The best Christmas tree lights

For most trees, the JinBest green wire set - warm white, green wire that vanishes into branches, and a UL certification stated on the listing, which much of this category omits. For a real tree where the glow matters most, the PREXTEX 200-count incandescent set still earns its place.

Tree lights are judged on three things and brightness is not one of them: whether the wire disappears by day, whether the color is warm enough to sit in a living room, and whether there is enough of it to finish the tree without a second trip to the shop.

Four criteria, all of them things a buyer can check and a maker can be held to.

1. Wire color against the tree. The most visible daytime property of a tree set and the one nobody checks before buying.
2. Enough length to finish the job. At roughly 100 lights per foot of tree, a 6 ft tree wants about 600 - which is several of these boxes, and worth knowing before the first one goes on.
3. A stated safety listing. These stay plugged in for weeks indoors. One set here states UL certification; the rest say nothing, and we report that rather than assuming.
4. A steady setting that stays steady. Multi-mode sets that forget their mode after a power cut are a specific, common annoyance.

We did not test these. Every figure is the retailer listing's own, linked in the sources below, and no set here publishes a lumen or kelvin figure.

JinBest 100 LED, green wire - the pick. Warm white LEDs on green wire with UL certification stated - the combination that should be standard in this category and mostly is not.
Who it is for: any green real or artificial tree in a warm-lit room. Who should skip it: anyone with a white or flocked tree, where green wire is the one thing you will see.
Cons: no published length, so coverage is hard to plan; no lumen or kelvin figure; not dimmable; one set rarely finishes a tree over 6 ft.

PREXTEX 200 count, 40 ft incandescent - for the traditional glow. Two hundred bulbs over 40 ft finishes a 6 or 7 ft tree from one box, with incandescent color rendering that no LED set here publishes a figure to challenge.
Who it is for: a watered real tree, viewed close up, switched off at night. Who should skip it: anyone leaving the tree lit unattended, or lighting a dry tree late in the season.
Cons: far higher power draw than LED; real heat against needles; bulbs fail and need finding; no safety listing stated.

Twinkle fairy 200 LED, 66 ft - the budget long run. The longest run here by a distance and the cheapest per foot, with a steady mode among its eight.
Who it is for: a tall tree on a budget, or anyone needing a lot of length cheaply. Who should skip it: anyone who will be annoyed by a set that may come back on a flashing mode after a power cut.
Cons: no brand, no published kelvin, no safety listing stated; seven of the eight modes are ones most people never use; fine wire damages easily when untangling.

Twinkly Strings 100 - if you want effects. Per-LED addressing on green wire, app controlled and schedulable.
Who it is for: a tree that should do more than glow. Who should skip it: anyone whose tree is otherwise traditional warm white - the RGB white will not match.
Cons: many times the price per LED of a plain set; app setup needed; 26 ft is one small tree; RGB white is an approximation.