Light bulbs—even smart ones—should be easy. Just screw a smart LED bulb into a lamp, pair it with a smartphone, and you never have to worry about navigating dark hallways or hunting for a switch. Many even let you adjust the color. We recommend the Wyze Bulb Color because it’s one of the brightest smart bulbs we’ve tested but can also reach low dimming levels, so it’s perfect for a variety of tasks from entertaining to comfortably reading. It’s also one of the most affordable color-adjustable bulbs we’ve tested, and it has an intuitive app that makes the switch to using smart bulbs as easy as, well, screwing in a light bulb.
Most smart bulbs now average $15 or so, and some of them are perfectly good—but some models may cost $50 or more.
Setup happens via a smartphone app, but you can also control most smart bulbs using Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, or Google Assistant.
Most smart bulbs connect via Wi-Fi. For homes with a weak or spotty internet signal, get a bulb that uses Zigbee mesh wireless and a hub.
Color bulbs can change to emit millions of hues; some white models can go from cool to warm tones (expressed as K or degrees kelvin).
Compatible with: Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, IFTTT
Offering output of 1,100 lumens, the equivalent of a 75-watt bulb, the Wyze Bulb Color connects to your home Wi-Fi and is one of the brightest bulbs we’ve tested (most bulbs emit around 800 lumens). Despite that bright light, it has a low price, an easy-to-use app, and a good color-temperature range, and it can dim as low as you need. Its timers and scheduling perform reliably, as do neat features such as the ability to mimic sunrise and sunset light, Vacation Mode, and Power Loss Recovery, which lets you customize what settings your bulb will have after it turns on again following a power outage.
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Compatible with: Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri Shortcuts, Google Assistant, IFTTT, SmartThings
If you’re looking to cycle through colors for the holidays, a dinner party, or just for fun, the Philips Wiz Smart Wi-Fi LED Color Bulb is a great choice. It delivers bright white light and terrific-looking colors, as well as reliable scheduling and some special effects. It also has a nice range of white hues that are perfect for task lighting or a relaxing mood at home. This bulb includes several presets (such as Fireplace, Party, and Christmas), the ability to save favorite colors and Scenes, and a Vacation Mode, which will randomly turn the bulb on and off to make it look as if you’re home when you’re not. Note that Philips Wiz bulbs are not compatible with Philips Hue bulbs, so if you’re already using Hue bulbs, we recommend sticking with those instead.
Also great
Meross MSL120 Smart Wi-Fi LED Bulb
For HomeKit users
The Meross bulb doesn’t have as great of a brightness range as our top two picks, but it’s easy to use, has a good color palette, and works with all of the major smart-home platforms.
Buying Options
$18
from
Amazon
Compatible with: Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, IFTTT, SmartThings
The Meross MSL120 Smart Wi-Fi LED Bulb works with every major smart-home platform, notably Apple’s HomeKit, without needing a hub, so you can trigger it to turn on or off based on any other smart-home device, such as a camera, water-leak sensor, or smart plug. It also works with voice commands to Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant. It doesn’t offer any special effects and doesn’t produce as strong a range of white tones as our top two picks do, but it has a decent range, a vivid color palette, and enough brightness for everyday use. It’s also less expensive than most other HomeKit-compatible bulbs.
Compatible with: Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, IFTTT, SmartThings
Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance smart light bulbs create vibrant, colorful Scenes and let you control them using Bluetooth and your smartphone. However, the real magic happens when you add a Hue hub (or a device like the Amazon Echo, which has a built-in Zigbee wireless hub). This allows you to control bulbs remotely, use scheduling, and integrate the bulbs with devices in the Hue family of accessories and all major smart-home platforms. And because that Zigbee connection works separately from your home’s Wi-Fi (it creates its own mesh network between devices), it’s more reliable than most wireless systems. The downside is that Hue bulbs are more expensive than our other picks; we recommend the White and Color Ambiance A19 Starter Kit, which includes three bulbs, a Hue hub, and the Hue Dimmer Switch.
More smart-home lighting ideas
The Best Plug-In Smart Outlet
A plug-in smart outlet enables smart features like scheduling, remote control, and voice commands in un-brainy devices such as lamps, fans, or Christmas lights.
The Best In-Wall Smart Light Switch and Dimmer
Smart dimmers flick on or off like a regular switch but can make your light fixtures do more, like remote control, scheduling, and automation.
