Home Smart Home Devices Light Bulbs
ByMikayla Borchert
Updated: Dec. 01, 2023
The right light color and temperature can help you wake up, fall asleep or set a mood. These light bulbs make it easy to customize any room for any situation.
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family handyman, via amazon.com, via bestbuy.com
Why Try Color Changing Light Bulbs?
Most color changing light bulbs work just like regular light bulbs. But instead of maintaining the same color, temperature and brightness at all times, users can adjust their lighting on demand.
Select cool white in the morning, warm white at night, a color to set the mood, or even a color pattern for music. With many products, you can even dim the lights without a dimmer switch.
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Via Bestbuy.com
Best Smart Color Changing Light Bulbs
For the best smart capability, you can’t go wrong with Philips Hue. These are compatible with Amazon Alexa, Hue, Google Assistant and Apple HomeKit.
Besides working with the top smart home systems, Philips Hue offers 16 million color choices. You can adjust brightness, temperature and color with the touch of a button without boosting your energy bill, thanks to the Energy Star certification.
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Via Bestbuy.com
Best Brightness and Longest Life
Nanoleaf bulbs are known for their brightness and affordability. For less than half the cost of some color changing bulbs, the Nanoleaf Essentials bulb puts out 1,100 lumens and lasts 25,000 hours.
Although they work with fewer smart home systems, Nanoleaf bulbs have smart light capabilities and are compatible with Apple HomeKit and Google Assistant.
“Nanoleaf’s shades of white are extremely bright. Way brighter than Hue,” writes one Best Buy reviewer, while noting Hue bulbs dim lower.
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Via Lowes.com
Best Custom Scene Creation and Scheduling
Scene creation is an excellent feature for savvy schedulers and party hosts. It lets you create lighting routines for any situation. Think cool, bright lights in the morning to help you wake up, or warm, moody pinks for movie nights.
The GE Cync bulbs offer unparalleled scene and scheduling capabilities. These Energy Star-certified bulbs use 84 percent less energy that 60-watt incandescent bulbs, so you can schedule lighting to make it seem like you’re home when you’re really on vacation.
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Via Lowes.com
Color Changing Light Bulb and Speaker
Here’s another innovative product from GE. The GE LED + light bulbs are one part color changing light bulb and one part Bluetooth speaker. They make it easy to play music anywhere.
Control the light and speaker separately with the included remote, or sync the light with your music for a colorful party mode. Up to 10 bulbs can be synched together. These bulbs offer eight colors plus a soft white setting.
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Via Amazon.com
Best Music Rhythm Color Changing Light Bulb
If you already have speakers and just want color changing capability, the Govee LED Light Bulb is an excellent choice. It’s less expensive than the GE LED + because it lacks a built-in speaker. It offers more than 16 million colors and can change along with the rhythm of your music.
Other features include a sunrise and sunset mode to aid in waking up and falling asleep. Unfortunately, these bulbs are only compatible with the Govee Home app.
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Via Amazon.com
Best Budget Color Changing Light Bulb
At about seven dollars, the MagicLight smart bulb is most affordable option on our list. Despite the lower price, these bulbs don’t sacrifice quality. They’re energy efficient, offer preset modes and scheduling, come in millions of colors and work with Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri Shortcut and SmartThings.
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Via Homedepot.com
Best Indoor/Outdoor Color Changing Light Bulbs
Philips wins again with the Wiz smart bulb. There aren’t many wet-rated color changing light bulbs, but this product can be used indoors and out. It’s a great choice for patio gatherings, cookouts and bonfires.
Although this is a Philips product, it’s not compatible with the Philips Hue app. Instead it uses the Philips Wiz app, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant or Siri Shortcuts. Scheduling is particularly useful for outdoor lighting to increase home security.
Originally Published: January 12, 2022
Author
Mikayla Borchert
Mikayla is an assistant editor for Family Handyman, specializing in indoor and outdoor gardening, organization and décor. She has one cat and holds a B.A. in English from the University of Minnesota. Outside of work, she likes running, skiing, hiking and tending her balcony garden.
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