These smart lights will cover your walls with color
We at CNET have tested all sorts of color-changing smart bulbs over the years, but now, a new generation of smart lighting products are ditching the bulb altogether. Some are directional fixtures that simply cast color across your walls — others seek to serve as functional smart home art pieces in and of themselves. If you’re considering adding a wash of color to your walls, or just itching to geek up your smart home aesthetic, these four color-changing accent lights will do the trick.
Nanoleaf Aurora
Product Review: https://www. cnet.com/reviews/nanoleaf-aurora-review/#ftag=CAD187281f
CNET rating: 4.0 stars out of 5 (Excellent)
The good: Nanoleaf ’s triangular light panels are bright, colorful, easy to assemble and downright cool to look at. The app makes it easy to create your own animated scenes, and you can control everything using spoken Siri commands, too.
The bad: Decorative, wallmounted panels aren’t nearly as practical as smart bulbs are, and they won’t fit in with every aesthetic. Also, the lack of a music sync feature is a missed opportunity.
The cost: $276.50
The bottom line: These unique, color-changing smart panels are delightful to look at and easy to use, especially if you’re an iOS user.
Lifx Z Multi-Color LED Wi-Fi Light Strip
Product Review: https:// www.cnet.com/reviews/lifx-zwi-fi-led-light-strip-starter-kit-review/#ftag=CAD187281f
CNET rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 (Very good)
The good: The Lifx Z light strips don’t need a bridge or a hub plugged into your router, and they let you “paint” multiple colors onto the strips — two distinct advantages over Philips Hue. They also work with IFTTT, Nest, SmartThings and Amazon’s Alexa.
The bad: Controls for that color-painting feature are pretty imprecise, and you can’t save any of your custom patterns to use later. There’s also no way to animate your light patterns — and no Apple HomeKit compatibility, either.
The cost: $89.99
The bottom line: Like most color-changing lights, these strips are a fun, expensive smart-home novelty.
DreamScreen 4K
Product Review:
https:// www.cnet.com/reviews/ dreamscreen-4k-starter-kit-review/#ftag=CAD187281f
CNET rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 (Very good)
The good: DreamScreen works as promised, delivering real-time, multicolor effects to the wall behind your TV.
The HDMI pass-through box that powers it means you can use the lights with almost any streamer, cable box or gaming console, and with virtually no lag.
The bad: The colors in video sync mode were too muted, especially warm tones like red and yellow.
The adhesive that holds the lights in place behind your TV didn’t work for us, forcing us to tape the lights up ourselves. The cost: $249.99
The bottom line: DreamScreen’s lights are worth a look if you like the novelty factor (and especially if you’re a console gamer), but keep your expectations toned down.
Sylvania Smart Plus Bluetooth Flex Strip (Apple HomeKit-enabled)
Product Review: https://www. cnet.com/reviews/sylvania-smartplus-bluetooth-flex-strip-applehomekit-enabled-review/#ftag=CAD187281f
CNET rating: 3.0 stars out of 5 (Good)
The good: The HomeKit-compatible version of Sylvania’s color-changing light strip works with Siri and it costs less than strips from Lifx and Philips Hue. Setup is a cinch.
The bad: Sylvania’s strips don’t offer any unique features beyond their HomeKit compatibility, and the Bluetooth performance seemed laggier than smart lights that use Wi-Fi or Zigbee. The cost: $38.99
The bottom line: These lights are a decent value pick for HomeKit households, but we prefer the features and performance of the competition.
The following CNET staff contributed to this story: Senior Associate Editor Ry Crist and Senior Editor Laura K. Cucullu.
For more reviews of personal technology products, please visit www.cnet.com.