The best HomeKit lights for students in 2023

Go from dorm to disco with these smart home savers

The list in brief1. Best overall2. Best light strip3. Best lightbulb4. Most affordable5. Best desk lamp6. Best retro

Smart lights that are compatible with Apple’s HomeKit standard are the perfect way to bring some creative lighting to any room. As long as they all work with HomeKit, you’ll be able to control an entire home’s worth of smart lighting from the Home app on your Apple device – even when you’re out and about.

And if you want to add even more cleverness to the equation, you can set up automations using Apple’s Shortcuts app. That lets you turn the lights on automatically as soon as you get home, for example, upping the cool factor.

But HomeKit lights aren’t just for smart home afficionados with spawling mansions – they’re also great for students. Why? Because they’re fun of course! There’s nothing like some smart, colorful lighting to help start a party or impress your friends. Since most smart lights can be programmed to display all sorts of colorful light shows – and some even flash in time with your music – a set of smart lights can really liven up any occasion.

If you’re looking for some HomeKit-enabled smart lights, you’re in the right place. We’ve trawled the market to find the best smart lights for students, no matter the purpose you have in mind or the budget you’re working with. Read on to see our picks.

Best overall

Nanoleaf makes all sorts of smart lights in all manner of shapes. They work together brilliantly, and you can mix and match different shapes however you want. The lights can mirror the lighting on your Mac’s display and pulse in time with your music, too. Simply put, they’re super smart in nearly every way.

Best light strip

The perfect way to create some beautiful ambient lighting with strips that stay out of sight and well hidden. The Govee M1 Matter works with HomeKit, as well as everything in the Matter standard, and offers tons of flexibility over where you put them and the effects that you program into them.

Best lightbulb

Philips’ Hue A67 bulbs are the best HomeKit lightbulbs you can buy. They’re incredibly bright – up to 1,600 lumens – so even a small number can light up a cavernous room. Add in the usual Philips quality and longevity and you’ve got yourself a brilliant piece of smart home tech.

Most affordable

Who says HomeKit lighting has to be expensive? These Meross bulbs prove otherwise, making them perfect for students. They come with everything you’d expect from smart bulbs, including millions of colours, adjustable brightness, and a super-simple setup. They’re a great affordable choice.

Best desk lamp

Prefer a desk lamp? The Philips Hue Iris is our pick here thanks to its gorgeous lighting effects and clever features. It’s a bit more on the pricey side, but you get peace of mind knowing it’s a product from a reliable brand that should last you years.

Best retro

This HomeKit bulb merges retro stylings with modern features, giving you the best of both worlds. It brings smart home ingenuity to your dorm in an old-school industrial form, works with a wide range of standards, and is very affordable for what it offers.

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When you think of smart lights, Nanoleaf’s products are usually the first ones that come to mind – and with good reason. The Nanoleaf Shapes Hexagons are our favorites, but the company makes lights in a wide range of shapes and sizes. Better yet, you can mix and match the lights to create different combinations to perfectly set up your space.

But these lights aren’t just pretty – they’re clever too. You can sync them up with your Mac so that they mirror your on-screen content, and have them pulse and change color in time with your music. There’s even an augmented reality layout assistant in the Nanoleaf app, helping you create the perfect combination of lights for your dorm.

Prefer ambient lighting to something more direct? Govee’s M1 Matter light strip is a great option. Stick them behind your Mac’s display or along the back of your desk and you’ll get a beautiful light show that gives you plenty of control for any occasion. Each light strip can display multiple different colours along its length, and comes with 20 segments and 17 moving effects for you to customize.

Better yet, you can control these lights however you want. That’s because these lights are compatible with the Matter standard, which means that in addition to HomeKit, they also work with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, so you’ve got plenty of choice with what you use.

For many years now, the Philips Hue series has led the market when it came to smart lightbulbs, and that’s still the case today. The Hue A67 is one of the top smart bulbs the company offers, with superb color accuracy, fast response times and impressive longevity. Install some of these in your dorm and you’ll certainly get your money’s worth.

At 1,600 lumens, the Hue A67 are some of the brightest smart bulbs around. You can control them from your phone, or have a bit more fun and bark out commands using Siri, Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. If you’re looking for smart bulbs, these should be your first port of call.

If the Philips Hue A67 is a bit too pricey for you, there’s no need to worry – the Meross Smart Wi-Fi LED Bulb is an excellent alternative. Sure, it’s got a couple of limitations compared to the Hue A67, but for this price, it’s really hard to complain.

For instance, its maximum brightness is 810 lumens instead of the Hue’s 1,600, but 810 is still plenty bright for most situations. In return, you get a far cheaper option that gives you HomeKit lighting goodness without breaking the bank. And since it works over Wi-Fi, you don’t need a clunky smart home hub either – another way you can save money.

Our expert review:

Some HomeKit lights can take a bit of work to get set up, but not so the Philips Hue Iris. This clever little desk lamp is ready to go in seconds, and is ideal for reading, studying, or just setting the mood. It diffuses its light in a wide spread, washing the walls with color and creating a subtle ambient effect that can suit any time or place.

It’s really simple to get started, but there are more advanced options if you want something extra. For example, when you pair it with a Philips Hue Bridge, you can use its soft lighting to help you wake up and drift off to sleep gradually. And like the Hue A67 lightbulb, the Hue Iris works with Siri, Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant and can be controlled with your voice.

Our expert review:

Feel like giving your dorm some old-school flair? The Yeelight Smart LED Filament Bulb does just that, with retro stylings bringing a warm glow to wherever you set the lights up. The timeless look fits in well in almost every room, yet is still priced affordably, so you don’t have to blow a hole in your finances to afford this classic design.

It’s also a modern design, with easy control via an app or with your voice. You can dim the lights from anywhere between 5% and 100% brightness, and they can be programmed to gradually turn on at a time of your choice (perfect for a gentle morning alarm). They’re also compatible with a wide array of standards, including HomeKit, Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, SmartThings and IFTTT.

Deciding which HomeKit lights are best for students depends on a few different factors. Firstly, the most important consideration is likely to be price. Smart home lights can be expensive if you go for a well-established brand or a product with a plethora of advanced features. However, it doesn’t have to be that way, and it’s possible to get much more affordable smart lights that easily fit within your budget. You might have to be prepared to accept some sacrifices, though, such as lower maximum brightness.

Aside from that, you need to work out what you want to use the lights for. Are you looking for something that will screw into a lamp socket, or light strips that can nestle behind your Mac or desk? Perhaps you are looking for a smaller desk lamp, or something that lets you get creative with different shapes and designs. Smart home lighting covers a wide array of styles and products, so there’s plenty to choose from.

Well, no one strictly needs HomeKit lights, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy any. Smart home lighting is a great way to liven up your space and make it more attractive and welcoming. It’s also an excellent conversation starter – perfect for meeting new people while you’re studying – and is perfectly suited to a party atmosphere.

So, while you might not need HomeKit lights, you could very well want them. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

iMore offers spot-on advice and guidance from our team of experts, with decades of Apple device experience to lean on. Learn more with iMore!

Alex Blake has been messing around with Apple tech ever since he caved to the pressure and bought an iPhone 3G “just to see what all the fuss was about.” He’s spent the subsequent 15 years prattling on about Apple and has somehow managed to do so professionally. Don’t ask him how.

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