Best Smart Light Bulbs in 2020

Best Smart Light Bulbs iMore 2020

• Best Overall: LIFX Mini 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: Philips Hue White E12 Smart Bulb

Best Overall: LIFX Mini Wi-Fi Smart LED Light Bulb

The LIFX Mini 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 800 lumens of light output, LIFX's smart bulb can light up almost any room, and because it is an LED, it sips power, running at just 9 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 work 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 two-year warranty and a life expectancy of 22.8 years, means that LIFX's bulbs will be around for the long haul.

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, up to 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 necessary for smart functionality. 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.

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.

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 Hue Hub, these bulbs can work with scenes or routines within the various smart home platforms enabling scheduling and powerful automations.

Best BR30 Bulb: FEIT Smart Wi-Fi LED Color Bulb

Smart floodlights, particularly BR30 bulbs, are more 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 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.

Best Candelabra Bulb: Philips Hue White E12 Smart Bulb

Smart candelabra bulbs are a hard to find size thanks to their small footprint and base size. The Philips Hue White Smart Bulb fills this gap and does so with style with its 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 offers one 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 require the Philips Hue Hub, which can be found bundled with certain bulb kits.

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 Mini 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.

Credits — The team that worked on this guide