The Best Matter-Compatible Flood Light Bulbs

The best Matter-compatible smart light bulbs may be great for lamps, but they aren't quite the perfect fit for recessed and outdoor lighting fixtures. For these, you'll need larger flood light bulbs for a seamless look and Matter smart home convenience.

Like standard bulbs, there are plenty of Matter-compatible flood light options on the market that can make choosing the best for your home confusing. Don't worry, we're here to help with our top flood light bulb picks so you can light up all the areas in and around your home with Matter.

What to Look For in Matter-Compatible Flood Light Bulbs

As their name suggests, Matter-compatible flood light bulbs are purposely designed to cast their light downward onto areas beneath them. Because they are typically found in higher, harder-to-reach areas, flood light bulbs are significantly larger—and more expensive—than traditional bulbs.

While most flood light bulbs share a similar base size, you'll need to pay close attention to the length and width of your fixture when shopping around. Knowing the dimensions will help determine which bulb code to look for, with the most common flood lights being either BR20, BR30, BR40, or PAR38 sizes.

Once you have your bulb code, you can then turn your attention to connectivity and features. The majority of smart flood light bulbs on the market today connect directly to ecosystems like Alexa, Google, and Apple Home via Matter-over-Wi-Fi right out of the box—just scan the QR pairing code and go.

Other connectivity methods seen in Matter-compatible flood light bulbs include Thread, and ZigBee. Thread offers similar performance to Wi-Fi with a direct-to-Matter connection, but it does require a Border Router—like a Google Home display—to be set up in your home. ZigBee requires a vendor-specific hub that while good for keeping traffic off your Wi-Fi network, introduces a a few additional steps during pairing.

Now let's talk hardware specs and features. Important specs to be on the lookout for include lumens which is a bulb's maximum brightness, wattage which is the amount of energy it consumes during operation, and IP rating which signifies a bulb's weather-resistance level if you need one for the outdoors.

When it comes to features, flood light bulbs are available with fun multi-color capabilities, adjustable white color temperatures, and of course, dimming. With Matter taking care of things in the background, you'll only need to focus on the features most important to you as the standard provides a base set of smart home controls to all the major ecosystems.

The Best Matter-Compatible Flood Light Bulbs

Nanoleaf Essentials BR30 Matter Smart Bulb

Nanoleaf's Essential BR30 Matter Smart Bulbs are the only flood light bulbs available with Thread connectivity built right in. Thread allows Nanoleaf's bulbs to create a resilient mesh network that expands its range with every additional device that is added, boosting overall reliability and performance.

Nanoleaf's indoor-only dimmable BR30 bulbs feature a peak brightness of 1,000 lumens, and they support over 16 million colors and shades of white—each adjustable via Matter and the Nanoleaf app. They also support Apple Home's slick Adaptive Lighting feature that allows for automatic color temperature adjustments based on the time of day without having to reach for your phone.

OREiN Matter Smart Light Bulb BR30

The OREiN Matter Smart Light Bulb BR30 four-pack offers a lot of bang for your buck with a bunded price that makes them just $10 each. These 60-watt equivalent bulbs provide up to 650 lumens of color and white light, and it includes 1-100% dimming making it an excellent indoor-only choice for precise brightness adjustments.

The OREiN BR30 bulbs connect to Matter via 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi without the need for an additional hub. They also work with the AiDot smart app, which unlocks extras like music syncing, timers, scheduling, group control, and customizable scenes.

LIFX PAR38 Flood Light

Built for the great outdoors, the LIFX PAR38 Flood Light bulbs feature an IP65 dust and water resistance rating that keeps them protected from the elements. Plus, with their ability to withstand harsh temperatures ranging from -22 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit, you can safely leave them out all year long which makes them a good alternative to traditional holiday lighting.

LIFX's dimmable Wi-Fi bulbs are also extremely bright at 1,600 lumens peak and they support millions of vivid colors and tuneable whites. The only downsides are that they are expensive at $35 each, and they appear to be exclusive to Home Depot at this time.

WiZ Connected 120W PAR38 Color LED Smart Light Bulb

Another option suitable for the outdoors—this time from Signify—the WiZ Connected 120W PAR38 Color LED Smart Light Bulb puts the spot on important areas with 1,200 lumens of power. These frosted multicolor LED bulbs are fully remote controllable with dimming and quick toggles right at your fingertips through Matter and the WiZ Connected app.

The WiZ PAR38 bulbs also have a few additional tricks up their sleeve—motion sensing, and energy monitoring. While energy monitoring is self-explanatory, the bulb's motion sensing capabilities come courtesy of SpaceSense technology that measures Wi-Fi wave strength to determine if someone is within the area if two or more bulbs are positioned within 6 feet of one another.

Philips Hue Smart 85W BR30 LED Bulb (Requires Hue Bridge)

Speaking of Signify, it's hard to mention smart lighting without bringing the company's Philips Hue line into the mix. The Philips Hue Smart 85W BR30 LED Bulb is the best flood light option for those invested in Signify's ecosystem with its signature White and Color Ambiance capabilities that enable accurate color reproduction across millions of hues and adjustable white light.

Like other Philips Hue products, this 1,200-lumen indoor BR30 bulb utilizes ZigBee connectivity for its smart home—and Matter—connection. This means that you'll need a Philips Hue Bridge to go along with it, but with rock-solid reliability and lightning-fast response times, it's definitely worth the investment if you don't mind having yet another hub.

Light it Up With the Best Matter-Compatible Flood Light Bulbs

Regardless of which flood light bulb you choose, Matter makes it easy to get your new lights connected to your network and preferred smart home platform. Within minutes, you'll be swapping through colorful scenes, adjusting color temperatures to fit your needs, and setting the mood with dimming.

Thanks to Matter's Multi-Admin capabilities, you'll also be able to share your new bulb with friends and family—whether they are on team Android or if they are iPhone die-hards. And, with yet another smart bulb shape covered, you'll be ready to move on to other common sizes like candelabras in chandeliers and spotlights in track lighting.