Ikea has an impressive new lineup of Matter-over-Thread devices works with Apple Home, but after months of testing, we think that lingering connection issues with bulbs, controls, and sensors are the main problem.
Unlike Tradfri, Ikea's last smart home push, the fresh batch of smart home wares doesn't have a unifying name. Instead, it is made up of over 20 individual products.
The launch made big waves as the Swedish brand was putting all of its weight behind both Matter and Thread. With such affordable prices and a large array of choices, I went in thinking this was going to be a slam dunk.
Unfortunately, Ikea has been a victim of emerging standards. Many users, including staff here at AppleInsider, have reported connectivity issues.
After extensive testing, multiple interviews, and much user feedback, the full picture is complex, to say the least.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Many new devices
Ikea's lineup of Matter-over-Thread devices keeps growing. It originally was 21 devices but has since expanded, including the updated Varmblixt donut-shaped lamp.
Here's the current availability:
- Kajplats: Smart bulbs
- E27/E26 standard globe (white spectrum, 1,521 lumens)
- E27/E26 standard globe (white spectrum, 1,055 lumens)
- E27/E26 standard globe (white spectrum, 470 lumens)
- P45 E14 (white spectrum, 470 lumens)
- P45 E14 (white spectrum, 806 lumens)
- P45 E14 (color and white spectrum, 806 lumens)
- GU10 directional spot (color and white spectrum, 470 lumens)
- GU10 directional spot (white spectrum, 575 lumens)
- E14 decorative clear glass (white spectrum, 470 lumens)
- E27 decorative clear glass 60mm (white spectrum 470 lumens)
- E27 decorative clear glass large globe 95mm (white spectrum 810 lumens)
- Myggspray: Motion sensor
- Myggbett: Door/window contact sensor
- Timmerflotte: Temperature and humidity sensor
- Alpstuga: Air quality sensor
- Klippbok: Water leak sensor
- Bilresa: Two-button remote
- Bilresa: Scroll wheel remote
- Grillplats: Smart plug
- Varmblixt: Donut-shaped lamp
I've been testing out a few of the light bulbs, the contact sensor, the motion sensor, the two-button remote, the temperature sensor, the lamp, and the air quality monitor.
These won't be my last Ikea smart home devices, but opinion varies amongst the AppleInsider staff.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Bilresa
Of the entire lineup, I was most excited to test out the Bilresa remote. My house is fairly well equipped with smart plugs and bulbs, but I can always use a reliable new remote.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Bilresa remote can be mounted or carried around
The remote is simple, made of characteristic white plastic with small and large dimples on the top. The front of the remote is removed by pressing the release clip on the end to access the battery compartment.
Two AAA batteries power the remote. I use rechargeable ones, which should last me roughly two years depending on usage.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: The Bilresa remote mounted to the wall
The back of the remote is magnetic, which enables it to stick onto a fridge or other metal surface. Ikea includes a small piece of metal, too, that fits right onto the back of the remote.
The adhesive pre-installed on the piece of metal offers a quick option for mounting, but it also features two holes for alternative mounting. This makes it easy to mount the remote under your desk, on a wall, or on the edge of a nightstand.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: The remote has six commands you can program
Like with other Apple Home-compatible buttons, this technically shows as six programmable buttons in the Home app. You can set a single press, double-press, or long-hold for each of the two buttons.
Setting six commands can be overwhelming for some, but they're certainly not required. For example, the one I have in my son's room only has two scenes set: one for his good morning scene and one for his goodnight scene.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: It runs on two AAA batteries
In our master bedroom, I get a bit fancier. One button sets the lights to 100%, 50%, and off, while the other sets the air purifier fan to the same three levels.
Priced at $6, this is an incredible value, and it's taken no time at all for me to buy several more to place throughout the home. I use one in the studio to set my filming scenes and in the living room to control our two different window shades.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Kajplats
That little Bilresa remote can also be perfectly paired with any of Ikea's other devices. You could adjust its Kajplats lights, its smart plug, or the lamp.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Two of Ikea's smart bulbs
With the Kajplats bulbs, Ikea did an exceptional job. There's a wide variety in shapes/sizes, brightnesses, and color choices.
There are plenty of sizes and designs Ikea could still launch, but out of the gate, this is a great selection. I don't have anything fancy, but I chose two of the clear filament-style decorative bulbs for our home.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: The decorative globe bulb looks great
First, I have the large, clear globe in our master bedroom closet, and the second one I have as a desk lamp in the studio. Both look wonderful and don't give off the obvious appearance of a smart bulb.
One of the best parts about these bulbs is that no matter which model you choose, they all support Apple's Adaptive Lighting feature. This is extra impressive because many more expensive smart bulbs lack this feature.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Adjusting the white balance on the Ikea decorative filament bulb
Adaptive Lighting will automatically adjust the color temperature throughout the day so it's warmer in the morning as you wake up, cool white in the middle of the day to promote focus, and warmer at night to help you wind down.
Other manufacturers tell me that they omit this feature because of the onerous hardware requirements for Adaptive Lighting and Matter. That excuse falls apart when Ikea does it for less than $10 a bulb.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Adaptive Lighting in the Home app
You can turn on Adaptive Lighting from the Home app, just as you would adjust the color for any smart bulb. If you have the color versions, you can choose any color you'd like, while the white spectrum just has cool to warm whites to select.
I'm the biggest fan of the clear decorative style, as the colored ones look cheaper. They have a white plastic base and a white globe that helps diffuse the light at the top.
It will always depend on your installation location, but current design trends mean that most of my light bulbs are exposed. I'd rather have elegant-looking white spectrum clear bulbs than the full-color ones.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Varmblixt
Outside of the straight light bulbs, Ikea also has the Varmblixt lamp. This is the viral donut-shaped lamp that has been updated with Matter and Thread compared to the old, non-smart version.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: The donut-shaped lamp is all glass with a metal back
This is the most expensive of the lineup, priced at $99, but it also includes a Bilresa remote in the box. The quality helps justify that price, though, as the whole enclosure is glass instead of plastic with a braided power cable.
The Varmblixt is a foot wide with a metal back. There are key holes in the back that you can use to hang the light on the wall, or you can set it on a table or shelf with its silicone feet.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: The light looks great mounted on the wall, though the cable is visible
Out of the box, the Bilresa remote is directly paired to the lamp, and you can use it to cycle through multiple predefined colors. You can optionally pair the remote and the lamp to Apple Home via Matter for smart control and automation.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: The lamp can change colors
I love the look of this lamp, and there is a reason it's so popular. The glass has a matte finish to it, which helps nicely diffuse the light so it's never too bright and is a great accent piece in any room.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Timmerflotte
Next in my collection is the Timmerflotte, which is a temperature and humidity sensor. It's two and a half inches around with a sensor opening on the bottom and a keyhole mount on the back.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: The temp sensor looks like a plain white circle with the display off
The circle is blank and looks pure white, but when you press it, it shows a hidden display. It's a retro-looking dot matrix display that shows first the temperature and then the humidity.
It supports both Celsius and Fahrenheit with a toggle hiding on the back. Remove the back, and you can change it to your units of choice and replace the two AA batteries.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: The display shows the temperature and humidity
Lately, I've been using this as a remote sensor for my Aqara W200 thermostat, which is amazing. That allows me to heat or cool my home based on an average temperature versus what is measured in the hallway.
You can use this to trigger other automations too, such as turning on a fan, humidifier, or dehumidifier based on the readings.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Myggspray
Moving on, we have the Myggspray motion sensor. This is great for basic motion control, but not ideal for larger room setups.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: The motion sensor may not be well-suited for large rooms or occupancy
Since it detects motion, it's not very smart. Pets, shadows, or robot vacuums can trigger motion, and if you sit still too long (like while watching a movie), it will stop detecting motion.
So if you create an automation to turn on your living room lights when you walk into the room, they may turn off on you while you're watching TV. By design, they're just too unreliable for this use case.
For rooms, it's best to use a presence sensor instead that relies on mmWave radar, which can detect occupancy even if you're sitting still. That's not to say motion sensors aren't useful, though.
They're cheaper than presence sensors and are great for places like closets, which is where I use mine. So when my partner or I go into our master closet, the light turns on and turns off when we leave.
It comes with a snap-on back that you can mount to the wall. The bracket has four mounting holes and works at angles, too, so that it can appropriately face into the room.
My only wish is that Ikea also offered a presence sensor to give people options. Perhaps an mmWave sensor will be coming down the line, and we can get a more affordable version than what's available now.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Alpstuga
The sensor I've had the most mixed results with is the Alpstuga environmental sensor. This is also the first one that requires USB-C power rather than batteries.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: The Alpstuga has a display that can show the time and various metrics
It can sit on your desk or bedside and will show the different environmental metrics on the front-facing dot matrix display. It records air quality, PM2.5, VOCs, CO2 levels, humidity, and temperature.
IKEA says that it partnered with Sensirion for its sensors. Ikea says that the sensor has an accuracy tolerance of +/- 100 ppm + 10%, and it takes up to 12 hours for self-calibration. We're not sure about the accuracy.
Unfortunately, mine continues to read very high CO2 levels in my studio. Thanks to some friends in the federal government, we also tested the Alpstuga in an airtight chamber calibrated to 600 ppm CO2, and left it in there for 24 hours.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: All the different Alpstuga metrics in the Home app
The results showed incredibly wild swings in the CO2 reading far outside the promised tolerance. We tested four different sensors, and all had results nowhere near the 600 ppm for which the chamber was calibrated.
Perhaps we got multiple bad units, but that seems unlikely. The CO2 sensors just aren't accurate, and Ikea had no comment on the matter after we provided our testing inforamtion. All the other sensors seemed accurate, though, matching the other sensors I had in my studio.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Myggbett
For my Myggbett door sensor, I use it on an interior door. It's your standard contact sensor with a main body and a secondary magnet that triggers the sensor when it comes close enough.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: The Ikea door sensor attaches with adhesives
You could use this on a cabinet, window, door, mailbox, and more. Through Apple Home, you can get an alert any time the sensor is opened or closed, and it attaches with an adhesive.
I've had no issues with this sensor, and I have it programmed to turn on a light whenever it is opened. It works as advertised and runs on a single AAA battery on the inside.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Apple Home
Unsurprisingly, I used all of these devices with Apple Home. I also simultaneously paired a few of them to Samsung SmartThings to test multi-ecosystem support, which worked great.
I could see all the devices, and they were all responsive in both ecosystems at the same time. This is a big benefit of Matter devices.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Adjusting color via Apple Home
Setup works exactly as you'd expect. You just scan the pairing code on each device, give them a name, assign them a room in your home, and you're good to go.
You can use them in conjunction with any other Apple Home or Matter devices. For example, I can use the Timmerflotte temperature and humidity sensor to trigger my Matter-enabled Hisense dehumidifier when the humidity level in the room rises.
Scenes can be triggered based on time of day, location, and much more. It's best to get creative in how sensors, controls, and other accessories can work together.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: You can do firmware updates right from Apple Home
As we'll talk about, updating accessories is very important, and Ikea makes this as easy as it gets. Each device can be updated straight through the Home app, just like a HomePod.
Devices can be updated in the background, or you can turn off automatic updates and install them when you're ready for them. There's no need for any third-party Ikea app for setup or updates.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Matter, Thread, and connectivity
Part of the reason behind a compilation review is that all the devices seem to be plagued by the same central set of issues. All, regardless of whether they are USB-C or battery-powered, support Matter-over-Thread.
Matter is the unifying smart home standard that allows these devices to work with Apple Home, Samsung SmartThings, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and more. Here, I tested primarily with Apple Home, but some sensors I connected to a secondary ecosystem, as I mentioned.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: My home's Thread network
Thread, though often lumped in with Matter, is a wireless connectivity standard. It's how these devices communicate with each other and your home's network.
What's nice about Thread is that it is extremely low power, very fast, and self-healing. Compared to older standards like Zigbee or Bluetooth, it's more modern and has several benefits.
The biggest benefit in my eyes is that it doesn't require a central hub to operate. With Zigbee, you need one primary hub that all link back to.
On the other hand, Thread can have any number of what are known as "Border Routers." Border Routers, which would primarily mean a HomePod, HomePod mini, or Apple TV for Apple Home users, bridge the Thread network to the internet.
If one of the Border Routers goes offline, it's a non-issue as another one will pick up in its place. At least, that's how it is supposed to work.
Since they launched, the entire Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup has had connectivity issues. Some users struggled getting their devices commissioned, requiring multiple resets.
Others got them set up, but they kept going unresponsive.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: All devices support Matter
These were widely reported online. Here at AppleInsider, our own Mike Wuerthele had constant issues with his setup and ongoing connectivity, even after he took the extreme act of bouncing power on his entire house to refresh the Thread network.
At the same time, my home was the definition of perfect. All devices but one set up on the first try, and that one device worked on the second try.
Light bulbs respond nearly instantly to button presses and scenes. Asking Siri for the temperature gave me the real-time temperatures without delay.
Plus, all of my automated scenes have worked without issue, such as turning on my bedside light when my son opens his door at night or my timed morning scene that turns on a few ambiance lights.
It's honestly frustrating to have such a stellar experience while others struggle.
I reached out to multiple users, other reviewers, Ikea, and the Connectivity Standards Alliance to collect as much information as possible about what was going on.
Ultimately, I never got a clear, singular answer as to what was causing the problems. Unsurprisingly, it seems largely related to home networks and communication across the network to Thread, and Matter.
Needless to say, none of this should be a problem, and is incredibly frustrating for users. It's unacceptable to have this inconsistent experience across homes, especially considering that Ikea devices at this price point are probably the first tiptoe into home automation for beginning users.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: The Ikea bulbs are great, bright, and responsive
Perhaps it's the price Ikea is paying for being a fairly early adopter. The good news is that by and large, it seems to be getting better.
Ikea has continued to roll out firmware updates for its devices, and many of the people I originally spoke to were no longer having problems. Most recently, the Bilresa remote was updated to support Matter version 1.4.
"We are continuing to investigate the onboarding and stability issues that some users have experienced with the new Matter-over-Thread range," Ikea told me. "We've already rolled out a number of improvements, and additional work is ongoing together with ecosystem partners and the Connectivity Standards Alliance."
"These have included changes aimed at improving Thread network stability and making onboarding more reliable in a wider range of home environments. What we see at this stage is still that the large majority of customers are getting the experience we intend, while the remaining issues in general tend to appear in more complex environments where multiple border routers, controllers, and different ecosystems interact," Ikea added. "We do believe the situation has improved as updates have rolled out across the ecosystem, but we also know there is still work to do."
We'll see. My system is perfect after initial problems. Mike's is better, but not perfect.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Should you buy Ikea's new smart home lineup?
The uncertainty around connectivity makes unconditionally recommending the new lineup tough to do. I don't want to tell everyone to run out and pick up a whole array of devices when the performance may not necessarily be where it should be.
Simultaneously, for those who do have a good experience, there are few better options on the market. The price point is unbeatable, and the performance is superior to many more expensive devices out there.
You can pick up a three-pack of wireless remotes for $15. I can replace 8 bulbs in my master bathroom with decorative, tunable, dimmable smart bulbs for about $65.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Ikea's new lineup of devices
Smart home devices are often notoriously expensive and have made it hard for people to fully outfit their homes. Ikea is fixing that.
For me, they work so well that I've put them in places where I don't have wiggle room for error. The contact sensor tells me when my son opens his door, especially while we're in our bedroom.
The Bilresa remote is used to set my son's "goodnight" scene that closes his windows, turns on his two nightlights, and turns on his starlight laser projector. I don't want to have to explain to my toddler at bedtime why the remote isn't doing anything, so it needs to work reliably, 100% of the time.
Ikea also went above and beyond, including things like Adaptive Lighting for Apple Home and native updates through various ecosystems. This means you truly do not need the Ikea app, which enhances user experience.
This full-lineup support for Matter and Thread is just what we want to see from smart home manufacturers. Even if there are a few growing pains here at the beginning.
If you're understandably hesitant about buying into Ikea's new devices, my recommendation is perhaps to try just one or two. If you have a local Ikea, you can go grab a few devices and easily return them if they don't work.
More than likely, your experience is going to be great. For me, these devices are an easy 5 out of 5 stars, but until all the fringe cases are sorted out, they're going to be rated a bit more down the middle.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Pros
- Native Apple Home features like updates & Adaptive Lighting
- Good build quality
- Most of the time, fantastic performance and reliability
- Works with multiple ecosystems at the same time
- Super affordable and widely available
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Cons
- Alpstuga CO2 sensor is very bad
- Still ongoing connection issues for some networks
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup rating: 3.5 out of 5
You can pick up the new smart home range from Ikea stores or online, starting at only $5.99 and rising to $99.
