Tired of untangling strings of Christmas lights year after year? It’s time for you to invest in a pre-lit artificial Christmas tree. Here is our list of the 5 Best Pre-Lit Christmas Trees for 2020.
Even if you love the look of a real tree, artificial Christmas trees have come a long way in how natural they look. They’re a great alternative because there’s no mess and they can be stored and enjoyed year after year.
Opting for a pre-lit Christmas tree is a smart choice so you don’t have to fuss with tangled wires or string your lights evenly. Our list of the best pre-lit Christmas trees focuses on 7-7.5 foot tall hinged trees. These will bring joy instead of stress to the holiday season for years to come.
In this review, we’ll be taking a look at these 5 best pre-lit Christmas trees:
- National Tree Company 7.5 Foot Feel Real Downswept Douglas Fir
- Balsam Hill 7 Foot Classic Blue Spruce
- National Tree Company 7.5 Foot Carolina Pine
- Puleo International 7.5 Foot Pre-Lit Slim Fraser Fir
- Best Choice Products 7.5ft Pre-Lit Hinged Douglas Fir
In order to determine the best pre-lit artificial Christmas tree, we researched lots of different brands and models. We looked out for a few main criteria points:
Size – The size of your Christmas tree is really dependent on your space. Larger rooms with high ceilings can accommodate a very grand looking 9 ft tree. Meanwhile, apartments and smaller spaces need to scale down to not look squished. Slim and pencil trees have also become quite popular options for smaller spaces.
Style – Christmas trees are modeled after real evergreen trees from different parts of North America. Familiarizing yourself with some different types of trees can help to narrow down which style of tree would work best for your space.
Tip Count – The number of tips on an artificial Christmas tree represents how many needles are on the branches of the tree. The more tips, the fuller the tree usually is.
Light Count, Color & Type – Whether you opt for energy-efficient LEDs or stick with traditional warm-toned incandescents, the type and amount of bulbs can play a role in the price of the tree and how long it will last. You should also consider if you are ok with a single light setting or if you’d get a lot of enjoyment out of having options for multicolored lights or twinkling lights.
Fluff Time – This time represents how long it takes to fluff out your tree so it looks full and natural. Generally, the more time you spend fluffing, the fewer gaps there will be and the better your tree will look.
Now that you have a better understanding of how we evaluated the trees, check out our list of the Best Pre-Lit Christmas Trees for 2020 and scroll to the bottom for a full comparison chart.
National Tree Company 7.5 Foot Feel Real Downswept Douglas Fir
First up is the National Tree Company 7.5 Foot Feel Real Downswept Douglas Fir. National Tree Company has been a leader in Christmas trees for over 60 years and the 7.5 ft Downswept Douglas Fir is a beautiful choice for a classic Christmas tree.
Although it has a traditional silhouette, this tree comes with a lot of great modern features. You can say goodbye to fussing with electrical cords when connecting the tree sections because this tree comes equipped with PowerConnect™ technology, meaning that the electrical connections are in the center post so all you have to do is snap them together and you’re good to go.
The lights on this tree are LEDs so they consume very little energy and you never have to worry about them heating up. Not only can you have the classic warm white look, but there are 9 different lighting options where you can transition from warm white to multicolor and opt for solid colors or a twinkling pattern so you can have a different look to your tree every day.
This tree is ultra sturdy and is built to last. The branches are crafted with Feel Real construction, as they are modeled after actual trees with a polyethylene tip for optimal realism in look AND feel. And of course, this tree is fire-resistant and non-allergenic. The only critique that some users had is that the lights could be better distributed in certain areas.
Balsam Hill 7 Foot Classic Blue Spruce
Next is the Balsam Hill 7 Foot Classic Blue Spruce. Anyone who has ever lusted over a Christmas tree has probably wanted to own a Balsam Hill and the 7-foot Classic Blue Spruce is a great choice among their traditional trees.
This beauty is modeled after the Colorado Blue Spruce and has dense foliage with needles that are flexible and soft to the touch in a range of green tones and silvery hues along with brown stems for depth and realism. The soft needles won’t poke you as you brush by, which is always a pet peeve with a real tree.
This pre-lit Christmas tree has warm LED lights that are meant to mimic the glow of a candle flame so you can have the look of an incandescent bulb while being energy efficient. There’s also a handy foot pedal included for easy on and off lighting controls.
This tree isn’t super wide at the bottom with a diameter of 53” so it works great in smaller spaces without taking up your entire room. It is flame-retardant and free of tree-related allergens and comes with a tree storage bag, gloves for comfortable branch fluffing and the foot pedal to control the lights.
One thing to keep in mind with this tree is that the height includes the stand, so the tree itself is only about 6’5”. Also, just as some praise the narrower profile, others found it disappointing as it isn’t as wide as they had anticipated because it is verging on a slim or pencil style tree.
National Tree Company 7.5 Foot Carolina Pine
Another gem from the National Tree Company is the 7.5 Foot Carolina Pine. This tree is a lower cost option compared to the Downswept Douglas Fir but still offers exceptional realism that many users said is the most realistic Christmas tree they’ve ever seen. The branch tips are crafted after real trees with 3 different styles of needles that sweep out into a very wide 61” diameter – that’s 5 feet!
There are 750 incandescent bulbs and this tree boasts a low fluff time of 45-60 minutes so you can spend more time decorating and enjoying your Christmas tree than arranging the branches.
The thing that sets this tree apart is its branches that have flocked pine cones to look like they have a light natural-looking dusting of snow on them. These are sure to complement your festive decorations or even function as decorations on their own. This tree is fire-resistant and non-allergenic and will last for years to come.
One user reported that the bottom branches do sit fairly low to the ground so there wasn’t any space under the tree for big gifts and because the branches are so fluffy, many had to use hooks with their ornaments instead of the built-in ribbon loops.
Keep scrolling for our comparison chart of the Best Pre-Lit Christmas Trees for 2020!
Puleo International 7.5 Foot Pre-Lit Slim Fraser Fir
For a slim tree, the Puleo International 7.5 Foot Pre-Lit Slim Fraser Fir is the perfect complement to apartments or smaller spaces that can’t accommodate a wide tree. Despite its slim silhouette, this tree is very full and is handcrafted out of quality materials for a realistic look.
The tree comes in 3 sections and is easy to assemble and very sturdy. A great feature is that the middle pole is wrapped so you’ll never have to worry about seeing any metal. This tree is hypoallergenic, needle-shed resistant, and flame retardant.
Funnily enough, because the tree is so sturdy and the center poles fit together snugly, it can be a bit challenging to take apart. Not a bad tradeoff for sturdiness and at least you’ll only have to worry about that once a year.
Also, this tree only has 500 incandescent lights, which is far less than the other pre-lit Christmas trees on our list, but they’re very nicely distributed so it still gives off a beautiful warm glow.
Best Choice Products 7.5ft Pre-Lit Hinged Douglas Fir
Closing out the list is our budget option, the Best Choice Products 7.5ft Pre-Lit Hinged Douglas Fir. This tree is still nice and full with over 2000 branch tips. The 7.5 ft model has a 50” diameter, which is a great option for smaller spaces and still leaves plenty of room for decorations.
This tree is super easy to put together but does require some time and patience to fluff out. The Douglas Fir silhouette is a classic Christmas tree style that’s fluffy and wide and looks good in any home.
This pre-lit Christmas tree is a great value for how beautiful it looks at a much lower price point than a Balsam Hill. There are 700 perfectly distributed warm white incandescent light bulbs that add just the right amount of glow. It’s also non-flammable and non-allergenic.
The downside to this tree is that it’s not quite as full as other more expensive trees and it’s also not the sturdiest. Although it sits nice and tall on its own, it does have the potential to wobble if you or your pet bumps into it.
Here’s a recap of our Top 5 Best Pre-Lit Christmas Trees for 2020:
| Height
Range |
Width | Tree Style | Tip Count | Lights | Fluff Time | Critiques | |
| National Tree Company 7.5 Foot Feel Real Downswept Douglas Fir | 6 ft –
12 ft |
58” | Douglas Fir | 1,867 | 750 dual-color LED lights (warm white to multicolor) with 9 different light modes | Less than 1 hour | Some say that the lights aren’t distributed as evenly as they could be |
| Balsam Hill 7 Foot Classic Blue Spruce | 4.5 ft –
9 ft |
53” | Blue Spruce | 2,266 | 850 clear LED lights (warm white) | 2 hours | Thinner silhouette is in between a classic tree and a slim/pencil tree
Height of the tree includes the stand so the tree itself is only 6.5’ |
| National Tree Company 7.5 Foot Carolina Pine | 4.5 ft –
12 ft |
61” | Carolina Pine | 1,399 | 750 clear incandescent lights (warm white) | 45-60 minutes | Bottom branches sit fairly low to the ground and due to the variation in branches (3 different types), some are so fluffy that you might need to use hooks for ornaments instead of their loops |
| Puleo International 7.5 Foot Pre-Lit Slim Fraser Fir | 4.5 ft –
12 ft |
44” | Fraser Fir (Slim) | 1,453 | 500 clear incandescent lights (warm white) | 1-2 hours | Has fewer lights than other models and takes some effort to take apart |
| Best Choice Products 7.5 Foot Pre-Lit Hinged Douglas Fir | 6.5 ft, 7.5 ft
& 9 ft |
50” | Douglas Fir | 2,254 | 700 clear incandescent lights (warm white) | 1.5 – 2
hours |
Not as full as some of the other more expensive trees and it can be a bit wobbly if you or your pets bump into it |
