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Best smart outdoor floodlights

Arlo Pro 3 Flood Light on white house
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Smart outdoor floodlights are an easy way to keep your backyard safe and secure at night. They’re also highly programmable, with many of them offering options to only activate when motion is detected or run in a low light mode as needed. Toss in the ability to sync with the rest of your smart home, versatile smartphone apps, and eye-catching designs, and it’s easy to see why upgrading to a smart floodlight is a great idea.

Finding the right one for your home, however, isn’t always easy. If you need some help sifting through all your options, here’s a look at the best smart outdoor floodlights.

Philips Hue Welcome Home Floodlight
Hue Welcome Home Floodlight
Bring on the color
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Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro
Ring Floodlight Camera
Security first
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Eufy Floodlight Cam 2 Pro
Eufy Floodlight Cam 2 Pro
Wide vision
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Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Camera
Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight
Siren song
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Ustellar Smart Outdoor LED Security Light
Ustellar Smart Outdoor LED Security Light
Bright on a budget
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Ring Spotlight Cam Pro, Battery
Ring Spotlight Cam Pro
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Philips Hue Floodlight installed on side of house.
Best Buy

Hue Welcome Home Floodlight

Pros
  • Matured native apps
  • Rich ecosystem of other apps and accessories
  • High brightness
Cons
  • Requires bridge
  • Some difficulties installing

Philips Hue remains one of the biggest players in the smart lighting space with good reason. A steady stream of new software features, a wide range of form factors, and consistent performance puts them among the best options available.

The base model of the Welcome Outdoor Floodlight comes in a warm 2700K white, but there's a Discovery model that has all of the snazzy colors you've come to expect from smart lights. That color model can pump out 2,250 lumens at 4,000K, which should be plenty to cover your yard. A separate motion sensor accessory can help automate the lights triggering, though the mobile app has geofencing as an alternative. The usual connections to Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant are intact for hands-free activation. The IP44 water protection should keep it safe from rainfall and other weather.

Philips Hue Welcome Home Floodlight
Hue Welcome Home Floodlight
Bring on the color
Ring Floodlight Camera at night
Ring

Ring Floodlight Camera

Pros
  • Adjustable mounting
  • Has color night vision
  • Has 3D motion detection
  • Loud two-way talk with noise cancellation
  • Customizable motion zones
Cons
  • Needs subscription for full features
  • No local storage
  • Lights are not replaceable

For those concerned primarily about security, Ring has a floodlight with a built-in camera and motion detector.

A special "3D" motion detection feature helps you monitor visitors from a bird's eye view of your property, and two-way audio gives you the chance to say "hi" if you want. The robust mobile app provides live notifications when motion is detected and for a small monthly fee, Ring can save your footage in the cloud. The lights themselves are ample for just about any large area around the home. They operate at 3,000K and produce 2,000 lumens of brightness.

Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro
Ring Floodlight Camera
Security first
eufy floodlight cam 2 pro review lifestyle
Eufy

Eufy Floodlight Cam 2 Pro

Pros
  • Excellent video quality
  • Great motion tracking
  • A powerful companion app
  • No subscription required
Cons
  • Hardwired only
  • Only 8GB of internal storage (no cloud option)

The Eufy Floodlight Cam 2 Pro gets big points for having three bright panels and a 360-degree camera. This design provides a broad view of everything that's happening nearby.

Once you've set up the Floodlight Cam 2 Pro from Eufy, the light panels collectively blast out 3,000 lumens. It boasts IP65 weatherproofing to deal with cold, dust, and rain. The camera won't record all day but will kick in with motion detection, then it can save the footage locally or to network-attached storage. On the smart assistant side, Alexa and Google platforms are both supported, but no love for Apple HomeKit just yet.

Eufy Floodlight Cam 2 Pro
Eufy Floodlight Cam 2 Pro
Wide vision
best smart security cameras of ces 2020 arlo pro 3 flood light on white house
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight

Pros
  • 160-degree field of view
  • Bright floodlight
  • Smart A.I. for detection
Cons
  • Siren is on the quiet side
  • Some video distortion

The Arlo Pro 3 is another floodlight with an integrated camera system but is set apart with an 80dB siren system.

The light emits 2,000 lumens which can be bumped up to 3,000 with the optional magnetic charging cable. It's otherwise designed to be totally wire-free for easy installation. Without the cable, the battery is able to last six months on a single charge. All of the major smart assistants are supported, so you can toggle the lights at a moment's notice.

Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Camera
Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight
Siren song
Ustellar floodlight mounted on side of house.
Ustellar

Ustellar Smart Outdoor LED Security Light

Pros
  • Affordable
  • Extra-bright
  • Easy installation
Cons
  • Motion sensor is finnicky
  • Short Wi-Fi range

For those looking to save a few bucks and who don't need a full camera system built in, the Ustellar Smart Outdoor LED Security Light covers all the basics.

Three adjustable panels provide 5,000 lumens of light, tunable in light to warm color range. The motion sensor can trigger from action out to 60 feet An IP65 waterproof rating ensures it can handle the outdoors, while a mobile app and voice assistant compatibility gives you access to functions easily.

Ustellar Smart Outdoor LED Security Light
Ustellar Smart Outdoor LED Security Light
Bright on a budget
nest cam floodlight vs ring spotlight pro
Ring

Ring Spotlight Cam Pro

Pros
  • Compact
  • Accurate radar motion detection
  • Quality video footage
  • Easy integration into Ring ecosystem
  • Competitive price
Cons
  • Average battery life
  • Light is not super bright
  • Can't connect to other smart home ecosystems

It may not be as bright as other products on this list, but the Ring Spotlight Cam Plus is a solid mixture of outdoor security camera and floodlight. Its streamlined design makes it much less intrusive than standard floodlights, while its built-in spotlights do a great job of illuminating small porches or backyards. You’ll also benefit from Ring’s powerful smartphone app, allowing you to customize your alert zones, notification settings, or view event history.

The wireless option is great for most homes, but consider checking out the wired version if you have an outlet near its installation location. Both formats offer most of the same features, including two-way audio, support for Alexa, a compact design, and cameras that film in 1080p.

Ring Spotlight Cam Pro, Battery
Ring Spotlight Cam Pro
Simon Sage
Former Digital Trends Contributor

Simon Sage is a green tech contributor at Digital Trends. He looks at all sorts of devices that can help reduce emissions through electrification, like power stations, solar panels, smart thermostats, and LED lighting. He's also keen on exploring right to repair and sustainable transportation.

Simon started journalism 17 years ago in the mobile tech space, covering the meteoric rise and fall of BlackBerry. Since then he's dipped his toe in mobile gaming, app reviews, and sponsored content. He's been to his fair share of trade shows, such as Mobile World Congress, the Consumer Electronics Show, E3 (RIP), the Game Developer Conference, and a smattering of smaller shows. He's done multiple TV interviews, the most surreal of which was explaining how Pokémon Go works on a morning show. Simon's also hosted over 100 podcast episodes.

Previous publications include BlackBerry Cool, IntoMobile, and Mobile Nations sites like Android Central, iMore, CrackBerry, and Windows Central.

Simon's based in Ottawa, Ontario, where he is constantly clawing against the gravitational pull of becoming a government drone. He studied English at Carleton University there, including a stint at Lancaster University in the UK. He has since levelled up his education in sustainability through the Climatebase platform. Simon spends way too much of his free time playing games, especially Magic: The Gathering.

Laifen Black Friday: A guide on which deals are best for you and your family
laifen tech smart home deals black friday shopping guide 2024 gifts wrapped by freestocks unsplash

With so many early Black Friday deals floating around, it's easy to get lost in the noise. By that, I mean it can be challenging to figure out what to buy, where to spend your money, and more importantly, what items would be best for you and your family. Sometimes, it just helps to have a guide that directs you one way or another. That's precisely what we're going to do here. Laifen has some excellent Black Friday deals live on its products, including the Laifen Wave electric toothbrush and Laifen Swift high-power hair dryer. But the prices don't exactly help you decide what belongs where. Whether you're looking at these specials for you and your family, or you're thinking about gifting them to someone else, this guide is here to help.

 
The hygienist: Laifen Wave ABS + toothbrush head six-pack -- $73, was $97

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Best home security camera deals: Ring, Arlo, Blink and more on sale
These are the best security camera deals available right now
Prime Day 2022 security camera deals graphic.

If you're the sort of person who worries about the physical safety of their home or live in a rough area, then having home security cameras can help give you much more peace of mind. The great thing is that in the past decade or so, security cameras have come a long way, and nowadays, you can get things like wireless security cameras that let you access them remotely from wherever you are through an application. Of course, that does mean that there is a huge selection out there, which is why we've collected some of our favorite security camera deals below, although if you're in the Amazon ecosystem, it might be worth checking out these Ring camera deals.
Chamberlain myQ Smart Garage Security Camera -- $27 $50 45% off

While this is ostensibly made for your garage, there's no reason the Chamberlain myQ Smart Garage can't work for other uses as well, especially if you don't need the highest quality of recording. It has an HD camera, which isn't a ton, but it does have an impressive 130-degree field of view. The MyQ also connects through dual-band Wi-Fi for a better connection, and it even has two-way communication, which is impressive for something at this price bracket.

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Tesla Powerwall is the best solar, home backup, and EV charging companion
Tesla Powerwall 3 installed on outside of home

Solar power, and having solar panels on your home, is a fantastic way to conserve energy and cut down on power bills, especially if you live somewhere sunny like Florida or California. There's just one glaring issue. When the grid goes down you still lose power because of how it's connected. Your solar panels cannot generate enough energy or keep it stored to keep your power on. So, essentially, your power setup doesn't offer much benefit there, unless you get a home power backup system. More specifically, something like a Tesla Powerwall is a compact home battery that stores energy generated from the grid. That energy is then used as a backup when traditional grid power is unavailable.

To make it even more clear, with a Tesla Powerwall, the power stays on even during a major blackout or outage. It's whole-home backup, too, which means you can power your lights, appliances, electronics, you name it. If you've ever had to throw away an entire refrigerator's worth of spoiled food because of a multi-day outage -- like I have -- you'll certainly appreciate the option to keep your appliances running. But that's not all it can do. The Tesla Powerwall is an excellent companion for Tesla EV owners, creating an entire smart ecosystem of power. Let's explore.

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