The Best Christmas Lights of 2023

When picking out lights to decorate your house or yard, you’ll want to be sure the lights are suitable for outdoor use, not only for safety but also so you aren’t ruining your lights and wasting money. Luckily, these classic cone lights are great for indoor and outdoor use, so you won’t have to worry about where you’re using them.

The shatter-resistant polycarbonate bulbs are removable and dimmable (dimmer sold separately). This is nice if you want some variation in your lighting. That being said, the bulbs come detached, so there’s a little bit of assembly required. But user reviews say that’s easy and doesn’t take long.

What’s great about these lights is that they’re parallel wired, so if one bulb goes out, the rest of the string will stay lit. The classic cone style of these lights are an easy draw, and the available options of 35, 50, and 100 feet make it easy to cover your preferred area without any issues. And you can connect up to 1,000 bulbs.

While the six-inch lead and tail might seem short to some, this means that there will be less spacing between strands, so you won’t have any unlit gaps to detract from your holiday display.

These lights are on the expensive side, but the quality and professional look stand up to the price. And they’ll hold up over time with proper use and care when storing them away with your other Christmas decorations.

These outdoor Christmas lights are perfect for adding a special touch to your home display. Icicle lights have a special place in my heart because they were a staple in our holiday decor growing up. Not only do they look like pretty icicles; they also tend to get covered in ice during the winter, which makes them twinkle just a little bit more. Luckily, you won’t have to worry about them getting damaged if this happens, though, because these lights are rated for outdoor use.

Inexpensive, these icicle lights come in a batch of either 100 or 500 lights and have a long, 16-foot lead. But they aren’t made to connect to additional strands, so you’ll want to make sure you buy the correct length to avoid coming up short in your display.

Reviewers say these lights are very bright, and with eight lighting modes and a built-in timer, you’ll have a spectacular light show with minimal effort. That said, the lights don’t have any sort of memory, so once they’re turned off they automatically revert back to the first light setting, which could be a little annoying.

Small but bright, these LED string lights come in packages of 300 or 800 lights, with end-to-end plugs and a long six-foot lead. Outlyts offers a few colors to choose from, including fun Halloween colors, so if you end up loving these for your Christmas decorating, you might want to grab an additional set for Halloween!

These string lights are waterproof and meet safety standards for indoor and outdoor use. While we think these would work best on your Christmas tree, due to their small bulb size, they could also be a great choice for bushes or outdoor trees. You can connect up to four strands of lights for up to either 1,200 or 3,200 lights in total, and a remote switch makes it easy to toggle between eight lighting modes.

If you do hang these lights outside, you’ll be glad to know that user reviews mention they hold up extremely well in cold weather, rain, and snow. As with any string lights, you’ll want to be sure to store them properly to avoid unnecessary wear, as they are prone to tangling easily.

Sporting a classic bulb shape most people are used to, these LED Christmas lights from Yuletime offer something that the strands from our childhood were missing: a tangle-free design. With 200 lights, four-inch spacing per strand, and a short six-inch lead and tail, these lights would be perfect for decorating your tree. They also stay cool to the touch, so if you’re worried about hot bulbs against flammable trees or bushes, you’ll have some extra peace of mind.

Suitable for both indoor and outdoor use, we especially like that these lights have green cable, so you won’t have any obvious wires poking out. Broken bulbs can be a huge annoyance, but these string lights are wired on a series-parallel circuit structure, so if you accidentally step on a bulb while you’re setting up, the rest of the string will still work fine.

These lights are UL certified and include an inline reflector, so if you’re someone who easily notices the flickering of LED lights, these are a great choice. According to reviews, customer service is quick to respond to inquiries and replace lights that arrive damaged or faulty.

Simple and straightforward, this set of Christmas lights is a good choice for people looking to cover a lot of area. The 17-foot strands can be safely connected for a total of 1,500 lights on just one plug, making it easy to decorate without the need for multiple outlets or extension cords.

If you’re connecting lots of stands, you’ll want to make sure there’s enough lead on the lights, and you may want to consider an outdoor smart plug for extra convenience. These lights offer a six-inch lead, with the LED bulbs spaced eight inches apart, so you won’t have to worry about ugly gaps between strands.

What’s important to note is that the bulbs on these strands are not removable. This is meant to seal out moisture and eliminate the possibility of corrosion for a longer bulb life. This makes proper storage even more important, since you won’t be able to replace any damaged bulbs. If this raises concerns, you’ll be pleased to hear that they’re durable and backed by a three-year seasonal warranty.

We love these lights because the multicolored option offers a nostalgic retro feel, making the holidays even more cozy. Another feature we like is that, though these bulbs are nice and bright, you can also dim them.

Another great cone-light option, these string lights from AWQ come in three different color schemes. Choose between 49-foot (50 lights) or 81-foot (100 lights) strands, depending on the size of the space you’re looking to decorate. You can also mix and match to create the perfect length, as these lights can connect up to five sets in total.

While these bulbs sit just eight inches apart, the lights have a long 16.4-foot lead, which is great for an initial setup. But they might get tricky when you’re connecting strands end to end; you may have to use zip ties to wrap up unlit sections.

Eight lighting modes are available with these lights, but once they’re turned off they will revert back to the first setting, and the steady on is the last setting. This could be annoying for some folks.

An included timer for six hours on and 18 hours off makes these lights a great choice if you don’t want to worry about turning your lights on and off each day. That being said, built-in timers can also get tricky when you’re connecting multiple strands, so you’ll want to keep that in mind if you’re set on using the timer.

These Christmas lights are meant to withstand most weather conditions, making them great for outside use, but the power adapter is not waterproof—that’ll need to stay indoors.