Best smart ambient lighting by room

By now we are all familiar with smart lighting. Smart lights have the ability to run on a schedule and do things like change colors or be turned on or off with just your voice. A smart bulb is perhaps the simplest form of connected lighting, but there are plenty of other smart lighting options out there. In this article, we’ll look at how to get the best lighting effects for every room in your home.

Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance smart light kit

Living room

The living room, the family room or the playroom: whatever you call it, the atmosphere is definitely more relaxing. You want smart lighting that can help you relax after a long day.

The Philips Hue starter kit is a great starting point for smart lighting, and especially for the living room. This smart light kit consists of three color-changing smart bulbs and a hub or bridge that connects to your home Wi-Fi network. It is easy to install and configure, even for technophobes or beginners. Once you’re connected to Wi-Fi, screw in each smart bulb. Place them in ceiling lights and lamps, then you can control them all from the app or with voice assistance from Google or Alexa. You can also adjust the color; blood red for a spooky movie night or cheerful peachy pink on a moody morning.

Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance smart light kit

Living room

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Govee Glide Hexa Pro

Game room

Gaming lighting calls for drama, and there’s no better dramatic ambient lighting kit right now than Govee Glide Hexa Pro 3D. This range of flat LED panel lights can be configured for thousands of different colors and can also create dynamic light shows. It can also listen and respond to your voice, game track, or music, creating effects that match your room, beat for beat and boom for boom. Whether you want to use it as a dynamic backdrop for your live streams or as ambient light in the room behind your monitor, these lights can create cool effects. Nanosheet makes a similar product too.

Govee Glide Hexa Pro

Game room

Kensington Two-Tone Ring Light

home office

When it comes to the home office, we most often need two things: a task light and a video conferencing light. Kensington’s two-tone ring light can be both, especially if you clip it onto the Kensington Boom Arm. Point it at the desk for ambient task lighting while you work, then flip it over and slide it over your camera for flattering light that makes your desk look like a TV studio. Hate your laptop’s built-in camera and the Jabba the Hutt neck it gives you? Place Kensington’s webcam on the included stand in the center of your ring light and show off from much more flattering video angles.

Kensington Two-Tone Ring Light

home office

GE Cync Direct Connect Light Bulb

Bedroom

If you’re new to the smart home game and are intimidated by setting one up, there’s an easy way to sample smart lighting, and that’s with smart bulbs that don’t have no need for a bridge or hub. GE’s Cync is a low-risk, high-return lighting system since no additional components are required. Just screw in Cync by GE bulbs and use the Cync app to connect for wireless access. Adjust the color to a soft, sleepy candle light, and drift off to dreamland.

GE Cync Direct Connect Light Bulb

Bedroom

Philips Hue outdoor lighting

backyard

The yard could be considered a room, right? The truth is, with all the time we spend outside in hot weather, it’s an easy space to spruce up. While you can add tiki torches or dollar store solar stake lights, we’re here to tell you that smart lights can make all the difference in your backyard ambiance.

Philips Hue makes a variety of smart connected outdoor lights, from bollards and floodlights to wired lights and waterproof lighting strips. Whatever your setup or needs, there’s probably an outdoor light for it from Phillips Hue. It has been my go-to outdoor lighting system for several years now. I can also attest that Hugh outdoor lights are able to withstand extreme temperatures and have stood the test of time through many harsh winters.

Philips Hue outdoor lighting

backyard

Cync by GE Outdoor Smart Plug

Outside

If you’re on a budget and don’t want to break the bank for dedicated smart lighting, you can always add brains to old lights. For example, those Edison bulb string lights that everyone likes to weave overhead in their yard; by simply plugging a string of these into a smart outdoor outlet, you can get instant smart home control. One of the products I like for this application is the Cync by GE smart outdoor outlet. It simply plugs into an AC outlet, and it houses two extra plugs under its waterproof cap. Just connect it to the GE Cync app and you can set daily timers or sunrise or sunset on/off functions; and use different timers for each individual outlet.

Cync by GE Outdoor Smart Plug

Outside

Solar Sconce Ring

Solar

Ring also manufactures dedicated outdoor lights. There are different components and corded and battery-powered options. These can connect and intertwine with the ring home security system so that if your motion detector is triggered, the lights and cameras can automatically start recording. If you don’t need the full house security option, you can simply add solar powered outdoor lights. Ring manufactures solar wall lights, solar street lights and solar path lights (stake lights). They are excellent for lighting up sidewalks or side yards without having to worry about replacing batteries.

Solar Sconce Ring

Solar

From Philips Hue to LIFX, Cync to Govee, Sengled, Abode and Wyze, there are plenty of lighting brands that can help you get the most out of your space. If you have a favorite, tell us which one and why in the comments.

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