Nanoleaf's new Matter smart lights make Hue look awfully expensive

If you're looking for effective smart lighting to replace standard lights and fittings, Nanoleaf may have just what you're looking for. Its new Essentials lights cover many of the bases for upgrading a typical home: GU10 spots, recessed downlights and table lamps you can take outside.

These lights are Matter compatible, and that means you can use them with Apple's HomeKit provided you have a device such as the HomePod mini that can communicate over Matter. They're also priced extremely keenly, and I'm definitely going to be buying some of them.

What new lights has Nanoleaf announced?

The Essentials Matter GU10 is a standard GU10 spotlight of the kind I have in my kitchen and you probably do too, or would like to. But this GU10 is smart and supports a range of white colour temperatures as well as the usual Nanoleaf 16+ million colours. The GU10s start at £19.99 each; a 3-pack is £49.99, six is £89.99 and 12 will set you back a relatively titchy £169.99. By comparison, Hue colour GU10s are £54.99 for one, rising to £134.99 for three. Which is why I don't have Hue bulbs in my kitchen spots.

The new Recessed Downlights have similar specs and are designed to replace entire downlight fixtures. They're four inches across and capable of delivering up to 450 lumens. They're £24.99 each or £89.99 for a four pack. If you've ever replaced a bunch of ceiling downlighters you'll know that's a steal.

Nanoleaf also has two new lights, in partnership with Umbra – although at the moment they're only available to order for US customers. The Cono Portable Lamp and Cup desktop lamp are both portable with the same controller and colour options as the smart bulbs. They're not as pretty as my Hue Go Table Lamp but at $50 and $130 each they're cheaper: it's £139.

I'm really impressed by Nanoleaf's most recent products, and I'm also really pleased to see Matter delivering on its promises: easier, more affordable smart home systems. As someone who's invested heavily in Apple's HomeKit and Philips Hue I've become resigned to spending comparatively large amounts of cash on smart home kit and smart lighting in particular, so I'm really pleased to see high quality, HomeKit-friendly alternatives for considerably less cash.