Why You Can Trust CNET Wyze Light Strip vs. Wyze Light Strip Pro: Which LED Strip Is Best for You?
These LED light strips are similar, but one major difference divides them.
Disclaimer: We aren't recommending that consumers purchase Wyze products at this time. Over the past several years, Wyze has suffered from repeated data leaks and security breaches, including a 2019 user data leak, exposed databases in 2022, and exposed video files that same year. More recently, Wyze has seen both 2023 and 2024 security flaws that let at least 13,000 people see through other Wyze security cams owned by unrelated users.
Wyze's forum report on the latest breach includes an update from February 2024: "Our engineering team has added a new layer of verification between users and event videos to prevent this from happening again. We've also removed the client library and will not be using caching until we can find a new client library and stress test it for extreme scenarios like we saw on Friday."
This response is a start, but Wyze has repeatedly struggled to reliably update its approach to security and meaningfully communicate with its users. While we have seen security companies bounce back from security problems in the past, we haven't seen this kind of improvement from Wyze yet. So we are not endorsing their products or any services where you need to create a Wyze account with your personal info.
We'll keep you updated on Wyze's security and privacy if our recommendations change. If you're looking for security brands that have made notable security improvements or have good privacy track records, we can recommend products from Ring, Google's Nest, Blink, and Arlo.
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.
Wyze Light Strip
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.
Wyze Light Strip Pro
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.
Which one should you pick?
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.
