Smart dual zone lighting solution put to the test
The Lifx SuperColor Ceiling light is a super slick, easy-to-install flush mount fixture that delivers powerful and customizable smart lighting at a pretty comprehensive price compared to rivals like Aqara, Nanoleaf and Philips Hue. There are Matter issues - shocker - but, with a decent native app and compatibility with all the major smart home systems, it’s a pretty hassle-free, top performing, smart ceiling light that blends style and function.
Pros
- Great price
- Dynamic lighting effects
- Easy install
- No extra hub needed
Cons
- Matter setup is flaky
- Plastic build
- App quirks
- Needs constant power
Lifx SuperColor Ceiling light: Introduction
- Lighting type: Ceiling lamp
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi
- Ecosystems: Matter, Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, SmartThings

Lifx – remember them – ramped up its comeback last year with a bunch of new launches, after a few years in the wilderness, the most striking of which was, without doubt, the Lifx SuperColor Ceiling light.
It’s a Matter compatible Wi-Fi smart light designed to replace traditional flush mount, pendants, or chandeliers on your ceiling.
Smart ceiling lights are becoming quite the thing. Aqara and Nanoleaf got the ball rolling with the launches of the Ceiling Light T1M and the Skylight, respectively, and then Signify entered the fray with the Hue Datura.
However, Lifx’s entry has a price-tag that blows that competition out of the water. At just under $100, the SuperColor Ceiling light will make a much smaller dent in your wallet compared to the $150 Aqara, $250 Nanoleaf and $300 Hue.
I’ve had the Lifx SuperColor Ceiling light mounted in our US test lab for the past few weeks, read on for my full review…
Design and installation
- Super simple installation
- Comes with black or white trim
- 15-inch diameter

Lifx’s effort is actually a bit smaller than the Aqara; 15 inches in diameter compared to 20 from the T1M, and is just 2.6 inches in depth.
It’s pretty plasticky, but you won’t really notice that once it’s installed and working its color magic. It comes with either a white or black trim; I have the white one on test for this review.
Once it’s all set up, it looks super stylish, with not only two addressable lights on offer, but also a library of custom designed dynamic effects such as overhead sky with passing clouds, forrest canopies, abstract art and meteorite shower – but more on that in a bit.
The first thing you need to do, before the fun begins, is to get it powered up and synced with your smart home.
Unlike a traditional smart light bulb or lamp, where you can simply plug and play, there is a bit of DIY required to get the SuperColor Ceiling light up and running.

The good news is that it’s not the most taxing of tasks. In the box you’ll find a mounting bracket and it really is as simple as drilling in a couple of screws to hold the bracket in place and then clipping on lightweight circular panel.
In fact, it was even easier for that as the fitting for the old light I was replacing in the US lab already had a couple of electrical screw receptacles that lined up perfectly with the mounting bracket.

A nice touch, to make the installation even easier, is there’s a built-in clip that holds the light a few inches below the ceiling while you sort out the wiring. This eliminates the typical struggle of balancing a fixture overhead while trying to make connections.
And making those connections is very straightforward because the Lifx boasts color coded wires with Wago connectors already in place, plus the device is earthed/grounded through the mounting plate.
Obviously turn the power off before doing any of the electrical work first, but you knew that already… right?
The whole process – removing the old light, trimming the existing wires a bit, attaching the bracket, connecting the wires and finally screwing on the light itself – took less than 15 minutes.
Set up and features
- 2.4GHz Wi-Fi connection
- Two addressable lights
- 56 addressable downlights

Once you’ve done the physical installation, you’ll need to get the Lifx SuperColor Ceiling light synced up with the Lifx app.
I was using an iPhone and a scan of the QR code took me down the dual HomeKit / Matter route and I can’t say I was surprised when it failed to sync. Matter just isn’t there yet, but we don’t need to dwell on that.
After a couple of failed attempts, the app suggested syncing without Matter and doing it later. So that’s what I did and I did finally manage to get it Matter’d up later on, and working across multiple smart home ecosystems.
You don’t have to walk the Matter path if you don’t want to though as it works natively with Apple Home, Alexa, Google Home, SmartThings, and Razer Chroma too.
As is always the case with smart lights though, you will need to use the native app to make the most of all the features. With the SuperColor Ceiling light that means access to the wealth of scenes that take advantage of those 56 addressable downlight zones.
In the app you’ll find a wide array of suggested effects – think Clouds, Meteor, Morph, Spooky Move and holiday specific ones like Halloween, Christmas and the like.

And if there’s not one you fancy, you can always create your own; you’ll find a handy tool that actually lays out the 56 zones so you can customize to your heart’s content.
Here’s an example of a few different scenes…
Like the Aqara T1M and the Datura, because the two lights are treated as separate, individually addressable lights, within the likes of Apple Home, Alexa and Google Home, so you can incorporate just one or both parts into your Alexa Routines, Home automations and the like and, of course, control them with your voice.
So you could create custom automations where 2nd light could be used for notifications. Think having the upward facing ring glow green if the doorbell rings, light up blue if a flood is detected, or shine red if a smoke alarm is triggered.
In use

Obviously the main USP is those 56 individually addressable zones and I have to say they make the Lifx capable of some fantastic effects.
You can, of course, set it to a solid color too, but where’s the fun in that?
The new Lifx Ceiling light boasts Polychrome Technology, which uses a grid of lighting zones, and also features a tunable white light ranging from 1,500K to 9,000K.
On Alexa, HomeKit and Google you won’t be able to tinker with it quite as much, as mentioned, but the pre-set effects are carried over as exported scenes.
This being a wired light, as per any dumb light, you are at the mercy of people turning off the SuperColor ceiling light at the switch and rendering it useless – but there are smart solutions to this from the likes of Shelly.
Obviously, unlike a dumb ceiling lamp, the Lifx is always technically ‘on’ and draining power for its Wi-Fi connection but it’s a pretty low idle power consumption that means that it won’t make much of a dent on your electricity bill.
When it is on, and at full brightness, the fixture outputs 2500 lumens while drawing around 47 watts.
The Lifx app is pretty easy to use but there are some quirks that need ironing out. I frequently managed to overwrite scenes when I didn’t mean to and the slider for brightness is pretty fiddly too.
But on the whole it’s good enough and I have to say a lot less cluttered than the likes of the Aqara or the Eufy Life app.
Final thoughts
Priced at $99.97, the Lifx SuperColor Ceiling light is surprisingly affordable given its feature set and, if you don’t mind giving up those five inches, is a great alternative to the market leading Aqara T1M – and also doesn’t need an extra hub like its Chinese rival.
It’s proven to be a reliable and visually appealing upgrade with almost no installation headaches. If you’re looking for an effortless way to add smart lighting overhead, the Lifx SuperColor Ceiling is an excellent choice, and definitely one of my top picks for smart ceiling lights.
How we test
When we publish our reviews, you can rest assured that they are the result of “living with” long term tests.
Smart lights usually live within an ecosystem, or a range of products that – supposedly – all work in harmony. Therefore, it’s impossible to use a connected light for a week and deliver a verdict.
Because we’re testing smart home kit all day, everyday, we know what matters and how a particular light compares to alternatives that you might also be considering.
Our reviews are comprehensive, objective and fair and, of course, we are never paid directly to review a device.
Read our guide on how we test smart lights to learn more.
FAQs
Yes. It supports Alexa, Google Home, Apple Home, SmartThings, and Matter.
No, it connects directly to Wi-Fi, so there’s no extra hub required.
Yes, it has a tunable white range (1,500K–9,000K) alongside its color and dynamic effects.
Like all smart lights, it will lose power and stop responding. Consider a smart switch solution to prevent this.
Yes, at 2,500 lumens, it’s comparable to a strong ceiling fixture and should be sufficient for most spaces.
Lifx SuperColor Ceiling light: Specifications
Specification | Details |
Launch date | 2024 |
US Price | $99.97 |
UK Price | n/a |
Smart home compatibility | Matter, Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, SmartThings |
Lumens | 2850 |
Wattage Use | 47.0W at full brightness |
Wattage on Standby | 1.0W |
Voltage Range | 120V AC |
Color Rendering Index (CRI) | 80 |
Color Temperature | 1500K to 9000K |
Dimming | Software dimming 1% – 100% |
Wi-Fi | 2.4GHz |
Security | WPA, WPA2 |
Dimensions | 15 in x 15 in x 2.68 in |