The 4 Best Outdoor Smart Lights of 2024 to Protect and Enhance Your Home

Other Outdoor Smart Lights We Tested  

Govee Outdoor String Lights

These string lights are easy to hang and have some fun features we enjoyed using such as pre-set mood lighting, the ability to sync the lights to music, and customization that allows you to change the color of individual bulbs. However,  the bulbs give off insufficient light for true illumination. They’re a fun option that’s not as functional.

What to Know About Outdoor Smart Lights Before Shopping

Wattage and Lumens

Watts are a measurement of energy consumption. The amount of watts you consume during the month is correlated with the amount of money you’ll pay for electricity. It’s not always an indicator for brightness; LED bulbs, for example, are made to produce bright light with fewer watts. 

Lumens, however, are a measurement of brightness: the higher the lumens, the brighter the light will be. This is one of the reasons the GE Lighting CYNC Smart LED Light Bulbs is our top pick; the lumens are high at 2000, while the watts land only at 10. This low wattage and high lumens combination is ideal for outdoor lighting. 

Power Source

There are a few different power sources you’ll find for outdoor smart lights. The first is electric. Like most indoor light bulbs connected to lamps, many outdoor bulbs need to be plugged into a power source to work. You’ll also find battery-powered options that don’t need to be plugged in as long as they have a working battery.

Next, there is an adapter (or AC/DC power). It takes electricity from a grid and converts it to produce a current. While that may sound complicated, there’s not a lot of work on the user's end—for example, in the case of the Govee Strip Lights, there’s a power adapter attached to the cord, which you plug into a traditional socket.

Finally, as with the Ring Floodlight, there are AC-powered lights. AC means alternating current, which essentially is what’s used to power the existing electricity in your home (like recessed lighting, or any light controlled by a switch). AC-powered lights need to be hardwired in order to connect to existing wiring. 

Most houses are equipped with floodlights, so swapping one floodlight for another shouldn’t be complicated for a practiced electrician. While there’s no “best” power source, you should consider which type works best for the setup of your home and your personal lifestyle needs.

Smart Features

Smart features are usually accessed through a manufacturer’s app or voice control through compatibility with a smart home. These include brightness and dimness levels, color-changing effects, scheduling, and more. Motion-sensitivity, where lights are triggered by certain movements, can also often be controlled.

Ruiz notes that motion sensors can be unreliable and easily set off by everything from animals to passing cars. Some motion sensor lights include sensitivity adjustment, so you may be able to bypass some of these concerns to avoid the light going on every time a deer happens upon your lawn. 

Those who are excited to play with aesthetic holiday lighting might look for color-changing modes, while those who are most concerned about safety will want more control over timers and brightness. 

Your Questions, Answered

Are smart lights worth it?

Ruiz lists three compelling reasons to choose outdoor smart lights: “Safety first, control, and creativity.” In general, any kind of outdoor lighting is a must-have for safety. “For safety reasons, you want to see when you’re coming and going,” Ruiz says.

The additional control and energy-efficiency makes smart bulbs a great choice. They give you the option to ensure the lights won’t be on when the sun comes up, saving you money in the long run. 

Creativity is a bonus with the best outdoor smart lights. “If you’re using smart bulbs, you have a lot of creative abilities,” Ruiz says. “You can set the output, you can set the color, and the combination of both. You can make it dim with a not so bold color. You can go bold.” This isn’t possible with more traditional outdoor lights. 

What is the difference between smart lights and LED lights?

Smart lights and LED lights aren’t inherently different; in fact, smart lights often are LED lights. LED is short for light-emitting diode; for the light to work, the current passes through a microchip. They’re more energy-efficient than traditional light bulbs, they last longer, and they dim slowly over time instead of suddenly burning out.

While the majority of smart bulbs are LEDs, some of them are CFL lights, which use ultraviolet light and a fluorescent coating in a tube. 

Do smart lights use power when they’re off?

Yes, smart lights use power when they’re off. Since they’re primarily controlled by a smartphone or tablet, they do need to maintain a connection to WiFi or Bluetooth at all times, which uses a minimal amount of energy (usually the equivalent of a few cents a month). Smart bulbs are generally more energy-efficient than other options.

Who We Are

Alida Nugent is a commerce writer with over seven years of experience in the commerce space, working for such online publications as HGTV, Food Network, Wide Open Country, Drew + Jonathan, Bustle, and Romper. She was previously a commerce editor and strategist, working across company-wide portfolios on both editorial and sales content. For this article she consulted lighting designer Staci Ruiz.

What Is BHG Recommends?

Next to all of the products on this list, you may have noticed our BHG Recommends seal of approval. Products that earn the seal have been put through rigorous testing to make sure they're worth a spot in your home. We buy most of the products we test ourselves, but occasionally we are provided samples by companies if buying isn't an option. In these cases, we use the same testing criteria we use to test the purchased products.