Best for Year-Round Smart Lights

Photograph: Govee

Govee

Permanent Outdoor Lights Pro

Sick of climbing that ladder every year to put your lights up? Consider a permanent set of outdoor smart lights. This weatherproof model from Govee scores an IP67 rating (IP65 for the control box) and can handle temperatures of –4 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. They are designed to be up year-round. I tested the 100-foot string (200-foot is also an option), which comes divided into six sections, with an extension cord to branch from the lower level to your roof line. Each bulb is around an inch and a half square and juts out an inch. A flat cable joins them together at 18-inch intervals. Installation was fairly easy for the most part, with the adhesive sticking well to the plastic underhang of my home. I used the supplied screw clips to tidy up some cables and fix them more securely. You can cut them, and connectors are included, but this task is not for the faint of heart.

Govee offers everything but the kitchen sink in its busy companion app. You can set colors in zones (two per section), tweak the color temperature, and choose from a frankly bewildering array of lighting effects, called Scenes. Christmas is well represented in the Festival section of the Scenes, but there are also some nice effects in there for other holidays like Halloween. Depending on your home, they can serve as feature lights. The white looks quite classy, and they can get pretty bright (up to 50 lumens a bulb). There is Matter support for easy setup, and you can use voice commands with Alexa or Google Assistant.

If you already have other Govee lights, you will enjoy the ability to group them for shared effects, and you can schedule them, create effects, and even sync them to music or sound, though this feels gimmicky. They seem pricey until you compare them to other permanent lighting. If you don’t have much of an overhang, the lights will cast shadows and make shapes on the wall (Govee suggests installing 1 to 3 inches out, and I would recommend further if you can). My house is fairly small, so I only needed four sections. I wish the lights were closer together, and a little more subtle. If visible bulbs and cables annoy you, these aren’t for you. —Simon Hill

Comparing Our Favorite Smart Christmas Lights

Model	Compatibility	Length Options	Color Options	Waterproof Rating
Twinkly Strings Multicolor	Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Homey, Razer Chroma, OMEN Light Studio	26 ft, 65 ft, 105 ft, 197 ft, 158 ft	Multicolor, Gold & Silver, Multicolor & White, each sold separately	IP44
Philips Hue Festavia	Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Apple HomeKit, Samsung SmartThings, Spotify	65 ft, 130 ft	Multicolor and whites	IP44
Twinkly Icicle	Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Homey, Razer Chroma, OMEN Light Studio	16 ft (with 2.3-foot long icicle strings)	Multicolor, White, Multicolor & White, each sold separately	IP44
Govee Christmas Lights	Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant	66 ft	Multicolor and whites	IP65
Govee Permanent Outdoor Lights Pro	Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Matter	100 ft, 200 ft	Multicolor and whites	IP67

Honorable Mentions

Here are some of the other smart string lights we’ve tested for this story that are still available this year.

Photograph: Nanoleaf

Nanoleaf Essentials Smart Holiday String Lights for $150: These lights work with Google Assistant, Alexa, and HomeKit, and they’re similar in look, style, and price to our top pick. The only major difference is that the cord splits in two—the idea is you start from the middle of the tree, not the bottom, and wrap one cord to the top and the other down to the bottom. It’s a little disorienting, and the cords might be more of an eyesore depending on your tree placement.

Ollny Christmas Cluster Lights for $50: If you want something a bit simpler, Ollny’s warm and welcoming Christmas lights are affordable. We tested this 49-foot light string, which has 1,000 LEDs in a lovely warm white color. They are IP44 rated and come with a handy wee remote control that makes them ideal for outside your home. You can choose from eight effects, four brightness levels, and set timers to switch them on or off automatically after several hours.

How to Use a Smart Plug With Regular Lights

TP-Link

Tapo Smart Wi-Fi Plug Mini (TP15)

Cync

Outdoor Smart Plug

This outdoor smart plug is great for controlling your outdoor lights, and has two outlets built into it with weather covers.

If you don’t want a whole new set of Christmas lights but still want to add some smarts to your holiday decor, a smart plug can be the perfect solution. These plug into your outlet and turn the outlet smart, giving you Wi-Fi based control over it.

With smart plugs, you’ll get a simple level of control: on or off. It’s great for lights in particular, because you can leave the light technically on and the smart plug will remember what time you want it on or off. You’re able to sync it with a smart speaker too, to voice command the controls. You won’t get custom colors like you would with the true smart Christmas lights we recommend above, but if you mainly want a remote control to turn your lights on and off, these smart plugs will do the trick.

FAQs

What Makes Christmas Lights “Smart”?

Smart devices, whether they’re smart Christmas lights or smart bulbs or smart speakers, all have the ability to connect to Wi-Fi and can be controlled with an app. For smart Christmas lights, that means you can use the app to create light designs, set timers for when the lights should turn on and off, and take advantage of other features like scenes or presets, depending on the app’s features. This opens up many more lighting options with your single string of lights than a “dumb” light string that can only be set colors and offers no custom controls.

Are Smart Christmas Lights Worth It?

They’re worth it for anyone with the time to take advantage of the features, or anyone who gets frustrated trying to remember to turn their holiday lights on and off each morning and night. It will take a little more setup time than a regular set of string lights, but smart Christmas lights are a great device to make your holiday decor exactly what you want. Plus, then you can easily control the lights while you’re lying on your couch.

Are Permanent Outdoor Lights Smart Too?

The permanent outdoor lights we’ve tested have all had smart capabilities so far. Features can vary based on what brand you choose, but the concept is that you can install them once and customize your colors to use year-round from there. They are much more elaborate to install due to the permanent nature, and aren’t a fit for every kind of home. You can also get them professionally installed for you.

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