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These LED light strips are similar, but one major difference divides them.
Megan Wollerton has covered technology for CNET since 2013. Before that, she wrote for NBC's Dvice.com (now SyFy). Megan has a master's degree from the University of Louisville and a bachelor's degree from Connecticut College, both in international relations. She is a board member of the Louisville chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. When Megan isn't writing, she's planning far-flung adventures.
The Wyze Light Strip and Wyze Light Strip Pro have a lot in common. Both color-changing LED strips work in the Wyze app and with Alexa or Google Assistant voice commands (if you have a compatible smart speaker or display ). Both also come in 16.4-foot or 32.8-foot versions, and they offer the same lineup of features: timers, scenes, Vacation mode, Sleep Routines, Sun Match and Music mode.
But that's where the similarities end. Let's investigate so you can decide which to buy between these two.
The Wyze Light Strip costs $20 for the 16-foot model and $36 for the 32-foot model. It's easy to install, and I go into step-by-step detail on how to do so in this article. Once your LED strip is set up, you can begin experimenting with adjusting the color, dimming the strip and customizing your settings in the Wyze app.
You can also configure it to work with an Alexa- or Google Assistant-enabled smart speaker or display, if you have one.
The Wyze Light Strip is a solid overall product that I'd recommend if you're interested in a basic LED light strip. But that's the main problem: it's basic. This product can only display one color at a time. That's fine if you want to illuminate a particular space in a certain color. But if you're interested in displaying multiple colors at once for your favorite sports team, a celebration or for festive holiday gatherings, you'll want to upgrade to the Wyze Light Strip Pro.
Read our Wyze Light Strip review.
Like the Wyze Light Strip, the Wyze Light Strip Pro comes in a 16.4-foot ($30) and 32.8-foot version ($45). The installation process is the same, and the Pro has all the same features and options as the Wyze Light Strip. But this LED strip can display up to 16 colors at the same time -- and the cost difference is minimal, particularly between the regular strip's $20 16-foot model and the Pro strip's $30 16-foot one.
The Pro strip also has an epoxy coating that Wyze claims with increase its durability over the basic strip. In testing both, I could see the difference between the one with the epoxy coating and the one without, but I'd have to test them for much longer to determine if (and how much) that added coating really helps it last.
I'd stick with the basic Wyze Light Strip only if you have a specific plan to display one color at a time. Maybe you want to backlight your desk in purple or illuminate the bottom of your bathroom vanity in a warm white. In those cases, the Wyze Light Strip is more than sufficient.
But if you'd like the option to add more colors into the mix, the Wyze Light Strip Pro is the way to go.
Read our Wyze Light Strip Pro review.
There's no wrong answer here. Both the Wyze Light Strip and the Wyze Light Strip Pro are affordable, easy to install and use and offer a variety of features to complement the color-changing and adjustable white light LEDs. The Wyze Light Strip costs less, but it can only display one color at a time. The Wyze Light Strip Pro costs slightly more, but you can show up to 16 colors at once.
Your choice will depend on the intended use case for your light strip. Do you want to add some warm white light to the bottom of your bathroom vanity so you stop stubbing your toe at night? The Wyze Light Strip will do exactly what you need. Is your light strip going to act as a backlight for your gaming setup? You might prefer the simultaneous multicolor options of the Wyze Light Strip Pro.
For more in lighting, check out our list of the best smart lights .