Even if it’s still fall, the holiday season is just around the corner. Getting into the whole spirit of Christmas could imply early gift shopping, decorating for the holiday, and making vibrant displays for a dazzling glow.
Even if the latter task conjures a series of visions of burned-out bulbs, tangled wires, and colors that simply don’t pop, there’s still a wide selection of high-quality Christmas lights that surely won’t leave you disappointed.
Between vintage-style lights, mini incandescents, multicolor LEDs with different modes to fully match your mood, new lights, and the good old string lights, there’s plenty to consider before the holiday season actually starts.
Whether you’re on the lookout for models to last you many years or simply upgrading your mundane light display, we enlisted our favorite Christmas lights to the test to help you find the best picks to suit any household.
Incandescent lights
The traditional “mini lights” are completely made up of tiny incandescent bulbs that press into a plastic socket. Incandescents also use a filament that’s heated, bringing the light to life.
Luckily, they are often available in a variety of color options. As these lights offer you the old-fashioned Christmas look, there are many issues that you can run into over time, such as flickering bulbs, sections that burn out, and overheating.
Besides long life and quality concerns, incandescent lights cost significantly more to run than LED lights and still require more energy to stay powered.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, LEDs use as much as 90% less energy and last 25 times longer than the good old incandescent bulbs.
You can easily cut down your electric bill during the holiday months by investing in good LEDs instead. However, hang onto the incandescents if you still look for that timeless appearance and don’t plan to run them 24/7.
LED lights
LEDs can be easily wired in two different ways, whether series or parallel. Series circuits usually work by sending the current from the power source, through each and every light, then all the way back to the power source.
If one of them burns out, all the lights will burn as well. Every light on a parallel circuit is effectively powered by its own circuit. If a light burns out, it has zero effect on the rest of the lights.
They are all replaceable. Luckily, both methods are acceptable, even if we recommend parallel circuits. This way, you won’t find yourself with a half-lit tree.
LEDs often get grief when it comes to their color since they don’t really give off the same cozy amber glow as incandescent. Instead, you will probably find them in cool-toned options that have more of a pale and bluish hue.
Extra features
Some Christmas lights also include extras that give you many color options and functions. There are also various sets that are dimmable, sometimes with many degrees of brightness, and those with multiple lighting modes, so you can efficiently opt for slow fade one day and twinkling the next.
There are also many sets that are specifically made for converting bushes and shrubs, along with other solar- and battery-powered options, in case you want to hang them out of easy range of an outlet.
If you plan as well to decorate all over your house or even property, you should look for options with remotes and timers. They generally include end-to-end connections, so you can efficiently control more than one set at once.
Also, bear in mind that since LEDs use less power, you can simply connect more strings together to make your own displays that would impress your neighbors.
Incandescents can’t really handle the same amount of connections. They often require more than just one wall socket. You can always refer to the manufacturer’s product information to fully determine how many lights can be strung together.
How we selected
We managed to dig into our own research and try out different lighting versions for our selections. Besides, we considered a bunch of reviews from expert sources such as Good Housekeeping. Here’s our list:
Brizled Smart Color Changing Christmas Lights
This is the perfect set of Christmas lights for anyone who loves changing up their lighting display throughout the holiday season. The 66-foot string has 200 lights and plenty of modes that make the most of its multicolor and warm white LEDs.
Moreover, the set is dimmable, from one to 100 percent. The warm white is quite a pleasant hue. It’s not too yellow, not too white, and the colored LEDs are definitely more on the warm side, as it is shown.
There’s also a timer with the app that you can use to change the mode at some intervals. You can also connect multiple sets of these lights, end-to-end.
Even if the Brizleds are totally good for outdoor use as well since they have an IP44 rating, which means they are water-resistant, the plug and transformer and control box have to be protected from water.
The wire is silver, so it might hang quite obviously from your home’s eaves in daylight.
Nielfoi Icicle Christmas Lights
This huge, 33-foot strand of 400 cascading color LEDs provides plenty of coverage, and it works well over a garage or around the exterior of your house.
When it comes to testing, we discovered the colors to be as vibrant as they can get, as well as reminiscent of traditional incandescent mini lights.
There are eight lighting modes to choose from, such as slow fade and twinkle. You can cycle through using a button on the plug, especially since there’s no remote.
However, there’s one downside: due to the different lengths of the string lights, they can get quite tangled. A reliable storage method, such as a lighting storage wheel, could help keep everything organized, especially during the holiday off-season.
Holiday Time Clear Mini Christmas Lights
There’s this no-frills set of Christmas lights that makes for quite a simple setup. It can be used in different areas of the house, such as the bedroom or even the living room for a warm and cozy ambiance.
These lights are definitely a reliable option that can be repurposed throughout the year. They are quite basic when it comes to features (there’s only a blinking mode and that’s it), but if you love a traditional look, they are a wonderful choice.
They can be hung up indoors as well as outdoors, and you can connect as many as five sets of lights without worrying about safety.
Toodour Christmas Icicle Lights
These lights will offer you the ideal winter wonderland ambiance, offering cool and icy blue hues that perfectly imitate colors associated with icicles.
There are 360 LEDs on the 29.5-foot strand with 60 icicle drops, all easily controlled by a button on the outlet plug. You can simply select between eight different lighting modes, and you can also set different timers in case you want the lights off during the day.
There is also an end-to-end connection for up to three strands and an IP44 waterproof rating on top.
Kwaiffeo Meteor Shower Christmas Lights
Nothing really says Christmas like fresh-fallen snow. However, if you live in an area where that type of weather only happens once or twice a year, you can still bring the idea to life with this set of outdoor lights.
They look amazing hanging from tree branches or even along the bottom edge of a roof. Moreover, even if they’re designed for outdoor use, there’s really no reason you can’t use them inside.
The lights are super lightweight, with strips of LEDs encased in plastic tubing. We also tested a strand that had eight individual cascading lights. In my opinion, it was the ideal amount of lighting without being overwhelming.
The light strips are also double-sided, so they can be easily viewed from every direction. You can string as many as five sets together. However, bear in mind that the plug isn’t waterproof, so it still needs to be plugged into a protected receptacle.
612 Vermont Clear Christmas Lights
If a huge part of your holiday decorating plan also includes framing windows and doorways, Christmas lights strung on a white wire are definitely the best bet for blending in with white molding and panes.
This set of 100 clear white incandescent lights is actually dimmable, with an end-to-end connection that lasts as many as five sets. There are also two flasher bulbs included, which let you set your strand to blinking mode.
If you feel you have more ground to cover, the set is available in a two-pack.
Agaphoton Ceramic Christmas Lights
These vintage-style bulbs make for the ideal classic holiday look. They are also designed for indoor and outdoor use. The light strand is 25 feet long, with 25 screw-in incandescent glass bulbs in five different colors.
The sockets have clips that are molded right into them, which help hang the lights and orient them the way you prefer. In all honesty, we haven’t used this particular style in quite some time now.
We forgot how much heat they actually generate. Besides, turning them on and off repeatedly might cause the bulbs to loosen. The set also comes with two spare bulbs, which you will more than likely use since the bulbs can break easily on hard surfaces.
Minetom Incandescent Bulb Christmas Lights
These Christmas lights from Mineton come in different color options, such as warm white and multicolor. Each strand has 100 incandescent lights attached.
We managed to test the clear warm white bulbs, which gave us the familiar amber glow that’s also reminiscent of traditional Christmas vibes. If you are searching for a straightforward style of lighting, this one is a solid bet.
They also have a constant lighting mode, as well as a waterproof rating of IP44, which you can use indoors as well as outdoors. Besides, each bulb is individually illuminated. If one of them dies, the entire strand will “persevere”.
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