Best smart Christmas lights 2024

In recent years, smart Christmas lights have become very popular, giving you a whole new way to decorate for the holidays.

Forget the hassle of untangling old strings of lights or settling for basic flashing patterns—the best smart lights incorporate automations, customizable color schemes, dynamic animations, and even music synchronization into the holiday mix.

Actually, you might still have to untangle some string lights… but that’s all part of the Christmas spirit, eh?

Brands like Twinkly, Philips Hue and Govee are leading the way, offering a growing range of innovative devices that take Christmas lighting to the next level.

With features like app control, voice assistant compatibility, and advanced scheduling, these smart Christmas lights give you complete creative freedom to design a holiday display that’s uniquely yours.

So whether you’re looking to create a synchronized light show on your tree and windows or simply want hassle-free options to decorate your home with Christmas cheer, the best smart Christmas lights can provide convenience and style in equal measure.

In this guide, we’ll explore the best options to help you make this holiday season the most dazzling one yet.

These are some of the brands to consider…

Philips Hue

Philips Hue doesn’t have a wide range of dedicated smart Christmas lights, the only product being the Festavia smart string lights.

Designed for indoor and outdoor use, the second-generation Festivia lights offer advanced customization through the Hue app and integration with smart home systems like Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple HomeKit.

Festavia string lights come in three varieties: 100 LEDs along an 8m cable, 250 LEDs along a 20m cable, or 500 LEDs along 40m, so whether you are Looking to decorate your tree or create an outdoor spectacle, there should be a size option to suit what you want to do with them.

Festavia lights feature gradient lighting, allowing you to set three colors on the spectrum that can blend together perfectly or display scattered patterns for a vibrant festive effect.

In the app you can also choose between dynamic effects such as “Candle”, “Fireplace” and “Glow”, which imitate natural and cozy lighting.

If you want an interactive Christmas experience that explodes the senses, you can also sync your Hue lights with Spotify to have them flash and dim to the beat of your music.

Govee

Govee is quickly becoming the number one smart lighting brand; The Chinese company now has a host of high-end smart lights, such as the Glide Hexagon Light Panels Ultra, and its Christmas range is also expanding rapidly, with many products now in their second generation.

One of Govee’s big selling points is the use of RGBWIC technology, meaning each LED delivers accurate, vibrant colors along with pure white tones, making them perfect for festive displays.

But what really sets Govee apart is its AI-powered features and community-driven patterns. With the Govee Home app, you can chat with AI Lighting Bot to generate custom lighting effects or upload photos to create custom patterns.

And, while on vacation, you’ll find plenty of user-generated scenes in the Govee app, making possible motion effects like the ones you’d get with Govee Curtain Lights 2 and Outdoor Net Lights:

Govee also offers a couple of tree light variations, as well as second-generation string lights that can be used indoors or outdoors.

The Govee Icicle lights have really made my house stand out this Christmas – they come in a 10m or 20m configuration.

In the Govee app, there are over 130 preset animations to choose from and smart shape mapping allows for custom layouts for unique designs.

Matter’s compatibility means seamless integration with Apple Home, Alexa, Google Home and SmartThings, giving you full control with voice commands or through the app.

sparkling

Twinkly is a smart lighting brand that really shines at Christmas, with a host of options on offer.

For its 2024 range there are a number of new options, including the new Twinkly Tree Topper, the longest Twinkly Strings 750 ever and more creative options such as light-up reindeer and mappable net lights, all controllable through the Twinkly app.

Twinkly Tree Topper, shaped like the Twinkly logo, features over 16 million color options and syncs perfectly with other Twinkly products thanks to the Group Mapping option in the app, making it perfect for creating cohesive displays.

The Strings 750 feature, as the name suggests, 750 RGB LEDs that span nearly 200 feet and are ideal for both indoor and outdoor setups.

Since all products integrate with smart assistants like Alexa and Google Assistant and offer music syncing capabilities, Twinkly’s offerings are designed for ease of use and maximum creativity.

The best cheap smart Christmas lights

Products like Twinkly, Govee and Philips Hue, which we have highlighted above, are certainly premium products but, let’s face it, they also come with premium prices.

But it’s also possible to automate your Christmas and make everything a little smarter without having to spend a lot of money.

Read our guide on using smart home technology to create a smarter Christmas for more information, where we talk about using silly lights, smart plugs, and more to create a more autonomous Christmas setup.

But there are also plenty of smart Christmas lights available online. As always, if you buy brands you’ve never heard of like Amazon, always take note of customer reviews.

In fact, we’ve tested a lot this year and can give our seal of approval…

Echosari Smart Star Fairy Lights

Echosari lights are super affordable, costing less than $10, but combine practical features with a charming frosted star design, offering a soft, non-glare glow that works indoors and outdoors.

At 10 meters long and USB powered, you’ll receive an infrared remote control in the box and they can also be controlled via the Zengee app.

You can choose from 16 million colors, sync them to music using the built-in microphone, and even group control up to five sets for coordinated viewing.

Roscoo Christmas Lights

These smart LED lights feature a triple copper wire design wrapped in a layer of flexible leather to prevent rust, tangles, and wear.

With 200 high-quality LED beads spaced evenly along the 65.6-foot chain, they offer vibrant and colorful lighting effects, with built-in RGB+IC technology, allowing for individual customization of each LED bead.

The app (iDeal LED) is fine, if a little clunky, with access to 64 dynamic scene effects, including chase, running water, and fireworks.

If you play around a little, you can make them work with other Tuya Smart Life apps too, so in theory you could connect them with Alexa or SmartThings.

Frequently asked questions