There are HomeKit compatible LED strips from many manufacturers. When buying, make sure it is eligible for your installed ecosystem. Essential criteria are:
- Connection type (Hue Zigbee, WLAN, Thread)
- RGB or even multiple color zones
- Reliability
We will give you a few tips and assessments for the different models so that you can make a good purchase decision. If you have any questions, feel free to comment below.
Philips Hue Gradient Ambiance – 2m Pixel LED Lightstrip (Zigbee)
- Color gradients possible
- separate LEDs for white tones
- good app
- controllable via Bluetooth steuerbar
- for HomeKit bridge necessary
Expensive and good: flexible color gradients in an LED strip.
The Philips Hue Gradient Ambiance is one of the more expensive LED strips you can buy. However, you get impeccable reliability from Philips Hue, control via a well-designed app and, of course, synchronization with all other lamps from the Hue universe.
What is special about the Gradient model is that the strip can display different colors in different sections along its length – this creates special moods.
HomeKit users already know that a Philips Hue Bridge is required for use (which separately consumes around 1.5 watts). The advantage here is that Philips has already promised to bring the bridge to the Matter standard: this means that all lamps connected via Zigbee will also be compatible with the new standard via the bridge.
LIFX Lightstrip – 2m Pixel LED Lightstrip (WLAN)
- Color gradients possible
- separate LEDs for white tones
- connection via WLAN
- App a bit chaotic
Color gradients at a reasonable price.
The LIFX light strip offers just as cool color gradients as the Philips Hue model, but has its own features that should be advantageous for many: 16 different color zones can be defined, which is significantly more than with the gradient strip from Hue. In addition, it costs much less and can be connected directly to the WLAN, so it does not need an additional hub – very practical in many scenarios.
The functions are extensive, but the LIFX app has become somewhat chaotic in recent times. It is still easy to use, but a learning curve has formed, so that it is no longer 100% intuitive. For the price and the good light quality, however, this is bearable.
EVE Light Strip – 2m RGBW Lightstrip (WLAN)
- different colors possible
- separate LEDs for white tones
- very bright
- good app
- Adhesive sometimes too weak
Good and bright LED strip.
The EVE Lightstrip is easy to use with the excellent EVE. The colors are very good and the brightness is very high, up to 1800 lumens. It can be integrated into your HomeKit system via Wi-Fi. He is not yet converted to thread like many other accessories from EVE.
There is some criticism regarding the adhesive performance of the double-sided adhesive on the back: expect it to be a bit weak and have a better quality adhesive at hand if the strip is to be used in places that are difficult to access and where perfect adhesion is important.
Philips Hue White & Color Ambiance – 2m RGBW Lightstrip (Zigbee)
- different colors possible
- sync with Hue
- separate LEDs for white tones
- good app
- v3 and v4 incompatible
The standard model for LED strips.
The Ambiance model without color gradient is, so to speak, the standard for LED strips. The Hue model connects via Zigbee with the Hue Bridge and is thus HomeKit compatible. The new v4 version can also be operated via Bluetooth. The reliability of the v3 series and the extensions was excellent.
In version 4, the cable, controller and power supply are now separated, which is very convenient, and there is also a connector with which you can reconnect cut parts.
Note, however, that Philips has changed the connectors: v3 and v4 strips are not compatible. In addition, both the solder quality and the adhesive on the back seem to be of lower quality than in version 3, so check one strip before buying more.
Nanoleaf Essentials – 2m RGBW Lightstrip (Thread)
- different colors possible
- separate LEDs for white tones
- good control functions
- modern wireless protocol
- Reliability sometimes a matter of luck
The modern choice in LED strips.
The Nanoleaf Essentials is the only one to offer the modern Thread interface. With this, it can be directly connected to your HomePod mini or Apple TV 4K and thus helps to set up a mesh network. The app is good and comes with interesting features. It is even priced in the lower region and even has a small control box with real buttons.
The disadvantage can be the unsatisfactory reliability in some copies. However, we would definitely give it a chance due to the many other positive features – especially compared to the Hue of the 4th version.
Meross MLS320 – 2m RGBW Lightstrip (WLAN)
- different colors possible
- affordable
- Connection partly unstable
Cheap version of a HomeKit LED Strip.
Meross offers one of the cheapest variants with its LED strip. The separate LEDs for good white tones are also available here and the app is easy to use. The connection via WLAN is practical, so it can also be used for smart home beginners without having to buy an additional hub.
However, the connection also seems to be the biggest disadvantage: depending on your Wi-Fi equipment and router, the connection is not completely stable. We advise you here (and also for all other HomeKit devices that connect via WLAN) to use a separate 2.4 GHz network – with this, many devices can be persuaded to cooperate.
