Our pick
Realistic, full, generously sized, and versatile, this LED-lit tree can switch between all-white and multicolor modes, and the lights connect as you put the sections together.
Compared with both pricier and cheaper trees, National Tree Company’s 7.5-foot Feel Real Downswept Douglas Fir strikes a good balance of cost, realism, and ease of setup. With nearly 2,000 lifelike polyethylene branch tips, surrounding a core clad with less-realistic PVC “pine needles,” this tree has a construction similar to that of other high-quality artificial trees. Yet with a higher-than-average proportion of those lifelike branches, the Downswept Douglas Fir creates a more convincing illusion of a living fir. The 750 built-in LED bulbs fill its branches nicely, and the lights can switch from all white to multicolor to a mix of the two, giving the tree an uncommon versatility. Also, while some trees require you to hunt down the light strings’ plugs among the foliage and manually connect them, this tree has a trunk-mounted PowerConnect system, which automatically does the job for you when you stack its three sections together. At 7½ feet high and almost 5 feet across, the tree is generously proportioned; it will fill the corner of almost any living room. Finally, it’s widely available, easy to set up, and competitively priced. (For smaller homes, we recommend the 6½-foot version.) As with most artificial trees, this model takes up a chunk of storage space in the off-season, even when it’s disassembled.
Also great
Offering exceptional realism, Puleo’s Royal Majestic Douglas Fir comes with warm, clear incandescent lights—the kind that keep working even if one bulb goes out.
Right out of the box, without any of the branch fluffing that all artificial trees require, Puleo’s 7.5-foot Royal Majestic Douglas Fir Downswept Tree looked so lifelike that a staff writer walking by commented, “It looks like a real tree.” Puleo augments its realistic polyethylene branch tips with subtle color variations—like lighter-green ends simulating new growth—thereby creating one of the most convincing illusions we’ve seen on any artificial tree. This tree’s lights connect automatically via wiring in the sections of trunk, so setup is easy. Unlike the lights on all of our other picks, however, the ones on this tree are traditional incandescents, not LEDs, and they come only in clear. But if you prefer the warmer glow of incandescents, that’s a feature, not a bug. And even if one bulb burns out, the rest of the bulbs keep working (unlike with some incandescent Christmas lights).
Also great
In addition to having realistic needles, the King Noble is also flocked—covered in artificial snow. It’s lovely, especially set against a dark nighttime window or in an unlit corner.
The King of Christmas 7-foot King Noble Flock Fir is a so-called Euro-style tree, with fewer, more naturalistic branches than you find on plump, symmetrical American-style trees. It also has a realistic coating of artificial snow, or flocking, which looks spectacular. The 1,163 branch tips are enough to give this tree a rich appearance while leaving extra room for an abundance of ornaments (a reason Euro-style trees are increasingly popular), and its 500 white micro LED lights illuminate the “snow” to great effect. The lights connect automatically when you stack the tree’s three sections together, sparing you the chore of finding and manually connecting plugs among the foliage. They can also toggle (via a foot pedal or the included remote control) from steadily lit to a slow fade-in and fade-out to a variety of blinking patterns. The included gloves and tree bag make setup and storage easier.
Upgrade pick
More lights, more realistic branch tips, more money: For a long-term investment, Balsam Hill’s most popular “species” is hard to beat.
Compared with National Tree’s Downswept Douglas Fir, Balsam Hill’s 7.5-foot Fraser Fir Flip Tree Color + Clear LED has a greater proportion and higher number of realistic branches, which makes it appear more lifelike, especially from across a room. It also has more lights (1,320 versus 750), creating an opulent display that our testers universally preferred. Like those on the Downswept Douglas Fir, the lights on this tree connect automatically via plugs within the trunk, and they too can switch between clear, color, or a mix of the two. We particularly appreciate that this tree’s base has wheels, a unique feature among our test group, because they make it much easier to move the tree into place and back into storage. The “flip” function simply tilts the lower section of the tree upright during setup, so you don’t have to lift it into place yourself; this is another welcome feature, since the tree weighs 78 pounds in total. Like the less expensive trees we tested, this one still requires you to put in some time arranging and perfecting it to make it look its best. But it delivers a level of fullness and realism that’s truly stunning.
Budget pick
Trees like this Puleo, with a sparser, shaggier look, are trendy, and the larger gaps between their branches make it easier to hang and show off ornaments.
Like the King of Christmas King Noble Flock Fir, Puleo’s 7.5-foot Pre-Lit Aspen Fir Tree is a Euro-style tree, with fewer branches than you find on American-style trees. (It is not flocked with artificial snow, however.) The resulting larger gaps between branches make it easier to hang and display ornaments. And when there are fewer branches, the setup process is faster, since it takes less time to fluff the whole tree into shape. This tree’s 700 white incandescent bulbs have a warmth that LED bulbs struggle to match, and a single blown-out bulb won’t make the whole string go dark (unlike with older incandescent lights). Its 1,319 branch tips are especially realistic, fading from lighter-green “new growth” at their ends to dark green at their bases (just like on live trees), and a brown (rather than the usual green) “trunk” adds to the illusion. One minor drawback: You have to manually plug the light strings together, a fussier method than with the in-pole connections we favor.
Also great
Artificial trees offer a lot of versatility, as this space-saving version of our pick proves. If you don’t want a tiny tree in a small room, consider a slim model with a minimal footprint.
National Tree Company’s 7.5-foot Feel Real Downswept Douglas Fir Pencil Slim is a great choice for small spaces, like a foyer or a compact apartment, or as an accent tree (in a pair flanking a fireplace or doorway, for example). At just 32 inches wide, this tree is barely half the width of the Downswept Douglas Fir on which it’s based. It has the same type of realistic branches (just fewer of them), and its 300 LED bulbs can shine in white, multicolor, or a mix of the two. Due to the pencil shape, this tree looks like no living pine that we know of, but when it’s lit and decorated, it’s pretty in its own right.
