Smart light bulbs can instantly modernize a house with wirelessly controlled, efficient LED lighting. Brands like Philips Hue and Govee manufacture smart bulbs that provide functional white lighting and mood-setting colored illumination. The physical installation of these bulbs takes only seconds, but syncing them with existing smart lights and devices is another matter entirely.

  • Philips Hue LED Smart Bulb
    Phillips Hue
    Best Overall Smart Light Bulbs
    $183 at Amazon
  • Kasa Smart Light Bulbs
    Kasa Smart Light Bulb
    Best Budget Smart Light Bulbs
    $27 at Amazon
  • Govee Smart Light Bulbs Wifi and Bluetooth
    Govee Smart Light Bulbs Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
    Best Smart Light Bulbs for Gaming Rooms
    $30 at Amazon
  • Nanoleaf Essentials Bulb Matter
    Nanoleaf Essentials Smart Bulb Matter Compatible
    Best Matter Compatible Smart Light Bulbs
    $40 at Amazon
  • Wyze Lifestyle BR30 Bulb
    Wyze Bulb Color BR30
    Best Ceiling Smart Light Bulbs
    $30 at Amazon
  • Nanoleaf Outdoor String Lights Box Shot
    Nanoleaf Outdoor String Lights
    Best Outdoor Smart Light Bulbs
    $120 at Amazon
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With bulbs, LED strips, and wall panels, these RGB lights can instantly transform a dull office into a gamer's paradise.

Buyers should consider several key factors when deciding on the best smart light bulbs for a gaming room or an entire house. The most common bulb type uses the A19 standard that fits in many existing standing and desk lamps. However, bulbs of other sizes are more appropriate for ceilings and outdoor spaces. Once settling on the bulb format, it's critical to factor in what smart home platforms any new light is compatible with. Even if the bulbs are the only smart devices in a home, ensure that they support Google Home, Alexa, or HomeKit so that they will easily integrate with future smart gadgets.

Game ZXC has hand-picked a variety of smart light bulbs that accommodate a wide range of budgets and installation locations.

Game ZXC's List of the Best Smart Light Bulbs in 2024

Originally released in Apple Stores in 2012, Philips Hue bulbs would quickly become the most desirable smart lights on the market. Over the years, many cheaper alternatives have tried to imitate Hue's widespread platform compatibility, color accuracy, and reliability. However, while they remain very pricey, these smart light bulbs should be the first choice of buyers upgrading their home's lighting.

A Hue Smart Light Starter Kit with multiple lights and a bridge will unleash the full potential of these bulbs. Recent Hue bulbs are accessible with Bluetooth, but the Zigbee-based bridge, which connects to an ethernet cable, is necessary for out-of-home control and other smart home integrations. The most popular size of Hue multi-color bulbs is A19, ranging in brightness from 60 to 100 watts.

Although it adds to the bulbs' expense, the Hue Bridge has performed without fail compared to controlling lights through Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Since the industry exploded, the same Zigbee protocol has been used in various other smart home gadgets because of its long-range and efficient performance. The Hue Bridge is regularly updated to ensure compatibility with smart home networks and now communicates with the most recent Matter devices.

Unlike some lights from brands, including Govee, the Hue smart light bulbs integrate flawlessly with Apple Home. They also work perfectly with major platforms like Google Home and Amazon Alexa for voice commands and scheduling features. The Hue mobile app provides plenty of native features, like scenes that demonstrate the accuracy of the bulbs' colors and smooth transitions between different effects. With the Hue Sync desktop app, PC gamers can also program the bulbs with screen reactive lighting. Owners of Razer keyboards and mice appreciate the Hue extension in the Synapse app, which syncs the bulbs with gaming peripherals.

To save money, many buyers often experiment with cheaper products that claim to perform similarly to Hue bulbs. Ultimately, many of those customers return to the Hue ecosystem after a frustrating experience controlling the lights. The Hue lights are the best smart light bulbs when reliable performance is the deciding factor.

It's difficult to know which light bulbs will perform reliably among a crowded field of cheap smart home gadgets, often from not well-known brands. Fortunately, Kasa smart light bulbs offer more than adequate brightness and some unique features. These 60-watt A19 bulbs do not require a hub but can quickly usher a home into the smart age without an unreasonable cost.

The KL125 bulbs are sold in packs of various quantities and generate 800 lumens of brightness. This rating is comparable to the performance of premium Philips Hue bulbs, as is the color range of the Kasa bulbs. Platform support isn't class-leading with these budget lights, but they can connect to Google Home, Alexa, and Samsung SmartThings. Sadly, Apple Home and HomeKit support is not directly available with the Kasa bulbs.

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Kasa's affordable light bulbs rely solely on Wi-Fi, so buyers will want to ensure they have a wireless router with home-wide coverage. The setup process often involves creating a Kasa account, but most users find pairing the lights relatively painless.

With the Kasa smart light bulbs, buyers won't have access to the highly detailed and dynamic scenes found in the Hue, Nanoleaf, and Govee apps. The manufacturer does enable users to create custom scenes in the app for a more personalized experience. Still, Kasa has a few tricks up its sleeve, like an Auto-White feature that changes the color and brightness of the bulbs to match the time of day and room conditions. Also, the Kasa Smart app monitors power usage and suggests how homeowners can use the bulbs and other devices more efficiently.

With an extremely low cost per bulb, buyers will find the Kasa KL125 lights surprisingly bright and showcase unique capabilities. The Kasa smart light bulbs are the best way to outfit an entire home with intelligent lighting without a serious investment.

Most smart light bulbs can sync with Google Home or Alexa smart devices, but some are more appropriate for gaming rooms than others. The Govee H6008 bulbs are a great addition to any gaming setup that already features Govee wall panel lights and light strips. Supporting many of the gaming-oriented features the brand is known for, these lights also provide the functional illumination any room requires.

In the same shape as traditional incandescent light bulbs, the much more efficient Govee LED bulbs are RGBWW. An added chip handles warm or cool white hues rather than displaying a wide color palette. At an equivalent of 60 watts, the H6008 bulbs show the highest brightness when white, but gamers will focus more on their 16 million colors.

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With these Govee smart lights, a modest budget can spice up a gaming room with stunning LED panels, strips, and bulbs.

Although marginally more expensive than the Kasa Smart Light Bulbs, buyers will benefit from the Govee alternative's Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. Bluetooth is initially used when setting up the lights in the Govee Home app, but connecting them to a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network is highly recommended. Wi-Fi is necessary to access the lights when away from home or add them to the Google Home or Alexa apps. Even so, when in close enough range with a mobile phone, Bluetooth can save the day if a household has temporary internet issues. Sadly, the H6008 bulbs lack support for HomeKit like many Govee lights or the Matter compatibility that the Nanoleaf Essentials bulb has.

In the Govee mobile app, gamers can group their Glide Hexagon Light Panels Ultra or many of the other manufacturers' panels and strips with the bulbs. This functionality allows buyers to display the most dynamic scenes throughout a room, which isn't possible in Google Home or Alexa apps. Gamers can also set the bulbs to react to music or join a DreamView setup for screen-reactive lighting. With DreamView, a kit like the Govee TV Backlight 3 Lite utilizes a camera above a flat panel TV to scan movies and games and program the bulbs with content-inspired lighting.

A rather bloated app meant to control a wide range of Govee products may frustrate some buyers of the H6008 bulbs. While the software is feature-packed, gamers may have to navigate several menus just to turn the lights on or off. Regardless, voice commands and wireless switches greatly simplify the process. Less than intuitive software aside, the Govee Smart Light bulbs are the perfect way to modernize ordinary-looking light fixtures in a gaming room.

Matter and Thread promise to simplify the often frustrating process of syncing smart home devices with many different brands. A low-latency mesh Thread network hosts Matter-compatible smart lights like the Nanoleaf Essentials bulbs, allowing them to communicate with other Matter products, regardless of the manufacturer. Some devices have been upgraded to take advantage of these new protocols, but Nanoleaf built these smart light bulbs specifically to take advantage of the technology. Buyers looking to future-proof their smart homes or desire bright bulbs with accurate colors are the target market for these lights.

The Essentials line of Matter smart lights is Bluetooth compatible but only allows access inside Nanoleaf apps. Unfortunately, the rest of the setup process is the biggest current stumbling block to adding Matter devices to a home. Buyers will need a Matter hub and a Thread border router, but many common smart home hubs, like the 2nd Gen Google Nest Hub display, can serve both roles. There are several ways to pair the Essentials bulbs in other apps like Google Home, Alexa, and Apple Home, either starting in the Nanoleaf app or outside. Many buyers have experienced issues with various apps not initially recognizing the bulbs, causing a tedious loop of disconnecting and connecting them.

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Once the sometimes perilous installation is over, these Nanoleaf light bulbs demonstrate the potential of Matter and Thread. They respond faster to commands than normally seen over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, and as more Matter devices accumulate on a Thread network, network performance only improves. The 60-watt A19 bulbs display the same vibrant colors as Nanoleaf's wall panel lights but excel at white-colored lighting. Buyers will notice subtle differences in white hues, and the bulbs are bright enough to make rooms and hallways safer to navigate. Circadian Lighting can constantly adjust the bulbs to set the proper mood for working or relaxing at night.

Game ZXC's review of the Nanoleaf Essentials Matter Lightstrip and Bulb found that both were affordable gateways into the world of Matter and Thread. As buyers navigate the often rough terrain of a new smart home protocol, the rewards are extremely bright and responsive light bulbs.

BR30 bulbs, with light concentrated on their bulging bottoms, are ideal for recessed ceiling-mounted lighting. When grouped together, several lights can illuminate an entire room when visibility is the priority. Some homeowners may not even realize overhead lights are easily replaceable with smart alternatives like the Wyze Bulb Color BR30 bulbs. These Wyze smart lights offer the same advanced wireless control and range of colors as the top A19 bulbs.

An array of BR30 bulbs can become seriously bright, so they are often connected to dimmer switches. The Wyze bulbs have an impressive brightness range of 30 to 950 lumens, which can be easily adjusted in the manufacturer's mobile app, through voice commands, or with compatible smart switches. Their dynamic white hues are just as impressive as their color range, and buyers can implement Sun Match to adjust effects to match the time of day.

Most buyers will be able to fit the Wyze BR30 bulbs into their smart home setups, but its lack of HomeKit support is notable. Known more for their webcams than lighting, users also won't have as wide a selection of Wyze lights to sync together as with products from Philips Hue or Govee. Even so, Google Home and Alexa smart speakers and hubs simplify whole-home control of these lights with other devices.

Wyze takes advantage of its versatile inventory of home cameras and sensors by integrating them with light-based notifications. In the Wyze app, users can set up custom notifications to shine colored light near a doorway when left open. The preset scenes aren't as festive as seen with most Nanoleaf and Govee smart lights, but the Wyze BR30 bulbs can have more practical purposes.

With the recently released Nanoleaf Skylight, smart light makers are paying more attention to ceilings. However, the Wyze Bulb Color BR30 bulbs are a far more affordable way to modernize every type of light in a home. For a reasonable price, buyers will receive exceptionally bright overhead lights with a painless no-hub setup.

The Nanoleaf Outdoor String Lights are long strings of addressable LED bulbs that can survive the harshest conditions. Unlike most holiday string lights, Nanoleaf's Matter-compatible angular-shaped bulbs are eye-catching even when off. Sold in 49 or 98-foot strips, there is enough white and colored illumination to cover large outdoor spaces. Embracing some of the latest smart light advancements like Matter and AI-generated scenes, the Outdoor String Lights bring innovative features beyond the confines of gaming room walls.

Depending on the selected kit, buyers have 20 or 40 large bulbs to drape over patios or the sides of homes. If that's not enough, Nanoleaf sells extension packs for another 50 feet of lighting. Although pricey, it's immediately apparent how much effort went into reinforcing the bulbs and the cabling. It can take some effort to secure the weighty lights, but there are mounting points for screws and anchors above each bulb.

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As with the Nanoleaf Essentials Light Bulbs, these outdoor lights connect to the Nanoleaf app through Bluetooth. However, most buyers will want to try out its Matter-based features to unlock functionality across other major smart home apps. Features like scheduling take on added importance with outdoor lights, but users must rely on Google Home, Alexa, and Apple Home for some essential capabilities. Even so, there are Nanoleaf-exclusive technologies to experiment with, most notably an AI scene generator that can design a custom scene based on a search phrase. For less enterprising users, plenty of preset scenes in the Nanoleaf app are appropriate for parties or less distracting mood lighting.

Nanoleaf's outdoor lights won't wow onlookers based on their maximum brightness alone. At 55 lumens per bulb, some competing outdoor bulbs from Govee boast 100 lumens or more. Regardless, the unusual ragged shape of the Nanoleaf bulbs diffuses the light in multiple directions, casting a unique scattered glow on floors, ceilings, and walls.

The Nanoleaf Outdoor String Lights separate themselves from cheaper generic light strips with premium build quality and innovative connectivity. Nanoleaf sells the best smart light bulbs for any gamer looking to make yards more inviting with trendy lighting.

Choosing the Right Smart Light Bulb

Choosing the Right Smart Light Bulb

While all smart light bulbs can give buyers more control over their home's lighting conditions, choosing the wrong bulb to outfit an entire household can be costly. Game ZXC suggests that these considerations are critical to finding the perfect bulb for any circumstances:

Type of Bulb

Many of the light bulbs in this guide are A19 size with E26 bases, like the affordable Kasa Smart Light Bulbs. Buyers can stock up on these budget lights and replace the bulbs in most common light fixtures like standing and table lamps. On the other hand, the Wyze Bulb Color BR30 is intended for overhead lighting, usually recessed in ceilings. With their wider bases facing downward, BR30 bulbs are an efficient way to illuminate large spaces.

Location

With features that appeal to gamers, Govee Light Bulbs are an excellent choice when upgrading gaming room lighting. Buyers can sync these bulbs with Govee's extensive selection of wall panel lights and light strips to create a cohesive room-wide lighting display. Although popular in gaming communities, Govee and Nanoleaf also make light bulbs appropriate for outdoor decks and patios. The Nanoleaf Outdoor String Lights are long strings of heavily shielded bulbs that take the dynamic lighting effects gamers appreciate outside.

Application

Buyers should also think about what type of lighting is needed when searching for new smart light bulbs. The Nanoleaf Outdoor String Lights aren't particularly bright compared to other bulbs, so they excel more as ambient lighting than illuminating an entire backyard. If wirelessly controlled utility lighting is the priority, then the Wyze Bulb Color BR30 can make preparing meals in kitchens easier or completing DIY projects safer.

Platform Compatability

Often, the worst part about shopping for smart light bulbs is finding lights that can communicate with existing smart devices. Philips Hue bulbs have been sold for many years and have achieved widespread compatibility with major smart home platforms. Hue bulbs boast the HomeKit support that many Govee lights lack, and they can sync with virtually any smart speaker and hub. The latest Hue bridge has also been upgraded to support Matter, a major selling point of Nanoleaf's Essentials bulbs. Benefiting from low-latency Matter and Thread border technology, these Nanoleaf lights also overcome the limitations of platform-specific support.

Even taking into account their high cost, Game ZXC believes Philips Hue manufactures the overall best smart light bulbs. Their brightness and color accuracy are top-notch, and they can sync with everything from RGB gaming keyboards to outdoor floodlights.

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FAQ

Q: What are the disadvantages of smart bulbs?

The main issue most buyers face when shopping for smart bulbs is cost. On the other hand, modern LED bulbs are more efficient and can save on energy costs. Also, smart apps can set smart light bulbs to turn off and on automatically and only increase their brightness when needed.

Q: Do smart bulbs work without Wi-Fi?

While most smart light bulbs depend on WiFi for full functionality, Nanoleaf and Govee manufacture some Bluetooth-controllable lights. If a household experiences an internet outage, users can still have basic control over lights and avoid trips and falls.

Q: Do smart bulbs work away from home?

Out-of-home control is a common feature of most smart light bulbs with WiFi connectivity. While away from home, users can power lights on and off to avoid wasting electricity or make homes less appealing to intruders. Still, buyers will want to ensure new light bulbs use apps that offer this capability or work with Google Home or Amazon Alexa software.