Smart light bulb protocols and features

Three control technologies continue to vie for leadership in the smart bulb market (Z-Wave is a major contender in smart lighting, but you won’t encounter it in bulbs—just in switches, plug-in modules, control panels, and smart-home hubs).

ZigBee:

Bulbs that use the popular smart-home networking protocol require a bridge to communicate with your home Wi-Fi network. This is the technology Philips has adopted for its Hue lineup, but it’s not the only one.

Wi-Fi:

This class of bulb talks directly to your Wi-Fi router, no hub or bridge required. LIFX is the only major vendor marketing color Wi-Fi bulbs today.

Bluetooth:

These bulbs skip your home network altogether and pair directly with your smartphone or tablet. As such, they can’t be controlled from outside your home. GE and a number of other manufacturers make Bluetooth bulbs, some of better quality than others.

Each of these technologies has pros and cons, so before you attempt to settle on a specific bulb, first try to determine which tech is right for you. If you want to hook your bulbs into a broader smart-home system—such as SmartThings or Nest—Bluetooth bulbs are out. You can control more than one bulb with your phone, but you can’t connect it to sensors or other systems inside your home. Don’t like the idea of pairing a bulb to your phone? A Wi-Fi bulb will work best for you, though you won’t have quite as many options as you’ll find with a ZigBee product.

Best color LED smart bulb

Philips was one of the first players in this market, and the company’s experience shows. Its Hue color ambiance bulbs haven’t changed much since their introduction in late 2012, but the new bulbs last a lot longer and the company continues to add new shapes, sizes, and accessories to its lineup. The Hue app has also improved significantly, and Hue bulbs are available in a broad range of form factors, including BR30, PAR, GU10, and A19 in addition to stand-alone devices like the Philips Hue Phoenix. Note: The price shown above is for a three-bulb starter kit that includes the required Philips Hue Bridge. Additional bulbs cost $59.99 each.

Yes, we did award the LIFX Color 1000 a higher score than the Philips Hue. Philips earned its “best” nod by virtue of the Hue system’s broad collection of styles and its numerous compatible accessories. If you just want color A19 (or BR30) bulbs, LIFX has the better product. This is especially true if you’re installing them in canister lamps, because they’re the brightest bulbs in this roundup. We also like the LIFX+ color LED smart bulb, which has an array of infrared LEDs that will help your home security camera see in the dark.

Best white LED smart bulb

Our choice won’t surprise anyone who’s been following this market. Philips dominates the smart bulb market, and is also our top pick for best color LED smart bulb. The latest Hue bulbs deliver high-quality light, last for tens of thousands of hours, and are backed by a strong warranty.

And while it would be easy for Philips to sit back and expect the industry to conform to it as the de facto standard, it has instead worked hard to ensure its products are compatible with other technologies, including Amazon’s Echo and Google’s Google Home. Plus, Philips Hue bulbs are available in more form factors than any other manufacturer, including the ubiquitous A19 (the most common), BR (bulged reflector), PAR (parabolic reflector), GU (glass reflector with a U-shaped, dual-pin base), and a host of specialty shapes and sizes.

LIFX once again earns our runner-up prize. It’s a very good product, and unlike Philips’ offering, it doesn’t require a hub to operate because the LIFX White 800 connects directly to your Wi-Fi network. LIFX has also worked hard to be compatible with other smart-home products, including the Amazon Echo and Google Home digital assistants, but its own app is a bit clunky and like its brighter color stablemate, it’s available only in A19 and BR30 form factors.

Best semi-smart LED bulb

We debated including any of Feit Electric’s Intellibulbs in this category, because they technically don’t fit our definition of a smart bulb. They don’t have Wi-Fi, ZigBee, or even Bluetooth radios, so they can’t be controlled via an app, and they can’t be scheduled or incorporated into a broader smart home system in a meaningful way. Heck, we weren’t even impressed with many of them as light bulbs to begin with. But for those who just want a simple means of changing of changing the color temperature of the light in a room, the Intellibulb ColorChoice is an ingeniously simple solution.