Smart ceiling light showdown: Aqara T1M versus Nanoleaf Skylight

Smart ceiling lights are yet becoming a happening and are large for lighting up your full country with some amusive and function. We compared 2 caller options from Aqara and Nanoleaf to find retired which is the best.

For excessively long, color-changing smart lighting has been stuck wrong bulbs and airy strips, limiting its usage to array lamps, the occasional recessed tin light, and possibly lighting up the underside of your cabinets. But with these 2 caller astute ceiling lights from Aqara and Nanoleaf, we yet person much choices beyond Philips Hue’s line of ceiling lights for bringing connected, colorful airy to our ceilings.

Smart fixtures — which are hardwired to your home’s electrical wiring — fto you adhd tunable achromatic and color-changing lighting to spaces wherever determination are nary lamps oregon recessed lighting for astute bulbs oregon casual spots to instrumentality astute airy strips. As with each astute lights, you tin acceptable schedules and link them to question sensors and different astute location devices to automatically crook them connected and off.

These caller lights from Nanoleaf and Aqara adhd dynamic lighting, thing adjacent Hue hasn’t offered successful its ceiling fixtures to date. These are among the archetypal astute ceiling fixtures to bring addressable lighting to the ceiling, allowing power of color, temperature, hue, and brightness, positive the quality to show aggregate colors simultaneously.

The $149.99 Aqara Ceiling Light T1M is simply a tunable achromatic airy fixture with a color-changing LED ringing featuring 26 individually addressable zones. The $249.99 Nanoleaf Skylight are tunable achromatic and full-color modular ceiling LED airy panels, each susceptible of displaying antithetic colors and tunable achromatic light.

I enactment these 2 caller ceiling lights to the test, pitting them against each different to spot who came retired connected top. I assessed their design, cost, and options for astute location control, arsenic good arsenic however casual they were to install. I examined their airy prime and however good they each executed their unsocial quality to nutrient dynamic lighting effects.

After investigating them simultaneously for 2 weeks, I loved however each merchandise lit up acheronian areas of my location wherever I antecedently relied connected a azygous astute bulb successful an past ceiling fixture. But this is simply a head-to-head, truthful determination had to beryllium a winner. Read connected to find retired which 1 came retired connected top.

Design: infirmary chic vs. a accepted look

The Aqara T1M has a much accepted plan — it looks similar a nice, high-end ceiling light. But the Nanoleaf brings thing precise unsocial to the ceiling. Designed to consciousness similar a carnal skylight successful your ceiling, the Nanoleaf has a flush-mounted quadrate design. It’s modular truthful it tin beryllium arsenic large arsenic you privation it to beryllium — susceptible of lighting up thing from a tiny corridor to a ballroom.

The Nanoleaf comes successful a starter kit with 3 panels for $249.99, and you tin put these to your liking. Only 1 sheet needs to beryllium wired, and you tin adhd up to 99 much panels to make a ceiling afloat of light. (Be warned: a azygous sheet costs $70, truthful that could beryllium a $7,000 ceiling.)

I had a three-pack to play with, truthful I created a geometric plan with 2 panels broadside by broadside and the different centered successful the middle. Initially, I wanted to enactment them successful a row, similar a skylight, but my paramedic hubby said it would look similar a hospital.

The T1M (left) and the Skylight (right).

He wasn’t wrong. When tuned to afloat white, the hallway did lucifer an OR. But erstwhile I changed it to 1 of the company’s beauteous lighting effects, the Nanoleaf was beautiful, resembling an existent skylight. Still, erstwhile the airy is off, the achromatic integrative plan of the panels isn’t attractive; each 1 is chunky and plain with definite infirmary vibes.

The Aqara Ceiling Light T1M is little colorful, smaller, and much traditional-looking than the Nanoleaf Skylight. It’s 20 inches circular and 3 inches heavy and sits flush to the ceiling. It’s comprised of 2 lights: a main airy and a ringing light, and its size makes it bully for rooms up to astir 200 quadrate feet.

While the Nanoleaf makes a overmuch bigger statement, the Aqara volition acceptable successful amended successful much spaces.

Winner: Tie

Light quality: Nanoleaf is ace bright, but Aqara is smoother

Dark spots successful the panels tin beryllium a spot distracting, though not arsenic noticeable successful the Skylight arsenic they are successful Nanoleaf’s partition panels.

Both lights springiness disconnected 1400 lumens, but for the Nanoleaf, that’s per panel, meaning you’re getting 4200 lumens — that’s a lotta light.

The Nanoleaf besides offers afloat colour and tunable achromatic airy connected each panel. Whereas the Aqara’s main airy is constricted to tunable achromatic light, the colour comes from the separately controllable ringing airy with 26 individually addressable zones featuring full-color LEDs (but nary tunable white).

Both lights dim down to astir imperceptible levels and ramp up to super-bright achromatic airy and acceptably agleam colors. The Nanoleaf Skylight is noticeably brighter, acknowledgment to its 3 panels, but the T1M gives disconnected a softer, much diffuse airy from its main and ringing light. You don’t spot immoderate pinprick LEDs oregon shadows, whereas the Skylight has immoderate disposable darker areas that tin look similar achromatic spots. (This is an contented with the company’s Shapes and Canvas panels, too.)

Aqara’s airy has a much accepted look but with high-tech features.

Aqara’s airy besides works with Apple’s HomeKit Adaptive lighting, a diagnostic of Apple Home (so iPhone only) that automatically adjusts the achromatic hue of compatible lights passim the day, going from chill bluish whites successful the aboriginal greeting to lukewarm orangey whites successful the evening. (Only the main airy responds to adaptive lighting; the ringing airy doesn’t person tunable achromatic light.)

The Nanoleaf Skylight doesn’t enactment with adaptive lighting oregon adjacent with the Nanoleaf app’s Circadian lighting diagnostic (which is constricted to its Essentials range). However, it does person the enactment of scheduling its assorted daylight-mimicking scenes, similar “Blue Skies” and “Golden Hour,” to make a akin effect to Adaptive Lighting.

I acceptable schedules successful the Nanoleaf app to person these scenes ramp up brightness implicit an hr to simulate earthy light, and this worked well. But it’s not arsenic casual arsenic utilizing HomeKit’s enactment — wherever you conscionable prime adaptive lighting once, and it adjusts automatically passim the day. Setting schedules successful the Nanoleaf app is fiddly, with the app eating excavation respective times. The dynamic scenes are besides much impactful than regular airy bulbs adjusting their hue, and astatine times, I recovered them a spot distracting.

Winner: Aqara

Lighting effects: Nanoleaf dazzles, Aqara falls short

Aqara’s colour lighting effects are constricted to its Ring light, which is controlled separately from the main tunable achromatic light.

Color is wherever the Skylight excels; each sheet tin show implicit 16 cardinal colors and dynamic lighting effects that flow, flash, pulse, and melt successful dizzying airy dances.

Nanoleaf fundamentally invented dynamic lighting effects, and it blows Aqara retired of the h2o erstwhile it comes to the sheer fig and impressiveness of its preset effects. Many of which tin besides sync successful clip to ambient euphony oregon sound, thing Aqara’s can’t.

Nanoleaf launched immoderate caller Scenes with the Skylight, including “Gentle Rain,” “Sun Shower,” and “Blue Skies,” which are designed to mimic the outdoors and marque the Skylight consciousness similar a skylight. Most of these are dynamic successful that they displacement colors to antithetic flows, and this tin beryllium a spot distracting. The panels don’t person addressable LEDS, truthful the full sheet changes colour to make the effect.

In contrast, Aqara’s tunable achromatic effects paired with the ringing airy and its six individually addressable zones were wide calmer and much suitable for a household not obsessed with RGB lighting. It besides offers much functionality with the enactment to acceptable up automations to usage the ringing airy arsenic a notification airy — for example, flash reddish erstwhile an Aqara alarm strategy is triggered oregon erstwhile the Aqara G4 video doorbell rings.

Both apps fto you plan your ain lighting effects, but Nanoleaf’s AI-powered Magic Scene creator made this truly easy. I conscionable typed successful “Sunday Morning,” and it conjured up a soothing palette of lukewarm pinks and beiges intermingled with white, and “Tropical Paradise” created a amusive oversea of turquoise, blues, and greens. Very Little Mermaid.

Winner: Nanoleaf

Cost, connectivity, and compatibility: a hub adds to Aqara’s cost, but Nanoleaf is conscionable expensive

The Aqara T1M is the much affordable enactment astatine $150. The Nanoleaf starts astatine $250, but you get 3 times the airy compared to the T1M. The terms escalates rapidly — a four-pack costs $420, to a 12-pack that costs $880.

However, due to the fact that the T1M uses the Zigbee wireless protocol, it requires an Aqara Hub. The cheapest compatible Aqara Hub is the $30 E1 — bringing the full terms to $180. But the TM1 works with immoderate Zigbee 3.0 Aqara Hub, including the upcoming Hub M3, which is besides a Thread borderline router and Matter controller for Aqara’s platform.

Nanoleaf uses 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, truthful it doesn’t request an further hub. It whitethorn 1 time beryllium a hub. It has a Thread vigor connected committee and tin beryllium a Thread borderline router, which would let Nanoleaf’s Thread products, specified arsenic its Essentials line, to link to it. Nanoleaf hasn’t turned this capableness connected yet; the institution tells maine it volition travel successful an update aboriginal this year.

Wi-Fi tin inactive beryllium an unreliable protocol for lights, and successful testing, portion the Skylight ne'er dropped offline, I had predominant occupation controlling it with the Nanoleaf app, which is dilatory and buggy and crashes perpetually oregon requires restarts. In contrast, Aqara’s Zigbee connectivity was stone solid, and its app was crash-free.

Both lights are compatible with each large astute location platforms, including Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Apple HomeKit. Only the T1M supports Matter (with an Aqara hub). Nanoleaf says it plans to bring Matter enactment to each its sheet products “soon.”

Winner: Aqara

Installation: prosecute an electrician (but Aqara is easier)

Anytime you're messing with energy successful a ceiling, I would highly urge hiring a pro. However, if you are going for it, past installing the T1M was the easiest.

It’s fundamentally the aforesaid arsenic installing a modular ceiling fixture; aft turning the powerfulness disconnected astatine the breaker, I pulled the wires successful my ceiling done a tiny spread successful the main lamp and attached it to the ceiling with 3 screws utilizing a drill. The 3 wires (live wire, ground, and neutral) past slot into an electrical connector successful the lamp. Finally, I enactment the solid diffuser implicit the lamp, twisting it into place.

Installing the Skylight was overmuch much arduous; lining up the panels wasn’t casual — and there’s nary template to follow. With 4 screws for each panel, I ended up with a batch of holes successful my ceiling, and connecting the 2 wires required betwixt each sheet was truly fiddly to bash portion lasting connected a ladder.

Winner: Aqara

Control: Aqara successfully solves the dumb power conundrum

If you instal a astute airy fixture connected a regular airy switch, it volition suffer each functionality erstwhile that power is off. While astute lights mostly don’t play good with astir astute switches, Aqara and Nanoleaf person some recovered ways astir this.

The T1M tin beryllium paired with a $35 wired Aqara Smart Switch, acceptable to its wireless power mode. This keeps powerfulness flowing to the airy adjacent if idiosyncratic turns the power off, leaving it controllable successful the app oregon with voice. However, it doesn’t let for dimming; that has to beryllium done successful the app oregon with voice. Nanoleaf’s new Sense Plus astute switches volition enactment with the Skylight and let for dimming, but they aren’t disposable yet. (Nanoleaf says they’re coming later this year.)

For some lights, a smart fastener oregon country controller that works successful your chosen level is astir apt the easiest enactment for carnal control, particularly if you don’t privation to messiness with much wiring. But Aqara wins present for present due to the fact that you tin really bargain its carnal controller.

Winner: Aqara

The Aqara T1M volition acceptable good successful immoderate room.

Which is best?

The Aqara is the victor if you’re looking for an affordable, easy-to-install astute ceiling airy that works with each the large astute location platforms. Its reliability and carnal power enactment besides marque it a amended choice.

But the Nanoleaf is the splashier, fancier light, with hundreds of scenes, the enactment of euphony sync, and the quality to brace with Nanoleaf’s different dynamic lighting products to truly RGB-up your life. (Aqara’s lone different dynamic lighting merchandise is its T1 Light Strip).

The Nanoleaf is besides the amended enactment for filling a ample country with light, acknowledgment to its modular, expandable design. While it would look large implicit a agelong eating array oregon room counter, it’s not truly a replacement for a accepted ceiling airy — it has a precise antithetic aesthetic, 1 that mightiness beryllium too antithetic for a batch of people. But if you similar the look, you’ll emotion this light.

If you person a bigger abstraction to illuminate oregon are looking for thing much unsocial with brighter airy and amended dynamic colour effects, spell for the Nanoleaf Skylight. For each different usage case, prime the Aqara T1M.