The Best Permanent Outdoor Lights (2026): Govee, Eufy, Cync

Permanent outdoor lights might not seem useful now that we're headed into summer, but they're actually great to use year-round.

The name suggests exactly what they are: a type of string light designed to stay up all year instead of coming down after the occasion you hung them for, whether it's the holiday season or a big party that inspired you to deck out your front porch.

No matter which set you choose, these lights are made for year-round enjoyment.

It's not just for your basic holidays like Christmas and Halloween, either: WIRED reviewer Kat Merck uses hers in the post-holiday season to display her husband’s favorite sports team colors, and I've got big plans to use the permanent lights affixed to my balcony railing to light up for my next party.

Updated April 2026: We've updated the prices and details in this guide for summer, and added new sections on the best time of year to use and buy these types of lights.

What Are Permanent Outdoor Lights?

I live in a three-story, stucco-covered townhouse, which disqualifies me from installing most permanent outdoor lights.

The stucco makes it impossible to stick anything to it, and I have an HOA that forbids “permanent changes” to my exterior, so they frown upon me drilling.

And, most important, I don't have the right eave design with my townhouse to hide the strip of lights when they're off.

What to Look for in Permanent Outdoor Lights
Most permanent outdoor lights look pretty similar, with puck lights on a string.

How different can they be, right?

Well, we've found a couple features that really make a set stand out.

Controls for individual lights.

This should be a no-brainer, but some cheaper lights won't offer this ability or have more roadblocks to 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 light themes.

These tech companies make more than just outdoor lights, including 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.

What Time of Year Should You Use Permanent Outdoor Lights?

Most people are interested in this style of lights for the fall and winter.

That's a great time to set them up and use them, since you've got Halloween and Christmas decor that the permanent outdoor lights could complement with colorful holiday scenes.

The days are also shorter, so you've got more nighttime hours to take advantage of these lights.

This model from Govee has been one of our top picks in our smart Christmas lights story 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: color controls, tons of Scenes (Govee's lighting effects), scheduling, 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 a little more subtle, since you can see the cords pretty easily.

Dynamic Effects Outdoor Smart Eave Lights
Cync, 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 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.

They've been on my balcony for the better part of six months and have held up nicely so far.

If You Can’t Install Permanent Outdoor Lights
Twinkly's smart string lights have a weatherproof rating of IP44 for both the lights and the power supply.

This means they're splash-proof but not waterproof, so you can use them outside, but make sure they're somewhat protected.

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 a Christmas 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 hung over my garage door for the holiday season.

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 is better designed to line a yard versus sticking onto the side of a railing.

It comes with grass stakes.

Lepro's EE1 AI for $113 (50 feet) : These permanent outdoor lights are sold out right now, but they are another more affordable option.

They aren't as cheap as Cync, however, and you will have to get around the app's AI to really get the most out of it.

Lumary Outdoor Permanent Lights Max ($450 for 105 feet) : 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 that 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, the Permanent Outdoor Lights 2 ($260, 100 feet) , which includes a completely redesigned app, including the addition of custom-scene saving, but we haven't tested them.

What Are the Cons of Permanent Outdoor Lights?

Are Permanent Outdoor Lights Worth It?

When Should You Buy Permanent Outdoor Lights?

There's no wrong time of year to use these lights, but I often see them on sale during events like Prime Day and Black Friday.

I've seen them sporadically on sale throughout the year without special holidays and events attached to the sale, so it's worth checking regularly to see if a set you like gets a surprise discount.

But the easiest time to aim for is one of these deal events.

I'd recommend aiming for Amazon's summertime Prime Day or early fall deal event (last year it was called Amazon Big Deal Days 2025, but we'll see if it gets the same name this year) so that you can have your permanent outdoor lights in time for Halloween and Christmas.

How Does WIRED Test Permanent Outdoor Lights?

What Happens When We’re Done Testing?