Nanoleaf is known for its smart lighting panels, but this year the company launched a set of $99 smart holiday string lights that are compatible with Matter and thus HomeKit. Matter devices connect to HomeKit the same way traditional HomeKit devices do, but you’ll need a Matter-compatible smart home hub. For the ‘HomeKit’ ecosystem, this is anything that acts as a HomeKit “home hub”, such as an Apple TV or HomePod.
Priced at $99 for a 20-meter (65-foot) light strand with 250 LEDs, Nanoleaf Holiday String Lights are competitively priced. They’re more affordable than similar smart string lights like Philips Hue or Twinkly, though Twinkly is often close to the same price if you find them on sale. A 65-foot light strand is the right size for a 7-foot tree, although it won’t be the densest light. For a more balanced look, most trees around this size require two light strands of this length.
Each consists of two connected 10-meter strands with 125 LEDs (which is how Twinkle works). According to Nanoleaf, the dual strand design is ideal for use with plants. Starting from the middle of the tree, one strand can be wrapped upwards, while the second can be wrapped downwards. It is not possible to connect two sets of string lights together, and if you use more than one, each needs its own power supply.
Nanoleaf lights look a lot like twinkly lights in terms of design, with a flat-topped LED and circular sides. There is about three inches of space between each LED and the cord is black with no other color options available. Black is more common than green on Christmas trees, so it would be nice to have a green cord option. Twinkly makes some neat cord string lights, and I think it’s a good way because it’s able to blend into the surroundings better.
Unlike twinkly lights, you can’t control each individual LED and instead they are set in different color palettes and patterns like Hue string lights. The Nanoleaf lights actually feel like a cross between the Hue and the Twinkly because they aren’t as customizable as the Twinkly, but offer more patterns than the Hue. Nanoleaf Lite supports 16 million colors, as well as multiple shades of white. The Nanoleaf app has pre-designed color palettes that you can choose from in addition to the tools to create your own.
Nanoleaf also has a community feature so you can download lighting animations and color palettes created by others, giving you many options for design without doing a lot of work. Nanoleaf’s community feature has long been one of my favorite Nanoleaf features because it provides so many options with just a quick search.
The colors of the Nanoleaf string lights are vibrant and bright and remind me a lot of Twinkle in terms of saturation and light patterns. Compared to the Hue, the Nanoleaf is brighter, and I don’t think the Nanoleaf’s lights do gradients very well either. Hue Holiday Lights has the best color fades and pre-made patterns, and Nanoleaf can’t compete there.
The best way to control the lights is through the Nanoleaf app, but once you’ve set up light scenes, you can activate them through the Home app or Siri voice commands. The Home app can be used to control the Nanoleaf string lights directly, but it’s not really set up to control individual LEDs so it only works to turn the entire strand into a single shade.
Although they connect to HomeKit (and other Matter-enabled smart home platforms), you can use them alone via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth via the Nanoleaf app. With the included controller, the lights can be synced to the music playing. There’s a physical button on the light strand to turn them on and off and to cycle through set-up white shades, colors and scenes.
According to Nanoleaf, the lights are 250 lumens and the strand draws 18W of power. With a 12-hour light strand a day and an electricity cost of 13 cents per kilowatt hour, these lights would cost about $10 a year to run.
They have an IP44 water/dust resistance rating, so they can be used indoors or outdoors and will be able to stand up to rain, but may not be able to hold up in particularly harsh weather like rain. Nanoleaf says they can be used in temperatures from 5 degrees to 104 degrees.
As a ‘HomeKit’ device, automation and schedules can be used to turn lights on and off at specific times or change patterns based on sensors, time or geofencing.
When testing my lights, I didn’t run into connectivity issues. Things can get a little tricky now, be aware of that. I’ve had connectivity issues with non-Matter Nanoleaf products in the past, but most of the time the solution has been removing and re-adding HomeKit.
Nanoleaf’s Matter-enabled string lights are the most affordable string lights that connect to ‘HomeKit’ that I’m aware of. At $99, they’re cheaper than the Hue or Twinkly versions that have the same 250-LED count.
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Nanoleaf’s Matter-enabled Smart Holiday String Lights are a relatively good deal, and they offer many fun options for holiday decorating. They’re not as customizable as Twinkly Lights (which you can draw using the app), but Nanoleaf has a better selection of pre-made scenes and color palettes to choose from.
The Nanoleaf app is much more user-friendly and intuitive than the Twinkly app, which is my least favorite smart home product app. If you’re someone who wants to go into an app, find a set of cool colors and be done in about 30 seconds, Nanoleaf’s String Light makes it easy.
You can use them in conjunction with other HomeKit products, but you won’t have the integrations you have with Hue string lights and other Hue lights. If you’re in the Hue ecosystem, I still think the Hue string lights are the best for getting holiday lights, but if you just need a simple HomeKit-connected string light, the Nanoleaf is a good option.
Nanoleaf Downlight
Although not related to string lights, Nanoleaf came up with some matte 4-inch downlights, a first for the company. I was able to test them out, and I think if you’re looking for a smart downlight replacement that doesn’t require a hub, it’s a good bet.
I like my Hue downlights because I’m in the Hue ecosystem, but the Nanoleafs work just as well in terms of color options and brightness. Nanoleaf does not have a 6-inch version at this time, so it will be a hindrance for those who have large downlights or a mix.
I’ve had some disconnects with this light, but I don’t want to blame Nanoleaf for that as I think it’s a ‘HomeKit’ matter issue where Apple still has bugs to work out.
They’re only $30 each, making them half as expensive as the Hue version. If you’re willing to do some troubleshooting for a while until ‘HomeKit’ matters, Nanoleaf’s downlights are worth a try.
how to buy
Nanoleaf string lights can be purchased from Amazon or from the Nanoleaf website for $100
Note: Nanoleaf provided MacRumors with the Nanoleaf String Light for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received.
