Holiday 2023 featured smart strips:
If you just want a quick and easy solution, the following smart strips all have an official manufacturer – provided integration with smartthings.
This list is limited to ones that were offering sales in November and December 2023, but when I was writing it, I pulled out a lot of the details like whether it’s moisture-resistant, brightness level, etc. so I thought it was worth re-posting here.
The prices shown were the sale prices for black Friday. I will update this post later with the list prices.
Holiday Specials:
looks like several major Home Automation manufacturers (but not Hue) have their LED strips on sale for Black Friday.
The following all have at least one manufacturer-provided integration with SmartThings. It might be cloud cloud, it might use matter, it might require the LED strip brand’s hub, it might use Zigbee and connect directly to a SmartThings/Aeotec hub. (Remember that SmartThings requires that you have a SmartThings/Aeotec hub or dongle to use matter.)
Features that will vary from model to model include brightness, whether the LEDs are individually addressable (meaning, one part of the strip can be a different different color than another part of the strip: “RGBIC” strips should be individually addressable, at least in zones), whether it also works with HomeKit or not, whether it can “dance” to music (these models have a built-in microphone that will make the lights brighter or darker based on volume in the room, getting a dancing effect), moisture-resistance, etc.
In some cases special features will only be available through the strip’s own app, not through the SmartThings integration. Also, some are more easily extended than others.
Also, pay attention to length. Some strips are about 2 m and some are about 5 m so that’s a big difference.
(I am not including LED strips which can only integrate with smartthings through a third-party like Alexa routines or ifttt, because those integrations are often not very successful with this device class.)
In alphabetical order:
1) Aqara T1
6.5’ (that’s 6 feet, not 16)
10 zones
Tunable white
Zigbee. If connected to an Aqara hub that acts as a matter bridge, it can be brought in through matter that way. That option will not require any custom code.
IP44
Supports HomeKit, including adaptive lighting
$40
.
This and Govee are probably the best choice if you want to use the strip as white only for task lighting.
https://www.amazon.com/Aqara-Requires-Million-Gradient-Supports/dp/B0C5XKHCWM/
2) Govee M1
16.4’
1000 lumens
Individually addressable
Matter over WiFi
Music sync in their own app
$70
Lots of people love Govee, and the matter models are the first ones with official integration with SmartThings. Very bright. This is a good sale for them.
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https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B42BWVLM/
3) Kasa KL420L5
16.4’
550 lumens
50 zones
WiFi
IP44, so moisture resistant
$27 (lowest price ever)
Does not work with HomeKit
2 year warranty
If you’re just looking for holiday effects, this is a great value. It’s not bright enough for, say, under cabinet lighting. But it’s really nice for special effects.
https://www.amazon.com/Kasa-Smart-SmartThings-Brightness-KL420L5/dp/B09QBD5J7S/
4) Meross MSL320
32.8’ (spliced 2 16.4 strips)
Not individually addressable
Does colors, but not white
WiFi
$30
Works with HomeKit
Describes itself as bright, but I believe it’s under 500 lm
ETL safety certification
Good quality for a budget strip, but in 2023 not having individual zones makes it feel a little outdated.
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https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08V57NDJQ/
5) Nanoleaf Essential Light Strip
6.4’
Not individually addressable, so the entire strip will be just one color
Matter over Thread
2000 lumens
Not moisture resistant, so not good for bathrooms
Two year warranty
$35
It’s good to see a thread offering, but the reviews on this one are that it seems to be fairly cheaply made, and it’s very hard to bend around corners. Doesn’t seem to have the usual, safety certifications, either. I’m including it because some people are interested in the thread option, but I don’t think it as well engineered as the Meross in the budget category, although it is much brighter.
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https://www.amazon.com/Nanoleaf-Essentials-Bluetooth-Lightstrip-Smarter/dp/B0C1JB8ZPT/
6) Nanoleaf Matter Holiday String Lights
20 m ( intended to cover a 6’ Christmas tree.)
Matter over WiFi
Individually addressable
250 lumens—Not very bright
IP44
Music sync options through the nanoleaf app
Two year warranty
$90
Intended to compete with twinkly, these look like Christmas tree lights. They don’t have the bending issues that the LED strip has, they come wrapped in a coil. Note that this is two connected 10 meter strips with a controller in the middle, so that may affect placement. It works for a tree because you can put the controller on the back side of the tree, but maybe not for other effects like around a mantle.
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https://www.amazon.com/Nanoleaf-Essentials-Matter-Holiday-String/dp/B0CKWLBQG5
- Tapo 930 (this model does not use Matter, just WiFi)
16.4 feet
WiFi (cloud to cloud through Tapo integration)
50 zones
IP44
Music sync options through the Tapo app
Two year warranty
Also works with HomeKit
$33, regularly $50
These are the ones I have. Twice as bright as the Kasa model above for only a few dollars more. Great zone effects. Local with HomeKit, cloud to cloud with SmartThings. No Matter integration, but they work out of the box with SmartThings, Alexa, and HomeKit.
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