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.
Highly programmable
Freecube 6-foot Prelit Christmas Tree
- Rated for outdoors
- Music sync
- Highly customizable
- 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.
A trusted name in smart lights
Twinkly 7.5-foot Prelit Fir Christmas Tree
- Stable app
- Connects to wider ecosystem
- Bright, beautiful lights
- 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.
Smart scheduling
Goflame 8-foot Pre-lit Christmas Tree
- 15 lighting modes
- Strong base
- Dense, realistic branches
- 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.
A perfect pencil tree
Fortuning JDS Christmas Tinsel Tree
- Small footprint
- Usable outdoors
- Quick assembly
- 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.
Alexa-friendly
Mr. Christmas 5-foot Vermont Spruce
- Reliable Alexa integration
- In-pole electric wiring
- Hinged, posable branches
- 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.
