The best smart Edison-style filament bulbs to make your home shine

Smart filament bulbs combine modern intelligence and LED efficiency with that classic candle glow we all remember from those energy-sapping incandescents.

Simply put, these Edison-inspired smart bulbs have brains and beauty.

While LEDs have come a long way since the days of blue haze (with adjustable white and color changing you really can have any color under the sun), sometimes all you need is a nice, warm glow.

Enter, the Edison bulb. This style is known as a filament bulb because its “electric” filament is visible through its tinted glass and resembles the first light bulb designed by Thomas Edison long ago.

Only today you can do much more than Edison ever dreamed, including controlling your light bulb with your voice or your smartphone.

Why would you want an old light bulb in your smart home? Let’s be clear: these bulbs are not for task lighting, but rather for that environment. Most offer between 550 and 800 lumens with a color temperature of around 2,100 kelvin (for comparison, Hue’s white bulbs have 800 lumens and 2,700 kelvin).

Where filaments really shine is in those decorative lamps in your dining room, living room or possibly bedroom that are designed to include the bulb as part of the look.

In general, smart bulbs don’t look all that pretty: Their dull white housings are designed to stay out of sight, while most filament bulbs have sleek, tinted glass and industrial-reproduction “filament” wire. chic inside.

Then they light up to the bulbs from a century ago and give you a warm vintage light with a retro look that is super cool. Place them in a cage-style pendant lamp, table lamp, or chandelier and display your smart bulbs in style.

For a while, finding a smart filament bulb was a fruitless search, but there are now at least six brands with Edison offerings, with more coming soon.

Plus, you’re not limited to just one style or shape: there are Edison globe, standard, and elongated models, and they’re highly compatible with your smart home.

They work with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, and some with Apple HomeKit and Samsung SmartThings.

We have been living with these smart filament bulbs in our house for a long time.

Read on for our reviews of the offerings from Philips Hue, Sengled, Innr, Ikea and Bulbrite, plus a rundown of the other options available.

Best smart filament bulb: Philips Hue smart filament bulbs

Buy now: Amazon, philips-hue.com | From $24.99

The versatile, extensive and always excellent Hue line has the most attractive smart filament bulbs on the market.

Available in a variety of shapes and fittings, including the traditional A19/A60 ($24.99), an ST19/ST64 ‘tube’ shape that has a more traditional ‘Edison’ look ($27.99), and a G25 globe bulb /G93 for ($32.99), these bulbs will fit perfectly into any Hue smart lighting setup.

Of all the filament bulbs we tested, we liked the Hue design the most. The bulb has a black base instead of white, so it matches well with an exposed lamp.

Ultimate Guide: Everything you need to know about Philips Hue

A white base, no matter how small, ruins the look this type of bulb is designed for.

Additionally, Hue’s curly filament is more aesthetically appealing than most competitors’ stick filaments, and the amber-tinted glass provides a warm glow without diminishing light.

All Hue filaments shine at the same brightness of 550 lumens with a fixed color temperature of 2100 kelvin. You can dim and brighten in the app (and through all the usual smart home controls: HomeKit, Alexa, Google, SmartThings), but there’s no adjustable white light here, just dimmer or brighter.

you don’t do it either need a Hue hub to use the bulbs, as they can connect via Bluetooth, but without a hub, you don’t get remote access or the ability to set up routines.

what we love

• Elegant black base
• No hub required
• Works with HomeKit (with a hub)

what we don’t love

• No tunable light
• Expensive

Read our full review of the Philips Hue filament smart bulb here.

The most versatile smart filament bulb: Bulbrite Solana Edison Filament

Buy now: Amazon | $19.99

Bulbrite Solana filament bulbs are our favorite smart filament bulbs as they are the only ones that offer dimmable white light.

This means you can use them for task lighting if you need to, as they have additional “filament” strands that increase their kelvin power from a relaxing 2200 to 6500 kelvin.

Bulbrite filament bulbs come in the classic A19 shape, ST18 (the most typical Edison style), and globe-shaped G25, each offering 600 lumens.

We tested three bulbs in a lamp above our dining table and found that the range it offered was ideal for doing homework in the afternoon under bright, invigorating lights and then dimming them to a warm, relaxing glow at dinner time.

Solana bulbs work over Wi-Fi, so no hub is required. They require a 2.4Ghz network, but worked well on our dual-band mesh network.

The app allows you to dim, adjust color temperature, set scenes and create schedules and are compatible with Alexa or Google Home.

Compared to Hue, they definitely struggle on the brightness scale, being much dimmer on the higher level and much brighter on the lower level.

We also didn’t like the white base, which wasn’t hidden in our cage-style chandelier, plus they only come in white glass; there are no smoked or amber glass options.

For purely decorative purposes, these are not as pretty as some of the other options. But as an affordable coreless filament bulb for your home with a versatile range, they are a great choice.

what we love

• No center needed
• Good price
• Three style options

what we don’t love

• The low brightness range.
• ugly white base
• Only white glass
• No home kit

Read our full Bulbrite review here.

Best Budget Smart Filament Bulb: Sengled Edison Filament Bulb

Buy now: sengled.com, Amazon | $14.99

Sengled, pioneer of low-priced smart light bulbs, introduced its first filament light bulb at CES last year, and it’s a beauty.

With an all-glass design (no plastic casing), it has a subtle, not-too-brown tint and a sleek, slightly elongated Edison shape.

With the same 2100 kelvin color temperature as Hue’s filament option, it’s also one of the cheapest filament bulbs, at just $14.99 each.

While Sengled has Wi-Fi bulbs, the filament is Zigbee-based, so it requires a smart home hub to work, either Sengled itself or any Zigbee-enabled hub, like an Echo Plus or SmartThings.

We were impressed with the Sengled’s brightness range and design, although there was quite a bit of flickering when dimming and brightening, especially compared to the Hue and Bulbrite bulbs.

Sengled works with Alexa and Google Assistant, and if you opt for the inexpensive Sengled Hub ($40), you can also get HomeKit compatibility.

what we love

• All glass design.
• Cheap
• Works with HomeKit (with a hub)

what we don’t love

• No tunable light
• Requires a center
• Flickering during dimming

Alternative budget option: Ikea Trådfri filament bulb

Buy now: Ikea.com | $9.99

One of the newest additions to the Swedish company’s smart lighting line-up, this smart filament bulb is attractively named ‘Trådfri E26 LED Bulb 250 Lumens, Wireless Dimmable Warm Brightness, Globe Brown Clear Glass’.

Any questions?

It offers a warm 2,200 kelvin glow and works through the Trådfri hub ($79.99), or you can pair the bulb with an Echo Plus or Hue hub, courtesy of its Zigbee powers.

At just $9.99 for a single bulb, this is the cheapest filament bulb out there, plus it has a stylish curly filament and brass base (no flashy white here) and pretty tinted brown glass to give it that Extra smoky bistro atmosphere.

Ikea’s Trådfri is compatible with Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and Apple’s HomeKit, the latter meaning you can also use Siri to control your lights.

what we love

• Nice brass base
• Cheap
• Works with HomeKit (with a hub)

what we don’t love

• No tunable light
• Requires a center

Great Zigbee Option: Innr Filament Smart Bulbs

Buy now: Amazon | from £15.99

This Dutch brand was created by a group of former Hue and Ikea employees, and the result is what you would expect: affordable, easy-to-use, good quality smart bulbs. While the rest of the line is available in the US, their retro filament line is currently only in Europe and the UK.

Innr has four different filament models, all with 2200 kelvins. There’s a regular bulb, an Edison-shaped bulb, and a large globe bulb, all with tinted glass or white glass options.

As with most other filaments we tested, these don’t offer the same warmth range adjustments as regular white LEDs, as they are designed to always look warm for that retro feel. But you can adjust the brightness.

These work with Zigbee and require an Innr hub or any Zigbee controller, such as a Philips Hue bridge, an Amazon Echo Plus, or a Samsung Smart Things hub.

They are good bulbs, not as premium as their Hue counterparts and they are not HomeKit compatible, but they do work with Alexa and Google.

what we love

• Works with Hue hub
• Cheap
• Tinted and white glass options.
• brass base

what we don’t love

• Not available in the US
• No home kit

Read our full review of the Innr line here.

The best of the rest

While we have yet to test these filament bulbs, here’s a rundown of the specs, prices, and compatibility of the other options so you can compare. We’ll update this guide as we get our hands on them.

Sylvania Smart+ Bluetooth Clear A19 Filament

Buy now: Amazon | $19.99

Sylvania’s smart filament bulb is a little brighter than most (offering 2,700 kelvins) and also works with HomeKit, Alexa, and Google—all without a hub, as they use a Bluetooth Mesh system.

There is only one style and it has that annoying white base, it only comes in clear glass and is a bit pricey.

Lifx Filament

Coming soon (hopefully) | $29.99

Lifx’s new range of filaments debuted at CES back in 2020… but we’re still waiting for them to go on sale. All mentions have also been removed from the company’s site, so this one doesn’t look very promising.

When they were initially unveiled, Lifx indicated there would be two styles: an ST64 Teardrop (pictured) and a G95 Globe with LED “Sticks.” They were also available in three glass options: smoked, amber and clear, making it the widest range out there in terms of glass.

However, these are still only warm white dimmable and no tunable light.

Lifx’s line is Wi-Fi-enabled and the bulbs will work with Alexa, Google Assistant and HomeKit when they launch.

TCP Smart Filament Twist Classic

Buy now: Amazon | €14.33

A budget bulb available in the UK, not the US, the TCP Smart Filament Twist Classic is a bulb better suited for a lamp or soft ambient lighting as it is not as bright at 250 lumens. Available with a B22 or E27 socket, this bulb connects via Wi-Fi.

You can use the TCP Smart app, but the bulb is actually compatible with the Smart Life system, so it’s worth using that app to expand the range of devices you can connect together.

This bulb can be adjusted between warm (2000K) and cool (5000K), offering a little more variety than most of the competition.

The rotating design is quite nice and a little different than most of the competition. This bulb also looks good when it’s off, thanks to the yellow glass and metal base (there’s not even an inch of plastic on display).

Trust smart LED filament

Buy now: Amazon | £20.99 (pack of two)

Another budget-friendly smart bulb, the Trust Smart LED Filament with Wi-Fi, is available in single packs or, for better value, in double packs.

This bulb uses a more standard design, with straight filaments inside. Thanks to the brass-colored threaded connector, there is no plastic visible, while the yellow-tinted glass gives it a more vintage look.

Again, this is a product that can be controlled through the Trust app, although you can also install it through Smart Life. The latter is probably the best option as you can add devices from multiple apps in one place.

Tunable between 1800K (warm) and 2700K (warm) like a traditional bulb, there is a little adjustment, but not as much as you get with much of the competition.

This bulb is rated at 450 lumens, although we didn’t find it noticeably brighter than the TCP bulb, making it a better choice for table lamps.