Buying holiday lights for your home is an investment, so don’t go with lights that only offer one color choice. The best smart holiday lights can be changed to a wide array of colors and blinking patterns and can also be synced to music. You can control them using an app or voice commands using Alexa, Google Assistant, or IFTTT devices, and you can even put these types of lights on a schedule.
Love the idea of keeping your tree up year-round? With smart lights, you can change the light colors to fit the upcoming holiday or season. After the holidays, you could change your lights to pink and red for Valentine’s Day; pastel colors for Easter; red, white, and blue for Independence Day; orange and purple for Halloween … you get the idea.
Here are our picks for the best holiday smart lights on the market.
Twinkly’s lights are on their second generation and have a lot of great features. The lights have an almost endless combination of effects, animations, and color ranges to give you a fully customizable experience. Twinkly smart lights also have a built-in microphone, so they can sense music and sync with the beat.
Since the Twinkly Smart Decorations Custom LED String Lights are rated for indoor and outdoor use, you can do one of those snazzy musical light show extravaganzas that’s popular on YouTube. Setup is easy, too. They connect using Bluetooth, and from there, you can control the lights with the app or any Alexa-enabled device. Through Alexa, you can turn the lights on or off, set the brightness, or change colors. If you want a super easy setup, you can also get Christmas trees pre-lit with Twinkly lights.
If you want to set the mood outside but you don’t want to string hundreds of lights, there is a fast alternative. Festive floodlights make it look like you went through some effort but with just a few minutes of work.
One of the best options are the ILC Floodlights. Put them on the ground, plug them in, and then project festive colored lights on the outside of your home. You can control the lights using an app, and they feature music-syncing abilities and a wide range of colors.
While the Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance Outdoor Lightstrip isn’t specifically for the holidays, this list wouldn’t be complete without it. The Hue Lightstrip is the perfect choice if you want lights that can take you from Christmas, to spring parties, summer cookouts, and roasting marshmallows on the deck in the fall.
Durable and meant for year-round outdoor use, these Philips lights feature 16 million colors and “all shades” of white light. Plus, they are compatible with Alexa devices, Google Assistant, and HomeKit. You can also use the Philips Hue app to control them if you connect the lights with the .
For the truly festive, Govee has a new batch of lights that you install directly into the exterior of your house. With a little bit of elbow grease, you can have seasonal colors washing over your home with minimal profile on the fixtures themselves. These lights are perfect for those who want to go all-in with exterior smart lighting. Weatherproofing ensures these can last for the long haul, rain or shine. Govee rates these lights at up to 50,000 hours of runtime in temperatures from -4°F to 140°F.
Govee has a strong reputation in smart lighting for high brightness and saturation, a robust app for programming color schemes, and all the important connections to voice assistants. Music sync helps tie in with whatever festive tunes you have playing outside for a full multimedia experience.
Featuring 250 addressable LEDs and clocking in at 20 meters in length, these Nanoleaf lights are great for trees, bannisters, or anywhere else inside (or outside) your home. They also boast Matter support – making it easy to sync them with the rest of your smart gadgets.
Using the Nanoleaf smartphone app, you'll have access to more than 16 million colors, holiday-themed Scenes, and the option to get your lights dancing to the beat of nearby music. They can also be controlled via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, making them ideal for all sorts of setups.
The Nanoleaf Matter Smart Holiday String Lights are a bit expensive at $120, but there's no doubt they bring a festive flair to every room. And since they're IP44 rated, they can withstand inclement weather and can be installed outdoors if preferred. If you're looking for a versatile set of string lights, the latest product from Nanoleaf is a solid option.
If it can be streamed, voice-activated, made better with an app, or beaten by mashing buttons, Tyler's into it. When he's not making the Internet a better place with the latest tech news, Tyler is working in the eco and investment world, writing fiction, or waiting for hiking weather.
Simon Sage is a green tech contributor at Digital Trends. He looks at all sorts of devices that can help reduce emissions through electrification, like power stations, solar panels, smart thermostats, and LED lighting. He's also keen on exploring right to repair and sustainable transportation.
Simon started journalism 17 years ago in the mobile tech space, covering the meteoric rise and fall of BlackBerry. Since then he's dipped his toe in mobile gaming, app reviews, and sponsored content. He's been to his fair share of trade shows, such as Mobile World Congress, the Consumer Electronics Show, E3 (RIP), the Game Developer Conference, and a smattering of smaller shows. He's done multiple TV interviews, the most surreal of which was explaining how Pokémon Go works on a morning show. Simon's also hosted over 100 podcast episodes.
Previous publications include BlackBerry Cool, IntoMobile, and Mobile Nations sites like Android Central, iMore, CrackBerry, and Windows Central.
Simon's based in Ottawa, Ontario, where he is constantly clawing against the gravitational pull of becoming a government drone. He studied English at Carleton University there, including a stint at Lancaster University in the UK. He has since levelled up his education in sustainability through the Climatebase platform. Simon spends way too much of his free time playing games, especially Magic: The Gathering.
Outdoor security cameras are not always practical if you live in an apartment or rental. Drilling into an exterior wall may be off-limits, while pointing a regular indoor camera through a window can create another problem once reflections start showing up after dark.
Baseus is trying to solve both issues with the new PrimeSentinel W1, a $69.99 security camera designed specifically to monitor the outdoors through glass. It mounts directly to a window without drilling and uses a 4K Starlight sensor with an F1.0 aperture for full-color monitoring during the day and at night.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
Technology evolves every day, transforming how we live and work. Our devices are becoming more than tools we use. They are increasingly capable companions that help streamline day-to-day routines and spark creative ideas. If you have been waiting for the right moment to upgrade your tech setup, the Discover Samsung Shopping Event offers an opportunity to explore what connected, AI-powered living can look like.
With AI progressing so fast, it's only a matter of time before we start getting AI companions like the ones we used to see in movies like R2-D2, Wall-E, or Baymax. Now, Singapore-based OKA Technology has unveiled Mori, a cute little AI companion that looks less like a conventional home robot and more like someone turned the Pokémon Foongus into a table lamp.
Mori isn't meant to clean your house or control your smart home, but to serve as what OKA calls a "Nature Companion." It uses subtle movements, warm lighting, nature-inspired sounds, and small reactions to make its presence around the house feel calming rather than distracting. Mori can sit quietly while you read, sway along to music, welcome you when you enter a room, or encourage you to slow down for a moment without requiring a screen or a conversation.