Best outdoor lights

Over the course of a couple of months we put the most popular outdoor lights through an assault of durability tests to find the ones you'll be able to rely on all year round for many years to come.

The lights we tested range in price from £10 up to more than £60 (depending on how many metres you buy). We've tested mains-powered lights, battery-powered lights, icicle lights and fairy lights so that we can recommend the most durable sets, whatever your requirements. 

Fewer than half of the outdoor lights completely survived our durability tests. Clear signs of corrosion and poor soldering were the most frequent causes of early failure. Find out which lights suffered this fate. 

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The best outdoor lights

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The outdoor lights we tested

ConnectPro Outdoor LED String Lights

Only available at Festive lights: £29.98 for five metres (including starter cable).

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Length: You can buy these lights in five-metre increments up to 100 metres. Whichever length you buy you will also need a £11.99 ConnectPro Starter Cable

Colour: Pick from seven colours (warm white, white, red, pink, blue, green, orange)

Modes: On or off

Timer: Not as standard, but you can buy a compatible timer plug from Connect Pro for £31.99

Cable colour: Black

Power source: Mains

Connectable: Yes

Corst Outdoor Icicle Lights

Only available at Amazon: £16.99.

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Length: 10 metres

Colour: Warm white, white, blue and white

Modes: Eight

Timer: Yes

Cable colour: White

Power source: Mains

Connectable: Yes

Homebase 300 LED string Christmas Tree Lights

Only available at Homebase: £18.75 for 300 lights (out of stock).

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Length: 30.4 metres

Colour: Warm white

Modes: Eight

Timer: Yes

Cable colour: Green

Power source: Three AA batteries

Connectable: No

Koopower Battery Operated Fairy Lights

Only available at Amazon: £7.49.

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Length: 10 metres

Colour: Warm white

Modes: Eight

Timer: Yes

Cable colour: White 

Power source: Three AA batteries

Connectable: No

Lights4fun 200 LED Outdoor Battery Fairy Lights

Only available at Lights4fun: £29.99.

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Length: 1.5 metres to the first light and then a 19.9 metre string of lights

Colour: Warm white

Modes: Eight

Timer: Yes

Cable colour: Green

Power source: Three D cell batteries (not provided). Claimed battery life of 180 hours (30 days at six hours per day)

Connectable: No

Ollny Fairy Lights 200 LED

Only available at Amazon: £15.99.

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Length: 20 metres

Colour: Warm white or white

Modes: Eight

Timer: Yes

Cable colour: White

Power source: Mains

Connectable: Yes

Premier 200 LED Supabrights With Timer

Only available at Christmas decorations outlet: £14.99.

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Length: 24 metres of cable (16 metres of lights)

Colour: White

Modes: Eight

Timer: Yes

Cable colour: Green

Power source: Mains

Connectable: No

Pro Connect 200 Traditional Warm White Connectable Icicle Lights

Only available at Lights4fun: £29.99 for two metres.

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Length: 1.5 metres to the first light and then you can buy the lights in two-metre increments all the way up to 40 metres. Every additional two metres costs £29.99. The length of the dangling icicles vary from 30cm to 70cm

Colour: White, warm white or you can mix and match

Modes: On or off

Timer: Yes

Cable colour: White

Power source: Mains

Connectable: Yes

Pro Series Outdoor String Lights

Only available at Christmas direct: £39.99 for ten metres.

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Length: You can buy these lights in five-metre increments up to 400 metres 

Colour: Seven colours (warm white, white, red, pink, blue, green, orange)

Modes: Three

Timer: Not as standard, but you can buy a compatible timer plug for £31.99

Cable colour: Green or white

Power source: Mains

Connectable: Yes

The Range 400 Light Chain LED Lights

Only available at The Range: £19.99.

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Length: 33 metres for the 400-light version, but 750 bulb and 1,000 bulb light strings are also available 

Colour: White

Modes: Eight

Timer: No

Cable colour: Green

Power source: Mains

Connectable: No

WeRChristmas 200 LED Christmas Tree Lights

Only available at WeRChristmas: £12.99 (out of stock).

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Length: Five metres of cable until the first lights and then 14 metres of string lights

Colour: White

Modes: Eight

Timer: No

Cable colour: Green

Power source: Mains

Connectable: No

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How we tested outdoor lights

We know from our research that outdoor lights have an issue with longevity. They simply don't last long enough, and many end up in landfill far too quickly. 

We set out to find out if there are outdoor lights that will survive tough British winters, and how much you need to pay for them. 

Of course we couldn't test these products over three or four years like we might like to - by the time we could publish the results you wouldn't be able to buy the lights anymore. 

So we designed a really tough set of tests to simulate the type of conditions these types of lights might endure over a harsh British winter. 

Waterproofing

Each set of lights was subjected to a sustained shower with a hose, and then also fully submerged in a bucket of water for an hour. 

Subzero temperatures

Dripping wet, the lights were put into a freezer for 24 hours at -16 degrees. 

Weathering

Before we even started the durability tests the lights were all left outside in all weathers for three weeks. This was enough of a test for many of the lights to already show signs of corrosion. 

Rough treatment

We set up the lights, bashed them against fence posts and sharply tugged the wires repeatedly where they entered the plug socket and all along the cable. 

This tests simulated the type of rough treatment the lights might receive if they're being untangled, or put up without much care. 

How to pack up your lights after use

To keep long-lasting lights it's essential to store them correctly in any months when you might not be using them, making sure they aren't kept in a big tangled heap. 

• Use a coat hanger: A spare coat hanger can be used to wrap your lights around. Not only does this stop them getting tangled up, but it minimises the space you need to store them as well. 
• Wrapping paper tubes: You can recycle wrapping paper tubes and use them to wrap your lights around. Cut a slit in one end of the tube to grip one end of the lights, and then simply wrap them around the tube. 
• Old cardboard box: If you don't have a wrapping paper tube, or a coat hanger, a similar method can be followed with a sheet of cardboard. Simply cut a notch at one end to attach the lights, and then wrap around the board. 
• Light reels: If these homemade options don't appeal, you can buy light storage reels to help keep the lights tidy and stored correctly. We've seen them at a number of retailers, including Amazon, and retailers such as UKChristmasWorld or Festive-Lights, which will help keep the lights tidy and stored correctly.