Meross makes a wide range of HomeKit-compatible smart home devices for multiple regions around the world, including garage door openers, air purifiers, smart plugs, and more. With Meross's smart LED bulb, LED light strip, ambient light, and desk lamp, I was able to create a HomeKit lighting setup to put the company's smart home accessories to the test.

meross smart lighting review
Compared to its direct competitors, Meross's smart lighting products are among the most affordable HomeKit-compatible devices on the market and set themselves apart with no need for a hub or a third-party app. It is possible to add, control, automate, and manage Meross's devices entirely through Apple's Home app, providing a more streamlined ‌HomeKit‌ experience.

Setup

Meross's smart home offerings differ from many other brands in the same space, such as Philips Hue smart lighting, because they do not require a hub or use of a third-party app. In theory, you need only open the Home app on your iPhone, tap Add Accessory, and scan the code on the device. Accumulatively, this significantly eases the setup process compared to the clunky hubs and apps that many other smart home brands demand.

While this is the ideal scenario for most smart home accessories, I had issues setting up some of Meross's devices on my network, where they repeatedly failed to connect with the Home app. Some users may need to temporarily disable their router's firewall and the 5GHz portion of their network during pairing to get around these potential problems. This may not be necessary in your case, and Meross's setup experience is generally very good, but prospective customers should be prepared to troubleshoot their network in the event of any problems.

Smart Wi-Fi LED Bulb

The Meross Smart Wi-Fi LED Bulb features an all-white enclosure and a frosted diffuser, with a ‌HomeKit‌ pairing code on the side. The bulb is a standard size and can be purchased with a range of bases for different light fittings, including the E26, E27, and B22. It is not weatherproof or suitable for outdoors use.

meross smart wi fi led bulb
The bulb can emit up to 810 Lumens, which means it can be as bright as a 60W bulb, and can display up to 16 million colors, with color temperature adjustments from 2,700K to 6,500K. The bulb handles small adjustments in color temperature well and color reproduction is good, particularly for blues, reds, and pinks. The greens, yellows, and oranges are a little flat, with more faint, pastel tones, but overall vibrancy and dynamic range is good for a low-cost bulb of its type.

Meross's bulb is bright and vibrant enough for most uses, but more expensive competitors are slightly more dynamic in terms of brightness and and color reproduction. That being said, it is vital to remember that Meross's Smart Wi-Fi LED Bulb is one of the cheapest HomeKit-enabled bulbs available starting at just $18.99 each, and is more than sufficient for most ‌HomeKit‌ setups. The company also offers multi-packs, with two-bulbs available for $27.99.

Smart Wi-Fi Light Strip

Retailing for $34.99, the Smart Wi-Fi Light Strip looks fairly standard for products in its category, featuring a series of LEDs evenly spaced along its length. The strip is 16.4ft long and comes wrapped around a plastic reel, and it comes with a control module, power adapter, and a range of mounting clips and adhesive pads.

meross smart wi fi light strip
Setting up the strip was easy, simply needing to connect the strip to the controller module, and the controller module to the power adapter. A button on the module functions as a manual control and can be used to reset the strip, and Meross includes an adhesive pad specifically to help keep it out of the way.

meross smart wi fi light strip with controller
The strip delivers up to 16 million different colors and lights up evenly across different brightness levels. Red tones are very rich, and blues are also quite good. Yellows and purples are not reproduced very well, but the overall range of colors is more than serviceable.

The light strip can be mounted with the adhesive mounting clips included in the box, but the strip itself also has an adhesive back if that is more suitable for your implementation. The strip is also easy to cut down to size thanks to guides along its length.

Meross's light strip is ideal for accent lighting, such as running along the underside edge of furniture, rather than as a room's sole light source. The strip's even glow along its length makes for a great, understated lighting addition to any room.

Smart Wi-Fi Ambient Light

The Meross Smart Wi-Fi Ambient Light is a lamp with a sleek, cylindrical design, featuring white glossy plastic at the base and transparent plastic extending over the rest of the device. The top of the lamp contains a touch-sensitive capacitive area embedded below the plastic enclosure.

meross smart wi fi ambient
The lamp is just under eight-inches tall and four-inches wide, making it the perfect size for small side tables or nightstands. The design looks good, even when it is turned off, and its cylindrical shape puts the hues of the lamp at the forefront since it can emit light around its entire circumference. The light inside the diffuser is distributed fairly well, even though you can tell that the actual light source is at the bottom of the enclosure, but it doesn't negatively affect the overall look.

The lamp features touch-sensitive controls for added convenience, working to turn the lamp on and off, adjust brightness, and cycle through colors. The manual control option is definitely a worthwhile feature. For example, simply double tapping of the top control area turns the lamp off, which is perfect for when you don't have a device with the Home app or Siri nearby.

meross smart wi fi ambient light at night
The lamp is powered by a barrel connector port on the back, which is not as convenient, secure, or easily replaceable as a USB connection. Strangely, there is also a superfluous small LED power indicator light at the back, which doesn't seem very useful since it is very small, obscured from view, and unnecessary for determining if the lamp is powered.

In terms of lighting, the lamp can emit up to 400 lumens, which is respectable for its size. With its small design, the lamp does not really provide enough lighting to be used as a sole light source in a room and works better as an accent piece depending on the other lighting conditions in the environment. I would have appreciated greater peak brightness to make the lamp more useful, but positioned as an accent, it is still a worthwhile part of virtually any ‌HomeKit‌ lighting setup.

meross smart wi fi ambient light colors
Colors were much the same as Meross's other offerings, with white, red, and blue looking rich and vivid, while greens and yellows look a little washed out in darker shades. The lamp seems to be priced very fairly at $42.99, offering plenty of versatility with its design, controls, and ‌HomeKit‌ functionality.

Smart LED Desk Lamp

At $68.99, the Smart LED Desk Lamp is one of Meross's pricier smart lighting items. The lamp features an ultra-slim matte-black design that is perfect for minimalist desk setups. The base is made of plastic, but the top two sections of the lamp are made from aluminium for better heat dissipation and durability. The design seems to dissipate heat well in daily use, and while it gets warm at full brightness, it is never uncomfortably hot.

meross smart led desk lamp
The top arm articulates easily and holds its position well, and there is a magnet toward the base of the lamp to keep it closed shut when desired. There is also a set screw that you have to screw in to attach the light to the base, but there is no stop for the screw and it is very easy to accidentally screw it in too far, which seemed like a small design oversight.

Unfortunately, I feel that the hollow plastic base let down the lamp's design significantly. The matte plastic looks considerably less premium than the top of the lamp and shows any scuffs and scratches very easily, with my lamp already having plenty of scuffs straight out of the box. The base looks and feels cheap, which stands in stark contrast to the premium, solid aluminium design of the rest of the accessory. Moreover, it feels as if there is not enough weight in the plastic base, making the lamp a little more precarious and wobbly than it should be.

meross smart led desk lamp base
The arm houses 46 LEDs that can produce up to 400 lumens of brightness. The light has no flicker, even on lower brightness settings, which is essential for avoiding eye strain with a desk lamp. While it cannot display colors, the Meross desk lamp supports white color temperature adjustments ranging from 2,700K to 6,000K.

The base features touch-sensitive controls for added convenience, allowing the lamp to be turned on and off and brightness to be changed with just a tap, which is often more convenient than calling out to ‌Siri‌ or using the Home app at a desk.

The desk lamp is excellent at lighting for a specific task since it is concentrated in a small area, but not great for lighting an entire desk. It works very well, offering practical functionality with a premium feel, but it is a shame that the design is let down by the plastic base.

Connectivity and HomeKit Support

Once the devices were paired, they had good responsiveness and provided a reliable connection to the Home app, and worked well with automations. Unlike some of the other ‌HomeKit‌ devices I use, the Meross offerings are consistently connected to my network, with no "no response" alerts. Meross's smart lighting is also quick to respond to app and voice commands, including toggling on and off, switching colors, and adjusting brightness, which all takes place within seconds.

Colors were not always accurately translated from the Home app to the accessory, so it can occasionally take a little longer to find your preferred shade in the app. This is due to the slight issue with color reproduction with some shades on some devices, but this is fairly normal for LED smart lighting, particularly for shades such as green and purple, and most users are unlikely to notice it.

The devices work over 2.4GHz Wi-Fi only, directly connecting to the router rather than via a hub. As a result, the Meross devices can be slow or refuse to reconnect to the network when Wi-Fi is temporarily unavailable, but this is a random occurrence and cycling power seems to fix the problem.

The Bottom Line

Overall, Meross's ‌HomeKit‌ accessories are good, cost-effective smart lighting solutions. The company's devices are well-designed, with practical benefits such as intuitive manual controls and no need for a hub or third-party app. Occasional problems with my network during setup and slight oversights such as the plastic base of the desk lamp are easy to overlook and I would not hesitate to grow my ‌HomeKit‌ setup with more Meross devices.

If you are looking for smart lighting with the best possible color reproduction, high brightness output, or weather-resistance, then Meross's devices may not be for you, but they are excellent for their price point and are worthy rivals to many of their competitors. For users looking to kickstart a ‌HomeKit‌ setup on a budget, Meross's smart lighting is a very good place to start.

How to Buy

In the U.S., Meross's range of devices are available from Amazon as well as the company's own website:

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner of Meross. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running. Meross provided MacRumors with a Smart Wi-Fi LED Bulb, Smart Wi-Fi Light Strip, Smart Wi-Fi Ambient Light, and Smart LED Desk Lamp for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received.

Top Rated Comments

caparsons Avatar
47 months ago
Perhaps worth noting that for all the Meross products I own, at least, they don’t work if you have WPA3 turned on.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
twisted panties Avatar
47 months ago
?
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Obry Avatar
47 months ago
WiFi only though. Those things will be slower to respond and less reliable like most WiFi-only devices. Nanoleaf bulbs with Thread are just as cheap and respond almost instantly
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RogerWilco Avatar
47 months ago
No mention of responsiveness/latency in the review? These home automation devices lose their shine (so to speak) if it takes five seconds for a light to come on after the command is issued.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WannaGoMac Avatar
47 months ago
Tried the meross light bulb and found it to be horrible. They are known to be the low end of the low end smart devices for apple homekit

The main issue for me was their app is really lackluster in controlling functionality. Because Apple Homekit app is so limited in functionality you have to use the manufactures app to set various bulb functions/values/timings easily.

Returned the Meross and purchased Vocolinc which has a lot better app. Their app allowed me to setup the bulbs with various timings, specific temperature values etc. It's still awkward but I blame the Apple Homekit and i still fight myself to not just go get a Google Home system which appears far better but no privacy....
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thomasjpr Avatar
47 months ago
I've been using their switches and garage door openers for a year now (I think I have 7 switches, and 3 garage door openers) and they are all rock solid. An incredible value for the price, especially for the garage doors. I previously used a Liftmaster MyQ in my garage, and it's 3x the price and 1/10 as reliable. Highly recommend.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 26 Feature

iOS 26.1 to iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Wednesday October 1, 2025 1:26 pm PDT by
iOS 26 was released last month, but the software train never stops, and iOS 26.1 beta testing is already underway. So far, iOS 26.1 makes both Apple Intelligence and Live Translation on compatible AirPods available in additional languages, and it includes some other minor changes across Apple Music, Calendar, Photos, and Safari. More features and changes will follow in future versions,...
iPhone 17 vs Air and Pros Feature

New iPhones See 'Stronger Than Expected' Demand With One Exception

Thursday October 2, 2025 7:26 am PDT by
Nearly two weeks after the iPhone 17 series launched, analysts at investment banking firm Morgan Stanley said demand for the devices has been "modestly stronger than we originally expected," based on a combination of extended shipping estimates on Apple's online store and information it gathered from Apple's supply chain. There has been strong early demand for the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro,...
space black mbp

Here's Every New Apple Product That Leaked Yesterday

Wednesday October 1, 2025 8:27 am PDT by
A handful of upcoming Apple products leaked yesterday, through a combination of YouTube videos out of Russia and U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) documents that were released, despite Apple's confidentiality requests. The leaked products include an iPad Pro with an M5 chip, as well as updated MacBook Pro and Apple Vision Pro models. All of these devices had already been rumored...
apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro teal 1

Apple's iPhone Driver's License Feature Now Available in 11 U.S. States

Tuesday September 30, 2025 6:40 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. Apple recently revealed that the feature would soon be available in North Dakota, and starting today, the feature has officially gone...
Tim Cook Rainbow

Apple Event in October? Here's What to Expect

Monday September 29, 2025 9:31 am PDT by
Apple's annual iPhone event is in the rearview mirror, but rumors suggest the company plans to release a handful of additional products before the year ends. Will there be another Apple event this October? We discuss the possibility below. Apple in October Apple's most recent October events were in 2021 and 2023. In 2022 and 2024, Apple did not host an October event. Instead, it...
fcc vision pro leak

FCC Accidentally Leaks Apple's Next Vision Pro

Tuesday September 30, 2025 3:48 pm PDT by
The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has seemingly confirmed Apple's work on an updated version of the Vision Pro headset. One of several documents the FCC shared today references an Apple-designed "Head Mounted Device" with a model number of A3416. An included image confirms the device is a Vision Pro. The FCC's uploads are transmission tests, SAR test reports, and...
macbook pro prime day 2025

FCC Leaks Upcoming MacBook Pro and More

Tuesday September 30, 2025 1:58 pm PDT by
The United States Federal Communications Commission has confirmed Apple's work on a new version of the MacBook Pro and several other products, leaking details on the devices ahead of launch. The FCC published documents that reference model numbers that do not correspond with existing devices. A3434, for example, references an unreleased MacBook Pro, while other numbers are likely for...
Apple 2025 Thumb 1

Apple's 2025 Product Roadmap: What's Still Coming

Wednesday October 1, 2025 3:56 pm PDT by
Apple's two big yearly events, WWDC and the iPhone launch, are done and over with, but there are still some new products that we're expecting to see before the end of the year. Apple TV The Apple TV hasn't been updated since 2022, so it's due for a refresh. It doesn't look like Apple is going to change the design of its set-top box, but we can expect a faster chip Apple code suggests...
maxresdefault

New iPad Pro With M5 Chip Leaked in Unboxing Video

Tuesday September 30, 2025 8:39 am PDT by
An apparent unboxing video for an unannounced iPad Pro with the M5 chip was uploaded to YouTube today by Russian channel Wylsacom. The same YouTube account leaked the 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M4 chip before it was announced by Apple last year, so this is likely a legitimate leak. Based on the box shown in the video, this appears to be a 13-inch iPad Pro with an M5 chip, 256GB of...
iOS 26 Everything New Feature

26 Hidden iOS 26 Tricks to Change How You Use Your iPhone

Wednesday October 1, 2025 9:16 am PDT by
Apple released iOS 26 in mid-September, bringing a range of new features and changes to iPhones across the globe. But not all of the included improvements have been showcased with Apple's typical fanfare, and many are likely to have been overlooked. Below, we've highlighted 26 lesser known additions and enhancements that could potentially change how you use your iPhone on a daily basis. Got...