I've tried plenty of other ways to mild my patio so I can get pleasure from sitting outdoors till the wee hours. All the pieces from fairy lights to path lights to plain lights have been wrapped round myrtles or dug into borders. However none survived quite a lot of scorching South Carolina summers. So I used to be excited to check two new sensible outside lights from Nanoleaf and Lifx.
Nanoleaf Matter Sensible Multicolor Outside String Lights ($129.99 for a 49-foot string of 20 bulbs) and Lifx Outside SuperColor String Lights ($129 for a 24-foot string of 12 bulbs) each have White, shade and adjustable LED, individually addressable. bulbs and are able to gradient lighting results. This makes them tremendous versatile. I can have a inexperienced and gold themed St. Paddy's Day social gathering in March, a crimson white and blue 4th of July social gathering, and a beautiful delicate white candlelit ceremonial dinner recent anytime.
Each are suitable with all main sensible house platforms, so I can set the lights on schedules, management them with voice instructions and switch them on when the patio door opens utilizing a contact sensor. Most significantly, string lights from each manufacturers are very strong. After seeing them survive a spring storm final week, I'm hoping they may be a extra everlasting resolution to lighting up my yard.
I examined Lifx and Nanoleaf again to again for 2 weeks. Learn on to see which got here out on high and which may be proper to your backyard this summer season.
Design and construct high quality: The Lifx appears to be like good, however the Nanoleaf is so shiny!
These usually are not your mom's lights. Nanoleaf and Lifx have gone for a daring industrial design, with Nanoleaf constructing on its dodecahedron heritage to supply a beautiful bulb. The faceted face creates a beautiful impact that appears like a crystal hanging from my timber and is dazzling even when turned off.
Lifx opted for an ultra-modern, Tron-esque look – a tubular form with a light-weight stick inside. They're fashionable, however with much less aptitude than Nanoleaf's. I like that the Lifx bulbs connect on to the twine and don't hang around so far as the Nanoleaf, making a cleaner look. This makes Lifx a better option for hanging alongside a construction like a porch wall.
Each lights really feel strong and sturdy, and the acrylic bulbs don't break when dropped. The cables and plugs are simply as sturdy, being weatherproof and withstanding tough dealing with throughout set up. Neither provide replaceable bulbs, but when a bulb fails, each string lights are coated by two-year warranties.
Gentle High quality: Lifx packs a severe punch
The Lifx shade rendering and adjustable white mild are very spectacular. With a shade rendering index (CRI) of 90 and white mild that goes from wealthy, heat candlelight at 1500 Kelvin to a cool icy blue white at 9000 Kelvin, Lifx has higher shade and a wider vary of whiter than Nanoleaf (80CRI and 2700Ok). at 6500Ok).
Its colours are additionally extra saturated; crimson on Lifx is actually crimson, whereas on the Nanoleaf, it's pinker and softer. However whereas brighter is normally higher in a bulb, I'd argue that accent lighting in your backyard is one place you most likely shouldn't want to go for the brightest.
Lighting results and options: Lifx's shade mixing is beautiful
Every Lifx bulb has three addressable zones that mix in an nearly magical manner. It’s troublesome to determine the colour you see; as an alternative, it's only a delicate atmosphere, a welcome change from the jarring multi-color results on most addressable lights we've examined.
Whereas Nanoleaf bulbs can solely present one shade on the bulb, the minimize glass design creates a variety of various shades. Nanoleaf's scenes may cycle by means of totally different colours to present an identical impact to Lifx, however Lifx's expertise is healthier.
Lifx additionally has a number of choices for brighter results. Choices like twinkle, shade cycle, strobe, and morph created a enjoyable ambiance on my patio, and I might modify options like pace, colours, and course. Lifx has an honest library of colourful lighting patterns and I actually just like the artwork sequence impressed by items like Van Gogh starry night time.
Nonetheless, Nanoleaf has many extra designs to select from, together with lots of of user-generated designs. A handful had been created only for lights; My favorites had been Sundown Sky, which wandered by means of heat reds and oranges, and Twilight, with crisp whites and delicate grays.
I might create my very own designs in each apps, with Lifx being the simplest to make use of. Nanoleaf's app is messy and crashes loads, however its new AI scene generator makes it simple to create new designs with none points by means of the app.
The Lifx app additionally has primary options like setting schedules, which is frustratingly not an possibility with the Nanoleaf—to set a schedule, you must use a third-party sensible house platform.
Value: Nanoleaf is cheaper and longer
Whereas each string lights begin at $130, for that the Nanoleaf offers you 20 bulbs over practically 50 toes, in comparison with simply 12 bulbs over 24 toes on the Lifx (30 toes, together with energy twine). The Lifxs are nearer, although, at 23 inches in comparison with 28 inches for the Nanoleaf.
Nanoleaf is one of the best deal, particularly for a big space like my yard. The 98-foot string with 40 bulbs is $200, and the 147-foot string with 60 bulbs is $300. Compared, Lifx's full size — three strings collectively, totaling 74 toes and 36 bulbs — prices practically $400.
Connectivity and compatibility: Nanoleaf has extra connectivity choices, however Lifx is extra dependable (thus far)
The Nanoleaf and Lifx lights work over 2.4GHz Wi-Fi. Whereas the Lifx related simply, I struggled to get the Nanoleaf on the identical community, though each lights had been put in in the identical location. Lastly transferring the router nearer to the Nanoleaf labored.
Each lights will work with Apple House, Google House, Amazon Alexa and Samsung SmartThings. As a part of Nanoleaf's Matter Necessities line, Nanoleaf lights hook up with sensible house platforms through Matter-over-Wi-Fi. This implies it really works with any Matter suitable platform. Nonetheless, you will want a Matter controller to attach.
Lifx depends on particular person integrations with every platform, so it really works with much less, however requires no extra hardware. Lifx says a firmware replace will convey Matter-over-Wi-Fi compatibility later this yr.
As is equal to Matter and myself, it took a number of tries to get the Nanoleaf lights onto a Matter platform. I couldn't join in any respect utilizing my iPhone 15. Lastly, with a Samsung Galaxy S22 I related to SmartThings and from there efficiently shared the lights with Apple House and Amazon Alexa utilizing the multi- admin of Matter. You don't want to make use of Matter with Nanoleaf; you possibly can join on to the Nanoleaf app through Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, however you'll want Matter for sensible house integration.
Each of those lights will make spring shine
These are each very good lights. They’re costly however constructed to final. Whereas Lifx has higher lighting results and an easier-to-use app, Nanoleaf has the higher hand by way of total look. The form of the bulb is simply beautiful and appears so good in my yard. Whereas not as vivid because the Lifx, the whites and colours present greater than sufficient richness and heat for outside ambient lighting. Lifx's results and shade mixing are very spectacular, however Nanoleaf's delicate, shiny glow gained me over. As well as, it’s extra inexpensive.
Each Lifx and Nanoleaf produce other sensible outside lighting choices so you possibly can synchronize their lighting results all through your panorama. Nonetheless, Philips Hue has the most important outside choice (though, unusually, there are not any string lights).
There are different choices for sensible lights, together with these from Govee, Twinkly and Wiz. However these are all conventional spherical bulb shapes. Nanoleaf and Lifx have added distinctive twists to the look of out of doors lighting and each have accomplished it very effectively.
Pictures by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge