The Best Smart Lights for Every Part of Your Home in 2022
How Do Smart Lights Work?
This all depends on the exact smart lighting application you’re going with. Traditionally, smart light bulbs are one of the most common ways to outfit your home with lights that you can toggle on and off, dim, and automate. Generally speaking, you’ll be unscrewing regular light bulbs, screwing the smart ones in, and then connecting to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or some other kind of wireless protocol.
With full lighting kits from the likes of Philips Hue and competitive products, there is typically a bridge module that connects to your home’s router. This bridge functions as a control hub for the smart light bulbs, reducing network congestion (because the bulbs connect to the hub and not directly to your WiFi) and allowing for an array of additional controls from whatever companion app your smart lights are controlled by.
Indeed, there are a number of smart light bulbs and other lighting products (we’ve covered several below) that pair directly to your home Wi-Fi, your phone’s Bluetooth connection, or another kind of wireless connection.
Once installed, smart light products can be controlled in a number of ways — from companion apps and voice assistants (Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple Home Kit, etc.) to more advanced automation options from the likes of If This Then That (IFTTT). Want your living room lights to pulse golden-yellow whenever the home team scores a goal? That’s what IFTTT programming is for.
Are Smart Lights Expensive?
This all depends on the type of smart lighting product you’re looking at. If you’re looking for a big assortment of controls, customizations, and a menagerie of peripherals (something like a Philips Hue or Lutron Caseta starter pack), you’ll be shelling out a decent amount of dough to get things started. But the good news is that once you make the upfront investment, adding hardware and accessories to a brand-specific ecosystem tends to become less expensive with each new item added.
Lower-cost smart lighting products tend to offer less in terms of controls and add-ons — although this isn’t always the case. Take Sengled smart light bulbs for instance: Yes, you can buy individual bulbs and even starter packs for a fraction of the cost of a Philips Hue starter pack, but you still get an impressive range of automation features from the Sengled companion app, in addition to WiFi and Bluetooth controls.
In other cases, the price can be a decent translation to overall quality. Simply put, if the smart lighting product you’re looking at is dirt cheap and isn’t from a well-known manufacturer, you may be investing in web-connected gear that won’t last very long.
Yescom 11Pack WiFi Smart LED.
Yescom Shapes
Sando Tech 2PCS 3ft
About this item
- MULTIPLE COLORS & COMBINATIONS - high quality 5050 SMD 300LEDS whip, which produces 20 color combinations, 5 adjustable brightness levels, 10 flash speed options giving you a truly personalized lighting experience in addition to the memory recall feature which keeps track of your last pre-set mode.
- BLUETOOTH CONTROL - Adjust its color, brightnesss, and flash speeds wirelessly with the PHONE. Bledim App available in Apple App Store or Google Play - Android 4.3 and above iOS 7.0 and above. Have your Whip Light move with your Voice Or Dance with your Music
- IP67 WATERPROOF RATING - The LED Spiral whips and connectors supplied are water-proof making these whips ready to take on any terrain while maintaining top-notch performance.
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