IKEA's new smart home products will help you connect your apartment—for less
IKEA, the great democratizer of stylish, domestic design, is diving deeper into the smart home game with new tech products, which means fully-optimizing and automating your living space is more attainable and affordable.
The widespread adoption of smart home tech happened pretty quickly. Not so long ago, trend spotters were heralding the "Internet of Things," and now talking to a speaker or controlling lights from your phone is no big thing. While some of the technology is relatively inexpensive (app-controlled smart bulbs, smart sockets, and devices like the Echo Dot are all priced below—if not well below—$50) not all the smart home tech you find in luxury condos is that affordable.
Previously, IKEA's smart home line was limited to things like lightbulbs and plugs, but now you can connect more stuff. Read on for the new smart tech IKEA's rolling out now, part of its new fall catalog. Note that while some products have technically been released, keeping them in stock seems to be an issue.
Fyrtur blackout blinds, $130 and up
Likely the most anticipated of the new IKEA smart home products (in part because of a release date pushed back from this past spring) Fyrtur is a wireless, remote-controlled blackout blind with a starting price of $130 for a 23-inch-by-76.75-inch blind. Similar blinds from other companies can easily cost more than double that.
The shades can be controlled via remote, using the IKEA Tradfri gateway device in combination with the IKEA Home Smart App app, and with Google Home in coordination with Tradfri and the app. (Compatibility with Apple HomeKit and Amazon Alexa support will be available in the future, although the timetable is unclear.) The IKEA Home App app enables you to control multiple sets of blinds and schedule them to go up and down. Note that the repeater needs to be plugged in to a power socket within 32 feet from the blind. The blinds are expected to be available starting in October.
Symfonisk wifi bookshelf speaker, $100
Sure, a wifi speaker in and of itself is not all that exciting. However, this one was created in partnership wth Sonos, a company known for making speakers with exceptional sound quality. Merge that with the IKEA ethos and you get not only a price point of $100, but urban small-space functionality—for an additional $20, you can buy a wall mount that will allow it to do double duty as small shelf. It also comes in white, and integrates with existing Sonos products. It is controlled with the Sonos app.
Symfonisk table lamp with wifi speaker, $180
The other product of the IKEA/Sonos collaboration, this table lamp provides space-saving light and sound quality in one. The shade is glass and hand-blown, and the lamp/speaker comes in white as well. It also integrates with other Sonos products, is controlled by the Sonos app, and can be used with Airplay 2 to stream directly from Apple devices.
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