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If you are on the lookout for the best smart light bulbs for Google Home or Alexa, you’ve come to the right guide. It’s 2020, which means that the best house is a smart house that is responsive to you and the needs of your family. For that, the best smart light bulbs are a must. It is also essential to know precisely what smart light bulbs are and what they can do for you and your home.
So, What Are The Best Smart Light Bulbs For Google Home And Alexa?
You may have taken notice that there is a trend for a smart home that is making big waves. It makes sense: we are living in a world run by digital everything right now. It was only a matter of time before the smart revolution moved from our cell phones to our houses. Our smartphones now have the capability to control things remotely in our homes. This can be everything from the temperature of the house and the locks on the doors that you can control. And now, we have smart light bulbs.
With the best smart light bulbs for Google Home, you can control the lighting in your house with the cell phone in your hand – nifty, right? The extent of the control that you have depends on the smart light bulb that you buy. There are some that you can only turn on and off, and there are others that allow you to change the intensity of the light as well as the hue.
Are There Particular Features I Should Look For?
You’ll be shopping around for the best smart light bulbs around, but you should be looking for four particular features that make the best smart light bulbs. These include:
How Smart It Is?
Almost every smart light bulb on the market should come with a remote control. After all, it’s not that smart if you can’t connect it to the internet!
However, if there is no direct control for the light bulbs, you may be able to use your smartphone to control it with an app. This is the main thing that you want when you purchase a smart light bulb: the ability to control it with Wi-Fi. Remote controls aren’t all that convenient as you have to be nearby to use them. But with a smartphone, you can control the light bulb before you’re even in the room.
Did you know that there are some smart light bulbs on the market that you can connect to a Smart Home device? Google Home and Amazon Echo already sit comfortably in the kitchens of many families, and you may even be able to control the light bulbs with your voice.
Different Hues & Intensities
I already mentioned earlier that there might be some smart light bulbs out there that come in different hues and intensities. Think about how much easier it would be to set the mood if you could dim the lights before you get to the romantic dinner you’ve set up. For this, you need to find smart light bulbs that allow you to go from the standard white hue to a much softer color. You want to find that flexibility to enable you to change the intensity of the lighting along with the color of the room with a few clicks of a button on your smartphone.
Smart Light Bulbs That Last
A long bulb life is essential when you are buying smart light bulbs for your home. Did you know that the best smart light bulbs out there could last up to 20,000 hours? That’s just over two years’ worth of lighting in your home. Smart light bulbs are more expensive than regular bulbs, which makes sense as they do far more than the standard ones. For the money you invest in them, you want them to last!
Do I Need A Smart Home Device?
The last thing that you need to look for when you are choosing smart light bulbs is whether or not you need to also invest in a Smart Home Hub. They can connect to more than just your light bulbs, but if you don’t have one, it’s best to shop for the light bulbs that don’t need one!
How To Choose The Best Smart Light Bulb
When you are choosing your smart light bulbs for Google Home, always start with those that are easy to use. You don’t want to get lost in jargon, so you need light bulbs that use an intuitive app. We’ve gone over some of the best features above, so only choose the smart light bulbs that match the needs of your home. It’s very easy to get lost within the smart functionality of the newest home technology on the market. But, don’t lose sight of what they are really for – lighting your home.
It’s no use having smart light bulbs if they only flash blue, or won’t connect to your Smart Home Device. Shopping for your smart light bulbs should be fun, and they should be easy to control. So, careful research is required to ensure that you have made the best decision for your needs.
5 Best Smart Light Bulb Reviews
When all is said and done, you need to know what’s out there right now and what will work for you. Let’s take a look at five of the top smart light bulbs on the market today.
Sengled Smart LED Soft White A19 Bulb
My rating –
Sengled is one of the smart light bulbs on the market that offers functionality and fun. Having your friends over means setting the mood, and the Sengled Smart LED Soft White Light Bulb can help you out with that. This is one of the easiest light bulbs out there that can connect to a Smart Home Hub, and the output of the bulb is the standard that you would get from any regular light bulb. These bulbs come with voice control, which is so handy if your hands are full and you’re moving from room to room. They’re also an energy-efficient option that currently uses 80% less energy than traditional incandescent lighting. You will get a kick out of the fact that these bulbs allow you to create scenes and routines. So, you can set your lighting schedules to match with the time of day, and you can turn your lights on on a schedule, too. Arriving home after a long day is so much more pleasurable when you’ve timed your lighting to switch on as you need it.
Pros and Cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| Works with a variety of smart home hubs including Sengled, Google Home, Amazon Echo, and Wink | Does not work with Apple HomeKit just yet |
| Simple setup | Color bulbs sold separately |
| Comes with an app that lets you set light schedules and monitor your energy | Minimal instructions on the box |
| You can set the bulb time so that it switches off if you forget before you leave the house | |
| 20-year lifespan on each light bulb | |
| Comes with a color plus bulb speaker that syncs with your genre of music on Rhythm Mode | |
| Affordable option |
LUMIMAN Smart WiFi Color Changing Light Bulb
My rating –
The LUMIMAN Smart WiFi Lightbulb is a color-changing option that requires no smart home hub. There are fun RGB lighting settings, which means you can set the mood throughout your home. The smart functions of this lightbulb allow you to change the color, set the timer, dim the lights, and change the hue intensity from cold to warm. You can set it up with Alexa so that you can turn the lights on with your voice. Imagine asking Alexa to set the nursery to warm yellow as you sort the baby out in the evening? It’s so simple. It’s got an app that comes with it, and you can turn off and on the lights whether you are at home or away. Schedule your light bulbs to turn on and off at a preset time and if you are feeling excited, choose from 16 million colors and brightness settings.
Pros and Cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| Easy to install with no hub required | The luminous intensity of the bulb is very low, so it may be hard to see in larger rooms |
| Smart voice regulated with Alexa, Amazon Echo Dot, Google Home Assistant | Instructions are hard to follow for some |
| Remote light regulation from wherever you are | |
| LUMIMAN app comes free for your smartphone | |
| Create lighting effects across 16 million colors | |
| Every color is dimmable | |
| Wide application from the kitchen and living room to the bathroom and even as a table lamp | |
| 24-month warranty included |
TECKIN A19 E27 WiFi Multicolor Bulb
My rating –
I find that one of the biggest attractions of smart light bulbs is the ability to create customized scenes for the home. Whether I want soft light while we eat dinner as a family, purple lights for movie nights, or even bright lights to paint, I like being able to choose. The TECKIN Multicolor Bulb gives me the option to create scenes via a wireless lighting system. So, I get the mood I want from a million different colors. The comfort of being able to change the lighting remotely via an app is fantastic, and the whole family can get involved as there is an option to device share.
Pros and Cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| This smart lightbulb is an affordable option on the market, and you get four in a box. You get your money’s worth | Default color is pure white – no soft white or setting to warm it up |
| You can pair these smart lightbulbs with the Amazon Echo Show, and the Smart Life app is easy to connect | No preset colors |
| The best thing about these bulbs is their brightness. You want to find good luminosity in lightbulbs, and the light will quickly fill a bedroom | Colors are not as bright as the pure white you start with |
| You get the whole ROYGBIV (rainbow) spectrum with the TECKIN lightbulbs, so you get to choose from lots of different colors | |
| You no longer need to use a smart plug to control your lamps as you used to when you buy this bulb |
Philips Hue White A19 60W Equivalent LED Smart Bulb Starter Kit
My rating –
So far, there haven’t been many kits that come with as many shades of white than the Philips Hue Starter Kit. The superiority of the light quality in the Philips Hue Kit has the potential to impress you, with the chance to personalize your environment easily. Customizing the lighting in the house is one of the most significant advantages to smart light bulbs, and this particular kit comes with the Hue app that allows you to use thousands of shades of white. This allows you to control up to fifty bulbs off one app, and you can make them all as unique as you like. Creating an atmosphere in each room is fun, and it’s a luxury to create it in every room of the house.
Pros and Cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| Works efficiently with both Android and iOS platforms | Has a yellow hue |
| Create light schedules with your smartphone | You need a separate smart hub device |
| Compatible with Google Assistant, Nest, Siri and Alexa | |
| You can use these bulbs in table lamps as well as the main lighting fixtures |
BERENNIS Smart A19 Light Bulb
My rating –
Finding a bulb that looks traditional but has smart functionality is a preference for some, and the BERENNIS Smart Light Bulb is an option. It comes in a pack of three, which makes this an affordable option given that you get more for your money. When you connect to WiFi, you can control these bulbs even if you’re abroad. These multi-colored lights have more than 16 million color choices to mix and match, and you don’t need a hub to set up voice control with these ones!
Pros and Cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| Set the timer, change the colors and dim the lights easily | At only 500 lumens, this is the dimmest light out there |
| Compatible with Google Assistant and Alexa | |
| 20,000 hours of use | |
| Home automation features | |
| Energy-saving |
Conclusion
The clear winner in all of the smart light bulbs featured is the Philips Hue set. Not only does it come with amazing features, you can choose to buy color-changing LED bulbs to go with the kit. You can even kit out the garden with the Philips Hue range. It offers you the smart capabilities that you want for your home as well as a huge range of options for intensity and lighting. As you can connect it to a hub device, you can remotely connect to your light bulbs wherever you are.
