The Best Smart Lighting Panels, LED Strips, and Ambient Lamps

The Best Smart Lighting Panels, LED Strips, and Ambient Lamps



LIGHT HAS THE power to set a scene. Warm, subdued light can instantly create an intimate feel; bright, cool light can help you focus; and splashes of changing color can bring the party atmosphere. It doesn't have to be static. Synced or reactive lighting can enhance music, help movie action burst off the screen, and make gaming more immersive. Smart home lighting has grown considerably smarter in recent years; it comes in more shapes and sizes and is much more affordable than ever.Get more news about Best Cold Light Line,you can vist our website!

In this guide, we’re digging deep into the world of decorative or accent lighting, the kind of smart lighting that isn’t designed to serve as your main light source but brings style and mood to your space. From panels to light strips, lamps to light bars, these are our favorites of the many we've tested. Be sure to check out our Best Smart Bulb, Best Smart Plug, and Best Smart Speaker guides for more smart home recommendations.
For versatile smart lighting, Nanoleaf is your best option. You can mix and match hexagon, triangle, and mini-triangle shapes with this modular system. The pieces are easy to slot together and install, provided you take your time, and you can choose from a vast array of colors and lighting effects in the Nanoleaf app. For parties, I love the built-in rhythm module that syncs the panels to your beats. The daylight option is also great for dark winter days. You can create your own effects and color mixes, but the lively community in the app is constantly adding to an already large library. These panels always draw compliments from visitors, and I usually control the lights with voice commands through Google Assistant.

The Shapes themselves are touch-sensitive, so you can swipe in four directions to make changes to the lights (this is important if you have kids), though they don’t always work as they should. The whole package is also expensive, and you need a number of panels to create interesting patterns. I initially experienced frequent connectivity issues, but this improved enormously after Nanoleaf updated the firmware to add Thread support. When they’re powered off, I’m not wild about the white plastic look, and you are stuck with an unsightly power cable running down the wall.
You get wonderfully colorful, bright, diffused light from these modular bars. They are fairly easy to fit, and they feel quite durable. Govee’s app offers a wide range of colors, and you can apply them to individual segments of the bars. There are also some lovely animated scenes (I like the rainbow effect best) and a reactive mode that syncs to music. The app lets you create your own scenes, but the process is confusing. (There are plenty of preconfigured scenes to choose from.) I generally use Google Assistant to turn the light bars on or off and dip into the app to change colors or scenes.

The lack of physical controls is disappointing. These light bars are also pricey, and the potential configurations are limited unless you buy multiple sets. The Glide Wall Lights are translucent white plastic with visible seams between sections, so they don’t look great when they’re turned off. And you’re stuck with a power cable running down the wall that connects to a control box and then to the power adapter.
If you want reactive, bright, and colorful lighting to accompany your gaming, the Philips Hue Play Gradient Lightstrip for PC (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is swift and accurate at screen matching. This flexible diffused light strip is easy to set up and slots into adhesive brackets that stick to the back of your monitor. Via the Hue Sync app on your desktop, the lights match up to the onscreen action, making games and movies more immersive (there are four intensity settings). The light strip also works as bias lighting to ease eye strain in a dark room, and there’s a music mode. It comes in two sizes for 24- to 27-inch or 32- to 34-inch monitors. The smaller size puts out up to 800 lumens, and the larger goes up to 1,000 lumens.

Like the rest of the Hue range, this light strip is pricey, and you also need a Hue Bridge ($50), so it’s an easier sell if you already invested in Hue lights for your home. It works best with fast-paced games and movies, but sadly it won’t sync with streaming services like Netflix (their content protection blocks it).