Twinkly Christmas Tree Lights: How To Choose A Twinkly Tree Or Twinkly Strings

Most Christmas lights do one thing well: they stay one color, or they fade, twinkle, or strobe the way they were built to. Twinkly lights are a different kind of product. Every LED on a Twinkly string or tree can be addressed on its own from a phone, so the same set of lights can be a steady warm white on Monday, a slow red and green fade on Christmas Eve, and a moving pattern of color for a party in between. That flexibility is the reason people search for them, and it is also the reason choosing between them takes a little more thought than picking a color and a length.

We carry three Twinkly products for the decorating season: the 6.5 foot RGBW 3D Light Show Tree and Twinkly RGB strings in 100 and 250 light lengths. This guide explains what the technology actually does, which of the three fits which job, what to plan for power and weather, and when a traditional string or a controller is the better tool.

What Makes Twinkly Different From Other Color-Changing Lights

The word that matters on every Twinkly product page is individually addressable. On a standard color-changing string, the whole string changes together. On a Twinkly string, each LED gets its own instruction, which means one light can be red while the light next to it is blue and the one after that is off. Put a sequence of those instructions together and color appears to travel, ripple, sparkle, or build along the string.

That is a meaningful difference from how a chase controller works. A chase controller switches entire strings on and off in order, so movement happens from one zone of a yard to the next. Twinkly movement happens within a single string or tree. Neither is better. They solve different design problems, and we cover how to use both in How To Design Motion Into A Christmas Light Display.

Everything runs from the free Twinkly app for iOS and Android. From the app you can:

• Pick from 17 million color combinations
• Run the pre-loaded animated light effects
• Design your own custom animated sequences
• Sync the lights to your music

The strings are RGB. The tree is RGBW, which adds a dedicated white LED to the red, green, and blue. In practice that gives the tree a full range of white hues, from warm to crisp, in addition to color. If your display is mostly white and you want the Twinkly piece to sit comfortably next to it, that white channel is worth knowing about.

Option 1: The Twinkly RGBW 3D Light Show Tree

The Twinkly RGBW 3D Light Show Tree is a complete, freestanding piece. It stands 6.5 feet tall, carries 300 individually addressable RGBW LEDs on 3.5 inch spacing, and the pole is included. There is no tree to wrap and no strings to route. You set it up, plug it in, and connect it to the app.

Key specs from the product page:

• 300 RGBW LEDs, 5mm lens style, 3.5 inch spacing
• 6.5 feet tall, 3D pole tree with pole included
• Designed for outdoor use, indoor/outdoor rated, IP44
• UL Listed, 120V
• Black wire, male plug only
• Backed by our Reindeer Proof™ Warranty

Where it works best: a front porch, an entry walk, a patio, a storefront, or a spot in the yard where there is no real tree to light. Because the LEDs run the full height of the cone, patterns read as the whole tree moving together, which is the effect most people have in mind when they search for a Twinkly tree. At 6.5 feet it is a human-scale piece, so it looks right close to the house or a doorway rather than out at the edge of a large lawn.

What it is not: a mega tree. If you want a tree that reads from down the street, you are looking at a pole tree built from a Mega Tree Kit for trees up to 20 feet tall, with light strings running from a hook head to the ground. Our mega tree kit guide walks through that build.

Option 2: Twinkly RGB Christmas Light Strings

The Twinkly strings put the same app control on a flexible string, so you choose the shape. Both lengths share the same construction:

• Individually addressable RGB LEDs, 5mm lens style, 3 inch spacing
• Green wire, 24 AWG
• Indoor/outdoor rated, IP44
• UL Listed, 120V
• Male plug only
• Backed by our Reindeer Proof™ Warranty

100 Lights

The Twinkly 100-light string suits smaller shapes: a wreath, a porch rail, a potted tree by the door, a mantel, or a small indoor tree. The green wire disappears into greenery, which makes it an easy choice for wreaths and garland where the wire would otherwise show.

250 Lights

The Twinkly 250-light string is two and a half times the length on the same 3 inch spacing. It is the better fit for an indoor Christmas tree, a larger evergreen near the house, or any shape where you would otherwise need several short strings. Because Twinkly strings do not connect end to end (more on that below), one longer string also means one power feed instead of two or three.

Choosing Between Them

Measure the shape first. Both strings use the same 3 inch spacing, so the 250 covers two and a half times the distance of the 100 at the same density. If the shape needs more than one 100-light string, the 250 is usually the cleaner answer, since it keeps the run continuous and cuts the number of cords you have to bring to it. If you are lighting a Christmas tree and are not sure how much length it needs, our guide to how many lights a Christmas tree needs is a good place to start, and you can browse every option in Christmas Tree Lights.

Plan Power Before You Buy

Every Twinkly product we carry has a male plug only. There is no female end, so Twinkly strings do not connect end to end the way most of our LED strings do. Each string, and the tree, needs its own path to power: an outlet or an outdoor-rated extension cord run.

That is easy to plan for and annoying to discover on install day. Before you order, walk the spot and count the power points you will need. For a tree with two strings, that is two cords reaching the base. For a porch rail and a wreath, it may be two separate outlets. If you would rather build cords to the exact lengths you need, our electrical accessories include SPT zipcord for making your own, plus weatherproof plug gaskets for the connections.

Weather And Outdoor Placement

The tree and the strings are indoor/outdoor rated with an IP44 rating. IP44 means the product is protected against splashing water from any direction. It is not a rating for sitting in standing water. Outdoors, the same habits that protect every light string apply here:

• Keep plugs and connections off the ground and pointed down
• Leave a drip loop in the cord so water runs off before it reaches a connection
• Seat every plug fully
• Protect cord connections with a weatherproof plug gasket rather than tape, which traps moisture

Our guide to waterproof outdoor Christmas light connections covers each of these in more detail.

When Twinkly Is Not The Right Tool

Twinkly is the right choice when you want one tree or one shape to change on command. It is not the right tool for every part of a display, and saying so saves money.

Rooflines. Twinkly strings use a 5mm lens style, and 5mm strings are not a roofline product. Rooflines call for C9 bulbs on a stringer. Start with C9 Christmas lights for the edge of the house.

A large yard tree or a mega tree. Trees that read from the street take a lot of light, and the practical way to build them is with traditional strings on a mega tree kit. If you want movement on a mega tree, a chase controller switching groups of drops gives it direction.

A whole-yard color scheme. If what you want is a set color palette that stays put, a steady or slow-fade string is simpler and needs no app. DreamSpark® slow fade strings give a gentle random fade on their own, with nothing to program.

The strongest displays usually use both kinds of product: a steady roofline and trees as the frame, and one app-controlled piece near the door as the thing people stop and watch. A Twinkly tree on the porch against a warm white roofline is a good example of that balance.

Quick Buying Checklist

• Want a finished tree with nothing to wrap? The 6.5 foot RGBW 3D Light Show Tree.
• Lighting a wreath, rail, or small tree? The 100-light string.
• Lighting a full indoor tree or a larger shape? The 250-light string.
• Counted your outlets? One power feed per string or tree, since every Twinkly product has a male plug only.
• Working on the roofline or a street-scale tree? C9 bulbs or a mega tree kit instead.

You can see all three products together in our Twinkly RGB Christmas Lights collection, and the wider range of color-changing options in RGB Christmas Lights. If you have a question about how a Twinkly piece will fit into your display, email us at help@thechristmaslightemporium.com. Our team decorates rooflines, trees, homes, businesses, and some of the largest Christmas displays in the world, so the advice is based on decades of experience and practical application.