Smart lights that react to voice commands spoken to smart speakers are old hat, but a smart light with a built-in AI microphone? Showing off its wares at the IFA trade show in Berlin this week, Germany-based smart device manufacturer Lepro is teeing up a quartet of "AI Lighting Pro" lights that can set the mood based on your natural-language prompts--anything from "Give me an Iron Man vibe" to "Set a cyberpunk city theme." Each of the lights features a built-in microphone that captures your commands (you must say the "Hey Lepro" wake phrase first) and processes them using Lepro's new LightGPM AI engine, a large language model that's trained on "color psychology and lighting design," Lepro says. The AI then delivers an "ideal" multi-color lighting scene based on your voice prompt. We've seen plenty of smart lights with AI-powered light scene bots before; Philips Hue is integrating one into the Hue app, and Govee and Nanoleaf have their own versions.

Smart LED light bulbs are one of the easiest ways to get into the IoT space. These smart lighting solutions let you control your home's illumination from your phone and other connected devices, and in addition to that practicality, they also inject some fun into your space. Color-changing bulbs have a plethora of RGB options for you to customize the lighting mood for your next movie night, date night or game day, or you can opt for cozy warm white light when you need to unwind at the end of a long day. It goes without saying that many of these smart LED light bulbs work with Amazon's Alexa and the Google Assistant, so if you already have a smart home setup in the works, you can find one that fits into your chosen ecosystem. And arguably the best thing about these devices is that they can fit into any budget; affordable and advanced options have flooded the space over the past few years. We've tested out a bunch of smart lights over the years, and these are our current favorites. If you've done any research into smart lights, you've probably come across Philips Hue bulbs.

Ready to turn your house into a smart home? Replacing your dumb bulbs with smart ones is perhaps the easiest way to start. Many smart bulbs can be screwed into existing light sockets, and they can be controlled remotely, put on schedules, change colors, and more. If you're feeling more ambitious, you can venture into smart string lights, light strips, wall and ceiling fixtures, smart lamps, and even smart lighting for the yard or other outdoor areas. Our guide to the best smart lighting can help you navigate the thicket of options, from the various smart light manufacturers (like Philips Hue, LIFX, Nanoleaf, and Wyze) to the connectivity standards (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, and Matter). We'll also let you know which voice assistants (like Alexa, Apple's Siri, and Google Assistant) work with which lights. TechHive's editors and contributors have been testing smart bulbs and lighting products practically since the category was invented. We continuously test the latest smart lights, accessories, and the apps that control them.

Sure, Govee has some new smart lights to unveil at CES this year, but what this smart lighting manufacturer really wants to talk about is, of course, the buzzword of the show: AI. From its AI-powered gaming lights to its light-scene-creating AI chatbot, Govee clearly sees its budding AI efforts as the best way to set itself apart in the crowded smart lighting market, and the company isn't being timid about putting AI front and center. The star of the show is Govee's smart lighting-focused AI model, newly upgraded to 12 billion parameters, up from just 0.86B parameters in the previous version Trained on more than 10,000 lighting effects, Govee's model is the brains behind its text-to-image AI Lighting Bot, which allows users to create and edit smart light effects using natural-language text prompts. There's also AI Dreamview, a Govee technology that applies their newly created effects across groups of smart lights. To be clear, Govee does have some actual smart lights to show off at CES, including a new and portable table lamp that doubles as a Bluetooth speaker.

At CES 2024, Govee not only revealed an upgraded AI Sync Box Kit, Neon Rope Light 2 and, because it's 2024, there's even a dedicated chatbot. While it wasn't available for testing at CES Unveiled, the media preview event that takes place two days before the CES show floor opens, Govee's AI Lighting Bot will eventually be bundled into the company's smartphone app, where you'll apparently be able to cajole it into generating using natural language inputs, a la ChatGPT. As you can see in Govee's concept video, it'll apparently source lighting designs and transmit them to your Govee lights, whether they're lighting spots, strips or anything else. In one example in Govee's video, a user asked for a "Barbie Dreamhouse-inspired lighting effect" for their outdoor lights and spotlights, which then undulated between various shades of hot, powder and another-kind-of pink. Of course, you'll need even more lighting strips to accomplish grander smart lighting visions, and Govee is willing to oblige with its second-generation Neon Rope Light 2. A spokesperson explained that it will now offer smoother lighting transitions and upgraded bend clips and is made of an even more flexible material, which should be easier to shape around furniture, corners and even into shapes.

Making a house a home takes time, and often … a lot of money. Luckily, with Cyber Monday, there are plenty of great deals on all your household needs. Whether you're building up your kitchen appliances, syncing up all your smart home gadgets, or simply trying to clear the air, there's something on sale for you. Updated November 28: We've added the Ooni Koda, Stasher Bags, and smart lights and plugs. We test products year-round and handpicked these deals. Products that are sold out or no longer discounted as of publishing will be crossed out . We'll update this guide throughout Cyber Monday. If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. This highly coveted countertop accessory is on sale yet again for Cyber Monday.

One of the best places to start when building a smart home ecosystem is smart lights. Not only are they relatively affordable compared to other IoT gadgets, often costing between $10 and $50 a bulb, but they can also completely change the feel of your home. You can go from boring and analogue to colorful and automated within minutes, and there are endless possibilities when it comes to creating funky-colored light scenes, setting schedules and more. But like the rest of the smart home space over the last few years, there are now more players in smart lighting than ever before. We tested out some of the most popular smart lights on the market and found that most of them are quite good, but there are differences in compatibility, color quality and mobile app usability that are worth considering before deciding which system will be right for your home.

Smart lights bring real convenience, enabling you to turn them off and on from your phone or with your voice. You can transform the atmosphere from bright to cosy in seconds, or turn on the house lighting from the other side of the world. There are smart light bulbs, which are the easiest to install as they simply replace the existing bulbs. There are also full-on smart lights which can replace table and floor lamps, for instance. If you have other smart gadgets then they can work together, so that on a voice command like "film night" you can dim lights, close the blinds and turn on the TV.

Waking up to the sound of a blaring alarm can be jarring, especially if you have to do so in pitch black. That's why some people have turned to devices that mimic the arrival of daylight as a gentler way to stir from slumber. So-called sunrise or wake-up-light clocks typically start out with a dim light and then gradually brighten to full brightness in order to match your body's circadian rhythms. If you have a particularly tough time waking up, you probably do still need an alarm, but the sunrise light should at least make it easier. There are several products on the market that have this feature; some are alarm clocks, some are smart displays, while others are simply programmable lights.

As impressive as Amazon's Alexa technology is, the best way to utilize it isn't always clear. Sure, you can get it to tell you the weather, play music and set alarms, but that's just scratching the surface of what this AI is truly capable of. And if you never get around to purchasing and syncing compatible peripherals, you won't get to explore much further than that. If you haven't quite been sold on voice-activated tech yet, or simply want to up the ante a spell, it's absolutely worth checking out the GE C by GE Sol, an Alexa-enabled smart light that's available right now for just $90 (normally $199). It has Amazon Alexa built right into it, so it serves a direct function in addition to having such a charming voice.