If there’s one thing streamers love, it’s multi-coloured LED lights. Over the past couple of years, these bulbs and light strips have become an essential part of the Streamer Aesthetic, to the point that it feels weird to not see their rainbow glow in action. It’s an RGB world, and we’re just living in it.

Even if you aren’t a streamer, LED lights are still plenty of things you can do with LED lights. Wrapping a light strip around your desk is a nice way to make your space a little less dull, while running a strip across the back of a display case or shelf is a great way to make it pop. A smart bulb is an affordable first step if you’re trying to build a smart home.

From a practical perspective, LED lights are cheaper to run than traditional bulbs, and most give you the option of changing up the aesthetic and atmosphere of a room with the simple press of a button. Keep a white light if you want to stay focused, a warm one if you’re looking to wind down or mess around with millions of colours to find one that suits your mood.

If you’re looking to grab an LED light but aren’t sure where to start, here are a few of our favourites when it comes to bulbs and strips.

Nanoleaf is better known for its range of smart light panels, which while great, are pretty expensive. While we definitely recommend them, we also get why you wouldn’t want to drop a few hundred dollars on one. The good news is that Nanoleaf now does a range of affordable LED lights that still maintain the quality you’d expect from the brand.

The Essentials bulb is a high-end smart light in a cheap and easy to use package, with a colour range of over 16 million different options (including basic whites). It’s bright with a nice contrast between its shades and uses a Circadian Lighting feature where it mimics natural lighting throughout the day. You can also set it to play Scenes where it cycles through a series of colours, which is a fun option if your ideal lighting aesthetic is best described as a “Rave Cave”.

E27: Amazon Australia ($28) | eBay ($38) | Nanoleaf ($39.99)

B22: Amazon Australia ($28) | eBay ($38) | Nanoleaf ($39.99)

With a brightness of up to 1,000 lumens and access to 550 billion different colour steps (apparently), the LIFX Colour A60 is a solid LED smart bulb. Like all of the other bulbs on this list, the LIFX requires a companion app to help you access the full range of its features, but, thankfully, navigating its interface is as simple as screwing in a lightbulb.

If you’re someone who is all about hands-free convenience and control, the LIFX A60 is also compatible with Alexa, Google and Apple voice assistants. The A60 bulb will reportedly last for up to 25,000 hours of use, which is pretty solid for an LED light.

E27: Amazon Australia ($54.16) | eBay ($59) | JB Hi-Fi ($59) 

B22: Amazon Australia ($49) | Bing Lee ($49) | eBay ($59)

When it comes to smart lighting, Philips’ Hue range is one of the biggest names in that space. The good news is that the quality absolutely lives up to its reputation. The bad news is that premium quality comes with a premium price tag. The Hue bulbs are bright with fantastic contrast between its 16 million colour shades, and you can control them with virtual assistants like Alexa and Google.

Unlike the other two bulbs on this list, the Hue requires a special hub to access certain features, like setting elaborate routines and limiting the number of bulbs you can control. Depending on what you want to get out of your LED lights, this might not be a massive problem for you. If you just want a smart light that you can plugin and adjust the colours, you’ll be sweet.

Released alongside the Essentials Bulb, the idea behind this Nanoleaf light strip is more or less the same: high-end smart LEDs at an affordable price. Like the led bulb, the Essentials Light Strip has a massive range of colours and is easy to set up via the Nanoleaf companion app. It also includes an attached control box that you can use to adjust basic settings on the fly.

At two metres long, it should be more than enough to wrap around your desk, entertainment cabinet or display case. You’re also able to physically cut the strip at certain points if you want to shorten it, or purchase additional strips if you want to bump up its length. However, you’ll need to be precise when attaching its 3M strip backing, otherwise, you run the risk of spoiling its stickiness.

Again, Philips’ Hue range skew towards the more expensive add of the LED lighting spectrum (it’ll cost you $100 to grab a 1m extension) but, if you’re willing to dish out the cash, the quality is worth it. This two-metre starter strip is incredibly bright, with an impressive range of colours you can pick from, making it a great option for accent lighting. It’ll let you really turn your cabinet of anime figures into a statement piece. You can also shorten it by cutting it at certain spots, just make sure it’s unplugged.

Apart from its price tag, the other catch of this LED light strip is that you’ll need a Philips Hue Bridge to unlock its full range of features – like controlling it from anywhere in your home or setting complex routines or Apple HomeKit support.

Chris is an E-Commerce Editor who works across Pedestrian Group’s many titles. He firmly believes that pop culture peaked with Prince's 'Batdance'.

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