Buying Guide: The Best Smart LED Light Bulbs for 2022 in the UAE and Saudi Arabia
Light bulbs have grown exponentially smarter in recent years. You can now replace your standard incandescent bulb with a variety of connected solutions you can control with just a few taps on your smartphone or tablet. Some also connect with smartwatches and virtual assistants, so they can be controlled from your wrist or with just the sound of your voice. But with so many options flooding the smart home market, which one is right for you?
We've rounded up the highest-rated smart bulbs we've tested here. Read on for our top picks, and scroll down for general information about smart light bulbs and some points to consider while you're shopping for one.
Wyze Bulb Color
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| + Affordable | - Not sold individually |
| + Bright and dimmable | - No dynamic lighting effects |
| + Hub-free app control | |
| + Works with Alexa, Google and IFTTT | |
| + Can be set up individually or as a group | |
| + Supports automations, custom scenes, schedules, and sleep routines |
Wyze Bulb Color
Why We Picked It
The Wyze Bulb Color is the most affordable smart color bulb we've tested. It can shine 16 million colors, and you can control it from your phone or with your voice via Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. It offers ample smart features for the price, including support for custom scenes, device-triggered automations, and scheduling. You simply won't find a better smart light bulb for a lower price than this.
Who It's For
With the ability to produce virtually any color plus a range of warm to cool white tones and shine bright or dim low, the Wyze Bulb Color can help set the mood, whether you're working from home or hosting a game night. It's a lot smarter than your average light bulb, but affordable enough to put in every fixture in the house. And you can group bulbs together to control them at the same time, or make each shine a different color.
Govee Lynx Dream LED Lights
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| + Lots of customizable lighting effects | - Bulbs are spaced far apart |
| + Supports Alexa and Google voice | - No HomeKit support |
| + Works with IFTTT | |
| + No hub required |
The Bottom Line:
Designed for outdoor use, the fun, highly customizable Govee Lynx Dream String Lights feature multicolor LEDs that you can control with your phone or voice.
Why We Picked It
For a festive way to illuminate your outdoor spaces, try string lights such as the Govee Lynx Dream. Each string has dimmable multicolor LED bulbs that you can control with your voice or phone. They also support IFTTT applets, and you get a generous selection of preset lighting scenes and a fun Music Sync mode that's great for parties.
Who It's For
The Govee Lynx Dream String Lights are an excellent choice for anyone who wants to add colorful lighting outside of their home. Available in 48 or 96 feet, the strings are weatherproof, easy to install, and support remote control via voice commands or the flexible Govee Home mobile app. They also look great and are simply fun to use.
Wyze Light Strip Pro
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| + Affordable | - Cannot connect multiple strips |
| + Easy to install and set up | |
| + Displays 16m colors | |
| + Lots of automation features and lighting effects | |
| + Alexa and Google voice support |
Wyze Light Strip Pro
Why We Picked It
The Wyze Light Strip Pro is a thin, flexible strip of LEDs you can stick to virtually any indoor surface—behind your TV or headboard, or along the edge of a fish tank or staircase—and control via your phone or voice. The Light Strip Pro significantly undercuts the competition without compromising on functionality or features. It offers lots of fun effects and useful automations, has a microphone to sync to the beat of music, and works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.
Who It's For
Whether you're looking to turn a dorm room into the ultimate party zone or you just want some soft illumination under your kitchen cabinets, the Wyze Light Strip Pro makes it easy and affordable to achieve a wide range of accent lighting goals. Like the standard model, it allows for quick peel-and-stick installation, has a support app and voice control, offers a range of effects and automations, and has a microphone for music syncing. It can display millions of colors as well as a range of white tones, but the standard Light Strip can shine only one at a time, whereas the Pro can output up to 16 hues at once.
Globe Smart Ambient Light
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| + Easy to install | - Doesn't support HomeKit or IFTTT |
| + Supports Alexa, Google, and Siri voice | - Narrow motion detection range |
| + Broad color range | |
| + Duabl-band WiFi | |
| + Works with SmartThings platform |
Globe Smart Ambient Light
Why We Picked It
The Globe Smart Ambient Light is a plug-in night-light with a built-in motion sensor that illuminates the way when you approach it. You can tune the LED to a specific white color temperature or display any number of RGB colors, create lighting schedules, and control everything from either an app or with your voice.
Who It's For
The Globe Smart Ambient Light is worth checking out if you're looking for a night-light to illuminate hallways, closets, bedrooms, and any other parts of your home with a soft, colorful glow.
Wyze Bulb White
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| + Very affordable | - Lacks support for HomeKit |
| + Long lifespan | |
| + Lots of smart features |
Wyze Bulb White
Why We Picked It
The Wyze Bulb White improves upon its predecessor with a longer lifespan, a wider color-temperature range, and an easier setup process. At less than $10 per bulb, it's the best smart white LED we've tested, and second only to the slightly pricier Wyze Bulb Color.
Who It's For
If you're looking to save a couple of bucks per bulb and have no need for color-changing lighting, the Wyze Bulb White is a terrific alternative to the Wyze Bulb Color.
Philips Dimmable A19 Smart Wi-Fi WiZ Light Bulb
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| + Affordable | - Finicky WiFi setup and app control in testing |
| + No hub required | - No HomeKit support |
| + Connects via WiFi for remote control app | |
| + Works with Alexa, Google, IFTTT, and Siri shortcuts | |
| + Supports light Rhythms, Scenes, and Schedules |
Philips Dimmable A19 Smart Wi-Fi WiZ Light Bulb
Why We Picked It
Philips makes some of our favorite smart light bulbs, but its Hue LEDs are prciey. Starting at just $9.97, the Philips Dimmable A19 Smart Wi-Fi Wiz Light Bulb is a far more affordable option. It offers ample features for the price, including support for IFTTT integrations and voice control via Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri Shortcuts.
Who It's For
The Philips Dimmable A19 Smart Wi-Fi Wiz bulb offers loads of value and convenience for its low price. It works with Wi-Fi for app control without needing a separate hub, it supports voice commands, and it features plenty of customization options. Its companion app lets you create Scenes to set the mood for different occasions, Rhythms to automate lighting adjustments based on the time of day, and Schedules to enable your preferred light mode on certain days and times.
Philips Hue Iris Table Lamp
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| + Wide color and white temp range | - Some features require a Hue Bridge hub |
| + Stylish design | |
| + Features Bluetooth for hub-free app control | |
| + Supports Alexa and Google voice |
Philips Hue Iris Table Lamp
Why We Picked It
The Philips Hue Iris is a smart and stylish table lamp that lets you set the mood instantly. It displays 16 million colors and a wide range of warm and cool white tones to create the perfect ambience, and it supports routines to wake you up and help you sleep. The newest model offers a 570-lumen maximum output, more than double that of its predecessor, and adds Bluetooth support so you can control it from your phone without a separate hub, though you'll need a Philips Hue bridge (sold separately) to do so when you're out of the house.
Who It's For
If you're looking for a smart, stylish table lamp that can evoke a specific vibe instantly, the Philips Hue Iris is a terrific standalone smart accent light for beginners and existing Hue users alike. It's easy to set up and use and even easier on the eyes, offering preset white or color scenes, along with the ability to create and save your own.
TP-Link Kasa Filament Smart Bulb KL50
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| + Affordable | - Non-adjustable white temp |
| + Supports IFTTT | - Lacks Apple Homekit support |
| + Works Alexa and Google voice | |
| + Power usage reporting | |
| + No hub required | |
| + Easy to install |
The Bottom Line:
The stylish TP-Link Kasa Filament Smart Bulb KL50 supports voice control, works with third-party devices, and can tell you how much energy it's using.
Why We Picked It
The TP-Link Kasa Filament Smart Bulb KL50 is a clear LED bulb that puts out 600 lumens of warm white light. It works with other smart devices using IFTTT applets and can be controlled with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice commands. But it's most notable for its design, in which its four LED strands resemble the filament used in old-school incandescent bulbs
Who It's For
If you're looking to add smart lighting to your home but want the classic look of a traditional clear incandescent bulb, you should check out the TP-Link Kasa Filament Smart Bulb KL50.
Philips Hue Bluetooth White and Color Ambiance Bulb
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| + Works without a hub | - Expensive |
| + Easy to install | - Requires Hue Bridge for remote access and to use other Hue features |
| + Vibrant colors | |
| + Supports Alexa and Google voice | |
| + Can be added to Hue ecosystem |
Philips Hue Bluetooth White and Color Ambiance Bulb
Why We Picked It
The Philips Hue Bluetooth White and Color Ambiance is the first Hue smart bulb equipped with a Bluetooth radio, which means you can control it without connecting it to a Hue Bridge: Its app lets you turn it on and off, dim it, and change colors and color temperature settings, and the Ambiance supports Alexa and Google voice commands. You can pair it to a Hue Bridge if you want to control it from afar, as well as take advantage of smart home integration and other features that make Hue a best-in-class smart lighting platform.
Who It's For
If you want to dip your toe into the smart lighting waters before investing in a pricey hub-controlled system, the Hue Bluetooth White and Color Ambiance bulb is a good place to start. It performed well in our tests and is easy to install, and you can add it to your Hue ecosystem should you decide to go all out.
What Does a Smart Light Bulb Do?
Smart bulbs offer a degree of control and interactivity you just can't get with traditional bulbs, including scheduled timers and remote control options. They're also more convenient; it's easier to tap on a smartphone screen than to get up and trudge over to a wall switch.
Aside from keeping you out of the dark, most of the bulbs we've reviewed can be scheduled or controlled remotely, which is great if you want to save on energy costs or often forget to turn off the lights before leaving the house. Some bulbs use geofencing, which means they work with the GPS in your smartphone to pinpoint your exact location and can automatically turn on or off when you get home or leave the house. Color-changing bulbs are great for mood lighting, and some can even sync up with certain movies and TV shows.
As touched on, some bulbs hook up with Amazon's Alexa, Apple's HomeKit, or Google Assistant, so you can control your home lighting with your voice. You can also integrate some of the bulbs on this list with security cameras, thermostats, and other smart home devices. If This Then That (IFTTT) compatibility lets you create recipes that automatically cause your lights to react to certain triggers, like phone notifications or changes in weather.
Can a Smart Bulb Change Color?
Some of the bulbs on this list are just white, while others have the ability to take on any color of the rainbow. Color is a fun way to add atmosphere to your home, but often results in a pricier bulb.
Most of the smart bulbs we review are marketed as equivalent to 60-watt incandescent models, which sounds self-explanatory, but some bulbs are brighter than others. To see just how bright a light is, you need to look at the lumens it puts out (listed in the table below): the more lumens, the brighter the light.
Another factor to keep in mind is color temperature. Higher temperatures, such as 8,500K, look like harsh office lighting, which is fine for staying awake or working. Lower temperatures, such as 2,500K, translate to a cozy, warm glow that's perfect for relaxing.
How Do I Connect My Smart Bulb to My Phone?
Some smart bulbs need to connect to your smartphone through a home automation hub such as the Philips Hue Bridge. Other bulbs cut out the middleman and connect to your phone or tablet directly via Wi-Fi, while some connect with Bluetooth—but in that case, you're limited to control only when you're within Bluetooth range, which means you can't change the lights when you're away from home. Adding a hub also means spending a bit more money and requires an additional step in the installation process.
Since you'll mostly be controlling these lights from your phone or tablet, you want to make sure that it's easy to do. If you have multiple bulbs, for instance, you'll want a companion app that lets you easily arrange them in groups, and adjust the brightness and/or color of an entire group at one time. Do you have a smart display or smart speaker? Look for a bulb that works with Alexa or Google Assistant so you can control it with your voice.
Of course, any bulb plugged into a socket can always be turned on or off by just flipping the switch. We pay close attention to how each app works, and provide a detailed overview in each review.
Are Smart Light Bulbs Worth the Money?
Smart bulbs use light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and a variety of technologies to work, so they are typically more expensive than traditional bulbs. That's important to keep in mind, especially if you want to upgrade your entire house. But smart bulbs also use less energy and last a lot longer—meaning you can save money in the long run. And as you can see, most of the options on this list fall well below $50, so the price of entry isn't as steep as it used to be a couple of years ago. You can now even find sub-$10 options, including some of our highest-rated picks.