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The best smart Christmas trees

Image used with permission by copyright holder

A pre-lit Christmas tree saves a whole lot of time when it comes to the setup, and it allows you to get straight to the decorations. They’re resilient around pets and kids who might be a little more excitable around the holidays. Today’s LED light options are more durable than ever, and the latest trees even allow for smarter operation through mobile apps and other tools. It's a lot easier to tell Siri to turn on your Christmas lights than digging under the tree for the switch. We’ve rounded up our favorite smart trees with a variety of options for different styles and preferences.

When it comes to pre-lit Christmas trees, the branches are typically made of PVC, so the tree “species” doesn’t mean much, but the label can be an indicator of how the branches will look. If you want shaping to go faster, grab some rubber gloves before you begin.

Freecube 6-ft, Prelit Christmas Tree
Freecube 6-foot Prelit Christmas Tree
Highly programmable
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Twinkly 7.5-ft Prelit Fir Christmas Tree
Twinkly 7.5-foot Prelit Fir Christmas Tree
A trusted name in smart lights
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GOFLAME 8-ft Pre-lit Christmas Tree
Goflame 8-foot Pre-lit Christmas Tree
Smart scheduling
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Fortuning JDS Christmas Tinsel Tree
Fortuning JDS Christmas Tinsel Tree
A perfect pencil tree
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Mr. Christmas 5-ft Vermont Spruce
Mr. Christmas 5-foot Vermont Spruce
Alexa-friendly
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Freecube smart Christmas Tree being programmed via smartphone in front yard.
Freecube

Freecube 6-foot Prelit Christmas Tree

Pros
  • Rated for outdoors
  • Music sync
  • Highly customizable
Cons
  • Lacks natural fullness

Freecube's smart Christmas tree boasts 314 RGBIC LEDs, six preset scenes, and four music modes to go along with all of your home's caroling. Their dedicated mobile app gives you full control over the lights and even includes the ability to program your own dot matrix patterns. Want to put the tree up outside? No problem. The IP65 rating makes it perfectly suited for your front yard.

Freecube 6-ft, Prelit Christmas Tree
Freecube 6-foot Prelit Christmas Tree
Highly programmable
A Twinkly Prelit smart Christmas tree being programmed by smartphone.
Twinkly

Twinkly 7.5-foot Prelit Fir Christmas Tree

Pros
  • Stable app
  • Connects to wider ecosystem
  • Bright, beautiful lights
Cons
  • Tricky wireless setup

The folks at Twinkly have been making smart lights for a long time, and they're applying their smarts to Christmas trees. Once connected to your home's Wi-Fi network, the Twinkly tree can be controlled hands-free with Google Assistant or Alexa. If you have other Twinkly lights in the house, you can have them animate in concert with your tree. This is a fun option for those dads who like to go all out on their holiday decor. The lights themselves look great, with loads of animations and colors available for experimenting.

Twinkly 7.5-ft Prelit Fir Christmas Tree
Twinkly 7.5-foot Prelit Fir Christmas Tree
A trusted name in smart lights
Goflame smart Christmas tree set up in living room.
Goflame

Goflame 8-foot Pre-lit Christmas Tree

Pros
  • 15 lighting modes
  • Strong base
  • Dense, realistic branches
Cons
  • Unstable app

The Goflame prelit Christmas tree has 670 LEDs strung up throughout its dense, realistic branches. There are 15 color modes available out of the box, including scheduling, so it can flip on in the evening automatically. A heavy-duty metal frame keeps everything upright throughout the holidays, and when it's all over, you can break it down into three pieces. A 6-foot version is also available, depending on your home's dimensions.

GOFLAME 8-ft Pre-lit Christmas Tree
Goflame 8-foot Pre-lit Christmas Tree
Smart scheduling
A smart Christmas installed in front of a store.
Fortuning JDS

Fortuning JDS Christmas Tinsel Tree

Pros
  • Small footprint
  • Usable outdoors
  • Quick assembly
Cons
  • Leaves aren't especially realistic

If you're looking for a small accent with a minimal footprint, Fortuning JDS has a great collapsible tree with a fully programmable set of lights. Measuring in at 5 feet, this tinsel tree has an app that lets you pick between six scenes and millions of colors. A hardware controller is included, in case you can't be bothered to fiddle with the app. The lights are IP65 rated, so you can place one or a whole row of these trees outside without worry. The lights are USB powered, so you can place them remotely thanks to the battery. To top it all off, the tree is fully collapsible, making storage a breeze.

Fortuning JDS Christmas Tinsel Tree
Fortuning JDS Christmas Tinsel Tree
A perfect pencil tree
Three Mr. Christmas smart trees of varying sizes standing next to a wall.
Mr. Christmas

Mr. Christmas 5-foot Vermont Spruce

Pros
  • Reliable Alexa integration
  • In-pole electric wiring
  • Hinged, posable branches
Cons
  • Branches could be more dense

Mr. Christmas has made a super interesting smart Christmas tree that bypasses the need for a dedicated app to control it. Instead, it pairs directly with Alexa, which you then use to switch between 40 multiple colors and animation modes. When that fails, there is a manual foot pedal that you'll use to cycle between colors.

This option is a great choice for those who want to avoid apps that lack stability. It's also a good pick for less tech-savvy folks who might not need intense customization options but still value the ease of use of voice commands.

Mr. Christmas 5-ft Vermont Spruce
Mr. Christmas 5-foot Vermont Spruce
Alexa-friendly
Simon Sage
Former Digital Trends Contributor

Simon Sage is a green tech contributor at Digital Trends. He looks at all sorts of devices that can help reduce emissions through electrification, like power stations, solar panels, smart thermostats, and LED lighting. He's also keen on exploring right to repair and sustainable transportation.

Simon started journalism 17 years ago in the mobile tech space, covering the meteoric rise and fall of BlackBerry. Since then he's dipped his toe in mobile gaming, app reviews, and sponsored content. He's been to his fair share of trade shows, such as Mobile World Congress, the Consumer Electronics Show, E3 (RIP), the Game Developer Conference, and a smattering of smaller shows. He's done multiple TV interviews, the most surreal of which was explaining how Pokémon Go works on a morning show. Simon's also hosted over 100 podcast episodes.

Previous publications include BlackBerry Cool, IntoMobile, and Mobile Nations sites like Android Central, iMore, CrackBerry, and Windows Central.

Simon's based in Ottawa, Ontario, where he is constantly clawing against the gravitational pull of becoming a government drone. He studied English at Carleton University there, including a stint at Lancaster University in the UK. He has since levelled up his education in sustainability through the Climatebase platform. Simon spends way too much of his free time playing games, especially Magic: The Gathering.

This Traeger smart pellet grill and smoker is $200 off at Best Buy
A man cooking food outdoors using the Traeger Pro 780 wood pellet grill.

It is just about the perfect time to be outside, at least in most places in the U.S. Not too hot, yet also with none of those reminders of winter that early spring likes to throw out at us from time to time. That means it is a great time to cook outdoors. And while there are plenty of excellent grill deals to peruse already, Best Buy has another incredible deal worth looking at. It's on the Traeger Grills Pro 780 Pellet Grill and Smoker, a product with WiFi-based control methods and a usual price of $1,000 that has been dropped to $800. That's a savings of $200 for a grill that gives you a ton of freedom in how you cook on it. To check it out for yourself, tap the button below. Or, keep reading to get a quick analysis of the product.

Why you should buy the Traeger Grills Pro 780
This version of the Traeger Grills Pro 780 Pellet Grill and Smoker with WiFIRE has a 780 inch cooking surface area with a two-tiered design. There's a large lower grill area and a smaller upper area that keep the grill's body compact (for its overall grilling area) at 27 x 49 inches. Fill the accompanying pellet hopper with up to 18 pounds of pellets that get fed to the fire via a brushless motor for continued fire-feeding that will last a long time.

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The 6 best 23andme alternatives in 2024
Woman holding up portrait of ancestor from AncestryDNA discovery

DNA genetic testing can help you unlock a lot of hidden information about yourself, your health, and your ancestry. For example, you could explore your entire family history stretching back generations. Or, you can receive personalized nutrition and exercise plans based on your genetics. One of the more renowned places to go for this is 23andme, which has a variety of kits to choose from, all of which help you learn specific information about yourself and your heritage. But there are other services you can use, which is especially prescient considering the recent data breach at 23andme. If you're looking for a reliable 23andme alternative, that's exactly what this guide will ascertain.
The best 23andme alternatives in 2024

Try if you want one of the best overall genetic testing experiences.
Try if you want to connect with long-lost relatives.
Try if you want to deep dive into your familial history and ancestors.
Try if you want to explore ancient ancestry knowledge.
Try if you want to explore your genes and genomic variants.
Try if you truly want to unlock personalized health insights.

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The 6 best smart displays for Alexa and Google Home in 2024
Nest Hub Max Hands-On Review

If you're looking for a way to control all your smart home devices, adding a smart display to your lineup is a great option. Not only do these gadgets make it easy to activate smart lights, smart thermostats, or smart cameras, but you can access a wide range of apps with them -- including Netflix, Spotify, YouTube, and other popular software.

Shopping for a smart display for Alexa or Google Home is a bit more challenging than you'd expect, as so many of the products share overlapping specs. And if you're entirely new to the world of smart homes, you'll have to choose between Google Home and Amazon Alexa as your central smart home platform. Once you've done that, things are a bit easier to manage.

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