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The 8 Best Outdoor Light Bulbs for Decor, Patio, Security, and More

Smart outdoor light bulbs can save you or visitors come over from tripping on a dark pathway—extend your enjoyment of the yard or barbecue party into the night. It also enhances home security to scare away burglars. The lights also offer remote control, smart home automation, and other convenience features. These new innovations these days can really make you lazy. We’ve been reviewing smart outdoor devices like doorbells, cameras, and locks for years now. We found the best options for anyone looking for a bulb to illuminate the outdoor dining or pool party patio. A light to draw attention to a spectacular tree or garden or essential outdoor lights so you can safely find your way in the dark.

Here are the 8 Best Smart Outdoor Light Bulbs for Decor, Patio, Security, and More – Reviews in 2021

1. The best outdoor smart bulb: Sengled Smart LED PAR38 Bulb

Sengled Smart LED is a floodlight-style smart light with a PAR38 bulb and motion sensor that takes all the setup and guesswork out of installation. It comes with a built-in motion sensor—that can illuminate an area ahead like a driveway, backyard, or even a detached garage when you want it and not when you don’t

At around $30, this smart LED bulb does most of what expensive setups do. It’s packed with features and can be controlled remotely using the app or with voice controls and even in-app schedules. However, it requires Sengled Smart Hub, Samsung SmartThings Hub, or Amazon Echo Plus. In addition to SmartThings functionality, it works with Google Assistant voice control. 

Overall, it’s the best smart outdoor bulb you can buy-balancing ease of use, performance, and affordability. 

Pros:

  • Affordable
  • Dimmable
  • Pair easily
  • Easy setup and simple operation

Cons:

  • Runs in daylight
  • No Apple HomeKit

Read our full review of The Best Smart Light Bulbs.

2.Best smart light bulbs Philips Hue: Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance A19 LED Smart Bulb

Philips Hue is well known for producing premium light bulbs for SmartThings, and the company offers a wide range of smart lighting. Its A19 Smart Bulbs is the right choice for anyone looking to sync a more extensive smart-home setup or smart home control capabilities such as geofencing, timers, and whole-home control. 

It works with Bluetooth for app control; however, it requires a separate hub for the full Hue experience. It supports voice commands, and it features plenty of customization options, including the ability to create lighting Schedules and Scenes. The A19 Smart Bulbs comes in both white and multicolor options and works with Amazon Alexa, Homekit, Google Assistant, IFTTT, and everything under the Zigbee umbrella. It’s a simple solution for someone looking to fully automate their homes with “smart IoT devices.” along with energy efficiency and security applications.

Pros:

  • Easy setup and control
  • No hub required
  • Up to 16 million colors 
  • Supports scenes and schedules
  • Connects via Bluetooth for remote app control
  • Compatibility with Hue Tap, Hue Dimmer, and Hue Motion Sensor

Cons:

  • Quite pricey
  • No built-in motion sensor
  • Lower brightness than most smart light bulbs

3. Best for lighting walkways: Ring Smart Lighting Solar Pathlight

The solar version of the Ring Smart Lighting Pathlight adds easy, smart lighting to dark areas, such as yards or drive and walkways. It has a solar rechargeable battery and a Micro-USB port to charge up the battery if you can’t wait for the sun to do it. They perform really well and are a great complement to the Ring ecosystem.

The Ring Solar Pathlight connects to your Wi-Fi network (2.4GHz only) via the Ring Bridge. If you don’t own a bridge, check out the two-pack starter kit that includes the Bridge. In addition to lighting fixtures, you can directly control it using an app on your Android and iOS devices or turn it on and off automatically when someone walks past the light. They also look great and available in black. So you can install them for outdoor lighting to show off your landscaping at night: preventing you or your visitors from slipping and maybe fall into the pool.

Pros:

  • Easy to install
  • Offering 80 lumens of brightness  
  • Work with Alexa, SmartThings Hub, and other Ring devices.
  • Solar battery continually charging.
  • Offers schedule, snooze options, and build-in motion activation

Cons:

  • It requires the Ring Bridge.
  • Work for short periods (less than 15 minutes)

This smart Wi-Fi bulb by TP-Link doesn’t require you to purchase a hub or Bridge. Still, it comes “loaded with useful features including energy monitoring, multicolor settings, and tunable white.” The bub brings out the classic look of a traditional clear incandescent bulb that puts out 600 lumens of warm white light.

What’s really lovely about this bulb? You can turn it on/off, create a schedule for automating, and controlling brightness and color along with the other color/dimming features all with your smartphone. Or using your voice via Amazon Echo dot or Google Assistant. “These new innovations these days can really make you lazy.” The bub is also well made, with easy installation and zero connecting issues. Furthermore, both TP-Link smart bub and switch dimmer work perfectly, especially for outdoors in areas.

Further reading: How to take smart light bulbs to the next level with a Smart Light Switch Dimmer

Pros:

  • Affordable.
  • No hub required.
  • Easy to install.
  • Supports IFTTT
  • Power usage reporting.
  • Multiple color options and dimmable soft, warm white light

Cons:

  • Some Android issues
  • No HomeKit support

5. Best-premium pick for lighting up party, and more: Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance Calla Bollard

This Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance Calla Bollard is the best looking smart outdoor light bulbs systems we reviewed. It offers an intuitive, user-friendly app and delivers up to 16 million brilliant arrays of colors to your garden, backyard barbecue, or pool area. These bulbs genuinely bring the best of the worlds of fun displays along with energy efficiency—combined the bubs with the outdoor motion sensor – for when visitors come over. And for use as security lights that might scare away burglars.

It requires the Philips Hue Bridge to get the full spectrum of possibilities or a Zigbee hub. However, it supports more smart-home platforms and devices, including Alexa, Google Assistant, HomeKit, IFTTT, and SmartThings. They are always ready to come on by app, schedule, or voice. It’s the most expensive bub and the best looking outdoor smart light systems fixture we reviewed. They are bright enough, and we highly recommend them for anyone looking for a unique approach to illuminate landscaping, late-night dip in your backyard or pool.

Pros:

  • Eye-catching design
  • Fully weatherproof
  • Tons of automation, schedules, and scenes
  • Easy setup, intuitive app, and control
  • 16 million colors to add a splash of color 

Cons:

  • Wireless range of just 30 feet
  • Require a Hue Hub to operate

6. Best outdoor smart bulb without a hub: LIFX 1100-Lumen, BR30 Wi-Fi Smart LED Light Bulb

If you don’t want to deal with a hub, the LIFX smart light bulbs come with built-in Wi-Fi and infrared LEDs capability and are the only outdoor color-changing bulb review. This’s a huge selling point especially for someone new to the smart home assistant world or deciding which system or hub to adapt to.

LIFX light bulb boasts an easy to set up design. The app offers a load of customization options, such as scheduling, strobe options for parties, pairing, and much more. Though it doesn’t require a hub, it’s not as bright as the Sengled or the Philips Hue, and it is more expensive. That being said, it’s also working with a broader range of smart home systems, unlike the Sengled that isn’t compatible with HomeKit, including Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple HomeKit.

Pros:

  • No hub needed
  • Bright and pleasant multicolor options.
  • Lifx support was prompt and helpful.
  • Works with Alexa and Google Assistant voice command.

Cons:

  • Some issues with Android phones
  • Connectivity issues-doesn’t connect to some routers.

7. Best energy-efficient outdoor lighting: Geeni Lux Wi-Fi White LED Smart Bulb

The Geeni Lux Floodlight is a fantastic light bulb that doesn’t waste electricity and can be controlled with Wi-Fi instead of a hug. Not only can you handle it by phone via an app, but you can also set different moods of brightness and dimness for when you don’t need super bright light.

It’s small but mighty and is rated at 1,000 lumens; you can use your Alexa and Google Assistant with your voice to control the light. The setup and use are pretty straightforward “Download the Geeni app (iOS, Android), sign up, screw in the bulb, and as it flashes, press okay on your phone. That is it!” Overall, the Geeni Lux Floodlight is excellent if you are looking to replace your floodlights or want elegant lighting in walkways, backyard, or pool areas.

Pros:

  • No hub required.
  • lighting schedules adjust temperature and brightness
  • Super user-friendly app
  • Reasonably easy to set up and operate
  • Work with Alexa and Google Assistant for voice command. 

Cons:

  • Requires 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi
  • Limited third-party integration.
  • Limited smart features

8. Our Eco pick wall-mounted solar security light: URPOWER Solar Motion-Sensor Lights

Like the Ring Smart Lighting Solar Pathlight, this URPOWER motion-sensor light uses solar batteries and charges in four to six hours of direct sunlight-with the capacity to keep 8 LED lights on for up to 7-hours. It’s weatherproof, unlike the Ring, and this smart outdoor light bulb covers a broader distance than the previous.

The URPOWER motion-sensor light comes in a pack of four, and they’re completely wireless and perfect for a different number of uses: including fence, Yard, Deck, Patio, or even your Garage. Their large size doesn’t limit their functionality at all, and you’ll be glad to know that they install quickly and easily. The light also doesn’t turn on during the day (so it doesn’t waste the solar life), but it starts working as soon it gets dark.

Pros:

  • Affordable
  • Waterproof and heatproof.
  • About 50,000 hours of operation.
  • Quick charging during daylight hours
  • Comes as four pack-9 LED bulbs per light
  • Provides brilliant illumination

Cons:

  • No off switch
  • The most immense size light we reviewed
  • It can only be mounted on a wall.
  • Only gets triggered when it detects movement.

How we picked the best outdoor light bulbs for backyards, pathways, and more

For this guide, we looked at the best smart outdoor light bulb options currently available on Amazon. We narrowed down our checklist to 8 models currently available on Amazon based on numerous feedbacks, features, and price.

What we look for in an Outdoor Light Bulb:

Brightness: We consider each light’s rated lumens, which is the brightness of an LED bulb. The smart outdoor light bulbs we reviewed were rated from softer lumens for mood lighting to higher lumens. If you want to light up the night after the sun goes down, a higher-powered bulb will be a better fit.

Connectivity design: To enjoy the most of your smart outdoor light bulbs, the lights need to be easily controlled with a smartphone or using your voice with (Z-Wave and Zigbee smart-home networking protocol) Amazon Echo, Google, and Siri. Almost all the bulbs we reviewed use regular Wi-Fi-some use Bluetooth for remote control and connecting to things like Alexa, Google Assistant, and Samsung SmartThings.

App interface: We also consider how easy it from downloading the app, set it up, and use it to control the light either at home or away. Although, most of the smart outdoor lights we review takes few minutes to set up. Once set up, it’s intuitive enough to turn the bubs on/off, create a schedule for automating and controlling brightness, and more.

Setup: Regardless of the bulb chosen, almost all offer a simple setup. Sign up, screw in the bulb, and as it flashes, press okay on your phone. That is, it!

Discover the best smart home products here!

Interested in discovering other smart devices? Check out Best Smart Light Bulbs Review.

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