Weatherproofing. Every model needs a weatherproof rating to survive outside, so if you don’t see one, don’t buy it. There’s usually a lower rating for the control box compared to the rest of the lights, so be sure you can put that somewhere that’s a little less exposed to the elements. (As mentioned above, make sure you have an outdoor outlet, and check if there’s only one on a certain side of your home in case it limits your installation options.)

A range of installation options. You’ll want a set that comes with plenty of options for your own installation, including adhesive and drilled mounting options. What you need will vary based on your home design and materials; e.g., you’ll want adhesive for homes you can’t drill into. WIRED reviewer Kat Merck, who tested a couple different permanent lights, especially liked sets that had holders you screw onto your home that the puck-style permanent lights can slide onto.

Controls for individual lights. This should be a no-brainer, but some cheaper lights won’t give you this ability or have more roadblocks for customized control. Make sure you’ll have easy individual controls, or you might find yourself frustrated with the design results of these lights. It’s similar to design controls that you’d see on smart bulbs and smart string lights.

A great app. This goes hand in hand with the need for individual light control—a good app determines whether that and other features are accessible. Govee and Eufy, two of our favorite permanent outdoor lights we’ve tried, both have good apps that are easy to use and come with preloaded designs. These tech companies make more than just outdoor lights and make other favorite gear of ours, so they’re a good brand to trust to make a usable product and app. We also like Lepro’s more affordable lights, though the app had some extra hoops to jump through to get to controls, while Lumary’s app was a brutal experience for our tester.

Our Favorite Permanent Outdoor Lights

We’ve tested a handful of permanent lights on different homes, and have a few clear favorites. These options are all ones we recommend, provided your home exterior meets the constraints mentioned above.

This model from Govee has been one of our top picks in our smart Christmas lights review for a reason, and it’s still one of our favorite models at this price point for everything you’ll get with it. WIRED reviewer Simon Hill tested the 100-foot string that came with six sections, plus an extension code. He used adhesive and screw clips to secure the light pucks and cables, and found installation easy. This is a set that you can cut and splice, but he says that isn’t a task for the faint of heart. It has an IP67 rating, and an IP65 rating for the control box. The busy companion app has everything you could want within it: color controls, tons of Scenes (Govee’s lighting effects), scheduling abilities, and even a music sync option (though that felt a little gimmicky). There’s Matter support, and Govee can connect to Alexa and Google’s ecosystems for voice control. Simon says he’d like these lights to be closer together and the design to be a little more subtle, as you can see the cords pretty easily.

WIRED reviewer Kat Merck has tested two different sets of permanent outdoor lights on her home, and Eufy’s S4, incorporating RGB with both warm and cool whites, is by far her favorite. She’s found the app incredibly easy to navigate and find the features she wants, from preset holiday scenes (120!) and colors to schedules and brightness adjustments. There’s even an AI feature that lets you create customized light shows based on moods and scenarios. They were relatively easy to install on her home, which has nonstandard architectural features, as this set has extensions and can be cut and spliced. She says the lights aren’t quite as bright as the Lumary Max set below, but the brightness is adjustable. There’s also a radar motion sensor included, which she’s still testing. The Eufy S4 set also works with the Matter protocol, so it will work with Apple, Google, and Alexa’s smart home ecosystems. It’s got a waterproof rating of IP67 like the Govee set above.

Cync, which comes from appliance maker GE, makes affordable smart bulbs and other smart lights I like, so it’s not a huge surprise that I also liked the brand’s Smart Eave Lights. They were easy to install with 3M sticky strips already installed on the individual lights, and since my eaves are out of safe reach on my townhouse, I used the lights on my balcony railing with great success. One piece of the 100-foot set (it comes with four strings, plus an extension) was the perfect length to loop around my 9-foot-long railing. The set quickly connected to the Cync app, and the power cord is nice and long to make it easy to reach wherever your power outlet is. It has a waterproof rating of IP65.

If You Can’t Install Permanent Outdoor Lights

Not every home is a good fit for these types of lights. I haven’t yet found a permanent light set that works with my home, so here’s what I’ve used instead for a similar result.

Twinkly

Strings Multicolor

These lights are photographed on a tree, but they have a weatherproof rating of IP44 (for both the lights and the power supply) to be used outside. I love how much you can customize these lights. You’ll use the app to take a photo of however you’ve set up your lights, whether that’s around the tree, around your balcony’s railing, or along the front of your house, and then you’ll be able to customize the lights and pattern based on how you arranged it. There are tons of fun light designs already in the app, and you can make your own. It’s a good option if you can only do string lights but want smart capabilities. These lights are also compatible with Amazon’s, Google’s, and Apple’s ecosystems. Twinkly also makes an icicle-style smart light string ($110), which I love using outside too; they’re currently hanging above my garage door.

More Outdoor Lights We’ve Tested

• Cync Outdoor Light Strip for $154: I was really hoping this would be a good solution for outdoor lights for my balcony, but this light strip is heavy and tall, and better designed to use to line a yard versus sticking onto the side of a railing. It comes with grass stakes to line it.
• Lepro’s E1 AI for $153 (50 ft): These permanent outdoor lights are completely sold out right now, but they are another more affordable option. However, they aren’t as cheap as Cync and you will have to get around the app’s AI to really get the most out of it.
• Lumary Outdoor Permanent Lights Max ($260 for 105 ft.): Lumary’s lights were frustrating and limiting for our tester. The app wasn’t intuitive or easy to use, and our tester actually had to have the power box replaced after she tried to connect the lights to a different phone. She liked how bright the lights were, and the fact there’s a physical remote, but the app, power box shutdown, and installation limitations compared with other sets (no splicing ability, installation recommended from the left) make this one we’d skip. Lumary has since released an updated version of its outdoor permanent lights, the Permanent Outdoor Lights 2, which includes a completely redesigned app, including the addition of custom-scene saving, but we haven’t tested them yet.

The global wireless industry has continued its rapid expansion in the third quarter of 2025, with global 5G connections have reached 2.8 billion worldwide. And, six years after the mobile communications technology first arrived in the region, North America stands at the vanguard of the market, according to a study from 5G Americas.

The survey comprised a list of LTE and 5G deployments by operator and region, using deployment data from the industry trade organisation made up of telecommunications service providers and manufacturers, and with subscriber and forecast data provided by analyst Omdia.

In all, the analysis found that as of 15 November 2025, there were 379 commercial 5G networks deployed worldwide, including 17 in North America, alongside 707 LTE networks globally. 5G Americas said this infrastructure expansion was key to supporting skyrocketing demand for ultra-reliable, low-latency connectivity.

The study revealed that North America remains one of the world’s most technologically advanced 5G markets, achieving what the study said was “exceptionally high” adoption levels driven by strong consumer uptake and strong technological leadership, including enhanced 5G features that improve performance, efficiency and real-world network intelligence for consumers and enterprises alike.

In terms of 5G penetration, the US accounted for 341 million 5G connections against a population of 344 million – one of the highest 5G penetration rates globally. As a region, North America leads the world in 5G penetration, reaching 363 million 5G connections in Q3 2025, representing nearly 95% of the region’s population.

While Asia was market leader in absolute 5G volume – with 2 billion 5G connections currently – North America was top dog in per capita 5G adoption, significantly outperforming the global average of 36%. Globally, 4G LTE and 5G fixed wireless access accounted for 78.14 million connections at the end of Q3 2025, with a year-over-year (YoY) growth rate of 27%.

North America also continued to show strength in the internet of things (IoT), with 278 million connected cellular devices today. This figure is projected to rise to 459 million by 2030, a 65% increase that reflects growing adoption across manufacturing, logistics, utilities and consumer electronics.

Looking ahead, 5G Americas noted that non-terrestrial networks including satellite connectivity were emerging as a complementary layer to terrestrial 5G, extending coverage to remote areas, supporting resiliency during emergencies and enabling seamless service continuity across land, sea and air.

Globally, cellular IoT subscriptions are expected to reach five billion by 2030, signalling expanding enterprise and industrial uses. Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a key enabler in this growth, said 5G Americas, helping operators and enterprises to automate network operations, optimise traffic in real time and unlock smarter IoT applications at scale.

North America’s 5G connections are forecast to grow to 867 million by 2030, more than doubling from current levels. This growth is said to reflect a shift toward multi-device 5G environments, supporting advanced mobility, fixed wireless access and a broad array of connected platforms.

Additionally, fixed wireless access (FWA) has emerged as a growing driver of multi-device adoption, expanding high-speed broadband choice for households and small businesses, particularly in markets where fibre deployment is limited or still underway.

“The US and North America continue to demonstrate leadership in the global 5G ecosystem. High user adoption, broad device availability and sustained investment in next-generation networks position the region at the forefront of innovation as we move to early 5G-Advanced capabilities,” said Viet Nguyen, president of 5G Americas.

“Over the next few quarters, we expect to see improved uplink performance, advanced MIMO and integrated sensing and positioning that will further expand what 5G can deliver across industry, public services and immersive experiences, while accelerating progress on the path to 6G.”

Kristin Paulin, principal analyst at Omdia, added: “North American operators continue to invest in capabilities that will support enterprise transformation and next-generation services. These efforts are creating a robust foundation for future innovation and sustained subscriber growth.”

Reflecting on 2025, the path to decarbonising technology is becoming clearer, particularly with the publication of the UK government’s Carbon Budget Delivery Plan and Industrial Strategy policy papers.

More businesses understand the environmental impact of new technologies and there is a more concerted effort to convene capabilities to mitigate environmental consequences and improve the resilience of energy supply chains.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is still the centre of the conversation, but the question remains as to how we can maximise the benefits of AI while mitigating the environmental consequences of increased dependence on the technology. This is where enabling deep tech companies to scale will be key.  

As it stands, AI is responsible for 5-15% of datacentre power use and is expected to grow to 35-50% by 2030. Based on this increase, there are still challenges to solve around sustainable AI, particularly the impact of datacentres and the opportunity to leverage thermal energy to support the UK’s energy supply chain.

At Digital Catapult, we accelerate the practical application of deep tech to equip the UK to be future-ready. This includes delivering necessary interventions and programmes that ensure we take a responsible and sustainable approach to innovation, and address market gaps.