Best solar motion security lights 2023

Take your home security up a notch with one of the top outdoor motion-sensing lights

If you're looking to add a layer of security to the outside of your home, installing a solar motion light - or several - can be a great way to achieve some peace of mind.

Since most outdoor solar lights come with a motion sensor, you're able to gain an idea of whether someone (or someone's pet) is potentially sneaking around your four walls without having to splash on a smart security camera.

Put simply, the best solar motion lights act as a great deterrent and can be run efficiently in all weather conditions.

To help you decide which set is right for your home, though, we've gathered some of the top picks - explore the outdoor solar lights below and take your home security up a notch.

Simple and easy

Ring's powerful floodlight is perfect for most people, although it does require you to get a Bridge device to set it up.

Ring is a big name in the smart home world, and this simple but powerful floodlight is one of its most useful products - with a hugely effective wave of light and a motion detector that can trigger it.

It's relatively inexpensive and super efficient for its size, and because it's part of the Ring ecosystem you can easily integrate it into a much more complex and wide-ranging setup of smart home tech. However, you do need a Ring Bridge to make it work, which makes it pretty expensive.

A complete setup

A smart and efficient outdoor light set that's ideal for bigger homes.

If you're looking to surround your home with the power of solar motion lighting, Aootek's four-pack is a great place to start.

The best feature of this set, undoubtedly, is the three optional modes for users to pick between. 'Security Mode' will show the light for 15 seconds when it detects motion, 'Smart Brightness Mode' keeps the light dim continuously and shines brighter if motion is detected, while 'Permanent Mode', well, shines permanently.

The rechargeable light can detect people up to 26 feet within a 120-degree angle, with the 120 LED design also remaining IP65 rated for waterproofing.

Light your way

Another excellent light from Ring, albeit another that needs a Bridge to work, this path light is perfect for classier light.

It's different from the other lights on this list because it doesn't point downwards from a wall, but this clever little pathway light from Ring is wildly easy to set up and might just get the job done more elegantly for you.

Charging by solar and with a reliable motion detector, this is a great way to get gentler, less intrusive lighting, and it's nice and affordable as well, making for a great package.

Inexpensive and impressive

An affordable solar motion pair with ample features for most users.

HMCity offers a great mix of specs and affordability, making this duo a top consideration for those on a budget.

With the PIR motion sensor detecting movement up to 26 feet and within the 120-degree detection angle, they're a viable option for any area around your home.

When motion is detected, the lights spring into action and shine for 30 seconds (and then an additional 30 seconds if motion is detected again in that time), with the 120 LED array lighting up a 270-degree angle. As is standard, the HMCity pair are also waterproof, thanks to their IP65 rating.

Stepping out

A small light that points directly down to light a set of steps or a pathway depending on your setup, this is another great solar option from Ring.

A third option on our list from Ring is this simple downlight, which has a small solar panel to keep it powered, and like the rest of Ring's lineup demands a Ring Bridge in order to make it work completely.

If you have that on board, you'll get a really good small light that is perfect for steps and decks, giving you enough light to move around by without flooding the whole area, a middle ground that covers a lot of uses.

There are huge numbers of different solar motion lights that you could pick from on the market - here are some questions to help you narrow your choices down.

Many of the lights that we've highlighted come in packs with two, four or even six lights in one go, and this is a great way to get a package that lets you light more than one area in one go, rather than having to buy multiple of one light. If you need multiple, be sure to check how many come in your choice of pack.

If you're hoping to light up a big yard or driveway, something to pay attention to is the lumen output that each light offers - this will determine how bright its light is, and therefore how much space you can expect it to effectively light up. In broad terms, the bigger that number is, the better.

However, it's worth saying that brighter won't be better for everyone - many of the lights we've looked at offer lower brightness modes in case you're hoping to light under some stairs, for example, or just want a more muted and chilled-out look. That's ideal as an option, so if you think you'd like to play around with your brightness be sure to check what you can do with the light of your choice.

Max is an avid gamer, but writes about whatever is newsworthy, and works across features, reviews, buyer’s guides and more for the site.Max joined Pocket-lint after a fruitful spell writing about wearable and smart home tech for Wareable and The Ambient as a magazine journalism graduate from City, University of London.He’s also contributed to Kotaku UK, The Sunday Times, the Press Association and MUNDIAL. When he’s not working, his time is divided worryingly evenly between football, culture and sleeping.