8 best smart lights: A bright idea for your connected home

Best: Overall

Rating: 9/10

• Dimensions: 109cm x 6.2cm
• Life of bulb: 25,000 hours
• Brightness: 806-1,100 lumens

Philips is the leader when it comes to smart bulbs. The company has been making smart lights longer than most, for a start. It has a wide range of options and this starter kit is a great choice for first-timers. There are three bulbs and the Hue bridge, which is needed for most setups. The bulbs are capable of 16 million colours, so you can choose exactly the shade you like. The kit also comes with a battery-powered light switch that can be mounted on the wall, which is handy if you are away and someone in the house is not so tech literate. You can expand the range as you are ready, with dozens of bulbs able to talk to the same Hue bridge.

Best: For simplicity

Rating: 8/10

• Dimensions: 11.5cm x 6.2cm
• Life of bulb: 25,000 hours
• Brightness: 1,200 lumens

LIFX bulbs have the considerable benefit that they work without the need for a bridge unit. This simplifies things and brings down the cost. As with Hue, there are different versions of LIFX bulbs including the innovative LIFX clean, which kills bacteria (more on that later). Despite the simplicity, there’s plenty of sophistication here. Controls include on and off, brightness, colour change and the creation of patterns and light shows.

Best: Ecosystem

Rating: 7/10

• Dimensions: 13cm x 6cm
• Life of bulb: 25,000 hours
• Brightness: 800 lumens

If you have Hive equipment in your home, such as Hive mini smart thermostat, this dovetails perfectly. If you don’t, you need to get a Hive hub (£60, Hivehome.com) as well as the bulbs, which connects by cable to your broadband router. The bulbs come in different versions and fittings, so you can choose ones that are just dimmable, temperature tuneable (featured here), or go for full-colour bulbs if you prefer.

They are very easy to set up and have decent features: you can set them to turn off and on to mimic what it looks like when somebody’s home. The app is comprehensive and straightforward, and even works with Philips Hue bulbs, which can be added to the app, but you need the Philips Hue bridge, too.

Best: Design

Rating: 7/10

• Dimensions: 23cm x 20cm
• Life of bulb: 25,000 hours
• Brightness: Not stated

Nanoleaf’s smart lights are completely different from other lights. They are wall tiles which connect together in whatever shape you like. There are various different shaped tiles to choose from, from triangular to hexagonal. Kits come with different numbers of tiles – four, nine or 15, for instance. They’re not cheap, so building an expansive panel can get pricey. There are foam fixing pads to attach them to the wall in your chosen pattern. Although they don’t have the range of features found on other smart lights, they are an entertaining and attractive decoration.

Best: Budget smart light

Rating: 7/10

• Dimensions: 12cm x 6cm
• Life of bulb: Not stated
• Brightness: 800 lumens

There’s no need for a hub with this bulb, as it connects straight to your broadband router. It’s a dimmable colour bulb, but it also comes in a warm white colour as well, which is cheaper. Like most bulbs here, it’s controllable via your voice if you have a smart speaker. It responds to Alexa and Google Assistant, but not Apple’s Siri. It also has a very fast, easy set up – just screw it into the light socket, download the Kasa app and follow instructions. The app includes energy usage figures too, which is useful.

Best: For cleanliness

Rating: 8/10

• Dimensions: 12 x 6 cm
• Life of bulb: Not stated
• Brightness: 1,200 lumens

The chunky LIFX clean works like other smart bulbs, with simple usage through a smartphone app, but it has an extra capability: it emits High Energy Visible (HEV) light which can kill bacteria on the surfaces it falls on. HEV light is bluish and needs to be shining directly on the area you want to clean – the nearer to the surface, the better it disinfects. You could leave it on overnight, for instance, to disinfect a surface or your keys or wallet. Then, during the day, it would work like a regular smart light. LIFX bulbs are compatible with Google Assistant and Alexa, but unlike some lights, it works with Apple’s Siri, too. Rest assured that HEV light is considered safe for humans and pets.

Best: Value

Rating: 8/10

• Dimensions: 11cm x 6cm
• Life of bulb: 25,000 hours
• Brightness: 806 lumens

As well as its unique wall covering lighting, Nanoleaf also makes bulbs and a light strip. The A60 B22 is capable and effective, but much cheaper than comparable rivals like Philips Hue. The bulb has a distinctive look, in the form of dodecahedron rather than a globe, since you ask. It even includes Thread compatibility, which means it has greater communication capabilities with certain smart speakers like the HomePod mini. It also connects via Bluetooth, though it’s not quite as quick to respond this way. It’s compatible with Apple’s Siri, Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.

Best: Stylish lighting

Rating: 8/10

• Dimensions: 13.5cm x 6cm
• Life of bulb: 15,000 hours
• Brightness: 550 lumens

If you like the convenience of a smart light but want the vintage look of a filament bulb, this is a neat way of getting the best of both worlds. It has a soft white light (a colour version wouldn’t look like a filament bulb, would it?) and can be connected by Bluetooth. However, for full features, a Hue bridge (£26.99, Amazon.co.uk) is needed, which is sold separately. The Bluetooth app controls up to 10 bulbs, but up to 50 with the bridge. Although this isn’t a colour bulb, its brightness is dimmable.