Updated on Nov. 15, 2024
Work smarter, not harder, this holiday season with a pre-lit, app-controlled tree. Here are our top choices for the best smart Christmas tree.
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At this point, most American households likely have a smart home gadget or two. As the holidays inch closer, you may want to consider springing for a smart Christmas tree instead of your usual real or artificial tree. It can completely transform how you decorate for the holidays.
You shouldn’t have to sacrifice quality for technology for the best smart Christmas tree. Brands specializing in lifelike artificial Christmas trees, like Balsam Hill, offer smart lighting on select models. Even general retailers, like Amazon and Walmart, offer smart Christmas trees with customizable lighting effects and a wide range of colors. We tested a dozen smart Christmas trees ahead of the holiday season and picked our favorites so you can choose the tree that fits your holiday needs.
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We love Balsam Hill for its top-notch quality products. If you have the budget to splurge a little on a Christmas tree that’ll last you year after year, then this brand is the one to shop. Its classic blue spruce Christmas tree features LED lights by Twinkly that change colors, light shows and patterns through an app.
“If you’re looking for smart Christmas lights, look no further than Twinkly,” says Product Tester Sheri Kaz. “You can connect multiple devices and pre-lit trees to the app. I love all the patterns, colors and extra features like the timers and variable speeds available. You’ll be decked out in no time and able to control anything Twinkly with one user-friendly app.”
“As far as longevity goes, I have a Twinkly string light that I’ve used every night for the past year with zero problems,” Sheri adds. “I use the in-app timer and can change the colors to match the season or mood I want to create. I love them!”
While unboxing and assembling the Balsam Hill tree, Sheri noted the tree was in three large pieces that were easy to set up, fluff and style. Assembling the tree is a two-person job, and our testers took about an hour setting up the tree and fluffing it.
“It was time-consuming, but the end result was worth it,” Sheri says. “It’s a sturdy, high-quality tree with soft needles, a nice shape and a subtle sheen. It’s full and has a forest-green hue with some variation for a natural look. The tips of the lights look like beads of water. The lights are super bright and really colorful, and they’re placed evenly throughout the tree.”
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Another smart pick from the beloved Balsam Hill is the BH Fraser Fir—and it’s the most realistic-looking of our smart Christmas tree picks. “While the price-point is a bit steep upfront, rest assured the price is worth it. Not only does the tree look convincingly real, but it is built to last for a long time,” says Product Tester Dylan Fischer.
Balsam Hill’s True Needle technology and 40 different tip variations make for faux foliage that is soft and almost papery to the touch. It’s easy to fluff and looks natural. Our product testing team was blown away by how realistic this tree looks in person. The only difference between the BH Fraser Fir and real Fraser firs that our team could spot was in fullness (a real Fraser fir might be a bit fuller in person).
This lifelike Christmas tree is lit with LED lights by Twinkly that change colors and allow you to create light shows and patterns through the Twinkly mobile app. The tree’s sturdy construction and upward-sloping wire branches allow you to successfully display your favorite ornaments and decorations, even heavier ones. This smart Christmas tree’s dark green needles with silver undersides and organic shape replicate the appearance of Fraser firs found in the Appalachian region. Combined with its bright Twinkly smart lights, you don’t have to sacrifice quality and looks for technology.
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If you want to extend the holiday magic to your front yard, this smart outdoor Christmas tree is the way to go. Our product testing team said assembling and setting up this outdoor Christmas tree from Amazon was swift and easy. It is so simple, in fact, that you could get it done as a solo job in less than an hour.
“Because this tree is connected to the ground with small stakes, be sure to put this up before the ground is frozen solid,” Product Tester Sheri Kaz advises. “If you have high enough ceilings, the Joomer tree would be a festive addition inside your home, too.”
With 18 strands of LED lights and a star topper, the Joomer tree has more than 400 lights. It comes with a remote control, but you can also use the Surplife app to control the lights from your phone. The app allows you to select different lighting modes, set timers, adjust brightness and more. The tree even has a built-in mic that syncs the colors with your music.
“This tree decor looks very nice in person,” says Sheri. “There are enough lights for the size of the tree, and the lights are flush to the strands, which gives a more streamlined, manicured look. I prefer this style to the other outdoor Christmas trees I’ve tested.”
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Want a smart Christmas tree without any fuss? Consider this 7-foot Twinkly tree. “If you’re looking for an easy-to-assemble, pre-lit tree that will last for years, this Twinkly Christmas tree will bring a new level of joy into your home with hundreds of customizable patterns and colors,” says Product Tester Sheri Kaz.
With high-quality PVC sections, this tree is outfitted with 540 bright RBG LEDs that offer over 16 million color combinations, including a full range of white lights in warm and cool tones. Thanks to the Twinkly app, it can be integrated into your existing smart home setup with Google or Alexa. Plus, you can sync light displays with music using Twinkly Music (sold separately), a device that interprets ambient sounds and music in your space and applies synchronized colors and effects in real-time.
While putting up the Christmas tree is often done with the family, this tree makes for a simple solo job—which is great if you live alone or are crunched for time. Even moving the box by yourself is fairly easy because the box confines the tree to a smaller size. Other perks of this easy-to-setup pick include minimal shedding, no drooping and a sturdy structure.
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You’ve probably noticed by now that Smart Christmas trees are expensive, but this budget-friendly Evergreen Twinkly Christmas Tree won’t hurt your wallet (as much) while still providing all the smart features you need to create a little holiday magic. The Evergreen Twinkly is a pre-lit artificial Aspen Pine with multicolor RGB lights. The Twinkly app controls the lights and lets you choose and design lighting effects through your phone. The preset lighting effects include options like rainbow, snow and firework light patterns.
“There are literally dozens upon dozens of preset customization options—different color combinations, patterns and animations,” says Product Testing Manager Annamarie Higley. “It might be a little overwhelming when you open the app to all the flashing colors and lights. But it’s also kind of fun to go through all the options.”
With so many lighting options available, you can select a preset pattern and then, beyond that, adjust its speed and brightness, combine patterns and animations. Or, completely start from scratch and layer a bunch of different colors and patterns over each other. The Twinkly app lets you customize lighting effects, sync your display with music, set timers for automatic lighting and more. With the addition of the Twinkly Music USB dongle, your tree lights can dance to your favorite holiday tunes.
When shopping for a smart Christmas tree, there are a few key features you’ll want to look at (and they’ll largely come down to a matter of preference). Here are a few questions to ask yourself while shopping:
Polyethylene branches are more flexible and feel rubbery. They also provide a more realistic look since the needles are defined and individually attached to the branches. PE trees are also known for being more pricey. Polyvinyl chloride Christmas Trees are made of vinyl-like material. The needles are twisted onto the branches and look flatter compared to others, which does not give the most realistic appearance.
There are benefits to both unlit and pre-lit trees, but one that comes assembled with lights always makes set-up a breeze. Not having to arrange lights saves time and makes it simple to get the branches staying exactly how you want them. If you do opt for a smart tree that is unlit, make sure to allow yourself time for the tree and light assembly.
At Family Handyman, we take Christmas tree season seriously, and we’ve been researching and writing about smart Christmas trees longer than most of our competitors. But we know researching and writing isn’t enough, so our Product Testing Lab put each of the smart Christmas trees above (and more) through rigorous testing, collecting approximately 275 data points testing trees ahead of the holiday season. In total, they spent an estimated 60 collective hours testing Christmas trees this year, including researching, sourcing, intaking and testing. They also spent time photographing each tree, so you can see how it looks under real, natural lighting without any photoshopping tricks.
While narrowing down the best smart Christmas trees for your home, we looked at things like overall quality, price point and availability. We also considered the number and type of smart lights on each tree, the quality of the lights, each tree’s smart features and app compatibility and overall ease of use for this list. Our Product Testing Lab sourced, unboxed and set up each smart tree they tested.
Then, they spent time fluffing branches, applying tree skirts, hanging ornaments and disassembling trees to note any hiccups that occurred with regular use. Lastly, they lit each tree and downloaded respective mobile apps to evaluate the app’s user-friendliness, compatibility and capabilities. Some of the trees that made the cut even integrate with your Alexa devices and Google devices, so you can add your Christmas decorations to your smart home routine.
A smart Christmas tree has pre-strung lights that can be controlled and changed with the touch of a button. Need flashing multi-colored lights for a holiday party? Simply tap a button on your phone. Want warm white lights for a night in with the family? Just open an app. Many smart Christmas trees have (seemingly) infinite lighting display options, can sync with music and pair with your existing smart home setup like Google Home or Amazon Alexa.
Most smart Christmas trees have pre-strung with LED bulbs. You can fix Christmas lights once you figure out what the issue is. Loose connections can lead to problems, too—reinforcing screws on adapters can help.
Smart Christmas trees generally cost more than other artificial Christmas trees. However, choosing the right one can save you time and money. With a smart tree, you won’t spend extra time or cash on separate lighting strands. But if a smart tree isn’t in the budget this year, you could upgrade your own tree by adding smart Christmas lights.
