You can now jazz up your patio with Nanoleaf’s first dedicated outdoor lights

Nanoleaf introduced its first dedicated outdoor lights during CES 2024 in a move that should help the company catch up with rivals like Hue, Govee, and Twinkly. The Smart Multicolor Outdoor String Lights and Smart Multicolor Permanent Outdoor Lights are the latest additions to the company’s Matter Essentials line and will be available this spring.

The new color-changing, addressable outdoor lights make Nanoleaf a more competitive player in the smart lighting world. Last year, Nanoleaf’s Essentials Matter Smart Holiday String Lights made it to our list of the best holiday smart string lights, but the Philips Hue Festavia string lights were ultimately our top choice. That’s in part because of how limited Nanoleaf’s ecosystem was when it comes to outdoor lights, rendering them better for decorating Christmas trees than big outdoor displays. With these new lights, the game could change.

Like the other products in the Matter Essentials line, the new outdoor lights are Matter-compatible, so they can work with a range of major smart home platforms, including Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Samsung SmartThings. As a result, you can easily control the lights via most voice assistants and Matter-compatible apps, in addition to Nanoleaf’s app over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and remote.

Nanoleaf says the new lights also integrate with other Nanoleaf products. That means you can group them with your indoor lights and automate them with schedules via the Matter app. The lights also come with a new set of preset lighting scenes, in addition to the thousands of other scenes available in the Nanoleaf app.

While the outdoor lights may have stolen the spotlight, the Skylight Smart Modular Ceiling Light once again captured some attention this year. After first introducing the fixture at CES 2023, Nanoleaf finally shared that the ceiling light will be available later this month.

Designed to mimic a roof skylight, the square LED ceiling panels come with preset scenes like “Gentle Rain” or “Sun Shower” and work with Matter. Like Nanoleaf’s wall panels, they can also change colors and sync with sound but are hardwired. The three-pack Smarter Kit is available for preorder now from go.nanoleaf.me for $249.99, while the expansion packs start at $69.99.

Nanoleaf introduced a couple of other new products and capabilities during this year’s CES. The company unveiled its first color-changing addressable indoor light strip, the Smart Multicolor Lightstrip. Like the outdoor lights, they also work with Matter and will be available in the spring.

Last but not least, Nanoleaf also introduced its new Orchestrator software. The music visualizer software allows for customizable, colorful light shows that respond intelligently to music. In contrast, Nanoleaf’s current Rhythm feature only reacts to sound as opposed to details like a song’s beat or melody. Scheduled to be released this spring, the software will also be compatible with all streaming music platforms and audio players.