The Best Artificial Christmas Trees, According to People Whose Taste We Trust

Balsam Hill’s Classic Blue Spruce was featured on the set of Hallmark’s One Royal Holiday. Fittingly, the movie’s set decorator, Christi Whiteley, calls it “majestic.” Another fan is Lauren Ragan, director of ad operations at Vox Media. The real-looking needles on this tree take a while to arrange the first few times — each branch has needles arranged in a sort of fan shape, and they need to be pushed out and down — “but after some time, it gets easier and easier, my husband tells me,” Ragan says. After pulling the trigger on the “onetime investment” four Christmases ago, she hasn’t looked back. Ragan goes for a “nice dressing” of different-colored ornaments on the tree, a compromise with her husband. Her in-laws, who are big on Christmas, have theirs “doused in ornaments,” a tradition her husband embraced before.

Target’s in-house holiday line, Wondershop, is full of cheap trees. Because it’s a seasonal shop (like its Halloween-themed Hyde & Eek), stock moves fast — and might not come back for the next holiday season. Thankfully, this Alberta Spruce has, and now comes in different heights: three, six and a half, or seven feet. In the old apartment of e-commerce consultant (and my former boss) Brittany Nims, this tree stood between her now-husband’s desk and the entertainment console in their living room, which was very small (even by Brooklyn standards). Nims packed on the sparkle while decorating it, adding mini disco balls, a glittery star topper, and sequined, faux-fur-trimmed skirt. “There’s something about a glowing Christmas tree that’s just so cheerful,” she says.

Before getting this Dunhill Fir (designed by decades-old National Tree Company), Stefania Orrù, director of production at Eater, owned fakes that were best described as “Charlie Brown–y.” Her hunt for her first full-size tree included lots of review reading and Googling — and it was a YouTube video that persuaded her to get this tree. “It was a steal,” considering how costly an artificial tree can be and especially with current inflation levels, Orrù says. The tree is painless to set up and comes unlit — something common when buying a cheaper fake, as adding lights yourself will require buying them separately and spending time putting them on. But Orrù appreciates the flexibility of being able to swap styles of lights this way. She even went with a “disco junk food” theme one year — featuring ornaments in the shape of a hot dog, pizza, and stick of butter. She notes that the branches are “pretty pliable in terms of positioning.”

If you want a realistic tree that nonetheless looks a bit frosty — and isn’t flocked — Trolio recommends Balsam Hill’s Sanibel Spruce. “It’s one of my absolute favorites of the handful of Balsam Hill trees I’ve acutally seen in person,” she says. Plus it “very much matches the product photo on the site,” which isn’t always the case when it comes to artificial trees. The tips of the needles on this tree are a bit lighter in color, and the branch tips are especially lifelike. “One of the more obvious giveaways that makes a tree look fake is how the needles look,” explains professional organizer Britnee Tanner. The Sanibel Spruce resembles the evergreen in her yard instead of the “loose, sparse, and floppy” look of other fakes. Trolio agrees: “There are a good number of tips per branch” with longer ends that allow for “excellent ornament distribution.” (An important note: It comes pre-fluffed with memory-wired arms that fan into place, according to the company, though Trolio notes that you should still plan to do a good bit of finishing on your own.) Even after a few Christmases, Tanner still considers it to be her best buy for the holidays.

This is the narrow version of Balsam Hill’s famed Fraser Fir (46 inches wide versus 60 inches wide for a 7.5-foot-tall tree). Selina van den Brink, a freelance set decorator, used this tree for the Oscar-winning film Green Book. She needed something that would last for the entire weekslong shoot and “wouldn’t drop needles while being decorated,” settling on Balsam Hill’s Fraser fir after doing a quick poll of fellow set decorators. “It just has all the characteristics of a real tree,” she says. “It’s not too perfect — with an organic quality to the manufactured branches.” It was featured in a traditional tree-decorating scene, with star Viggo Mortensen coming home for Christmas “just in time to celebrate with his family,” so “the tree was a very big deal,” van den Brink explains.

Before trying Balsam Hill’s Fifth Avenue Flatback last Christmas, I’d only ever owned the real deal. The Fifth Avenue Flatback did not disappoint: It’s convincing enough that I didn’t even miss the fresh-pine smell of a real tree. But the biggest selling point of the Flatback is that, well, the back is flat. You’re still getting all of the fullness of a real tree in the front, but this tree can stand flush against a wall. It’s ideal for small spaces like mine, where I can only fit a tree between my staircase and the couch.

I also loved that the Flatback assembled (and disassembled) quickly. Because I didn’t have to think about a full 360-degree view, I could cut down on some decorating time, too. Just note: You’ll want to measure the bottom carefully for a tree skirt — I used a standard-size 48-inch one on mine, and had to tuck it around the trunk rather awkwardly. But I’m planning on getting something better-fitting this coming Christmas.

“If you don’t mind a little glitter on your presents, it’s a fun tree,” says set designer Karin Olsen. Olsen has displayed this tree for a few Christmases in a row now. She swears that the “more you fluff, the fuller” the flocked, glittered branches will seem. The 250 bulbs on the pre-lit tree accent the shimmer. After styling so many Christmas shoots, Olsen likes her faux trees to be pre-lit, as “who wants to fight putting lights on a fake tree only for it to end up looking like you were arm wrestling a cat?” Though it does shed some glitter during setup and takedown — have your vacuum at the ready — the dropped sparkles won’t leave the tree looking patchy. “The thing with glitter is that it never really goes away,” Olsen says. And she suggests getting a storage bag so you don’t have to shove it back into the original box.

[Editor’s note: This tree is currently out of stock. You can sign up to be emailed when it’s back on the product page.]

Once branded as “Champagne,” the color of this tree has since been rebranded as “Silver Pine,” which is more accurate to the “elegant pewter” shade Trolio describes it as having. Even while Trolio has looked at a lot of artificial Christmas trees in her time, she thinks it’s special —particularly since it’s a pine, not the usual fir or spruce. It’s unlike shinier “tinsel” trees on the market, too. The tree comes lit; just note that if you want to add extra lights, “it’ll be more of a project than slapping on any string from the hardware store,” says Trolio, adding that you’ll need to track down clear lights like these to match the ones that come strung on the tree.

This was the the first Balsam Hill tree Trolio bought for herself (after previously inheriting a hand-me-down in a different style). Though in the end “a fake is still a fake,” Trolio says she chose the “sparse-on-purpose, pre-lit” design specifically for displaying certain ornaments. “I have become a way too over-the-top-Christmas-ornament person. I own hundreds and can’t stop buying them,” she admits.

This Alpine Balsam Fir has a place in the corner of her dining room as a “theme tree” holding her collections of pickle and pretzel ornaments. Since the branches aren’t especially full, the wires for the lights are a bit more visible, so Trolio advises that you be extra thoughtful about what kinds of ornaments you’re hanging — and mindful about getting the right “drop.” (On the same note, she recommends using a tree skirt instead of a tree collar, as the branches don’t go very low on the trunk and a skirt does a better job of hiding the flat metal base.) As for assembly, the tree “goes together super-easily, and the light connectors are built into the sections of the trunk so you don’t have to plug them together separately,” she explains.

This miniature tinseled tree isn’t intended to be a dupe of a real Christmas tree, which is exactly why Trolio likes it. “It’s a shiny purple tree, after all,” she says of the “pink” one she owns, advising that the shade is much darker and more magenta in person. The tree comes in a rainbow of other hues as well, including white and turquoise. Trolio usually displays her three-foot tinsel tree in her daughters’ room, but thinks the style would be ideal for anyone with “a more kitschy aesthetic.” You can also get it in pre-lit four-foot and seven-foot versions.

Interior designer Liz Lipkin is eyeing these pre-lit, already-potted trees. Lipkin likes their “cartoonish” look, as “they’re not trying to fool anyone into thinking that they’re real.” She imagines grouping them together — they come in three-, five-, and seven-foot versions — like having a row of the smallest size, or pairing the tallest size with two in the medium size. These are modeled after trees seen on the slopes of the Alps — though there’s no faux snow topping them. (You can always try to DIY the effect.) Lipkin suggests clipping a few fake birds onto the branches or stringing through a cranberry garland.

“Since it doesn’t scream ‘holiday’ so much as ‘wintertime,’ I tend to keep mine out through winter to bring some cheer to my dark apartment in January and February,” says Erin Marino, editorial director at the Sill, of this tabletop tree. You can choose from three different heights — two, two and a half, or three feet — and each comes with a faux snowy finish and lights that peek through the branches. “During the day, they aren’t very bright — you barely notice them,” Marino explains. “But when it’s dark, they are pretty magical.” Each tree requires three AA batteries — once those were in, the long-lasting LED bulbs didn’t burn out, even as she had the lights on every night for a few months straight. (For another nontraditional tree, you could also copy Marino’s habit of adding bulbs to a pretend cactus, inspired by a Sill photo shoot where it was wrapped up with strings of lights.)

This potted and pre-lit tree comes from Puleo International, a fourth-generation family-owned business that calls itself “the oldest family name for Christmas trees in America.” It’s “proudly fake-looking,” according to Abby Aronofsky, executive director of corporate marketing at Vox Media. Aronofsky got it out of an abundance of precaution against her “demon cats,” Marshmallow and Marzipan. She decorated with them in mind, hanging her collection of ornaments so the least breakable ones were at the bottom and her sentimental favorites at the top. “The cats got into it but no catastrophes,” she says. Since she lives in a small New York City condo, the tree lived in her dining room–slash–kitchen for the holidays and went right back into the box once New Year’s came around.

The true non-traditionalist may be into this wall-hanging tree from Grandin Road. It’s meant more for the “‘essence of Christmas tree’ than ‘artificial replacement for the real thing,’” Trolio tells me. You can’t put a tree topper on it, but you can decorate it with small ornaments just the same.

Trolio was sent last year’s version (which has since sold out) and says the tree survived “being extremely manhandled” when strung with fairy lights. I’m trying this year’s version out ahead of the holiday season — so far, so good. It’s held together by clear strings, which are surprisingly sturdy and give it a nice floating effect once the tree is hung on a nail. It features glittering faux snow, which feels evocative of an imaginary winter wonderland. One thing: The coating on the branches can be messy, and I think you should keep the box nearby to catch “snowflakes” before they fall on the floor. (And maybe have a duster on hand while you’re at it.)