Smart bulbs do more than turn on and off when you clap your hands. Upgrading your home with smart bulbs can reduce your energy consumption. You can use your phone to turn your lights on and off remotely or use a smart home device to create an automated schedule for your lights. Smart bulbs typically come with additional features like adjustable brightness or colors.
Shopping for smart bulbs can be confusing if you’re not familiar with home automation. When you are ready to make the switch from traditional bulbs to smart ones, our guide can help you decide what the best choice for your home and lifestyle is. They use very little energy, and they are available at different price points.
Here’s a closer look at the five best smart light bulbs of 2023.
Kim Wetzel/Digital Trends
Philips Hue Smart Light Bulb Starter Kit
Best smart bulb kit
- Useful features
- Great range and responsiveness
- Extensive third-party app compatibility
- Works with Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant
- Bridge must be plugged into your router
- Expensive
Though it’s a bit expensive, the Philips Hue White Ambiance Smart Light Bulb Starter Kit is the best by far. The kit comes with four A19 LED smart bulbs that project a soft, white light, that can be warmed up or cooled down to your liking, from “warm white to cool daylight.” Up to 50 bulbs can be linked together using the Philips Hue Bridge that comes in the kit. To change the brightness, put the lights on a schedule, or dim the bulbs, you can use the Hue app on iOS or Android.
While the kit works with the app, the Philips Hue Smart Light Bulb can also be controlled with a wide range of hubs, such as Amazon Echo, Google Home, Apple HomePod and more. This means you can control the bulbs using just your voice.
Sengled Element Classic A19 Kit
The best budget kit
- Affordable
- Energy efficient
- Support Alexa and Google Assistant
- Not as premium as other options
The Element Classic A19 Kit by Sengled is an affordable all-in-one kit that includes two bulbs and one hub as well as an Ethernet cable. Emitting the power of 800 lumens on a mere 9 watts of energy, these super-efficient bulbs will last up to 25,000 hours. They also connect to your Amazon Echo and Google Home devices, allowing for hands-free voice control.
The Element Home app is compatible with both iOS or Android, and the group control function lets you turn all the lights in your home on or off at the same time. You can also schedule when you want your lights to turn on, and plan your mornings with the Wake-up Time feature. The performance section shows you how much power you are using relative to the money you are saving. The Sengled Element Classic A19 is the perfect kit for newbies.
Sengled Wi-Fi Smart Bulb
The best starter bulb
- Easy installation
- Intuitive smartphone app
- Affordable
- Lacking some smart home integrations
The Sengled Wi-Fi smart bulb connects to your 2.4 GHz network without a hub. It is super easy to set up. You just download the Sengled Home app, twist in the bulb, and the bulb flashes on and off to indicate it is ready to set up. Once you go through the usual steps (log in, connect the device to Wi-Fi, etc.), you have dimmable smart lights you can control with your phone or with your voice via Amazon Alexa.
The low cost and easy setup make the Sengled Wi-Fi Smart Bulb the perfect starter bulb. The Sengled WiFi bulb comes in 2700K soft white.
John Velasco / Digital Trends
Wyze Color Bulb
The best budget bulb
- Really bright output
- Colors are very saturated
- Doesn’t require a bridge
- Ridiculously low-priced
- Basic scene modes
At under $10 (and under $40 for a four-pack), the Wyze bulb is a no-brainer. You can control all of your bulbs, or just one, using your Alexa or Google Assistant or the Wyze app. The bulb is dimmable and you can control how cool or warm the light it emits is to set the mood you want in a room. The Wyze Bulb’s temperatures range from 2,700k – 6,500k and a dimmable 800 lumen (60W equivalent).
Nanoleaf Matter A19 Smart Bulb
The best smart bulbs for Matter
- Tons of color options
- Full support for Matter
- Control with voice or app
- Expensive
They’re a bit expensive at $20 a bulb, but the Nanoleaf Matter A19 Smart Bulbs are a solid pick if you need something with support for the interoperability standard. Featuring more than 16 million color options, easy control using the Nanoleaf app or voice control, and dozens of ways to customize their performance, these bulbs are among the best on the market. They’re also one of the few smart bulbs that actually support Matter, putting them ahead of the curve and making them stand out from the competition.