Readers' Choice Smartest Home: Your favorite smart lights
Mashable's Readers' Choice Awards give you the chance to tell us about the products you use and love. With each survey you take, you're potentially securing a Readers' Choice Award for your favorite gadgets and gear.
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In case you missed it, we polled our readers on the smart home tech they use and love. The results are in, and your favorite smart home brands have been revealed. Smart lights are some of the most approachable and accessible smart home gadgets, thanks to their low entry pricing and ease of use. They can be controlled via your smartphone or smart home assistants, giving you some versatility on how you integrate them into your home. Check out our full survey results, or continue reading for our breakdown of our readers’ preferred smart lights.
Your favorite smart lights
Readers narrowed down their favorite smart lights to just two brands: TP-Link (Kasa) and Philips Hue. Kasa won in most categories, including overall satisfaction, where it cinched an 8.6 out of 10 rating (compared to Philips Hue's 8.1). See how each brand fared in different categories in the chart below by clicking the arrows or using the dropdown menu.
Editor's note: TP-Link has been under investigation for security vulnerabilities with its routers and predatory pricing.
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Cost and installment
Smart light bulbs are one of the more accessible smart home devices, thanks to their relatively low cost. However, when comparing smart lights, you'll find a clear divide in this product category between premium-priced brands and more budget-friendly brands. It's clear from our survey responses that Philips Hue and Kasa are on different ends of the price spectrum. Philips was rated pretty low at 6.4, while readers favored Kasa at 8.7.
"The only reason I am not 'extremely likely' to recommend Philips Hue is they are relatively expensive compared to other brands," one respondent wrote.
A Kasa user commented, "I had another brand before and found them so frustrating. I was glad to find these worked to my liking at a lower cost."
Using the smart bulbs
Both Kasa and Philips Hue scored favorably in ease of use, reliability, and integration with smart assistants.
"Mostly, they work extremely well. We primarily control them by voice through Alexa," one respondent said about their Philips Hue lights.
Multiple survey respondents noted integrating their smart lights with either Alexa or Google Assistant. From a Kasa user: "I have a bunch of these bulbs throughout the interior and exterior of the house. The exterior ones had issues, but after upgrading to a mesh router, I haven't had any since. I can set them up for specific times, on and off at sunset/sunrise, and they have the ability to change colors. They integrate into my Google Home system without any problems."
Not enough respondents rated their TP-Link (Kasa) bulbs on lifetime of bulb, preset color themes, or routines and automation to generate a score, but Philips Hue received high marks in all of these areas.
Likelihood to recommend
Mashable readers equally recommend TP-Link (Kasa) and Philips Hue, each cinching a score of 8.1 out of 10.
Topics Gadgets
Based in New York City, Miller Kern is the Deputy Editor of Shopping and Reviews at Mashable, where she writes and edits reviews, roundups, deals, and news stories about tech products, including headphones, skincare devices, laptops, sex toys, e-readers, robot vacuums, and more. She's been covering all things shopping and tech, including shopping holidays like Prime Day and Black Friday, for Mashable since 2019. Miller can tell you which products are actually worth your money. She also explores trends in the shopping sphere, such as dupes and viral TikTok moments.
