Pros

• Heavy duty
• Quality brightness

This set has the most attractive bulb of the bunch, in my opinion. The bulbs feel heavier duty than the other options because, rather than being a thin clear plastic shell of a bulb, they’re partially filled in to create a visual with inset air bubbles. This added to the look and the feel of the light set and immediately made me feel like they were of superior quality when compared to most of the other units.

Enbrighten also ended up with the third brightest light output per bulb, according to our testing. They were initially the most expensive set I picked up, but they often drop to $30 on Amazon, making them a great value for someone willing to wait for a deal.

Note these are larger, durable bulbs — there are 18 bulbs in the 36-foot string, for example. That makes them good for outdoor conditions, but they won’t really give the “twinkly” effect that some people want.

Pros

• High quality bulbs
• WiFi, Bluetooth, & Matter connections
• Variety of colors & themes

Nanoleaf is known for making some of the best smart lights you can find. In addition to traditional light bulbs, the company offers some really unique wall-mounted lights. Even the “normal” bulbs have a non-traditional shape, and that style carries over to the bulbs of the Nanoleaf Outdoor String Lights.

With a heavy-duty acrylic “bulb” cover, these lights are not only more durable than most, but the shape of the acrylic refracts the light in multiple directions for a beautiful look. With Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Matter all in the mix, you’ll have a variety of ways to control your outdoor string lights including via voice assistant. While there, I have experienced a disconnect or two in my time with the lights; there is an in-line control box to manage the lights without a phone.

I’ve been using these lights in my outdoor space for about a while now, and the vivid colors and warm whites are fantastic. The lights get very bright and can also be dimmed to the perfect level for any occasion. You can choose any of the 16 million colors supported with a different color for each individual bulbs or pick from preset themes to get the perfect ambiance for your patio.

During my tests, this Hampton Bay set seriously outperformed the competitors, as long as you’re willing to go to the work of setting them up so they get plenty of sunlight. You’ll need to stake or mount a solar panel, which charges a battery (about 6 hours of sunlight for a full charge) that can then run the lights for 8 hours at any time. A sensor allows you to set the lights to turn on automatically at sunset and go until the battery is depleted.

Solar performance still comes at a price, however. These lights were the most expensive per-bulb option on my list, nearly doubling the runner-up at $6 a bulb.

A single strand of these lights won’t do much for you if you’re looking for a light night hideaway for catching up on your most recent book adventure, but if you don’t have any options for hard-wired power — or want to use less electricity — these are still likely your best bet.

If you’re truly looking for “value” and not just the cheapest option, I would recommend checking out Magictec. These lights tested as the second brightest bulbs overall, and this particular offering is for a two-pack of these light strands. So double the linear coverage at 96 feet.

Magictec has all the standard options — hanging hooks, IP65-rated water-resistant seals and shatterproof, dimmable, LED bulbs. We measured these bulbs with a lumen output of about 165 per bulb. Buying 30 total sockets means you’re getting close to 5,000 lumens total. That is some serious light output.

If you want to save even more, Feit Electric comes through as the cheapest in this category at $1.86 a bulb for this 15-bulb strand, although their string didn’t impress as much as Magictec’s LED option.

Govee is another fantastic smart light maker with lights for nearly any style. The brand offers a range of outdoor lighting options, including multiple smart outdoor string lights, but here, I’m highlighting an impressive budget solution.

The plastic bulb cover, which is a frosted white when the lights are off, has a more traditional look. At night, you’ll have 16 million colors to choose from, including tunable whites. One of my favorite things about Govee lights is the excellent preset scenes (47 in all), which you can easily match with the party or mood. You can also sync the lights to your evening music.

You can control these lights with the Govee app on your phone via Bluetooth, but there’s no Wi-Fi or smart home platform support. So while you won’t need to worry about being within router range, you will need to be within Bluetooth range to control the lights.

Anpro’s solar lights are easy to pack away and very versatile, with an included 5,000-mAh lithium-ion battery. It can be charged from many kinds of power sources including solar power — just what you want for a camping light string.

On a full charge, Anpro says you can get over 18 hours of minimum brightness and up to 6 hours of maximum brightness. One nifty perk is that the solar-chargeable battery has two USB ports to charge the battery or charge your phone.

Instead of hanging downward like the traditional Edison-bulb style options, the light capsules are in line with the nylon braided power cord, which is more durable and less prone to tangles than traditional cords.

The lights aren’t super bright, at only 120 lumens, but there’s enough light, especially in an enclosed tent space or just outside, to keep you from tripping over every single thing or person inside the tent with you. You’ll still want to pack your flashlight.

You can read more about my testing process below, but the main thing you need to know is that these Brightech lights are the brightest of the bunch.

These bulbs topped out at nearly 200 lumens each, about 15% and 30% more light output than the second and third-place bulbs, respectively. At 15 bulbs, it gives you close to 3,000 lumens for one light strand.
The included LED bulbs are made of glass — so they feel durable with a nice weight to them, but they aren’t shatterproof like some of the other models. (Please note: Brightech’s product description says they are made of plastic. I don’t if they have changed materials or not, but the model that I and others tested was made of glass.) That means you’ll have to string them up carefully and keep them well out of range of waving hands, thrown toys and any kind of heavy wind.

The best way to hang outdoor string lights is by using a . The mistake most people make is using the main power wire to attach as the hanging points. You shouldn’t do that since there will be live voltage flowing through that cable, so instead, this kit offers coated wire to attach to the buildings or trees where you want to hang the lights. The lights themselves have hanging hooks or eyes where you can thread the hanging wire through, taking all the tension off the powered wire.

Outdoor string lights can be hung indoors, but the opposite isn’t true. There’s a specific distinction for outdoor string lights because they normally meet the IP65 rating, meaning they’re resistant to water jets at any angle, which is helpful for rain and similar weather conditions. This rating doesn’t mean the lights are waterproof or submergible.

Generally speaking, yes. You can think of outdoor string lights the same as the bulbs you’d use inside your house. Some will be incandescent and some will be LED. The incandescent bulbs will normally run much hotter than LED bulbs. Incandescent bulbs also have a significantly shorter lifespan, so while you can leave them on for weeks at a time, you’ll need to replace the bulbs much sooner.

Generally speaking, you can think of the bulbs in an outdoor string light set the same way you’d think of the bulbs you’d use inside your house. Some will be incandescent and some will be LED. The incandescent bulbs should have a significantly shorter lifespan than their LED counterparts. The included packaging for these should include an estimated lifespan, but LED bulbs are regularly rated at 20 years. In some special cases where advanced features are involved, replacing bulbs may not be an option.

Much of this will depend on how you want to use your lights. If all you care about is being able to turn the lights on, off, and only need or want a single brightness and color, then a regular set of string lights will suit your needs just fine. If you want more flexibility in your outdoor lighting, such as the ability to automatically turn the lights on at sunset, adjust brightness, colors and more, then smart outdoor string lights are the way to go.