Which Nanoleaf Smart Lights Should You Buy?

Nanoleaf Lines (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is another modular system, but this is made of lines instead of shapes. The 11-inch bars aren’t cheap—especially if you need several for the design you have in mind—but they work beautifully well once they’re set up. The Lines can use a variety of colorful scenes from within the app or you can use Nanoleaf’s desktop app to mirror the colors from a game on the Lines. There’s also support for Razer Chroma for folks using Razer products.

What really makes the Lines stand out is how much better they look than basic panels when they aren’t in use. The bars cast shadows onto the wall and can pass for sculptural wall art, rather than a blank set of white tiles. It’s a nice mix of function and beauty, both when you are and aren’t using the Lines.

This little desk lamp is a perfect mix of sleek style, great utility, and all the fun colors of a smart light. Designed by Umbra, a home design group based out of Canada, and powered by Nanoleaf, the lamp is bright, fun, and easy to use. You control it just like any other Nanoleaf light, choosing your lamp’s color on the color wheel or from various Scenes and Presets, and you turn it on and off with the manual rotating switch on the front. The lamp is low, but it was bright enough to light up my desk at night while I used my computer or did a little hobby painting. There’s also the built-in pen cup that I wish was deeper; you can fit pens in it, but they’ll sit at more of an deeper angle than in a deeper cup. It was the perfect size for things like lipstick, though.

If you’re worried you won’t use light panels enough to warrant leaving the plastic tiles bare on your walls, Nanoleaf's Elements series might be up your alley. The Elements are still plastic but have a wood finish effect that makes them much more appealing to look at when they aren't in use. The style comes at a cost—these panels only put out white light. But the color temperature range goes from cool whites to warm orangey glows, and there's support for touch controls and music syncing. You can still get some nice ambient lighting.

Nanoleaf’s smart bulb works great, but there are cheaper ones we recommend if you only want smart bulbs. However, if you have other Nanoleaf light panels and want a lightbulb that will sync with the color scenes and light shows, then the Essentials is a great add-on. The bulb has a fun hexagonal design—a nice echo of Nanoleaf's geometric products, and it doesn't negatively affect the light it emits. It works smoothly in tune with Nanoleaf’s other products, but the colors aren't nearly as immersive. The newest version is Matter-compatible too.

★ Another Fun Extra: The Umbra Cono Lamp ($95) is a little portable light that reminds me of the sunset lights my friends use at house parties. The Cono is more expensive, but you’ll get to coordinate it with your existing Nanoleaf lights.

Nanoleaf Canvas Kit for $180: The Canvas lights are similar to Nanoleaf's Shapes, and they are the predecessor to the Shapes kit we recommend above. The Canvas lights have an older connector and aren't as good for edge-to-edge lighting. While they are cheaper and often on sale, these aren't as cheap as the Shapes mini triangles, which can be combined with Nanoleaf's other kits.

Nanoleaf Essentials Matter Light Strip for $50: This light strip can only do one color at a time, rather than the multicolor that Nanoleaf's 4D Kit can do. It's Matter-certified, but with Matter still in its early days, it's not worth choosing them over other options. There are other light strips we like better for a similar price.

There are a few questions you should ask yourself as you start shopping for Nanoleaf lights.

How much space do you have? Many of Nanoleaf’s lights are large. You’ll need space for them, and nearby power too. Survey your space and measure out how much room you have to make sure you buy lighting that will fit your needs.

What kind of lighting and look do you want? Nanoleaf’s light panels are what the company is known for, but it’s not all it offers. Ask yourself if you’d prefer wall panels, a light strip, or even wall lines, and where you want the light to appear. Across a wall? Behind your TV or computer? These can help you narrow down what you should purchase. Also, ask yourself if it’s important to you how the lights look when they’re off.

How will you control your lights? Nanoleaf’s lights don’t come with physical buttons, but some of its lighting panels have touch controls to swipe and change the colors (though the feature doesn’t always work great). Nanoleaf also works with all the major smart home systems, including Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple HomeKit.

How much do you want to spend? Nanoleaf offers some fantastically cool kits, but the price tag isn’t cheap, especially if you need several light panels to fill the space you have in mind.

Here are some tips and tricks we've learned from testing Nanoleaf products over the years,

Prepare before you install. Decide and map out what you want to do in advance. Nanoleaf's lights attach to the wall with adhesive, so it's possible to remove them without taking the paint off, but it's easier to have your design already planned and set. Be sure to use a level to make sure they're straight, since the geometric shapes will make it obvious if they aren't.

Plan for power. Don't just plan your design, but make sure your panels will end close enough to an outlet. You can also try to design your lights to hide the power cord behind something, like a nearby bookshelf or plant.

Scheduling ability might vary. If you're using the Essentials bulbs, you can only set up schedules with Apple HomeKit or Google Assistant.

You'll need the Alexa Skill. If you're an Alexa user, some smart devices can easily connect with your Alexa speakers, but you'll need to add the Nanoleaf Skill to start using your Nanoleaf lights. (Even after adding it, I found it didn't work 100 percent of the time.)

Be careful where you click in the app. In the app, your Nanoleaf products will be listed by room, and they pop up as little squares with an icon and the name of the product. You need to click on the written name to go into the device and peruse the colors, scenes, and other options (like 4D if you're using the 4D Kit) for the specific product. If you click anywhere else on the product's box, you'll just turn the device on and off over and over.

Find more color options. The app includes a variety of scenes you can use, but you can click on the Discover tab—a cloud and downward arrow symbol—to find more lighting designs and download them onto your app.