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.
Bring on the color
Hue Welcome Home Floodlight
- Matured native apps
- Rich ecosystem of other apps and accessories
- High brightness
- 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.
Security first
Ring Floodlight Camera
- Adjustable mounting
- Has color night vision
- Has 3D motion detection
- Loud two-way talk with noise cancellation
- Customizable motion zones
- 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.
Wide vision
Eufy Floodlight Cam 2 Pro
- Excellent video quality
- Great motion tracking
- A powerful companion app
- No subscription required
- 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.
Siren song
Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight
- 160-degree field of view
- Bright floodlight
- Smart A.I. for detection
- 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.
Bright on a budget
Ustellar Smart Outdoor LED Security Light
- Affordable
- Extra-bright
- Easy installation
- 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.
Ring Spotlight Cam Pro
- Compact
- Accurate radar motion detection
- Quality video footage
- Easy integration into Ring ecosystem
- Competitive price
- 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.
