Nanoleaf Launches HomeKit-Compatible 'Essentials' LED Bulb and Lightstrip

Nanoleaf, the company that makes wall-mounted modular light panels in various shapes, today announced the launch of a line of "Essentials," which includes a new light bulb and lightstrip.

nanoleaf essentials bulb shape
The Smart Color Changing LED Bulb and LED Lightstrip are simpler, everyday lighting options that are meant to be used alongside the light panels. Compatible with HomeKit, both the bulb and the lightstrip have support for ‌HomeKit‌ Adaptive Lighting, which allows them to shift color temperatures during the day.

nanoleaf essentials bulb pink
Cooler lighting temperatures that better match daylight are used during the day, and at night, the lights will cut down on blue lighting to allow for better sleep. The Essentials Bulb, which has a unique shape, supports color temperatures from 2,700 to 6,500K and feature an average brightness of 806 lumens with a max brightness of 1,100 lumens.

The Lightstrip has four white LEDs per LED set, two warm and two cool, and there are 21 LED sets per meter. The Lightstrip measures in at 80 inches and can be augmented with 40 inch expansion strips. Lightstrips can be cut as needed and can reach a maximum of 10 meters with brightness between 2,000 and 2,200 lumens.

nanoleaf essentials lightstrip blue tv
According to Nanoleaf, the Essentials are the first smart lighting product to work with Thread, which is a low latency and low power mesh network. With Thread support, users can count on improved connectivity, a wider control range, and an option for setting custom schedules.

Nanoleaf plans to add smart features and integrations in future updates such as Color Scenes, Screen Mirror, and Rhythm Music Sync, which will be made available through the Thread support. No hub is required for Nanoleaf's products, which will connect to ‌HomeKit‌ over Bluetooth.

Nanoleaf's Essentials are launching exclusively in Apple retail stores and the Apple online store. The Nanoleaf Essentials A19 Bulb is priced at $20 and the Nanoleaf Essentials Lightstrip is priced at $50.

Popular Stories

apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Monday June 16, 2025 8:45 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro

iPhone Driver's Licenses: These 17 U.S. States Offer Them or Will Later

Thursday June 19, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. Unfortunately, this feature continues to roll out very slowly since it was announced in 2021, with only nine U.S. states and Puerto...
iOS 18

Apple Releases iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Wednesday June 18, 2025 10:24 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a few days after Apple provided the betas to developers. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software Update. When the...
ios 26 call holding

iOS 26 Beta is Hiding a New Ringtone — Here's What It Sounds Like

Thursday June 19, 2025 7:25 pm PDT by
Apple is hiding a new ringtone within iOS 26. The new ringtone is an alternative version of the existing Reflection ringtone, which has been the default ringtone since the iPhone X was released in 2017. It was discovered within the code for the first developer beta of iOS 26, but it remains hidden, so you will not find it in the list of ringtones available in the Settings app for now. It...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

Apple Says iOS 26 Won't Be Available on These iPhone Models

Tuesday June 10, 2025 6:58 am PDT by
Apple this week revealed that iOS 26 is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer. That means that iOS 18 is the end of the road for the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR, which were all released in 2018. However, those devices will continue to receive security updates for at least a few more years. iOS 26 is compatible with the following iPhone models: iPhone 16e iPhone...
new iphone lockscreen ios 26

iOS 26: Five Changes Coming to Your iPhone Lock Screen

Tuesday June 17, 2025 8:46 am PDT by
With iOS 26, Apple has made some additions to the iPhone Lock Screen that aim to make it more customizable than ever. Of course, things can always change before the software makes its way to the general iPhone-owning public, but here are five new things iOS 26 can do on the Lock Screen as of the current developer beta. Widgets Top or Bottom In iOS 18, the row of widgets on your Lock...
apple watch ultra snow

6 Features Coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3

Tuesday February 25, 2025 9:00 am PST by
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements. While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way. By the time the ...
General Spotify Feature

Spotify Preparing to Launch Long-Awaited Lossless Audio Tier on iPhone

Thursday June 19, 2025 1:46 pm PDT by
Spotify appears to be gearing up to launch its long-awaited lossless music tier. Chris Messina (via TechCrunch) and Spicetify (via The Verge) spotted new lossless references within the code for Spotify's desktop app and web player. With assistance from Aaron Perris, MacRumors has confirmed that the latest beta of the Spotify app for the iPhone also contains new lossless-related code....

Top Rated Comments

DarkCole Avatar
60 months ago
No hub required, and cheaper than Phillips Hue. I'm curious how well these work.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
procrastinasn Avatar
60 months ago
Seems like a much cheaper alternative to Phillips stuff from a reputable company. More competition the better!
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
omenatarhuri Avatar
60 months ago
Ordered a strip, I'll let you guys know :)
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LLL1424 Avatar
60 months ago
This will force Phillips to low the prices down if the bulbs prove to be equivalent or better.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
freedman Avatar
60 months ago
Just received a Nanoleaf essentials bulb on friday. I have a number of Hue and Lifx bulbs already deployed around my house and am interested in cheaper alternatives. Based on a few days of use, I can offer the following assessment:

Pros
• nice tunable whites (especially the warm part of the spectrum)
• plenty of lumens (white spectrum only)
• attractive shape
• easy/seamless Homekit integration
• $20 price (compared to $40-50 for Hue/Lifx)

Cons
• deep colors are much dimmer than with a similar Hue/Lifx bulb
• color/brightness adjustments via Home app and native Nanoleaf app can lag - sometimes it's almost instantaneous but other times it can take up to 5 seconds or not process at all.
• bulb sometimes sporadically switches to white when I'm navigating through various portions of the color palate (reds/purples) and won't allow the selected color to display.

The bottom line is that the bulb does not offer the same brightness with respect to non-white colors and seems to have some connectivity/responsiveness issues when compared to a Lifx/Hue bulb placed in the exact same location. Wondering if this would change if I deploy some Thread-enabled devices. Even so, it's only $20.

Hoping that there is a way for me to tune the system to get better responsiveness.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jsalda Avatar
60 months ago

And to think that I just spent $45 on a Philips Hue bulb.
Don’t worry, you get what you pay for. I’ve got about 8 hue bulbs and two lightstrips, none have ever gone bad. My friend has 1st gen bulbs and they are all still working. They are quality bulbs
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)