December 2024

Smart Light Bulbs: MetaRanking

This page highlights the aggregate summary of smart light bulbs rankings posted by key online experts, as of December 2024.

Summary

On 29 Dec 2024, ReviewFinder team examined a total of 75 smart light bulb endorsements from 10 reputable publishers.

56 smart light bulbs were endorsed in total, only 11 made it into this month's ranking. (ReviewFinder requires a minimum of 2 endorsements to be included)

As of 29 Dec 2024, Philips Hue Starter Kit takes the cake as the most critically-acclaimed smart light bulb with 7 expert endorsements. 5 experts out of 7 recommended it as the '#1 smart light bulb' this month.

Brand breakdown
Show all brands

Price breakdown
As can be seen in the chart below, lowest high-ranking smart light bulbs start at $5.20 (Sengled Smart Wi-Fi LED) and go up to $311.51 (Philips Signe Gradient). Median smart light bulb costs $33.99 (Wyze Smart A19).
$5.20
$311.51

At a glance - December Ranking

Scroll horizontally to browse this ranking table
Rank Change Price Smart Light Bulb
WIRED
Tom's Guide
T3
Forbes
Wirecutter
PCMag
IGN
TechRadar
Digital Trends
CNET
1
- $50
Philips Hue Starter Kit
The Philips Hue Starter Kit is a highly customizable and convenient lighting solution that offers a range of features, including dimming capabilities, scheduling options, compatibility with popular smart home ecosystems, easy setup, and energy-saving capabilities.
3
1
-
1
-
5
1
1
1
-
2
- $34
Wyze Smart A19
The Wyze Smart A19 is a white smart bulb that offers smooth dimming capabilities, easy scheduling, and energy-saving features, making it a reliable and convenient option for those looking to reduce energy consumption.
2
2
-
3
-
-
6
-
-
-
3
New * $6
WiZ 60W A19
-
-
-
-
1
-
-
-
-
1
4
-1 Check price
Nanoleaf Matter Essentials
The Nanoleaf Matter Essentials Smart Light Bulb offers customizable colors, excellent dimming capabilities, scheduling options, and energy-saving features, making it a versatile and compatible choice for smart home enthusiasts.
-
-
3
-
-
-
9
3
-
-
5
-1 $14
GE Color Direct Connect
The C by GE Full Color Direct Connect Smart Light Bulb is a versatile and energy-efficient smart bulb that offers millions of colors, scheduling capabilities, compatibility with popular smart home ecosystems, and direct-connect technology, making it a convenient and cost-effective choice for creating different lighting atmospheres and saving on energy costs.
1
-
-
-
-
-
4
-
-
-
6
New * Check price
Govee Wi-Fi LED
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
2
-
3
9
- Check price
Lifx Nightvision A19
4
-
-
5
-
-
-
-
-
-
10
- $28
Kasa Smart KL130
The Kasa Smart KL130 Smart Light Bulb is a versatile and energy-efficient smart bulb that offers customizable lighting options, convenient voice control, and energy-saving features.
-
-
5
6
-
-
-
-
-
-
11
+1 Check price
Nanoleaf Shapes
The Nanoleaf Shapes Smart Light Bulb is a versatile and customizable lighting solution that offers 16 million colors, motion and pattern options, scheduling, and energy-saving features, making it a great addition to any smart home setup.
7
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
6
12
-1 $250
Nanoleaf Light Panels
-
-
6
-
-
-
7
-
-
-
13
+1 Check price
Ring Solar Pathlight
The Ring Solar Pathlight is a customizable and energy-efficient outdoor lighting option that offers dimming capabilities, scheduling features, and compatibility with Amazon Alexa.
-
5
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
9

Smart Light Bulb
#3 $5.98 WiZ 60W A19
#5 $13.98 GE Color Direct Connect
#10 $28.44 Kasa Smart KL130
#2 $33.99 Wyze Smart A19
#1 $49.97 Philips Hue Starter Kit
#12 $249.98 Nanoleaf Light Panels

We ranked Philips Hue Starter Kit #1 in December 2024 because:

  • 7 independent experts mentioned it in their “best smart light bulbs” rankings.
  • Out of those, 5 experts ranked Philips Hue Starter Kit as #1.
Expert Consensus
(as of 1 Aug 2023)
The Philips Hue Starter Kit is a highly customizable and convenient lighting solution that offers a range of features, including dimming capabilities, scheduling options, compatibility with popular smart home ecosystems, easy setup, and energy-saving capabilities.
Critic endorsements:
WIRED

An Upgrade Kit

Go to ranking

Tom's Guide

The best smart light bulb starter kit

Easy setup with intuitive app
Extensive third-party integrations
Stunning color effects

Expensive

Go to ranking

Forbes

Best Smart Light Bulb Overall

Go to ranking

PCMag

Best Hue Bulb

Works without a hub.
Easy to install.
Vibrant colors.
Supports Alexa and Google voice commands.
Can be added to Hue ecosystem.

Expensive.
Requires Hue Bridge for remote access and to use other Hue features.

Go to ranking

IGN

Best Smart Bulb

Go to ranking

TechRadar

The best smart lighting system overall

Easy to set up
Works with Alexa, Google Assistant, and HomeKit
Wide array of different smart lights

Hub needed to access all features
Expensive compared to incadescent bulbs

Go to ranking

Digital Trends

The 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

Go to ranking

We ranked Wyze Smart A19 #2 in December 2024 because:

  • 4 independent experts mentioned it in their “best smart light bulbs” rankings.
Expert Consensus
(as of 1 Aug 2023)
The Wyze Smart A19 is a white smart bulb that offers smooth dimming capabilities, easy scheduling, and energy-saving features, making it a reliable and convenient option for those looking to reduce energy consumption.
Critic endorsements:
WIRED

A Great White-Only Bulb

Go to ranking

Tom's Guide

The best cheap smart light bulb

Tunable white
Works with Alexa and Google Assistant

Doesn't work with HomeKit

Go to ranking

Forbes

Best Budget Smart Bulb

Go to ranking

IGN

For the absolute basics

Go to ranking

Methodology: combine opinions of key experts

Identify Experts

We identify key publishers and experts that consistently review and recommend smart light bulbs.

Capture Rankings

For each publisher we find a currently recommended "top 10" list of smart light bulbs, it must be updated in the last 9 months.

Aggregate Rankings

We put all those lists together and aggregate them. The more frequently a product is recommended, the higher it is in our ranking

Experts chosen for December 2024 ranking

We ranked WiZ 60W A19 #3 in December 2024 because:

  • 2 independent experts mentioned it in their “best smart light bulbs” rankings.
  • Out of those, 2 experts ranked WiZ 60W A19 as #1.
Critic endorsements:
Wirecutter

The best smart light bulb

Go to ranking

CNET

Best white-light smart bulb

Affordable
Good range of tunable whites
Can act as motion sensor
Matter compatible

Motion setup can be tricky
Matter is hit and miss

Go to ranking

We ranked Nanoleaf Matter Essentials #4 in December 2024 because:

  • 3 independent experts mentioned it in their “best smart light bulbs” rankings.
Expert Consensus
(as of 1 Aug 2023)
The Nanoleaf Matter Essentials Smart Light Bulb offers customizable colors, excellent dimming capabilities, scheduling options, and energy-saving features, making it a versatile and compatible choice for smart home enthusiasts.
Critic endorsements:
T3

The best cheap smart light bulbs

Good price
Thread compatibility
Excellent app

Not a big range of options

Go to ranking

IGN

Best Smart Bulb for HomeKit

Go to ranking

TechRadar

Smart lights that play nicely with all your devices

Easy centralized control thanks to Matter support
Bright and colorful
Affordably priced

Not compatible with Apple HomeKit without a hub

Go to ranking

We ranked GE Color Direct Connect #5 in December 2024 because:

  • 2 independent experts mentioned it in their “best smart light bulbs” rankings.
  • Out of those, 1 expert ranked GE Color Direct Connect as #1.
Expert Consensus
(as of 22 Oct 2023)
The C by GE Full Color Direct Connect Smart Light Bulb is a versatile and energy-efficient smart bulb that offers millions of colors, scheduling capabilities, compatibility with popular smart home ecosystems, and direct-connect technology, making it a convenient and cost-effective choice for creating different lighting atmospheres and saving on energy costs.
Critic endorsements:
WIRED

Best Overall

Go to ranking

IGN

Best Smart Bulb without a Hub

Go to ranking

We ranked Govee Wi-Fi LED #6 in December 2024 because:

  • 2 independent experts mentioned it in their “best smart light bulbs” rankings.
Critic endorsements:
TechRadar

The best affordable smart light bulb

Affordable
Responsive app
Alexa and Google Assistant integration

Limited bulb selection
Colors lack brightness
Fiddly set-up process

Go to ranking

CNET

Best color-changing smart bulb

Easy to set up and use
Excellent color saturation
Lots of customization options in the app

Missing Matter support
No Zigbee or Z-Wave

Go to ranking

We ranked Lifx Nightvision A19 #7 in December 2024 because:

  • 2 independent experts mentioned it in their “best smart light bulbs” rankings.
Critic endorsements:
WIRED

Best for Apple Home

Go to ranking

Forbes

Best Smart Bulb for Security

Go to ranking

We ranked Kasa Smart KL130 #8 in December 2024 because:

  • 2 independent experts mentioned it in their “best smart light bulbs” rankings.
Expert Consensus
(as of 1 Aug 2023)
The Kasa Smart KL130 Smart Light Bulb is a versatile and energy-efficient smart bulb that offers customizable lighting options, convenient voice control, and energy-saving features.
Critic endorsements:
T3

The best Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and IFTTT smart bulbs

Simple to operate
Don't cost too much
Works with Google/Alexa

No Apple HomeKit support
Not a big range of options

Go to ranking

Forbes

Best Smart Bulb for Alexa

Go to ranking

We ranked Nanoleaf Shapes #9 in December 2024 because:

  • 2 independent experts mentioned it in their “best smart light bulbs” rankings.
Expert Consensus
(as of 1 Aug 2023)
The Nanoleaf Shapes Smart Light Bulb is a versatile and customizable lighting solution that offers 16 million colors, motion and pattern options, scheduling, and energy-saving features, making it a great addition to any smart home setup.
Critic endorsements:
WIRED

Best Ambient Lighting Kit

Go to ranking

CNET

Best color-changing light panels

Fun lighting effects
Touch controls
Vivid colors

Flaky connectivity
Pricey

Go to ranking

We ranked Nanoleaf Light Panels #10 in December 2024 because:

  • 2 independent experts mentioned it in their “best smart light bulbs” rankings.
Critic endorsements:
T3

The best panel smart light bulbs

Will definitely impress the guests
All kinds of permutations possible
Easy to adhere

Expensive to go large

Go to ranking

IGN

Best for decorating your home

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We ranked Ring Solar Pathlight #11 in December 2024 because:

  • 2 independent experts mentioned it in their “best smart light bulbs” rankings.
Expert Consensus
(as of 3 Aug 2023)
The Ring Solar Pathlight is a customizable and energy-efficient outdoor lighting option that offers dimming capabilities, scheduling features, and compatibility with Amazon Alexa.
Critic endorsements:
Tom's Guide

Best smart light for getting you to your door

Nice design
Built-in motion sensors
Can be linked to other Ring products

Pricey

Go to ranking

CNET

Best outdoor smart lights

Solar powered
Works with other Ring products
Simple setup

Requires Ring Bridge

Go to ranking