Weve known about the benefits of LED lighting for years: less electricity and longer life. These things alone have driven many of us to switch purely to LED bulbs and even smart bulbs. But LED lighting doesnt end with light bulbs: LED strip lights are one of the best ways to enhance everything from your gaming PC to your kitchen cabinets, and theyve come a long way from the early days of PC lighting.Whether youre looking for simple, efficient lighting to lower your electricity bill or voice controlled disco lights that sync with your music, theres something for everyone in the world LED strips. And the good news is that you usually dont have to spend very much to find exactly what youre looking for. From the basic and tasteful, to over-the-top customizable, these are our favorite LED strip lights of 2020.TL;DR These are the Best LED Strip Lights
1. Lifx Z Wi-Fi Dimmable Controller and Multi Color 6.6′ LED Light Strip
Best LED Strip Lights
Lumens: 1400 Color: Adjustable White and RGB Wattage: 17 watts Length: 6.6-feet Extendable: Yes Smart Home: Yes Warranty: 2-year
This light strip from Lifx isnt the cheapest of the bunch, but it is absolutely one of the best. The Lifx Z Wi-Fi Light Strip features twice as many LEDs as its nearest competitor, the Philips Hue White and Color Ambience Light Strip. Despite being rated for slightly fewer lumens, its ability to pain color across a wide area definitely beats out the competition. This lighting strip easily washes out walls and spaces with any hue of your choosing.LIFXs real claim to fame is its eight customizable lighting zones per meter. Using the app, youre able to paint the strip in your choice of colors using your finger or choose from a wide selection of presets. Theres no hub required and if 6.6-feet isnt enough, you can buy extensions up to a whopping 10-meters in total length.
2. Govee Wi-Fi Light Strip
Best Budget LED Strip Lights
LEDs: 144 Color: Adjustable White and RGB Wattage: 24 watts Length: 6.6-feet Extendable: Yes Smart Home: Yes
Coming in at less than half the price of the Lifx Z LED strip is this excellent and budget-friendly option from Govee. At nearly the same length, this strip offers a trio of LEDs at each lighting point, one each for RGB, cool white, and warm white, allowing you to exactly dial in the color and temperature youd like. Its also Wi-Fi enabled to integrate with your existing Google Home or Amazon Alexa powered smart home devices.Govee doesnt provide any information on lumens or total brightness, but in our experience these strips can become quite bright. Additionally, it comes with an array of color presets, the ability to sync to music, and even act as a wake-up light.
3. Corsair iCUE Lighting Node
Best LED Strip Lights for PC
LEDs: 10 per strip, 40 total Color: RGB Length: 410mm Extendable: Yes Smart Home: No Warranty: 2-year
When it comes to RGB lighting, Corsair is king of the hill in the gaming PC space. This kit comes with a set of four lighting strips, as well as the Lighting Node Pro RGB Controller, which can also control Corsairs array of RGB case fans. Most importantly, they integrate with the companys proprietary iCUE software.iCUE gives you more control over your case lighting than virtually any other system. Using the software, youre able to control each individual LED and assign a huge array or presets, effects, and animations. If youre running other Corsair gear like PC fans or a gaming keyboard, these light strips are also able to sync up for easy matching or even send animations across your devices.
4. Govee DreamColor Strip Lights
Best LED Strip Lights for Your Desk
Wattage: 10 watts Color: RGB Length: 6.6-feet Extendable: No Smart Home: No
Building your gaming battlestation doesnt end with your PC or console. Adding a backlight to your gaming desk can dramatically increase the overall look and elevate your space to new heights. This six-foot RGB strip is perfectly sized to fit even large desks, doesnt require an extra wall outlet, and can be customized using an easy-to-use app on your smartphone.Govees Bluetooth-Controlled LED Strip light is a great fit, especially if you like to keep things simple. It wont integrate with your smart home, but getting it up and running is fast and easy. Its also color customizable with a variety of different presets, including a handy DIY option for creating your own unique effects.
5. Corsair LS100 Smart Lighting Starter Kit
Best Hybrid Desk/Monitor LED Strip Light Kit
LEDs: 27 (450mm strip), 15 (250mm strip) Color: RGB Length: x2 – 450mm, x2 – 250mm strips Extendable: Yes Smart Home: No Warranty: 2-year
It was only a matter of time until Corsair offered RGB lighting outside the PC, and theyve made quite a splash with their innovative LS100 Smart Lighting Starter Kit. Every LS100 lighting strip features a built in diffuser for smooth, flowing RGB lighting. Most importantly, using the software, you can choose to use this kit on the back of a monitor or any custom arrangement you choose, making it a perfect fit (and length!) for the back of a desk.Using Corsairs iCUE software, you can easily choose from a wide array of preset lighting effects or create animations all your own. When used as a monitor lighting kit, you can even sample your screen for outstanding bias lighting. These light strips arent the brightest because of the built in diffusers, but the level of customization and versatility is hard to beat.
6. Wobane Under Cabinet Lighting Kit
Best LED Strip Lights for Your Cabinet
Lumens: 1500 Color: 2700-6000K LEDs: 180 Wattage: 13 watts Length: 6 strips, 9.8-feet total Extendable: Yes Smart Home: No Control: Remote, Dimmer
Looking to give your kitchen a facelift? Adding under-cabinet LED lighting is a sure-fire way to add a touch of modern to your home. This kit from Wobane includes everything you need to get started and is available in both warm and cold kits to match your decor.This kit one-ups the competition taking the guess-work out of adding under-cabinet lighting. It includes cable holders, extensions, and adhesive for a completely tool-free assembly. It also gives you the option of controlling your lights with a remote control or a mountable dimmer switch.
7. Govee Wi-Fi TV Backlights Kit with Camera
Best LED Strip Lights for Your TV
Wattage: 18 watts LEDs: 78 Color: RGB Length: 8.6-feet Television Size: 60-80-inch Smart Home: Yes
TV backlight kits are a dime a dozen, but Govee takes things up a notch with their Wi-Fi TV Backlight Kit with Camera. Rather than force you to choose a static color, this kit comes with a small camera that mounts on the top of your Gaming TV and changes the backlight to match what youre viewing! If youre not in the mood for screen matching, you can still choose a color or preset of your choice, or have it sync to your music with its built-in microphone.This kit mounts like most others and comes with one long strip for the top and two smaller strips for the sides, plus the camera to sample your screen. Once installed, the Govee Home app allows you to calibrate the camera to match your screen. The accuracy isnt perfect, but this added functionality gives it an edge on the competition.
8. Maxonar Wi-Fi Enabled LED Strip Lights
Best LED Strip Lights for Your Room
LEDs: 600 Color: RGB Wattage: 40 watts Length: 32.8-feet (x2 16.4ft rolls) Extendable: No IP Rating: IP65 Smart Home: Yes Warranty: 18-month
LED lighting can enhance the look of any room. This kit from Maxonar comes with two 16.4-foot rolls, each packing twice the LEDs of competing brands for a total of six hundred emitters. It also comes with a full DIY kit to cut, connect, extend these strips to match your dimensions exactly. Whether youre lighting up a display cabinet or adding mood lighting to an entire room, this kit will deliver the brightness and customizability you need.Since mood and accent lighting work alongside the other lighting in your room, smart home compatibility is more important than ever. Thankfully, these strips are Wi-Fi enabled and will work with Amazon Alexa and Google Home and even integrates with online systems such as IFTTT.
9. Nanoleaf Rhythm Edition Smarter Kit
Best LED Strip Accent Lighting
Lumens: 100 Color: Adjustable White and RGB Wattage: 0.7 watts Length: 16.5-feet (cable) Extendable: Yes Smart Home: Yes Warranty: 2-year
If you don’t want a simple strip but would rather have a fancy setup that makes for bright and colorful wall art, then you should consider the Nanoleaf Rhythm Edition Smarter Kit. Rather than putting small LEDs on a strip, the Nanoleaf Rhythm Edition features triangular panels that can be arranged however you like. They may not work as well for bias lighting behind a display, but they can have a stunning effect arranged throughout the home.The Smarter Kit includes 15 Nanoleaf panels, and with each you’ll get support for white color temperatures from a warm and cozy 1200K to a cool and energetic 6500K. They also offer over 16 million colors, so you can create the ambiance you want. This kit also features a rhythm module that lets the lights automatically react to music. Each kit can expand to support an additional 15 panels, letting you grow your setup to suit your needs.
What To Look for in LED Light Strips
Just as the market for LED light strips has expanded, its also become more complicated to find exactly what youre looking for. If you want to make sure youre getting exactly what you hope for, be sure to follow these tips.Dont worry too much about brand name, instead focus on features and reviews. Most of the LED light strip market is dominated by small brands youve probably never heard of before. This can be confusing and a bit intimidating, but try not to worry too much. Instead, focus on the features the light strip offers. Does it have the Bluetooth connectivity youre looking for? Is it single-color, RGB, or RGBW? Remember, while RGB strips can produce white, only RGBW strips can produce a clean white like true lightbulb. Once youve decided that it meets your needs, look carefully over the pictures, and then see what other users have to say in the review section. Those three things will offer you the best insight into whether the company is rebranding a cheap strip or is actually in the business for the long run.
The second thing to look for is the type of lighting the strip actually provides. Dont rely on the picture alone, especially if youre purchasing an RGB strip. If youre searching for white lighting, be sure it has the color temperature youre looking for. If youre shopping for RGB, youll want to find out how its RGB lighting works. Can you set it in sections or is it whole strip only? Is the lighting static or does it flow? Are their presets and, if there are, can you customize them or create your own? With so many options, dont be afraid to move on to another listing if these answers arent clear.
Third, pay close attention to how you control the lighting. Many low-costs strips use a remote while more expensive often features smartphone apps. While the remotes can work just fine, youre often more limited in color, brightness, and customization than app-enabled lighting strips. If you do choose an app-integrated strip, be sure it connects the way you intend. Bluetooth light strips offer more fast and easy setup, but smart home integration, such as Amazon Alexa or Google Home, require Wi-Fi.
Finally, keep in mind how long of a strip you actually need. Its possible to cut many LED strips to size, so you dont have to be exact, but if youre going for RGB, shortening the length could impact what lighting is able to be displayed and how well your strip matches the app. Dont cut the tail off your rainbow.
Chris Coke is a tech critic that cares way too much about mechanical keyboards. Check him out at IGN, MMORPG.com, or PC Perspective. Follow him on Twitter @gamebynight.
