White LED Bulb
Highly compatible
The Philips Hue single white LED bulb offers a perfect balance of cost and quality. ZigBee connectivity means fast, reliable, connections to the Hue hub (sold separately).
Best BR30 Bulb: FEIT Smart Wi-Fi LED Color Bulb
Smart flood lights, particularly BR30 bulbs are often expensive and not as widely available as the standard A19 style of light bulbs. FEIT's Smart Wi-Fi LED Color Bulb is the most cost effective solution on the market, and it does so without skimping on quality.
Rated at 650 lumens, the FEIT Smart Wi-Fi LED Color Bulb is bright enough to light the traditional out of reach spots where BR30 bulbs are often located and provides the added benefit of color capability which can set the stage for your next party. Wi-Fi connectivity ensures that this bulb will work out of the box with your network, and it does not require a special hub to make it work.
Pros:
- Low price
- Color and tunable white light
- Does not require a hub
Cons:
- Does not work with HomeKit
- Low lumen output
- No mesh networking for Wi-Fi
Best BR30 Bulb
FEIT Smart Wi-Fi LED Color Bulb
Flood it with light
FEIT Electric's Smart Wi-Fi LED Color Bulb is a great value for the speciality BR30 bulb size. This bulb can output over one million different colors, and it connects to Alexa and Google.
Best Candelabra Bulb: Hue White Ambiance Smart Bulb
Smart candelabra bulbs are a hard to find speciality size thanks to their small footprint and base size. The Philips Hue White Ambiance Smart Bulb fills this gap and does so with style with their high lumen output. Rated at 800 lumens, these bulbs will brighten up your space, especially when paired with other bulbs on the same fixture, such as on a ceiling fan or chandelier.
The Philips Hue line of bulbs are lauded as being some of the most reliable, fastest responding lighting devices around. This is thanks to the ZigBee wireless connection, which can create a mesh network of its own with other devices in your home. Of course, this does mean that the Philips Hue hub is required, which can be found bundled with certain bulb kits.
Pros:
- Solution for hard to find size
- 800 lumen output
- Fast response
Cons:
- Expensive
- Requires Hue hub
- Large size
Best Candelabra Bulb
Hue White Ambiance Smart Bulb
Rock the candelabra
The Philips Hue Candelabra Smart Bulb is the perfect solution for those needing a smart light in their ceiling fans, chandeliers, and more. 850 lumen output is bright for its size.
Light all the things
Having a smart light bulb opens the door to many different possibilities. Through smart home integrations, light bulbs can be automated to simulate the light of day, or they can activate when motion is sensed. Best of all, smart bulbs are the ultimate in convenience as they allow you to control them without having to get up from the comforts of your couch or bed.
If you are in the market for a high quality, universally compatible smart light bulb, look no further than LIFX's Wi-Fi Smart LED Light Bulb. LIFX's bulb offers accurate colors, high lumen output, and connects directly to your home network without the need for an additional hub. Compatibility with all of the major smart home platforms, ensures that it will be around for years to come.
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