Back in July, it was revealed that Ikea was about to go all-in on Matter, with a bunch of new smart home devices in the works.
And now we’ve got some concrete details of exactly what is coming with the Scandinavian furniture giant taking the covers off of 21 new, very-affordable, Matter-over-Thread gadgets, across three launch segments: lighting, sensors and control.
“Until now, smart home technology hasn’t been easy enough to use for most people –
or affordable enough for many to consider,” explained David Granath, Range Manager
at Ikea. This launch brings us closer to helping everyone feel ready and confident to get started,” he added.
“Our goal is still the same as when we started exploring the smart home in 2012: to make it easy to use, easy to understand, and within reach for the many.”
The bumper device crop comes a few months after an update to the Ikea Dirigera hub landed, which turned it from a simple Matter bridge for Ikea’s own devices, into a full-blown Matter Controller with Thread border router skills.
That means Ikea’s smart home hub can talk directly to Matter devices from any brand, not just its own tech, with users able to manage the likes of Eve lights or smart locks from brands like Level, through the Ikea Home Smart app.
Ikea is also adding Thread credential sharing features to its hub, joining Samsung’s SmartThings in doing so and making the Dirigera a serious contender in the evolving Matter smart home space.
Back to the 21 new devices specifically and they are all native Matter ones though, so you don’t actually need Ikea’s hub to get involved, as Matter controllers from other brands will be able to sync them up to your existing smart home platform as well; provided that Matter controller also doubles up as a Thread border router.
The good news is that many existing devices you may already have in your house – think Apple HomePod mini, Google Nest Hub Max, most of the recent Amazon Echo range, SmartThings hubs and even some Eero routers – all do.
This being Ikea, there are some quirky names involved… the new lineup starts with the Kajplats smart bulb range, with eleven bulbs in total, covering everything from compact spotlights to large decorative globes.
They come in a mix of shapes, brightness levels, and finishes, with options for full-colour control or just tunable white light.
Ikea says each model now offers a wider intensity range and smoother dimming compared to the outgoing Tradfri lineup.
The standard E27 bulbs, available in multiple lumen levels up to 1,521 lm, should cover most general lighting needs, while the smaller E14 versions (and their E12 and E17 counterparts depending on your region) are aimed at lamps and smaller fixtures.
For accent lighting, there’s a new GU10 spotlight option with both dimmable white and full-colour models and, for anyone who prefers something a bit more decorative, Ikea’s added a set of clear-glass bulbs designed to be exposed in pendant fittings, which are available in both standard and oversized globe formats.
On the sensing side, there’s a new batch of five devices under the usual Ikea naming chaos.
Myggspray is a motion sensor built for both indoor and outdoor use, designed to automatically trigger lights in staircases, garages, or entrances.
Myggbett is designed for door and window detection and Timerflotte keeps tabs on temperature and humidity.
Alpstuga offers full air quality monitoring, including CO₂ and fine particle measurements, plus a time display. Then there’s Klippbok, a leak sensor.
Rounding things out are new remote controls and a smart plug. The Bilresa remotes come in two styles: a simple two-button version for quick on/off and brightness tweaks, and a scroll-wheel version for smoother dimming or switching between colours.
You can also grab colourful three-packs of either style if you want to scatter control points around the house.
Lastly, the Grillplats smart plug turns any standard lamp or small appliance into a connected one, tracks power consumption and can pair with the new remotes or sensors for quick automations.
Right now, we only have indicative UK pricing, as the global rollout of this new range is shaping up to be a distinctly sequential event, as is normally the case with Ikea.
But the UK pricing gives us a clear indication that these new Matter devices are coming in pretty cheap; the Kajplats bulbs will sell for between £4 and £9, for example and the Bilresa remotes cost just £3 or £4 depending on whether you want the scroll wheel.
The Timmerflotte comes in at £5, it’s £25 for the Alpstug air quality monitor is priced at and the other sensors are all around £7.
They will start to land in certain regions as early as this month but I was told that “the exact launch timing varies based on factors like inventory and logistics in each market” and the “target start date is January 1, but in some countries, sales will begin earlier… as the new Matter products replace the previous Zigbee versions in local stores.”