The Best Matter-Compatible Strip Lights

LED strip lights are truly a smart home staple - and for good reason. These flexible wonders of light can bring color and ambiance to pretty much anywhere - just peel and stick.

Whether you are looking for a strip light for underneath the cabinets, or you want to amp up your holiday displays, you've come to the right place. In this guide, we'll cover all the details on Matter-compatible strip lights and share with you our top 5 picks.

What is a Matter-compatible Strip Light?

As you might have guessed, smart LED strip lights combine smart home technology with traditional tape or rope lighting. By combining the two, owners of strip lights not only get a way to add lighting to otherwise drab areas, but they also get their feet wet with the modern smart home platforms.

The problem with most smart strip lights - like all smart devices before Matter - is that the experience may differ depending on your choice of phone or virtual assistant preference. In most instances, only certain features may be missing or a voice command may be different, but in some cases, entire platforms - like Apple's HomeKit - may be left out entirely.

Matter solves this problem by offering a base set of features to all of the most popular smart home ecosystems. By pairing a Matter-compatible strip light, you'll instantly gain access to a consistent set of controls like quick power toggles, dimming, and color adjustments without downloading yet another app.

Matter also guarantees compatibility with other devices. Instead of limiting a strip light to automation with specific motion sensors from a certain brand, Matter allows mixing and matching without compromise.

What to Look for in Matter-Compatible Strip Lights

Unlike other smart home categories, there are plenty of Matter-compatible strip lights to choose from. That's why paying close attention to factors such as budget, features, and platform is critical in choosing the right strip light for your space.

• Budget: Matter-compatible strip lights are available for almost any budget. However, you'll need to factor in the price of extensions if you have a long run and the cost of a corresponding hub if required.
• Features: While they all share a similar design, not all strip lights are created equal. Some strip lights offer multiple color zones for more dynamic scenes, while others feature weather resistance for outdoor usage.
• Platform: With Matter, smart strip lights share a standard feature set that includes brightness and color adjustments across all platforms. Additional options - like screen mirroring - require a vendor-specific app that may not always work with all your existing devices.

The Top 5 Matter-compatible Strip Lights

As previously mentioned, there is an abundance of Matter-compatible strip lights on the market which can make choosing difficult. Don't worry, we are here to help with our top five picks.

Govee Neon Rope Light 2

We recently went hands-on with the Govee Neon Rope Light 2 and found it to be a worthy upgrade over the original. The upgraded 16.4-foot Govee rope light includes a bevy of features, which of course includes Matter compatibility right out of the box.

In addition to Matter, the second-generation rope light features a more flexible design, along with a bendable mount that helps during installation. The Govee app experience also got an upgrade with shape recognition via your phone's camera which makes syncing up lighting effects effortless.

Since the Govee Neon Rope Light 2 works with Matter over Wi-Fi, you don't need a proprietary hub for pairing. It also means that for the first time, HomeKit users can experience Govee's smart lighting right from the comforts of the Apple Home app.

Nanoleaf Essentials Matter Smart Lightstrip

With Matter and Thread technology baked in, the Nanoleaf Essentials Matter Smart Lightstrip is about as future-proof as you can get. That's because Thread - like Matter - is built with cross-platform compatibility in mind, so you won't need to commit to a specific vendor's hub just to add a little light to your home.

All you need to set up Nanoleaf's strip light is a Thread Border Router and a scan of the Matter pairing code. Once connected, you'll see blazing-fast responses to commands and solid reliability, especially if you have other Thread devices in your home.

Thread isn't the only star in Nanoleaf's show as it offers some truly impressive specs. These include a whopping 2,200 lumens of peak brightness, the ability to display over sixteen million colors and support for up to 10 meters in length via expansion kits.

Philips Hue Play Gradient Lightstrip

If you are looking for the best strip light for the back of your TV, then look no further than Signify's Philips Hue Play Gradient. Available in 55, 65, and 75-inch sizes, the Philips Hue Play Gradient fits neatly on your TV's backside with the included mounting brackets that allow it to wrap neatly around corners.

As the name suggests, the Hue Play Gradient supports multiple color zones, enabling lighting that perfectly matches the position of the action on screen. The strip is also incredibly bright, with up to 1,650 lumens peak, and supports millions of colors and shades of white.

All the Philips Hue magic does come with some added costs. In addition to the expensive starting price tag for the strip light, you'll also need a Philips Hue Bridge to connect to Matter, and a Hue Play Sync Box for the TV mirroring experience. 

WiZ Smart Outdoor LED Strip

Also from Signify, the WiZ Smart Outdoor LED Strip brings colorful lighting and convenient controls to the great outdoors. Perfect for the holidays, this extra-long 16.4-foot strip light sports an IP-65 weather-resistance rating, so you can leave it out all year long - even in the snow.

Unlike the Philips Hue line, WiZ-connected products do not require additional hardware for Matter compatibility. All that is needed is the WiZ app, and a strong Wi-Fi connection and you are good to go.

There are some downsides to the WiZ strip to be aware of. One is that the strip maxes out at just 630 lumens brightness, and another is that it only supports one color at a time across the entire length.

Aqara LED Strip T1

Don't let its low price fool you - the Aqara LED Strip T1 provides more than just the basics. For starters, Aqara's strip is an RGB+IC light, meaning it can display multiple colors at once across 10 different zones.

Aqara's strip light also features IP-44 weather and dust resistance so you can install it indoors or out. The strip light can be extended up to 10 meters, and it supports third-party connectors enabling truly custom sizing.

The big negative with Aqara's strip is that it utilizes ZigBee 3.0 for networking. While ZigBee is ultra-reliable and time-tested, it does require an Aqara-specific hub for operation, potentially negating the lower up-front price if you don't already own one.

Add Color and Ambiance to Your Home With a Matter-Compatible Strip Light

Thanks to their flexible nature and easy installation, smart strip lights are an excellent way to add a splash of color to your home. And with Matter, you or others in your home won't be tied down to one ecosystem, so you can enjoy your new lighting for years to come.