The Best No-Hub Smart Light Brands

Choosing a smart lighting system for your home can be hard, but do you know what’s even harder? Choosing a smart lighting system that doesn’t require a hub or bridge. Although there are plenty of Wi-Fi smart light options (no hub required), only a few of them are worth recommending.

Most of the options are made by brands you’ve probably never heard of which didn’t automatically eliminate those options from the list, but if you’re going to invest in a lighting system, we want to make sure that it’s from a brand planning on hanging around for a while. Luckily, if hubless smart lights are what you’re searching for, we’re here to help. Below we’ve ranked the top three Wi-Fi smart bulb brands you can use to brighten up your home.

1. LIFX

Our top pick is LIFX. They offer a variety of light bulbs for indoor and outdoor use. They even have mini smart bulbs for compact areas and smart bulbs that emit infrared light to help your security cameras see better in the dark.

All of LIFX’s smart bulbs are Wi-Fi-enabled, which means they connect to your router so you can control them using the LIFX app (iOS or Android). Depending on your bulb’s features, you can use the app to change color, dim, brighten, or adjust its color temperature. You can also access home automation features such as schedules, themes, room groups, and scenes.

LIFX also works with other smart home brands. If you have an Alexa or Google Assistant-enabled smart speaker, for example, you can pair it with LIFX to control your lights using your voice. You can also integrate LIFX with IFTTT (If This Then That automation rules), Nest Protect, Nest Thermostat (e.g. flash red lights in case of fire or automatically swap to ‘Away’ based on your thermostat’s Activity Sensor), SmartThings (integrate with security sensors and Z-Wave/Zigbee products connected to SmartThings), and more.

LIFX Smart Bulbs

2. TP-Link Kasa

TP-Link is another reputable brand that offers hubless smart lights. They don’t offer as many products as LIFX, but they offer color-changing, dimmable, and tunable A19 and recessed bulbs as part of their Kasa Smart Home product line.

TP-Link’s Kasa smart home system is quickly gaining momentum because of their solid app (Kasa Smart) and the integrations they’ve built with third-party smart home systems. The Kasa Smart app, which holds a 4.7-star rating on Google Play and a 4.8-star rating within the App Store, offers automation features like schedules, modes, color control, color temperature tuning, and dimming. The app also controls other TP-Link Kasa products, such as smart switches, outlets and even routers, which means you can control various smart home products using a single smartphone app.

With regards to integrations, TP-Link Kasa products work with both Alexa and Google Assistant for voice control. They also integrate with IFTTT for rule-based automation and security sensors from Fibaro, Aeotec, and Ecolink.

TP-Link Kasa Smart Bulbs

3. eufy Lumos

eufy is a brand we’re familiar with because we’ve covered some of their products before, such as EverCam and their robovac.

The eufy Lumos smart bulb product line is fairly limited. They offer three smart bulb models. However, they managed to climb onto our list as their smart bulb received the coveted Amazon Choice seal. Lumos smart bulbs are controlled using the eufy Home app alongside other smart products offered by eufy. From the app, you can turn your Lumos bulbs on or off, adjust the color, temperature, or brightness, and create or activate scenes.

Like the other smart bulbs on this list, eufy Lumos supports voice control via Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.

eufy Lumos Smart Bulbs