The 3 Best Smart Outdoor Lights for Backyards, Pathways, and More of 2023

We’ve added new outdoor bulbs from Philips Hue and Wyze to What to look forward to.

Outdoor lighting isn't a splurge—it can save you from tripping on a dark pathway (again) or fumbling to find the right key. It enhances home security, and it can even light up a party. Smart outdoor lighting takes things to another level by adding automation, remote control, and other convenience features. We found the best outdoor smart bulbs, sconces, path lights, and spotlights for every scenario.

Inexpensive and easy to use, the Connected Max PAR38 connects to Wi-Fi, has attractive features, and measures as bright as bulbs that cost twice as much.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $18.

Compatible with: Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri Shortcuts

The floodlight-style Cree Lighting Connected Max PAR38 is the least expensive outdoor bulb we reviewed, yet it's also one of the brightest. Our measurements revealed it's as bright as similar bulbs that cost twice as much. This Cree bulb also has special features that some of those pricier bulbs don't have, including tunable white tones, a Vacation Mode (to turn the bulb on and off automatically when you’re away), Scene control (which lets you trigger preset actions of one or more devices with a single command), and local Bluetooth control (for when your network is down). This bulb can also change colors, though we found the color options greatly reduced the brightness. Still, whites were very bright, making this a good pick for lighting up your yard or driveway.

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The Ring Solar Pathlight provides light anywhere you need it—and, thanks to an integrated solar panel, it doesn't need to be connected to power. It offers scheduling, snooze options, and the ability to link with other Ring lights and devices.

Compatible with: Amazon Alexa, SmartThings, Ring

The Ring Solar Pathlight adds easy, elegant lighting to areas that may be tricky to navigate in the dark, such as walkways or patios. It has a solar rechargeable battery, so there are no wires or batteries to deal with. And you can directly control it using an app, or set it to turn on and off automatically through a built-in motion sensor. Like the earlier, D-cell-battery model, this version is meant to light up for short periods of time—less than 15 minutes—so it may not be the best choice for anyone who needs constant lighting. It requires the Ring Bridge (usually available as a bundle) or a compatible Amazon Echo device, which will act as the network bridge.

This outdoor path light is the best-looking model we reviewed. The Hue app is easy to use, and the Calla Bollard can be tweaked among millions of colors to enhance the ambiance of your garden, pool, or barbecue area. It requires the Hue Bridge or a Zigbee hub, like the Amazon Echo.

May be out of stock

*At the time of publishing, the price was $145.

Compatible with: Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, IFTTT, SmartThings

The Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance Calla Bollard is the best-looking smart outdoor light we tested—it's the perfect addition to any party. It has a slick design, with a color-changing, dimmable LED at the top that can match outdoor decor or your mood. It does require a hub, such as the Hue Bridge or the Amazon Echo Plus. It also requires a power supply (included in the base kit) that can accommodate up to five fixtures.

Inexpensive and easy to use, the Connected Max PAR38 connects to Wi-Fi, has attractive features, and measures as bright as bulbs that cost twice as much.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $18.

The Ring Solar Pathlight provides light anywhere you need it—and, thanks to an integrated solar panel, it doesn't need to be connected to power. It offers scheduling, snooze options, and the ability to link with other Ring lights and devices.

This outdoor path light is the best-looking model we reviewed. The Hue app is easy to use, and the Calla Bollard can be tweaked among millions of colors to enhance the ambiance of your garden, pool, or barbecue area. It requires the Hue Bridge or a Zigbee hub, like the Amazon Echo.

May be out of stock

*At the time of publishing, the price was $145.

I first started testing smart-home devices back when the only smart-home devices were X10. Over the past 15 years, I’ve had my hands on everything from remotes and security cameras to AV receivers and smart light switches. I’ve also written articles for The New York Times, Wired, Woman's Day, Men's Health, and USA Today, among others.

More than anything, smart lighting is just convenient—you no longer need to worry about entering a dark house, falling near a dark swimming pool, stumbling by the trash cans, or wondering where the edge of the driveway is. Your lights will come on—automatically—when you need them.

If you hate it when outdoor lights remain on all day, you have concerns about home security, or you just want to enhance the look of your yard or garden, smart lighting can be a great all-in-one choice. Smart outdoor lighting allows you to turn lights on and off from almost anywhere using a smartphone app, as well as to set them to operate automatically based on schedules, motion sensors, or triggers that you program in the app. Just like indoor smart lights, outdoor ones can integrate into a system to work with a variety of other smart devices, such as security cameras, sensors, and alarm systems.

You can find several styles of smart outdoor lights, including bulbs, sconces, spotlights, and floodlights, among others. Most allow you to adjust the brightness, and some let you change the light color. Determining the type of light that's best for you will depend on where you want to put smart outdoor lights, how you plan to use them, and the technology you prefer to use.

Neighbors is the focus of a lot of controversy. We clear up the good, the bad, and the questionable practices surrounding Ring's in-app feature.

After testing several new smart LED light bulbs and long-term testing our existing picks, we now recommend the Wyze Bulb Color.

If you want to make the jump from dull lighting to smart lighting, here are some easy ways to get started.

We looked at all of the smart outdoor lighting options that are currently available by searching online reviews, retailers, and manufacturer websites. Many outdoor lighting devices are similar, so we whittled the group down to what we thought was worth testing based on online feedback, useful features, and price. A few smart outdoor sconces are available, but after doing research and even testing some of them, we continue to dismiss that category based on factors such as design, price, and the installation process; for now, you’re better off picking the weathertight fixture of your choice and using a smart bulb or a smart light switch. We also eliminated outdoor lighting fixtures with integrated cameras, since we cover those in our outdoor security cameras guide.

We thought about the practical, real-world use for each light we reviewed, and then we judged each one based on where we thought it would work best. We also considered the following elements:

With the exception of hardwired devices, we tested everything for a minimum of four weeks, but in most cases for several months, in our home office and out in the yard up to 50 feet from our router. We tested app interfaces using an iPhone SE and a Nokia 3.1 running Android 9 Pie, when possible. We set schedules, created scenes so lights would go on at certain dimming levels, and triggered other devices using lights when we could. We also turned each light on and off while out of the house so that we could test remote capabilities.

Wirecutter takes security and privacy issues seriously and investigates, as much as possible, how the companies whose products we recommend deal with customer data. As part of our vetting process for smart outdoor lighting, we looked at all of the security and data-privacy practices behind our picks. We also reached out to all the companies that produced our top picks and had them answer an extensive questionnaire to confirm information that any potential buyer should consider. (See Security and privacy: How our picks compare for a complete look at their answers.)

Each of these devices comes with a privacy policy that, as you may have experienced, is difficult for the layperson to parse. During our testing, we read each of the privacy policies for our picks, specifically looking for sections that strayed from what we consider to be standard in the category.

All of the devices we feature in this guide require that you set up a username and password combination, which is a sound policy. (You can use the Hue bollard without a login with the Hue Bridge, but you need to sign in for remote access.) Only Ring, however, offers two-factor authentication (2FA), a system that does a solid job of confirming that you are actually you when you’re trying to log in to a device's app by requiring you to input a code that the system sends to you on another registered device. Although 2FA isn't an essential security requirement for all smart devices, we always opt for it when it's available.

Smart devices typically require an internet connection and often rely on cloud-based services, which means that they transfer a variety of customer data over the internet. All of the companies whose products we feature in this guide confirmed that user data is encrypted. Note, though, that in this particular category of devices, there's little data collected that is of critical importance (in comparison with other devices, such as security cameras).

Both Philips and Cree say that customer data isn't shared at all with third parties for marketing purposes; Ring says that customers can elect to opt out of data sharing in the control center of the Ring app.

Wirecutter long-term tests all of its picks, including keeping track of app, firmware, and policy updates, as well as hardware and software incidents. Should any privacy or security issues be found with any of the models we’ve selected, we’ll report them here and, if necessary, update or alter our recommendations.

Inexpensive and easy to use, the Connected Max PAR38 connects to Wi-Fi, has attractive features, and measures as bright as bulbs that cost twice as much.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $18.

Compatible with: Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri Shortcuts

Who it's for: If you have an outdoor floodlight fixture, this PAR38 bulb makes it easy to switch to smart lighting. Smart bulbs instantly turn any light fixture that uses traditional bulbs into a smart light you can control remotely and put on a schedule. Some models also include a Vacation Mode, so the light goes on and off at random times (making it look like you’re home even when you’re halfway around the world). Add in a motion sensor, and you can put a spotlight on the pizza-delivery person on your doorstep or stray cats that wander through your yard. Smart outdoor bulbs also offer peace of mind, ensuring that you never stumble in the dark or have to hunt around to fit your key in the keyhole (though you could just get a smart lock). Outdoor smart bulbs are rated to tolerate wetness, so if you don't have a totally weather-tight fixture, an outdoor smart bulb works best.

Why it's great: All of the outdoor smart bulbs we tested allow you to turn them on and off using app controls, voice controls, and schedules created using the app. However, the Cree Lighting Connected Max PAR38 is also the brightest Wi-Fi outdoor bulb we tested—and the least expensive. In fact, most bulbs that measured as brightly in our testing cost twice as much and don't connect to Wi-Fi, so require installing a separate hub.

The Connected Max PAR38 works with any existing standard (E26) light fixture. Although the Connected Max PAR38 doesn't have a built-in motion sensor like our previous pick, the Sengled Smart LED PAR38 Bulb, it does work with several third-party sensors, if you integrate them with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. We created an Alexa Routine that would light up the bulb whenever someone approached the Arlo Video Doorbell, which has its own built-in motion detector.

Cree's app for iOS and Android devices is easy to use, with the ability to adjust white tones, color options, and dimming levels with the drag of a finger. Putting a bulb on a schedule is simple, and you can set them to go on and off at a specific time of day and/or specific days of the week, as well as have them trigger based on local sunrise and sunset times.

There are also a few options that we found less essential in a floodlight-style bulb, but they are worth mentioning. The most obvious is color; the Connected Max PAR38 allows you to set to your favorite color and even has preset Scenes, so you can have the bulb flicker like a flame in a fireplace or light up the outdoors to celebrate holidays like the Fourth of July, Christmas, Halloween, and Kwanzaa. The problem for us is that the colors just aren't as bright or vibrant as Cree Lighting's indoor bulbs. (See Flaws but not dealbreakers below for more information on that.) The Cree app also allows you to use two other features with this bulb, which may not be all that interesting for outdoor use. There's a Light to Sleep/Wake feature, which will slowly light up or fade off with the day, and a Follow the Sun setting, which can adjust the light and its level to mimic sunlight from dawn to dusk.

Although the Connected Max PAR38 does support Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, it doesn't fully integrate with Apple HomeKit. Instead, it has support for Siri Shortcuts, which means you can use Siri voice commands to control the light but not integrate it with other smart devices. Unlike with the other two voice platforms, with this one users need to set each command in the app to use Siri Shortcuts. For instance, you can't just say, "Siri, turn off the light" and have it react; instead you first need to set it up in the Automation section of the Cree app, with Siri Shortcuts enabled.

Flaws but not dealbreakers: Even when dimmed to 50%—or even 10%—the Cree Lighting Connected Max PAR38 is still pretty bright. If you’re looking for a bulb that can dim down to very low levels of light (which we don't think is important in an outdoor floodlight anyway), consider the Philips Hue PAR38 or the Ring PAR38. However, both of those require a hub and don't offer tunable white lights.

Although the Connected Max PAR38 is one of the few outdoor-rated bulbs that include colors, we found they aren't as vibrant or bright as the company's indoor bulbs. If you plan to often use colors with your floodlight, we’d recommend instead putting an indoor bulb in a watertight fixture or getting the LIFX Nightvision BR30 (note, however, that it's almost three times the cost of the Cree bulb).

If you’re planning to put one of these bulbs in an area where you don't get a good Wi-Fi signal, you won't have a good experience (as is true of any Wi-Fi device). If your signal is weak, we recommend upgrading your router or adding an extender or repeater, or installing a mesh network. (Check out our guide to Wi-Fi routers, our guide to Wi-Fi extenders, and our guide to mesh networking kits for suggestions.)

The Ring Solar Pathlight provides light anywhere you need it—and, thanks to an integrated solar panel, it doesn't need to be connected to power. It offers scheduling, snooze options, and the ability to link with other Ring lights and devices.

Compatible with: Amazon Alexa

Who it's for: Anyone who has a poorly lit walkway, driveway, or yard can install these lights without having to do any wiring. Path lights are terrific for guiding people safely along a walkway, preventing you or your visitors from trampling flower beds, and ensuring that you don't slip and fall into the pool. Smart path lights illuminate automatically, only when needed. They also look great, so you can install them to highlight the best-looking areas around your home.

Why it's great: The Ring Solar Pathlight quickly, cleanly, and cheaply provides an elegant bright-white guide (3,500K) for you and your guests through areas that would otherwise be dicey in the dark. It doesn't require running wires underground and into your house or replacing batteries every six months. And you can control it centrally with an app or let the built-in motion sensors automatically turn it on and off.

We still love the previous Ring Pathlight, but we found this new version to be brighter (when measured with a light meter) and more convenient, thanks to an embedded solar panel that charges the included rechargeable battery. The battery can be charged via USB as well. We fully charged it during setup, and after a full year of use (in a location where it receives lots of sunlight), the battery meter still shows 100%. Like the battery-operated model, the Ring Solar Pathlight doesn't continuously blast out white light all night long. Instead, it's triggered by motion or Alexa voice commands, or you can turn it on manually through the Ring app. The motion settings are adjustable, as is the brightness level of the light. At 80 lumens, its full brightness is a fraction of what a typical bulb produces, but that's still enough to light the way and create a nice ambiance.

Ring, an Amazon-owned company, is well known for Wi-Fi–connected doorbells and cameras (see our guides to the best doorbell camera and the best home security system). Ring Smart Lights, however, require the use of a Ring Bridge, a tiny box that connects to your home Wi-Fi router and links all Ring Smart Lights together and with the Ring app. (The Ring Alarm Pro, our current home security system pick, can also function as a bridge.) Unlike other hubs on our list, the Ring Bridge uses a proprietary wireless signal to make the connection. Ring claims that Ring Smart Lights work "hundreds of feet" away from this tiny hub. In testing I was able to control the original Ring Pathlight I’d set up across the street in a neighbor's yard, 185 feet away from the Ring Bridge inside my house. Users can bypass the Ring Bridge by linking lights to the Amazon Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen) or the Amazon Echo (4th Gen); note that we have not yet tested this and don't know if there are any tradeoffs.

We used the Ring app to turn lights on and off individually and as a group. We used both an iPhone and an Android phone, with the latter having a slightly different layout in the app but performing the same functions. Both apps have brightness controls, sensor settings, and scheduling, as well as the option to link devices together, so that when one light turns on, others automatically turn on. Or you can trigger other Ring devices, too. For instance, we easily linked the Ring Spotlight Cam to the Pathlight so that every time it detected motion, the camera would create a recording. You can also fine-tune how often you get motion alerts: Turn them off altogether, put them on a schedule, adjust the sensitivity so they aren't as touchy, or snooze them for 30 minutes, one hour, four hours, or the rest of the day. Both apps keep tabs on when triggers happen, under the Event History panel. The app even includes access to Ring's Neighbors feature, which automatically sends user-generated alerts about crime and safety in your area (unless you turn those notifications off or disable Neighbors under the Control Panel setting).

Flaws but not dealbreakers: Ring's model conserves battery power by not allowing you to schedule the lights to be on full brightness for long periods of time—you can manually turn them on and leave them at full power for up to 15 minutes only. (The original Pathlight has a dusk-to-dawn feature that maintains a minimum low light level at night and then turns up the brightness in response to motion; the Solar Pathlight allows you to do the same or set a custom on/off time.) If you have Alexa, you can schedule your Ring Pathlights through that app, but only in the same one-, five-, 10-, and 15-minute increments. If you want continuous lighting of a pathway at full brightness, consider other devices that aren't battery-powered.

Ring lights currently work only with Alexa (Amazon is Ring's parent company) and Samsung SmartThings. If you use Google Assistant or Apple HomeKit, you may want to opt for one of our other picks.

This outdoor path light is the best-looking model we reviewed. The Hue app is easy to use, and the Calla Bollard can be tweaked among millions of colors to enhance the ambiance of your garden, pool, or barbecue area. It requires the Hue Bridge or a Zigbee hub, like the Amazon Echo.

May be out of stock

*At the time of publishing, the price was $145.

Compatible with: Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, IFTTT, SmartThings

Who it's for: This light is for anyone who likes to entertain outdoors and has a pool or patio area, or a large yard. Besides lighting your way, multicolor path lights can match the scenery or add a splash of color whenever you want it.

Why it's great: Though the Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance Calla Bollard is the most expensive of our picks, it's also the best-looking outdoor smart lighting fixture we tested. It's bright enough to illuminate landscaping or to light the way for family and friends enjoying a late-night dip in the pool or a backyard barbecue. If you like to add variety to your backyard, you can shift the Calla through 16 million colors to complement any activity, holiday, or mood.

The Philips Hue Calla Bollard relies on Zigbee wireless, so it requires the use of a hub such as the Philips Hue Hub—though we successfully paired it with an Amazon Echo Plus, which has Zigbee built in. Using one of those third-party hubs means you lose some of the Hue system's one-touch special effects and other functionality, but you can still control the device, change bulb colors, and schedule lights. If you already use Hue bulbs indoors, you don't need an additional hub for the Calla. Compared with other smart lighting systems we tested, the Hue system supports more smart-home platforms and devices, including Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, IFTTT, and Samsung SmartThings.

Each Calla Bollard measures 10 inches high, but the 600-lumen LED on top takes up less than 3 inches of that. Included in the base kit are a power supply and a cord, which allow you to place the unit up to 11½ feet away from a covered outlet and can support up to five lights. (Need to go farther? A 16½-foot extension cable is also included.) The cords are thick and should withstand the elements, though we recommend running them against the side of the house or through shrubbery, to prevent tripping or lawn-mower mishaps. (Philips says the cables can also tolerate being buried underground, and it recommends a minimum depth of 4 inches.)

Although the add-on Calla Bollard is cheaper without the power supply, it's still far more expensive than our other picks. It's also the most decorative and colorful of any of the lights we reviewed. The housing disappears in the darkness, leaving just the illuminated portion highlighted. We were able to create colored mixtures to match patio furniture and to add a touch of color to shrubbery, and we can see how it would work to highlight a holiday-season theme.

The Calla Bollard reacted quickly to the Hue app for iOS and Android devices; it allows you to control individual lights or group them by room. We also successfully created schedules and scenes so that the Calla Bollard would instantly turn on to a specific brightness and a specific shade of pink, blue, purple, or bright white.

The Calla Bollard doesn't have a built-in motion sensor, but Philips Hue does offer a separate outdoor sensor, which you can use to configure your lights to automatically turn on when someone or something walks by.

Flaws but not dealbreakers: The Hue system has a wireless range of just 30 feet, so if you don't have your home router nearby, you may have problems if you place the Calla Bollard too far from your house. However, if you happen to have other Hue devices (such as our smart-bulb upgrade pick), each device acts as a Zigbee wireless repeater and so extends the network. Also, being limited to just five Calla Bollard lights for each power supply may require some people to buy multiple base stations (and have outlets to support them).

In October 2020, Signify, Hue's parent company, issued a voluntary recall of its 40-watt outdoor power supply units, the model used by the Calla. This affects only models made between 2018 and 2020. Further details are available on the Hue website.

We tested a number of lighting devices that we didn't prefer as overall picks, but we think they may be perfectly good for specific outdoor lighting needs.

Our previous pick, the Sengled Smart LED PAR38 Bulb, is still a great choice if you’re looking for a bulb that includes a built-in motion sensor. However, it's almost twice the price of our top pick, doesn't offer tunable white lighting, and requires the use of a Zigbee hub, such as the Sengled Smart Hub or the Amazon Echo.

Philips Hue bulbs are our indoor upgrade pick, and the Philips Hue PAR38 Outdoor White Bulb is a good choice for anyone who has that system. It works with Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple HomeKit, as well as everything under the Hue umbrella, making it perfect for those looking to sync a larger smart-home setup.

As with the Hue, we can recommend the Ring PAR38 Smart LED Bulb only if you have an existing Ring lighting system or the Ring Alarm Pro. It performed well in our tests, but it doesn't offer tunable white lighting and is $10 more than our top outdoor bulb pick. Also, it requires a hub, such as the Ring Bridge, the Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen), or the Echo (4th Gen).

The LIFX Nightvision BR30 has bolder, brighter colors than our top bulb pick—but for almost three times the price. Note that this particular model includes infrared LEDs, which can perk up the night-vision capabilities of any nearby outdoor security cameras you may have. (LIFX also sells a standard BR30 bulb.)

Putting out just 50 and 35 lumens, respectively, the Ring Solar Steplight and the battery-powered Ring Steplight are the least powerful outdoor smart lights we tested. Designed for stairs where you don't need an intense burst of light, these steplights work great. But they are mainly just for accent lighting and have the same drawbacks as Ring Pathlights, including the inability to stay on at full power continuously.

The 1,200-lumen Ring Solar Floodlight doubles the output of the Ring Floodlight Battery. The floodlight is designed to be mounted on an exterior wall, but since this solar-powered light is wire-free, you can even put it on a tree, as long as it gets plenty of sun. (Ring also sells a hardwired version, if you already have an existing fixture.) We found both models to be bright but overly sensitive to motion and less attractive than any other fixture on our list.

We’re planning to test the Feit Electric PAR38 Smart Light Bulb, a Wi-Fi model with tunable white and colored lighting. We’ll also review the Philips Econic Outdoor Pathway Light, a 600-lumen stand-alone fixture with white and colored lighting. And we’re still planning to look at the Hue Lily XL, which puts out 1,200 lumens—almost twice as much as its predecessor.

Philips also has a new PAR38 smart bulb coming in March. Unlike the existing Hue PAR38 bulbs, these $80 floodlight bulbs (or $150 for two) can emit both color and shades of white. We plan to test one soon.

The Wyze Bulb Color BR30 is a dimmable, color-changing outdoor bulb with a temperature range of 1800 to 6500K and 950 lumens. It's available in a two-pack for $24, or a four-pack for $44. We plan to test it soon.

We also tested a few lighting devices that worked fine, but they didn't earn our recommendation because our picks were much better.

Despite having similar specs to other bulbs we tested, the Geeni Lux Smart Floodlight measured very low with our light meter. It was easy to use. But we can't recommend it for outdoor security lighting, and we think there are better options for decorative lighting.

We dismissed Array by Hampton BR30 LED Flood Light Bulbs because their light output as measured by a meter was comparatively low—and even the specs list them at 760 lumens, or 440 lumens less than the rating of the Cree bulbs. The life expectancy is notably short, as well, at just 13.7 years—half that of the other bulbs we tested.

Wirecutter long-term tests all of its picks, including keeping track of hardware and software incidents. Should we find any privacy or security issues with any of our selected models, we’ll report them here and, if necessary, update or alter our recommendations.

Ry Crist and Brian Bennett, Want smarter outdoor lighting at home? Here are your options, CNET, March 18, 2019

Rachel Cericola, The Best Smart LED Light Bulbs, Wirecutter, February 16, 2021

Jonathan Knoder, Whether You Want More Security or Help Setting the Mood, These Are the Smart Outdoor Lights To Get, Spy, January 17, 2021

Rachel Cericola

Rachel Cericola is a senior staff writer at Wirecutter who has been covering smart-home technology since the days of X10. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Wired, Men's Health, USA Today, and others. She hopes her neighbors read this bio because it would explain why she always has four video doorbells running simultaneously outside her home.

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