These smart outdoor lights made my home holiday-ready in minutes (and they're 35% off)

ZDNET's key takeaways

The Linkind Smart Solar Lights SL5 are available for $126 but you can take 30% off with an on-page coupon on Amazon.They're relatively inexpensive, work seamlessly with the app, can maintain a charged battery without direct sunlight, and are easy to install.The downside is that the Linkind lights connect via Bluetooth, so you can't control them remotely.

The Linkind Smart Solar Lights SL5 just hit an all-time low price of $82 during Amazon's Big Spring Sale. 

Landscape lighting can elevate the look and feel of your home's exterior and curb appeal. But smart lights you can control from your phone make them much easier for holiday decoration, as is the case with the Linkind Smart Solar Lights SL5. 

I've been testing the Linkind SL5 lights outside my home for several months and am pleasantly surprised at how easily they transformed its exterior, especially in preparation for Halloween last October. 

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The lights are easy to set up. You only have to choose where to install them and push down their stakes into the ground. Because they're solar-powered, they don't have any wiring to plug in, making the process easier than other landscape lights. 

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While the Linkind Solar Lights SL5 would be better off with direct sunlight to keep their batteries charged, they've been on the north-facing side of my home for two months and still get sufficient charge to work daily, with no hiccups. 

The Linkind SL5 lights take simplicity to a whole new level: after installing them, I connected them to my phone with the AiDot app to control them, and there, I could change their colors whenever I wanted. 

The lights connect to your phone via Bluetooth, however, which limits you to controlling the lights when you're near enough to maintain the connection. You can't control the lights remotely when you're away and want to change their color or switch them off. While this can be inconvenient for some, it also means you don't have to buy a separate hub or set the lights up to connect to your Wi-Fi, potentially congesting your home network with more devices. 

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The Linkind SL5 lights are also inexpensive smart lights, typically at $126 for a six-pack. This price point aligns with the lights' connection simplicity, as the smart component is meant to be a means for convenience rather than full smart home integration. 

After installing them, my lights have switched at dusk like clockwork, and there are no issues with the low battery. I had a problem connecting one via Bluetooth but could correct it after a couple of days, so it may not have had sufficient charge to perform the connection. 

ZDNET's buying advice

The coolest thing about the Linkind Smart Solar Lights SL5 is that they can stay put in your yard year-round but are versatile enough to change colors for different themes, all for a low startup cost. The lights typically shine a warm white on my home, but I made them purple and orange in preparation for Halloween and loved the fun atmosphere they create with other decorations. 

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I changed the lights to alternating green and red for Christmas, using them to work with my holiday decorations, and then reverted them to a smooth, warm white in January.