The best TV backlights of 2024

TV backlights take your viewing to another level.

Lighting is one of the most important components of any home; you need it to complete tasks and keep things visible at night, of course, but you can also use it to set the mood for different activities, like dinner parties and movie nights — especially movie nights. Whether you're rewatching your favorite comfort show or streaming the latest action thriller, lighting has a huge impact on your viewing experience. Everyone likes a softer, dimmer lighting set up, and no one likes a glare on the screen. And one of the best ways to set the tone is to add backlights to your TV.

TV backlights are most often adhesive light strips, but smart light bars are a solid option too, whether they're mounted directly to the back of the TV, placed on the sides, or situated below it. But they all do the same thing: Backlights use color and brightness to make watching your TV a much more immersive experience. They can be set to move and change colors along with the sound of what you're watching, or you can coordinate the colors to the shades on the screen. Plus, they're customizable, so you can set your backlights to your favorite team's colors when watching the big game. If you're not sure what to look for in a TV backlight — or where to find the best TV backlights on the market — here's everything you need to know.

We chose our list of the best TV backlights based on a combination of research and at-home testing. We chose products from trusted brands lauded for their quality lighting products, all with high customer ratings and reviews, and narrowed them down based on the specs and features they have to offer. The Govee Smart RGBIC LED Light Strip and the Philips Hue Smart Play Light Bar — our picks for "best strip lights" and "best light bar," respectively — were personally tested by us. Writer Brittney Morgan has personally been using the Govee Smart strip lights for over a year and co-writer/Manager of Performance Content, Billy Cadden, owns and has been loving the Philips Hue light bars for over four years.

The Govee Envisual T2 backlighting kit snagged our top spot because it not only comes with a roll of sleek black strip lights with smart voice control and music syncing, but it also features a dual camera that mounts to the top of your TV and views your screen, allowing the colorful lights to perfectly sync up with what you're viewing. While we have not independently tested these lights, we've tried other lights from Govee (more on that later) with great results, and this option has stellar customer ratings and reviews across retailers to back it up. Features like the camera and the brand's DreamView Syncing technology, which connects all of your other compatible lights from the brand together for a seamless look, put this pick ahead of the pack.

The included camera captures the colors on the TV screen, allowing the light colors to sync up with what you're watching — not just change colors in response to the audio. Also, the light strip itself is black, allowing it to blend more seamlessly into the back of the TV.

Because of the camera, other lighting in the room (particularly direct lighting facing toward the TV) can impact the color match, so you might find that you have to adjust your lamps or tweak settings like saturation in the app.

Straight out of the box, Govee's Smart RGBIC LED Strip Lights look like your standard strip lights. The white tape-like strand of lights has a peel-off backing that reveals the adhesive that sticks it to your TV, and it comes wound up on a spool for easy installation (no untangling required). It comes with an adapter to plug it in directly to an outlet, and you'll also find a small white control box on the cord that allows you to manually turn the lights on and off as well as adjust the brightness. That box also has a sticky backing so you can hide it behind the TV.

Govee TV Backlight glowing red behind a TV

I was able to install the smart light strip in just a few minutes, by simply peeling off the protective cover on the adhesive and placing it on my TV, applying light pressure to make the tape stick. Once I had the lights stuck to my liking, I just plugged in the adapter, downloaded the app, and followed the instructions to connect the lights to my WiFi network. (It was also easy to adjust placement if needed, though be warned that doing so multiple times decreases the stickiness.) I had no issues with this process, and the light strip connected to the Internet quickly and easily. The only issue I've had since, in terms of installation and setup, is that on less than a handful of occasions, the control box has come un-stuck from the TV and fallen down, but it's an easy fix to stick it back in place. I think the falls were mostly cause by where I placed the control on the TV, because once I moved it to a flatter surface, it stopped detaching — so likely more user error than anything faulty with the product. Plus, the adhesive backing on the control can be replaced if needed with any standard household adhesive strip.

I've used these lights for over a year now on the TV in my guest room/office, and they have yet to let me down. I mostly turn them on to add to the ambient lighting as I'm working in the room, so being able to easily adjust the colors and brightness is incredibly useful. I have a Google Assistant-enabled device in the room, so I'm able to ask Google to turn the TV lights on or off and dim them without having to take out my phone, which is helpful when I'm in the middle of a project. The music syncing via the built-in microphone works just fine, with the colors shifting to the rhythm whether I'm watching TV, playing music on the TV, or playing music on a separate speaker in the room. And for guests staying the night, it provides a nice warm glow to the room when they're winding down for the evening.

Close-up of the Govee smart light strip on the side of a TV

This light strip is easy to install, has tons of colors to choose from and creates a nice ambiance in the room, whether you're watching TV or not. It performs as promised, with segmented customization (meaning you can change different parts of the light strip to different colors), functional and fun music syncing, and dozens of preset color scenes to choose from when you don't feel like creating a custom display. It's not without issues, but the issues it does have are easily dealt with.

This light strip is a breeze to set up and works beautifully with no connectivity issues, even after more than a year of use. The audio syncing works well and is a fun feature that makes watching TV or listening to music more animated and interesting, and the lights have multiple different lighting effects to choose from.

Personally, I found the app a little confusing to use at first, mostly in terms of creating custom color schemes, but once I got the lay of the land and figured out how to set different segments to different colors, it was fun to play around with the options. Also, when using voice control, the colors don't always match up the way you'd expect — asking Alexa to turn the lights to "pink" gives you a light, ever-so-slightly pinkish white, so for a deeper color, you have to remember to request "fuchsia" or commit to using the app to set it to a different color.

TL;DR: If you're sold on using a light strip and are looking for the perfect balance between affordability and smart features, these Govee lights are sure to become your new go-to.

To fully unlock the potential of the Philips Hue Smart Play Light you'll need to purchase the Philips Hue Sync Box as well. This makes it a more expensive option, but the performance is stellar. The bars can sync up to your music or the audio from your TV or gaming system. The smart light bars offer a wide spectrum of colors that you can customize. You can fine-tune the lighting options within the app to set the mood in your home even when you aren't watching anything on the TV. I leave mine on for the ambiance. You can mount the bars behind your TV or position them below on your media console for a similar effect.

Note: you'll also need to purchase the Philips Hue Bridge hub to enable more features.

Philips Hue Smart Play Light Bar behind TV with Apple TV's Sunny playing.

The entire Philips smart light ecosystem works well together. Within the app, you can control automations for time of day or different moods. The light bars — and their other smart light products — can be set to react to your movies, music, and video games. There are also tons of scene presets for people that don't want to get too creative with customizations. The Philips Hue Smart Play Light Bars truly upgrade the viewing experience and are a welcome addition to any media I throw on my TV.

This is the most expensive option on the list. The sync box can also cause some audio sync issues, so make sure you have it set up correctly. If you notice any sync issues, switching to another audio source and back usually solves the problem. Also, if there are ever any power outages, the lights will turn on and you'll need to shut them off via the app.

You don't need to spend a fortune on strip lights with smart home features like voice control to elevate your TV viewing experience. This light strip from Govee is a great option to attach to the back of your TV and will give you all the most important features (color customization, music syncing, dimmability, and easy control) without breaking the bank. These light strips can be cut to fit perfectly on your TV (or anywhere you want backlighting, really) and are backed by thousands of positive reviews, as well as Govee's trusted reputation. They're quite similar to our "Best Strip" pick from Govee — which we have personally tested — just minus a few smart features. If you want to save on your TV lights and don't care about things like voice control, these are a solid basic option.

This straightforward pick is easy to set up: Just connect to your phone via Bluetooth and download the Govee Home app to control it. The strip is also trimmable with guidelines for where to cut to keep the lights in good working order.

Since the light strip is white, it's visible on the backside of the TV and around the sides if not placed carefully. It also does not connect to WiFi and lacks voice control.

The Philips Hue Smart TV Light Strip is a pricey investment, sure. But if you're willing to spend and you want an upgraded aesthetic, this rope-style light strip looks sleek and performs well. If you already have Philips Hue smart lights, this pick will seamlessly integrate with your current setup, and since the lights are mounted with brackets instead of just adhesive backing, they're sturdier, too. Philips has long been known as one of the best in the industry when it comes to lighting, so you can trust that the quality is there and that the lights are as bright and colorful as you'd expect. Plus, the lights can be controlled by voice or via the app, making them incredibly easy to use once they're set up, too.

Since it's a rope light instead of the typical adhesive strips, this pick looks incredibly sleek on the back of the TV, and has brackets to mount it more securely in place.

Unlike some of the other light strip options on this list, the Philips Hue light strip cannot be cut to size, so make sure you order the right size for your television. It also requires a separate hub and a sync box to use it, which are additional purchases.

Whether you're looking to add strip lights, rope lights or light bars to your TV, there are a few things to consider as you shop. Here's what to look for:

Decide whether or not you want your TV backlights to be smart. Most options do have smart features like voice control via your go-to smart home device, but if you don't care about that, you can certainly save money and go for a much more affordable pick that's not smart but still has all the other features you're looking for.

Brightness and dimmability are key with any household lighting. You'll want to make sure the TV backlights you choose are adequately bright and that that brightness is adjustable, so you can set whatever vibe you want for movie night.

Smart TV backlights will connect directly to your WiFi, or to a hub that is connected to your WiFi, while those without smarter features often connect to your phone via Bluetooth and allow you to change the colors and settings in a coordinating app. Think about how you'd like your lights to connect: WiFi and Bluetooth are the easiest options, while a hub requires an additional purchase — but with hubs, there's less strain on your WiFi network, so it might be worth the investment to not slow down your internet. Also, consider how the lights sync up with your TV. Some lights have a built in microphone that picks up the TV audio so they can change colors with the sound while others come with a camera that monitors your screen to adjust the colors of the lights accordingly, and some require an additional device to help them sync up with what you're watching.

Make sure the TV backlights you're considering have a wide range of colors so you can truly customize your viewing experience. Another thing to check for is tunability, since there may be times you want to set the lights to white light and adjust the warmth or coolness to get the right ambiance.

There are some major features that the best LED light strips for TV ambient lighting, so you'll want to ensure the lights you buy meet all the criteria. “The best LED light strips have qualities like flexibility, brightness, ease of installation, and a lot of color options," says Jenna McLaughlin, lighting product manager at Enbrighten (a lighting company that also has a few budget-friendly TV backlight options to consider, like their LED Flex Lights). "High-quality LED strips should offer consistent brightness across their length and have good color mixing that reduces hot-spots and ensures accurate color representation.”

Most people add LED backlights to their televisions to create ambiance. McLaughlin says they can "enhance your overall viewing experience by adding depth to the visuals on your screen," noting that "the ambient lighting they create can make the colors on your TV appear richer and more vibrant." They have benefits when you're not streaming the latest movies, too. "They can also add vibrancy to your room’s aesthetics even when the TV is off!" And as an interior designer myself, I second this — especially if you're hosting a party and want to set the mood or coordinate with a particular theme.

But TV backlights can actually serve a more important purpose than just aesthetics. “LED backlights will depend on preference, but they can help reduce eye strain by providing bias lighting, which balances the contrast between your screen and the surrounding environment," McLaughlin explains. "This makes watching TV more comfortable, especially during movies or longer watch sessions."

Every LED light strip will likely come with slightly different instructions, so be sure you read the manual before you set them up. But, generally, installing them is easy and requires cleaning the back of the TV, peeling off the adhesive backing on the light strips, sticking them in place, and often trimming them to the correct size for your TV (double check that your strip lights are in fact able to be cut without issues). McLaughlin's pro tip? "For the best positioning, place the LED strip about two inches from the edge of the TV, ensuring the light casts a soft glow without being directly visible.

While most light strips are thin and ribbon-like, some have a rope-like style instead — like the Philips Hue 75" Smart TV light from our list and Enbrighten's Flex Lights. Lights like those typically come with mounting brackets to help you place the lights too, and McLaughlin suggests adding additional mounting brackets as needed for more support to really keep the lights in place.

TV backlights can create an immersive, ambiance-filled environment for viewing your favorite shows and movies, and the right LED backlights have a wide spectrum of colors to choose from, can sync up with your TV either visually or via sound (or both), and are easy to install and connect to, whether you want to use your WiFi network or Bluetooth. Our "Best Overall" pick, the Govee Envisual TV LED Backlight T2, covers all of these bases, with both an integrated microphone and a dual camera that detects colors on your screen to sync up visually and sonically.

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