Looking for a premium artificial Christmas tree? We tested both brands to settle the King of Christmas vs. Balsam Hill debate once and for all.
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Clark Griswold got it right: A tree is the most important of Christmas symbols. Luckily, you no longer need to head out into the country on your old front-wheel drive sleigh and embrace the frosty majesty of the winter landscape to get one.
The best artificial Christmas trees have come a long way. Today’s options are incredibly lifelike with easy-connect lights, meaning you can skip the tedious setup and get straight to the fun part—decorating! The only hard part is choosing from a behemoth of options, many of which look much different in their online listing photo than they do in real life.
If you’re stuck, we evaluated two of the top artificial Christmas tree brands on the market. We tested seven trees to judge quality, realism and value. Here’s everything you need to know about the King of Christmas vs. Balsam Hill debate.
King of Christmas and Balsam Hill are two of the biggest names in the artificial Christmas tree game. You can shop their offerings year-round on their respective websites.
King of Christmas was established in 2012 as a Pennsylvania-based holiday retailer. It has quickly grown into one of the leading Christmas tree retailers online. Not only are their trees popular with humble holiday enthusiasts, but they also offer an appealing design trade program. This discount applies to residential and commercial interior designers, residential and commercial developers, real estate staging professionals, florists, landscape designers, large-scale event planning companies, set designers and related roles in the hospitality industry.
In the same vein, Balsam Hill was founded in 2006 by Mac Harman as an alternative to live trees for those with allergies. It has since built a reputation as one of the most realistic faux tree retailers. The brand’s lifelike trees have appeared on talkshows and in Macy’s famous Santaland exhibit in New York City. The Balsam Hill brand also takes holiday philanthropy seriously, having formed several charity campaigns and sustainability efforts in addition to their online holiday shop.
Both brand’s trees are on the premium end of the spectrum, especially compared to big-box retailer selections. You definitely pay for the quality, realism and easy setup. Prices run the gamut, but Balsam Hill trees range from $349 to $4,199, while King of Christmas trees start at $229 and go up to $3,299. Both brands run frequent sales, so you can often find a tree for less.
Each brand carries trees of various shapes, sizes and light types, so whether you’re looking for a fat Blue Spruce or a skinny Alpine-style fir, you’re likely to find it on either brand’s site. Additionally, both brands carry additional holiday decorations like garlands, wreaths, ornaments and other Christmas accoutrements.
To make sure King of Christmas trees live up to the hype, we called in four assorted options for firsthand testing. I, along with editor Emily Way, evaluated each option in our respective homes. Our testing criteria judged the unboxing experience, setup, lights, fluffing process, realism, ornament-friendliness, takedown and price of each tree.
While we ran into a few set-up snags, each King of Christmas tree was incredibly easy to light, thanks to a built-in power pole. Goodbye, fumbling for plugs between scratchy branches! Our trees all came with remote controls, which was a convenient touch. And we absolutely loved the dimmable light feature (among other twinkling settings).
Some of the trees looked more real than others, but the branches were generally sturdy and held ornaments of all sizes with ease. The real darling was the Queen Flock, which was less messy than other flocked trees we tried and looked perfectly snow-kissed.
Even the most expensive trees can take forever to fluff. If you want a tree that looks good without too much finagling, give the Tribeca Spruce a try.
We found setup to be a cinch, thanks to this tree’s light, 22-pound weight. It’s one of the most manageable trees we’ve come across in our testing.
The flocking on this tree is some of the best we’ve seen; snowy and very lifelike. The thick coating on the branches makes fluffing easy, and ornaments hang securely, too.
Editors used all of the below products for the 2024 holiday season, late November to early February. They saw daily use in our homes.
The King of Christmas Aspen Tree replaced my previous tree (that had lights burned out on the bottom), and I’m still so impressed. It lived in my living room and was decorated with white/silver ornaments for a snowy, wintery look.
It was just as easy to put up as I remember. Not having to fumble with connecting lights is such a game changer. I can not recommend the “pole connect” tech enough. There was also still minimal shedding. I found that while I still needed to fluff this tree, it wasn’t as bad as when I first took it out of the packaging. Especially when you use the included storage bags, instead of packing it back into a super tight box, you get to spend less time fluffing each season.
Throughout the season I loved that I could use the remote to simply turn it on/off. The dimmer setting is also such a plus. It makes the tree easier to see when on during the day, but also lets you bask in a softer glow at night. We don’t have a TV in the room where this tree lives, but I still think the dimmable feature is perfect for holiday movie nights. At the end of the season I saw no bulbs burnt out or any real signs of wear. I did lose a few needles when packing up, but that’s to be expected.
The brand also seems to have a pretty standard bag size. I’m pretty sure the bag for this one and the Noble are the same size — even though this is a MUCH bigger tree. It’s certainly a tighter fit but not impossible to wrangle. I’m not too confident the bag will last for multiple seasons. It feels like a cheaper tarp. It would be great if these were made out of a canvas material.
While some might see this as a “Charlie Brown tree” for me, the Noble Tree is an excuse to show off a bunch of fun ornaments in between the branches. It’s super easy to set up. I would say most adults would be able to manage this one by themselves. It’s much easier than a fuller tree. The Noble lives in my home office/guest bedroom. I absolutely loved having a Christmas tree in the space I work in every day. It adds such a cozy feel.
This tree got a “woodland” theme, with lots of animal ornaments, plaids and natural textures. Some of the ornaments are on the larger side, and I like that they don’t get smooshed between the branches. There’s enough open space for them to hang freely. The branches are also surprisingly sturdy. Even with the heavier ornaments, they don’t look “bogged down’ by the weight.
The light features on this tree are super fun, and I also love the remote control. I found that the “slight lean” I encountered when initially testing more or less disappeared when the tree was set up and decorated. This is also a great option for putting in a corner since, again, the fuller branches don’t take up too much space.
Cleanup was easy. It lost a few needles but no burnt out lights or any main signs of wear. As I noted with the Apline Tree, the storage bag for this one is pretty roomy—so much so that you could fit a few garlands/wreaths in there, too.
Editor Emily Way displayed the Tribeca Blue tree in her bedroom for the 2024 Christmas season. “I’ve tried my fair share of budget trees that take forever to fluff into something passable. This one looks as full as a real tree with just a little zhuzhing—no emotional support eggnog required,” she says.
When it came time to take the tree down, she was easily able to fit it into the huge bag provided by King of Christmas—a first for her.
“Normally, it takes me ages to wrestle a tree into its bag—they’re usually the size of bags for beach chairs,” she says. “This one fit snugly in its bag, no extra effort required. It lost a few needles in the takedown process, but that’s totally normal for this type of tree. You can’t even tell that there are any missing.”
Emily also displayed the Queen Flock for the 2024 holiday season in her dining room. While it did make a little mess upon setup and takedown, she notes that the shedding was minimal for a flocked tree.
“Granted, with any flocked tree there’s some mess. But the Queen Flock tree doesn’t make the living room look like a Head and Shoulders commercial every time you brush past it,” she says.
“While there was a small dusting of flocking on the floor at the end of the season, it was easily swept up. Flocked trees are notorious for their messiness, but I feel that the cleanup required for this one was pretty minimal.”
Do Balsam Hill Christmas trees look as good in real life as they do in Hallmark movies? We went on a mission to find out, testing three assorted options in both our editors’ homes and our Product Testing Lab. We followed the same criteria we applied to King of Christmas trees.
Right out of the box, we knew these trees were the real deal. The mix of branch tips looked incredibly lifelike. The only downside is that Balsam Hill trees require a lot of fluffing. We spent at least 20 minutes on each tree, bending and plying branches into place. Our work was ultimately rewarded by trees that looked just like their online listing photos.
The lights go on through a similar power pole technology as King of Christmas, and we loved the array of lights you can choose. Whether you’re a white light purist or twinkly colored light devotee, there’s an option for everyone.
And, if you’re looking for smart features, the Balsam Hill flip tree is one of the most impressive firs we’ve ever seen. Its unique setup style allows you to roll and then flip the tree into place. The minimal lifting makes this an excellent option for older adults or anyone with mobility issues.
I used all of the below products for the 2024 holiday season, late November to early February. They saw daily use in my home.
After my initial testing in the spring, I moved the Balsam Hill Flip Tree into storage. A few months later, I needed to move the tree again as we were relocating to a different apartment. I had saved its shipping box, so I wheeled it inside and stuffed the storage bag with the top in as well. Since I had fluffed and assembled the tree, it was a tight fit, but I made it work. I taped everything shut and was pleased that it comfortably fit into the back of a minivan.
Once the tree was at its final destination, I unboxed it and cleared some space in a spare closet. It stayed there until November 2023, when we set it up for the holiday season. I was a tiny bit nervous to plug it in. After all, this tree had been jostled and jiggled throughout the moving process. Luckily, no lights had been damaged, and none of the boughs were crushed or bent. Thanks to the handy flip function, it came together in mere minutes.
Once lit, the tree did require some fluffing. It takes time, but it’s a worthwhile investment in the tree’s overall appearance. Because of the flip mechanism, there are some pretty noticeable gaps that you need to take the time to fill in and fluff. Next year, I plan to spend even more time on this task. But we loaded the tree with so many garlands, florals and ornaments that any gaps were hard to notice. I also suggest placing adornments deep within the tree to help hide some of the visible pole and branch sections. But that’s a must for any of the best Balsam Hill Christmas trees!
If you looked up “Christmas tree” in the dictionary, there’s a chance you’d find an image of this Blue Spruce. It’s the quintessential tree, with its full shape and real-looking needles.
To date, we have yet to find a tree that outperforms the flip tree in the “easy setup” class. You get a fully assembled Christmas tree in less than two minutes.
Our testers had tons of fun toying around with the handful of presets and could’ve kept exploring this smart tree’s capabilities for hours if time allowed.
Both King of Christmas and Balsam Hill make beautiful, lifelike, high-end Christmas trees. From our extensive firsthand experience, we are confident that these trees will hold up for many seasons. The construction is solid. And we appreciate the smart inclusions found in most tree boxes, like light repair kits and custom storage bags. You really can’t go wrong with either brand.
That said, depending on what you’re specifically looking for, there are scenarios where one brand is preferable to the other. If realism is your top concern, look no further than Balsam Hill. These truly are some of the most realistic trees you can find on the market. We also strongly recommend the patented Balsam Hill flip tree for anyone who struggles to set up a traditional tree. These features come at a price, though. Balsam Hill trees are typically more expensive than comparable King of Christmas options.
If a flocked tree is on your wish list, we adore the King of Christmas Queen Flock. We also really appreciate the built-in dimming feature, which is ideal for anyone who’s ever felt their Christmas tree was a little too bright at times.
According to holiday expert and founder of Christmas Design Institute, Heather Lundervold, these are the factors to look for when buying a luxe tree:
We’ve tested many of Balsam Hill’s Christmas trees throughout the past few years. In our opinion, they are absolutely worth the price point. Even after several seasons, our favorite Balsam Hill products still look and function as good as new.
You can purchase Balsam Hill Christmas trees on the Balsam Hill website.
We’ve ordered from King of Christmas and tested several of their trees. This retailer is definitely a legitimate retailer with excellent quality products.
Yes! King of Christmas has frequent sales. Mainly, these are focused around the holidays, but they also offer surprise deals throughout the year.
Balsam Hill has many different sales spread out through the year, many of which concentrate on the holiday season. That said, they also offer sales during the different seasons as well. Check their website periodically throughout the year to enjoy savings on their luxe Christmas trees!\
I’m a holiday gifting and Christmas decorating expert with nearly a decade of editorial experience. My work has been featured in Family Handyman, Reader’s Digest, Better Homes & Gardens and, of course, Taste of Home. To date, I’ve contributed to testing over a dozen artificial Christmas trees—including the Balsam Hill flip tree, the smart Twinkly tree and King of Christmas trees. I also have experience testing Balsam Hill wreaths, ornaments and ornament storage. An avid holiday enthusiast, my goal is to help our readers find the best products for making merry.
For this piece, we also spoke to holiday expert and founder of Christmas Design Institute Heather Lundervold. For twenty five years, Heather has been blessed to work in the luxury holiday design industry dedicated to providing high quality, white glove service, well trained design staff and stunning holiday transformations to her clients. She travels all over the United States teaching workshops, speaking at conferences, designing for clients and showrooms. Her academy offers self guided courses, mentoring, in-person workshops, certification in both business and design principles.
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