The Best Smart Outdoor Lights, Vetted

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The best smart outdoor lights add functional and decorative illumination to the porch, patio, or garden, and it’s easier to control than ever.

Smart outdoor lights can be useful throughout the backyard or garden, with choices to light up pathways, improve security, brighten up hangout areas, or add accent lighting. Smart options are now plentiful and come in almost every outdoor lighting type, from practical path lights and security lights to decorative string lights and LED light strips.

Since they can connect to a smartphone, these lights offer ultimate control and make it possible to take advantage of a range of features, without even needing to step outside. You can switch lights on and off; adjust brightness, tone, or color; set schedules and timers; control groups of lights; and more—all remotely. The best smart outdoor lights have many of these features and then some; they’re practical, look nice, and are simple to control. Read on for the best smart outdoor lights to brighten outdoor spaces.

1. BEST OVERALL: Philips Hue Calla Outdoor Bollard
2. BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK: Geeni LUX Smart LED Floodlight
3. BEST PATH LIGHT: Ring Solar Pathlight
4. BEST STRING LIGHTS: Govee RGBIC Warm White Smart Outdoor String Lights
5. BEST WALL-MOUNTED: Philips Econic Outdoor Wall Light
6. BEST FOR SECURITY: Ring Spotlight 2-Pack Plus Bridge
7. BEST FOR DECORATION: Govee Wi-Fi RGBIC Outdoor Strip Lights
8. BEST OUTDOOR SMART BULB: GE Cync Full Color Direct Connect Outdoor Smart Bulb

How We Chose the Best Smart Outdoor Lights

The best smart outdoor lights are practical, reliable, safe, and come with a range of extra features for convenience. We evaluated product specifications as well as third-party and shopper reviews to choose the top picks on our list. To then select the best of the best, we dove deep into each product’s ease of use, connection reliability and app experience, and control features. We picked lights that are easy to set up and control, with a range of customizable features to justify the extra cost of their smart capabilities—since, yes, smart lights do cost more than their analog counterparts.

We stuck to reputable brands, partly for the usual reasons, which is that they provide reliable products and good customer service. However, when it comes to smart devices that connect to the web, a reputable brand is even more important to ensure that the device is secure. The brands in our lineup are tops in this field for a reason: They create great, safe products.

Our Top Picks

Convenience and ease of control are two of the main benefits that the top smart outdoor lights offer. Illuminate outdoor spaces with the reliable and feature-filled smart outdoor lights ahead.

Best Overall

Philips Hue Calla Outdoor Bollard

Use the Philips Hue Calla as pathway lighting, to outline a seating area, or to brighten up a garden. This outdoor smart light is just plain pretty, with a sleek and attractive design. It provides buyers the option to play with light brightness, temperature, and color. Using the Hue app, choose from 16 million different colors or any shade of white, and play with color scenes and effects. This light is one of the best low-voltage landscape lighting options since it’s weatherproof (suitable for use in wet locations) and easy to set up and extend.

Like other Hue outdoor lights, the Calla Outdoor Bollard requires a Hue Bridge (sold separately) to take advantage of smart features like controlling light brightness, color, timers, alarms, and notifications, among others. The Bridge makes it possible to control the light from a smartphone or tablet, or to connect to Philips Hue indoor switches. This light is compatible with Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, and Google Assistant for voice controls.

Product Specs 

• Power source: Power cord
• Brightness: 590 lumens
• Hub required: Yes

Pros

• Virtually endless variations to set the mood, with 16 million color options (including all shades of white)
• Very simple to set up, extend, and connect to other Hue lighting
• Attractive and durable design—weatherproof and suitable for wet locations

Cons

• Some users report yellowing of the light cover over time

Get the Philips Hue outdoor lights at Walmart or Philips (extension).

Best Bang for the Buck

Geeni LUX Smart LED Floodlight

Outdoor smart lights needn’t be expensive. In fact, one of the cheapest and easiest ways to add smart outdoor lighting is just to switch out a standard lightbulb to a smart outdoor bulb. This smart floodlight pair from Geeni is an affordable pick, with two weatherproof PAR38 E26 LED bulbs. The bulbs put off a white light that is both tunable (temperature adjustable) and dimmable, offering 1000 lumens at its brightest.

The floodlights can connect to Wi-Fi directly (2.4GHz networks only) so they don’t need a hub, plus they’re also compatible with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Microsoft Cortana. You can control the light brightness, temperature, and schedules using the Geeni app. Lights can also be grouped or individually controlled.

Product Specs 

• Power source: Light socket
• Brightness: 1,000 lumens
• Hub required: No

• Very easy to set up with no hub required; just twist it into the light socket
• 1,000 lumens at brightest setting; suitable for security lighting
• Lights can be controlled individually or as a group

• Only compatible with 2.4GHz Wi-Fi networks
• Available in white light only—no color options

ProsConsGet the Geeni smart outdoor lights at Amazon, The Home Depot, Target, Best Buy, or Geeni.

Best Path Light

Ring Solar Pathlight

Smart, motion detecting, and solar-powered, the Ring Solar Pathlight is designed for ease of use. Since this pathway light runs on solar power and not electricity, there’s no need to deal with wiring, which can be a hassle around walkways and driveways. The weather-resistant light shines up to 80 lumens of light, which is bright enough to gently light up a path. To help with safety and security, the light is motion activated (and you can even ask it to send alerts to a smartphone when the light senses motion).

A Ring Bridge is required to take advantage of smart features (otherwise, it’s simply a standard motion-sensing solar path light). Connecting to the bridge gives you the option to control the lights, adjust the brightness, set schedules, and change motion sensitivity, as well as sync with other Ring Smart Lights to create a smart lighting system. This light can also sync with some Ring doorbells and cameras to improve home security, not to mention it’s compatible with Amazon Alexa.

Product Specs 

• Power source: Solar
• Brightness: 80 lumens
• Hub required: Yes

Pros

• Runs on solar power, making installation and placement easy
• Customizable motion-sensing feature with the option to receive motion alerts
• Can be synced with compatible Ring doorbells, cameras, and smart lights

Cons

• Requires direct sunlight to recharge effectively

Get the Ring solar outdoor lights at Amazon, Lowe’s, The Home Depot, Abt, or Ring.

Best String Lights

Govee RGBIC Warm White Smart Outdoor String Lights

When it comes to improving the ambience of just about any outdoor space, string lights are an easy, attractive solution. And these 48-foot smart outdoor string lights from Govee are an upgrade from standard offerings, for holiday decorating or simply setting the mood year-round.

For ease of setup, this smart light has Wi-Fi built in, so there’s no need for a hub. In fact, if the Wi-Fi is down, you can connect via Bluetooth as well. Plus, this light is compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant for voice controls. Once connected, you can change the light color and brightness, set schedules and timers, and choose from 40 scene modes. Lastly, for peace of mind and longevity, the lights are weatherproof and shatterproof.

Product Specs 

• Power source: Power cord
• Brightness: 50 lumens
• Hub required: No

Pros

• Excellent for holiday decorating, with customizable colors and 40 fun scene modes
• Smart and hassle-free—both WiFi- and Bluetooth-enabled (no hub required)
• Ideal for outdoors; the string lights are durable, weatherproof, and shatterproof

Cons

• Some users feel the lights are spaced too far apart (15 bulbs on 48 feet)

Get the Govee warm white smart outdoor lights at Amazon or Govee.

Best Wall-Mounted

Philips Econic Outdoor Wall Light

Looking for a fixed outdoor light fixture? The Philips Econic outdoor wall light is a stylish, weatherproof choice for a front porch or beside an exterior door. It can be mounted to the wall or ceiling and it’s hardwired, emitting up to 1140 lumens of light. Besides its contemporary look, it also has a range of smart features for convenience.

Like other Philips Hue products, this one requires a Philips Bridge. Once connected, it gives users control over all the smart controls, including light color (with 16 million color options, as well as all shades of white), brightness, temperature, and timer and schedule settings. This light is also compatible with Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, and Google Assistant.

Product Specs 

• Power source: Hardwired
• Brightness: 1140 lumens
• Hub required: Yes

Pros

• Simple but contemporary design likely to suit many home exteriors
• A flexible option that can be mounted to the wall or ceiling
• High-quality build; made of aluminum and tempered glass

Cons

• Must be hardwired

Get the Philips Econic smart outdoor lights at Amazon, The Home Depot, Best Buy, or Philips.

Best for Security

Ring Spotlight 2-Pack Plus Bridge

Small but mighty, the Ring spotlight is an easy-to-install pick to boost home security. It’s weather-resistant and battery-powered (requiring four D-cell batteries each, which are not included), which opens up a world of options in terms of placement. The spotlight can be placed near garages, porches, sheds, and even trees to bring security lighting where wires can’t reach.

This set includes two spotlights and a Ring Bridge, which is necessary to use the smart features. Each light emits 400 lumens, so while it’s not a floodlight, it’s definitely enough light to view outside intruders. The lights are motion sensitive and can be set to send a motion notification for added security. Like other Ring smart lights, these spotlights can be synced with compatible Ring doorbells, cameras, and smart lights, making them easy to integrate into a security system. As with other Ring smart products, this one is compatible with Amazon Alexa.

Product Specs 

• Power source: Batteries
• Brightness: 400 lumens
• Hub required: Yes

Pros

• Battery-powered lights are easy and flexible to install
• Can connect with Ring doorbells and cameras as part of a home security system
• Can send motion-detection notifications to improve home security

Cons

• Can run through batteries quickly, especially if placed a high-traffic area

Get the Ring spotlight smart outdoor lights at Amazon, Lowe’s, The Home Depot, Ring, or Best Buy (spotlight only).

Best for Decoration

Govee Wi-Fi RGBIC Outdoor Strip Lights

Strip lights are a fun way to add subtle lighting and color to an outdoor space, and a smart version adds even more flexibility when it comes to control. The Govee Wi-Fi RGBIC outdoor strip lights are a user-friendly choice for year-round decoration. This strand provides 32.8 feet of colorful lighting. Wi-Fi is built in, so it can connect directly to a smartphone, and it’s also compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.

Plug these water-resistant strip lights into an outlet and, once connected, you can choose from millions of colors or over 60 preset scene modes, as well as set timers and schedules. Each light strip segment can have up to 15 different colors at a time, opening up even more room for creativity. One fun feature of this light is its music modes, which uses a built-in mic to sync the lighting to pulse to the rhythm, truly taking decorative lighting into a new level of party mode.

Product Specs 

• Power source: Power cord
• Brightness: 150 lumens
• Hub required: No

Pros

• Excellent customizable color options, with the ability to set different colors across the light strip
• 60 preset scene modes are perfect for holiday lighting
• Music modes sync the lighting to bounce along with the rhythm

Cons

• Power adapter is not waterproof and should be installed in a covered area

Get the Govee Wi-Fi smart outdoor lights at Amazon or Govee.