The best smart lights: from Nanoleaf and Hue to Hive

Unlike Nanoleaf's more standard, wall-mounted light panels, this cup lamp is a freestanding item that you can move around the room depending on where it's most useful.

I've got it positioned on my desk, the cup element full of pens, and the soft down-lighting illuminating a collection of Lego Speed Champion cars. You could put it anywhere though, and store useful bedside items rather than stationary.

The lamp itself was designed by interior accessories company Umbra and Nanoleaf, and it's a satisfyingly minimal style, with clean lines except for the rotary on/off switch. This looks like a dimmer but it's not.

To control the amount of light (and the 16 million colours the lamp can produce) you can use the Nanoleaf app or any popular smart home hub. It can also be programmed to come on or go off during different times of the day.

I really like the soft glow of light it produces, and the fact it has a much slimmer construction than a normal lamp, which would have to make space for a bulb. It's also consolidated two items on my desk into one, replacing a standard light and a stationary holder.

Powering the lamp is a USB-A plug and if I've got one complaint it's that the supplied (and tethered) cable could be longer. Still, it cuts down on dangling wires.

Tried and tested by Affiliate Operations Editor Adam Binnie.

Nanoleaf's first hard-wired ceiling light panels (you could get bulbs and downlights before but nothing like this) produce a large, diffuse spread of light that looks absolutely stunning. Plugged into your existing ceiling cables and screwed into the wall, the instalation takes longer than other Nanoleaf products that stick to the wall and use socket power. But they're worth it.

"Originally announced earlier in 2023, we've been waiting a little while for the Nanoleaf Skylight, and the anticipation of this modular ceiling display has been high.

"Unlike other Nanoleaf panels the Skylight is wired into your existing ceiling cabling and supplied with screws to mount it, rather than sticky pads and a three-pin plug. Only one panel connects to your wiring and then you can piggyback 99 others from this.

"If you wanted colourful, interactive lighting on your ceiling previously you could buy Nanoleaf bulbs and downlights, but nothing with the size and presence of its wall-mounted panels.

"Once up there the light the Skylight produces is absolutely beautiful thanks to the large panels, which are much brighter than my other Nanoleaf products and also more diffuse.

"Schedules in the Nanoleaf app mean you can programme the Skylight to come on in the morning and simulate sunrise - I've tried this on my Nanoleaf shapes and it's much more effective on the Skylight.

"The only downside really is the cost, if you want a truly spectacular display - I counted roughly 60 panels in the impressive display in the image above, which would cost about £4,000. It's also be nice if it was available in hexagon or triangle shapes.

"Still, three panels is more than enough for a normal double bedroom and collectively throw out more light that my entire wall of Nanoleaf Shapes, so from that perspective they're better value." Tried and tested by Affiliate Operations Editor Adam Binnie.

The fairy lights you didn't know you needed until now - not just any string of festive LEDs, but ones you can control via your smart home hub, that react to music, and can display 16million+ colours.

"The trouble is, once you've got Nanoleaf something, you want Nanoleaf everything, so when I saw these festive LED lights advertised I suddenly starting wondering how I'd lived all these years without app controlled Christmas tree lights.

"Forget the standard white OR rainbow-coloured offerings, these Nanoleaf bulbs can display 16million+ colours, so you can have a traditional, crisp white hue or a music-sensitive blend of blue, purple and green. There's even a display that twinkles like a lit fireplace.

"You get two long strings emanating from a central control box, which can be used to cycle through the displays without reaching for your phone. The lights are Matter compatible though, so they'll sync to whatever home hub you're using and play nicely with any other smart devices you've got.

"Downsides? As with other the Nanoleaf "Essentials" like the LED strip or light bulbs, you can't schedule the holiday lights from within the Nanoleaf app. You'll need a smart home hub to do this. But you probably already have one.

"Otherwise they're a stunning addition to your festive decorations, producing a bright and vibrant point of light and offering a huge range of attractive sequences." Tried and tested by Affiliate Operations Editor Adam Binnie.

Pick from triangles or hexagons and fit them together in whatever pattern suits you. The Shapes range is the most flexible in terms of design and the only limit is your imagination - also available in Ultra Black, for a stealthy look. Especially impressive on darker walls.

"I've wanted some Nanoleaf shapes for our bedroom wall for a long time but was previously put off by how much the white panels would stand out against our dark blue paint.

"Thankfully the Ultra Black hexagons fade in almost perfectly, and look especially good when displaying a palette of white, grey and blue, because the darker shades very nearly disappear into the wall. In fact, the entire kit is black too, including the controller and power cable, so the whole thing is very stealthy.

"They're super easy to install thanks to the sticky back pads, although I found a couple of the connectors a bit tricky to locate behind the panels. There's a way around this, just ensure you've got the connector for the next panel installed before you stick each hexagon to the wall.

"Recent firmware updates mean this is the easiest-to-pair Nanoleaf product I've experienced so far, and it's slotted straight into my Thread network (time of writing, October 2023). The touch and sound sensitive controls work perfectly, and the light it produces can be tuned from gentle to bright.

"My favourite feature is that along with the Elements and Lines kits (and crucially not the bulbs) you can set up timers for the Shapes panels within the Nanoleaf app. So this set can be programmed to display a warm sunrise just before our alarms go off.

"Just bear in mind the Ultra Black hexagons come in a starter set of nine, not five like the standard shapes. This means they're more expensive and you'll need more space to display them." Tried and tested by Affiliate Operations Editor Adam Binnie.

With 16 million colours and tuneable white tones a smart bulb like this one from Nanoleaf is a low-cost starting point for your interior lighting design. Available with a screw or bayonet fitting, as well as in GU10 and downlight form, these rhombicosidodecahedron bulbs (yes, that is a word) should fit right in. Now compatible with Matter over Thread, too.

"Swapping your bulbs for smart ones like these makes a huge enhancement for a relatively low outlay. Nanoleaf's bulbs are super bright and tuneable to pretty much any colour you can imagine.

"Controlled via the app you can play scenes from other Nanoleaf lights with them too, but to get the most from them you need a smart home hub. Now these bulbs use Matter you can pick any hub you like, and you'll need to do this if you want to set up a routine (for the bulbs to come on or off at a certain time, for example) as there's no way to do this in the native Nanoleaf app. Which is a bit weird.

"I also had a bit of a tricky time getting these to connect via Thread to my other Nanoleaf products but after a couple of firmware updates they are now working perfectly."

A set containing long plastic strips that can be assembled in geodesic patterns or even used around the edges of furniture or as downlights under cabinets.

"The Nanoleaf Lines kit can be used in similar circumstances to a self-adhesive strip of LED lights, except they can also be mounted to the wall and looked at directly, as opposed to being tucked away behind furniture.

"The result is the ability to create striking shapes and patterns highlighted by whatever colour you choose, which is projected onto the wall or surface behind rather than via an illuminated panel.

"I've got them set up in my desk bringing some much needed light and colour into my workspace at home. The shape of the elements offers great flexibility when it comes to installation, and means you can fit them into almost any space." Tried and tested by Affiliate Operations Editor Adam Binnie.

Our review:

This one's a little different, formed of hexagonal lighting panels (nothing unusual there) but instead of having a white or black surface when they're switched off, the Elements set has a wood finish. In practice this means they look a lot more natural and low-tech when you're not using them. In use they display a glowing range of colours from cold white to warm orange, so they're not as flexible as the more colourful panels.

"I've got the Elements kit in my living room where I wanted some extra lighting flair but with a more subtle look when deactivated. Until you turn it on, this product blends in with the wooden shelves and furniture, rather than standing out like Nanoleaf's more high-tech panels.

"The trade off for this is a lack of colours to choose from, Elements ranges from cool white to warm orange, but in a living room setting this is generally the spectrum we'd be after anyway.

"On a cold evening it gently flickers like a wood fire, making the room feel a lot warmer and more cosy, while in the summer it provides sunset tones to match what's going on outside the window." Tried and tested by Affiliate Operations Editor Adam Binnie.

Nine LED integrated, colour-changing, touch-sensitive square panels that are modular and easy to use. Install on any flat surface using the included mounting system. We've got a more in-depth Nanoleaf Canvas review after getting our hands on a set to test out.