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Best smart lights for Google Home

GE Cync lights set up in gaming room.
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If you're all-in with Android and the Google ecosystem, there are some smart lights that may work better with your setup than others. Once installed, these smart lights play nice with Google Home, so you can manage all of your connected devices under one roof and issue hands-free commands by way of Google Assistant.

Google Home is a great platform to work with for home lighting, especially if you have lights that span between multiple manufacturers and you want to look at everything in one spot. By using Routines, Google Home can fire off multiple commands all at once, including setting lights in certain rooms to go on, go off, dim, or change color.

Philips Hue 4-Pack with Hue Hub
Philips Hue
Best overall smart light for Google Home
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Nanoleaf Shapes Smarter Kit
Nanoleaf Shapes
Best wall panel smart light for Google Home
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GE Lighting Cync Full Color Direct Connect A19 LED Smart Light
GE Lighting Cync
Best made for Google smart light
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Kasa Smart Light Bulb, LED Multicolor
Kasa Smart Light Bulb
Best budget smart light for Google Home
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LIFX Candle White to Warm E12, 480 lumens, Wi-Fi Double-Diffuser Smart LED Light Bulb, Tunable White, Dimmable, No Bridge Required, Compatible with Alexa, Hey Google, Apple HomeKit.
Lifx Candle Smart Bulb
Best small bulb for Google Home
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Nanoleaf Essentials Smart LED Color-Changing Light Bulb (60W)
Nanoleaf Essentials A19 3-Pack (Matter Enabled)
Most versatile Google Home smart bulbs
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Hue

Philips Hue

Pros
  • Sync with music and PC
  • Set schedules
  • Group lights with Google Home
  • Expandable system
Cons
  • Hub required

Philips Hue remains one of the most popular options for smart lighting. With a central hub orchestrating a home full of bulbs, you can issue commands to dim, set schedules, and group lights into rooms with Google Home. Philips Hue enjoys advanced features including music and PC sync too, which can really bring your home to life. If you want to expand your lighting, Hue has a wealth of options including , , and .

Philips Hue 4-Pack with Hue Hub
Philips Hue
Best overall smart light for Google Home
best smart lights apple homekit nanoleaf shapes lifestyle
Nanoleaf

Nanoleaf Shapes

Pros
  • Create interesting patterns
  • Touch sensitivity
  • Sync to music or shows streaming on a PC
Cons
  • Some challenges with mounting and installation

Nanoleaf wall panels have become an iconic presence behind Twitch streamers all over the world. Once you install them in your home, you'll see why. These modular panels allow you to construct an infinite range of patterns, then animate them with colors, use touch sensitivity on the tiles themselves to trigger events, and sync them to music or shows playing on your PC.

Nanoleaf Shapes Smarter Kit
Nanoleaf Shapes
Best wall panel smart light for Google Home
ge expands cync smart light adds climate control camera game room full color
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GE Lighting Cync

Pros
  • Made for Google
  • No native app required
  • Plentiful and interesting color-control options
Cons
  • Iffy Alexa implementation

GE's Cync lineup of bulbs are certified Made for Google, ensuring a seamless, hubless installation process and day-to-day operation. You don't even need a native app from GE to install the light, you can just go right to Google Home. Once it's all set up, you have full remote control of the lights, and can equally control the bulb with voice using Google Home or Android devices.

GE Lighting Cync Full Color Direct Connect A19 LED Smart Light
GE Lighting Cync
Best made for Google smart light
kasa smart light bulbs 4 pack deal amazon august 2024 bulb lifestyle
Kasa / Kasa

Kasa Smart Light Bulb

Pros
  • Solid color range
  • Supports Google Assistant voice-control features
  • Affordable
Cons
  • Challenging Wi-Fi setup process

Kasa bulbs continue to be a fine budget option for those looking to modernize their home lighting without breaking the bank. With Google Home, you can group these light bulbs together, set schedules, and enjoy full voice control either with Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa. With 800 lumens of brightness and a color range from 2,500K and 6,500K, you can count on having all your lighting bases covered.

Kasa Smart Light Bulb, LED Multicolor
Kasa Smart Light Bulb
Best budget smart light for Google Home
Lifx Candle Smart Bulb in bedroom.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Lifx Candle Smart Bulb

Pros
  • Smaller, lamp-friendly design
  • Double diffuser for different color temperatures
  • Flicker mode to imitate candles
Cons
  • The color version is more expensive

Several neat features make this Lifx Candle an interesting pick for Google Home users. It's a smaller bulb that can fit into tighter spaces and can be a great pick for lamps and similar areas. It's a "double-diffuser," so you can choose two different color temperatures to make it look more like a real flame. And it has a flicker mode so that it can mimic a big candle ... all without needing a bridge. There's a multicolor version available too, but this option will simulate a candle just fine.

LIFX Candle White to Warm E12, 480 lumens, Wi-Fi Double-Diffuser Smart LED Light Bulb, Tunable White, Dimmable, No Bridge Required, Compatible with Alexa, Hey Google, Apple HomeKit.
Lifx Candle Smart Bulb
Best small bulb for Google Home
Nanoleaf Essentials A19 3-Pack of bulbs in living room.
Nanoleaf

Nanoleaf Essentials A19 3-Pack (Matter Enabled)

Pros
  • Support for Matter
  • Wide range of colors
  • Screen-syncing options
Cons
  • A bit more expensive than other smart bulbs

Nanoleaf doesn't just make LED strips and triangles — it also has an excellent set of colored LED smart bulbs that can produce millions of different colors. The latest version of the Essentials A19 comes with full Matter support, allowing them to play nicely with other gadgets outside of the Google Home ecosystem. Of course, they’re also designed with native support for Google’s smart home platform, allowing you to get up and running within minutes of opening the package. They cost a few bucks more than other smart bulbs, but it’s hard to beat their combination of reliability and performance.

Nanoleaf Essentials Smart LED Color-Changing Light Bulb (60W)
Nanoleaf Essentials A19 3-Pack (Matter Enabled)
Most versatile Google Home smart bulbs

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you connect lights to Google Home?

Connecting smart lights to the Google Home app is easy. First, you'll need to install the bulb manufacturer's own app and follow their setup instructions. Once that's done, all you have to do from the Google Home app is tap the Plus button to add new devices. You can read our guide on how to connect smart lights for more details.

You'll also need to make sure that the lights you pick are compatible with Google's platform. Look for compatibility with Google Home, Google Assistant, Hey Google, or the Matter protocol.

Can you use Google Home to turn on lights?

Yes, Google Home can be used to turn on your smart lights. The easiest way is to use Google Assistant and say a command like, "Set the living room lights to 50%," or, "Turn off the kitchen lights." Within Google Home proper, tapping on the light icons provide full dimming, toggle, and color control. For more complicated animated scenes, you'll need to go back to the native app.

Can Google Home control smart lights?

Google Home can control smart lights, smart plugs, smart switches, and most connected home devices. Smart switches are a great option for hard-to-reach lights or those that are outside of wireless range.

Hopefully, that provided you with everything you need to build out the perfect lighting solutions in your own Google Home. Be sure to dig into our Google Home tips and tricks to learn more about how to tie everything together.

Simon Sage

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.

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