Smart LED Strips

Discover the Best Smart LED Strips for Your Smart Home.

LED strips are essential in any modern lighting setup due to their customizable colors, adjustable brightness levels, smart scheduling, and energy efficiency.

They allow you to create ambient lighting where traditional bulbs might not be suitable, such as behind the TV, under the bed, lining bookshelves, or illuminating kitchen cabinets. Due to their flexibility and versatility, LED strips remain suitable as a primary light source.

This Best Buy Guide explores the best LED strips compatible with Homey, enabling you to create the ultimate personalized lighting experience in your home.

Choosing an LED Strip

When selecting a light strip for your space, several elements must be considered to ensure it fits your needs and integrates seamlessly with your Homey setup. The following list highlights distinctions among LED strips, offering guidelines instead of strict deal-breakers.

Color and Brightness

Consider the LED strip’s RGB capability and adjustable brightness levels. Even though the color is nice, you may not always need it.

Quality and Durability

Choose LED strips made from high-quality materials to ensure longevity and reliability. Opt for reputable brands highlighted in our Best Buy Guide.

Length and Flexibility

Consider the length and flexibility of the LED strip to ensure it fits the intended installation area. Some LED strips can be cut or extended to the desired length, while others come in fixed sizes.

Extra Features

Examine the added value of any extra features the light strip might have. Some models have lighting effects like fade, strobe, or color cycling. Others can pulsate or change color in sync with the rhythm of your music.

Price

Determine your budget and consider the price-to-features ratio outlined in our Best Buy Guide. While higher-priced options may offer advanced features or superior build quality, budget-friendly alternatives also provide good value for money.

Brand	Model	Protocol	Type	LEDs per Meter	Price
Aqara	T1 LED Strip	Zigbee	RGB+C+W	30/30/30	€42.00
Govee	M1 LED Strip	Matter	RGBIC	60	€59.99
IKEA	Ormanäs LED Strip	Zigbee	RGB+W	20/20	€29.99
Innr	Smart Light Strip	Zigbee	RGB+W	30/30	€44.99
Nanoleaf	Essentials Light Strip	Thread	RGB+C+W	21/42/42	€49.99
Philips Hue	Gradient Light Strip	Bluetooth	RGB+C+W	60/60/60	€159.99
Sengled	Smart Light Strip	Zigbee	RGB+W	37/37	€28.00
Twinkly	Line LED Strip	Wi-Fi	RGB	66	€49.99
Yeelight	LED Light Strip Pro	Wi-Fi	RGB	60	€53.95

The Aqara T1 LED strip is the company’s latest addition to its lighting product lineup. It uses Zigbee to communicate and pair with Homey Bridge or Homey Pro, expanding the network coverage as a router.

Once added to Homey, users can change color, adjust brightness levels, activate light presets, or toggle audio sync mode. The T1 has a microphone, so turning on this mode will make the light strip dance to their favorite songs.

Aqara’s T1 LED strip is 2 meters long, but its extension kit can extend it up to 10 meters. When more flexibility and exact lengths are needed for specific installation locations, the T1 can be cut into segments of 20 centimeters.

Being IP44-rated, the T1 is also suitable for outdoor installation and resistant to water sprays from all directions. While the base 2-meter model is inexpensive, each added extension kit can quickly increase costs.

Unlike previous Govee models, which relied on Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connectivity, the M1 Light Strip marks the company’s debut with Matter. It allows seamless pairing with Matter controllers like Homey Pro.

The M1 is a significant improvement over previous models. It produces light using upgraded RGBIC technology. This innovative technology allows multiple colors to light up simultaneously, delivering more vivid colors with higher brightness levels.

The Govee M1 LED Strip is capable of syncing to the rhythm of music thanks to the built-in microphone, lighting up in 50 separate segments and producing very smooth lighting effects.

It’s also worth noting that while previous Govee light strips were not extendable, the M1 is! With Govee’s extension kit, the strip can be extended to a maximum of 10 meters. The only downside is that the M1’s dynamic lighting features are not currently available through Matter.

Priced at €29.99, the IKEA Ormanäs is a budget-friendly option for a smart light strip. The Ormanäs is non-extendable and comes exclusively in 4 meters, although it can trimmed to a shorter length if required.

This LED strip produces RGB and tunable white color but lacks dynamic lighting effects. While Its brightness levels are adjustable, its LEDs are non-addressable and can only illuminate in a single color.

This LED strip is ideal for settings where intense brightness and vibrant colors aren’t necessary, and you just want a simple LED strip that works. Its affordable price allows it to cover long distances without exceeding budget.

Users can pair and control the IKEA Ormanäs with Homey Bridge or Homey Pro, allowing them to change color, set brightness and temperature, or even create more elaborate Flows. It is also a Zigbee router, expanding the user’s network coverage.

Innr has built a reputation for introducing elegant, functional, and budget-friendly smart lighting solutions, from light bulbs and LED strips to ceiling lamps and recessed puck lights.

Thanks to their high-quality LEDs, Innr’s Smart Light Strips produce vibrant colors and shine brightly at 2,000 lumens. With this specification, they can illuminate large rooms and even serve as the primary light source.

It pairs over Zigbee to Homey Bridge or Homey Pro, allowing users to set the mood by changing color, adjusting brightness, or setting temperature. With Homey, they can also slowly transition the brightness level at a preset rate, which works wonderfully as an ambient night light.

The Innr Smart Light Strip stands out for its incredibly long lifespan, which the company claims is 50,000 hours. However, this LED strip is non-extendable and available only in 2- and 4-meter variants.

If you want a premium Matter-enabled smart LED strip, consider the Nanoleaf Essentials Lighstrip. This model from Nanoleaf uses Thread for connectivity, which is Matter’s mesh networking protocol. You need a Thread Border Router like Homey Pro to add this strip to your smart home.

The Nanoleaf Essentials Lightstrip is available in 2-meter and 5-meter variants, which can be extended to a maximum of 10 meters. The extension kit is available in 1- or 2-meter lengths; if you need more than one, you can save money by opting for the more extended version.

Thanks to its 100 LEDs per meter, this LED strip produces lively colors and intense whites while dishing out 2,200 lumens of brightness. This makes the strip ideal for creating ambient lighting in large rooms or illuminating spacious areas. Nanoleaf Essentials Lightstrips are typically installed in gaming rooms, around PC monitors, or gaming desks.

With the current state of Matter, pairing the Nanoleaf Essentials Lightstrip can sometimes be challenging, prompting the need to install and use the Nanoleaf app for the initial onboarding process.

As one of the most recognized names in smart lighting, Philips Hue produces premium-quality bulbs, LED strips, and other intelligent lighting solutions. Their LED strip portfolio includes outdoor LED ropes, indoor strips, and the popular Hue Sync Box, which allows users to create their own ambient TV light. 

Hue’s Gradient Lightstrip is a top-tier model that creates fun and colorful ambient lighting in movie and gaming rooms. With the Philips Hue Sync box, this strip can dynamically change colors and brightness based on the user’s media content. 

The Hue Gradient Lighstrip has a unique double diffuser coating, making the individual LEDs in the strip unnoticeable when emitting color. This light strip produces exceptional color gradients because of this diffuser and the strip’s high-density layout.

The Hue Gradient Lightstrip is compatible with Homey and Homey Pro through the Hue Bridge. Users can change color, adjust brightness, or activate lighting effects. Homey also supports the Hue Sync box, which allows users to automatically toggle the device, set dim levels, or change its input.

If you own other Philips Hue devices, you are already aware of the cost of their ecosystem. Getting one Gradient Lightstrip is expensive, let alone extending it with one of their extension kits. Ultimately, this is the one to get if you are looking for the best smart LED strip.

If Zigbee is the preferred protocol, Sengled’s Light Strips are an excellent choice for creating ambient lighting in a home. These strips can be added directly to Homey Bridge or Homey Pro without a hub. 

Available in 2-, 5-, or full 10-meter versions, extension kits are unnecessary for longer lengths, and the strip can be cut into smaller sections for precise adjustments. 

With a high color rendering index, these LED strips produce true-to-life colors at 1,400 lumens. Their dimming range spans from 5% to 100%, perfect for creating the ideal night light. 

In Homey, users can set scenes, change colors, adjust brightness and temperature, or even activate random colors, leading to engaging and fun Flows. All features of Sengled Light Strips are controllable through Homey, providing an ultimate smart lighting experience. 

While Sengled Smart Light Strips are relatively affordable, they do not act as Zigbee routers, making them unsuitable for extending the network range.

Twinkly is a specialized lighting brand that offers string lights in fun and interesting shapes. Its portfolio includes line strips, line dots, strings, outdoor flex lights, dropdown curtain lights, and a fascinating collection of decorative lights called Candies. 

The Twinkly Line is an adhesive- and magnetic-backed smart multicolor LED strip suitable for indoor installation. It allows users to express their creativity by creating discreet kitchen lighting or decorative backlighting on shelves and furniture.

This model is 1.5 meters long but can be expanded to 3 meters with an extension kit. However, the Twinkly Line is unsuitable for covering long stretches of LED strips, as only one extension kit can be added to the base model. 

It can produce 16 million colors and sync to music and game audio, blinking along the rhythm of your media. Twinkly boasts an impressive 100 RGB LEDs in the full 1.5-meter strip, making it one of the highest-density RGB layouts on our list.

It’s important to note that Twinkly Line does not include a dedicated white LED. The rendered white color is simply a blend of the 3 RGB color sources.

The Yeelight LED Light Strip Pro is another excellent smart LED strip option. It utilizes Wi-Fi to connect to your router and interface with Homey or Homey Pro. The LED Light Strip Pro is the company’s top-tier model, with a base length of 2 meters. 

This strip is trimmable and extendable, reaching a maximum length of 10 meters. Each extension kit is 1 meter long. While the base model and extension kits are reasonably priced, the cost can quickly increase when multiple extensions are needed. 

Equipped with built-in IC chips, this model allows different-colored LEDs to illuminate simultaneously, creating bright and vivid hues. Various lightning effects complement the 16 million colors it produces for the ultimate ambient light experience.

The LED Light Strip Pro is compatible with gaming platforms like Razer Chroma and Overwolf, enabling real-time reactions to game content. It can also sync to music and dance along the beat. 

Homey and Homey Pro fully support all Yeelight LED Strips, including the Pro model. They provide flexibility to adjust colors, set temperature, adjust brightness, or incorporate the strips in Advanced Flows.

Like the Twinkly Line, the Yeelight LED Strip Pro doesn’t have a dedicated white LED, which means the color is a hybrid of the other color RGB diodes.

For DIY Enthusiasts

LED strips are highly versatile and offer great opportunities for creative projects. If you’re a DIY enthusiast who loves to experiment, you’ll be thrilled to explore Luxio — an open-source platform that lets you create your own gradient LED strips and seamlessly integrate them with Homey.

Developed by Emile Nijssen, co-founder of Homey, Luxio is an open-source platform designed to create gradient LED strips that integrate smoothly with Homey. Users can easily assemble budget-friendly Luxio LED strips using a few components from Amazon or AliExpress, with the total cost for a single strip coming in at under €20 on AliExpress.

You can learn more about Luxio and its requirements on the website and official Luxio Homey App.

Final Thoughts

Whether brightening up the underside of your kitchen cabinets or enhancing your game room ambiance, LED strips offer the perfect solution. With their adjustable brightness, customizable colors, and ability to sync with your media content, they bring significant value to any smart home setup.

In our Best Buy Guide, we’ve hand-picked models suited for various deployment scenarios. From the simple and budget-friendly IKEA Ormanäs to the top-tier Philips Hue Gradient Lightstrip, this article presents a range of options to help you find the perfect fit for your needs.