IKEA smart lights offer excellent performance and get up to 80% cheaper than Philips’ shades
Smart lights make great additions Smart Home Whether to set up, illuminate outdoor spaces in spring, or to entertain or upgrade your interior lighting. However, the most popular options are very expensive. It would be ridiculous to say there was a light bulb moment recently during the testing of IKEA smart lights – I don’t. But it was revelation to know that there are completely capable smart lights, as they are far less than Philips Hue’s cost. IKEA may not be known for its smart lighting, but it should probably be.
IKEA’s smart lighting covers all bases, including affordable prices, local controls, excellent remote controls, tons of lighting products. These options are certainly worth considering, especially if you’re a beginner looking for a budget-friendly entry into the world of smart homes.
Ikea holds its own against other budget smart home brands
The simple design of the IKEA Home Smart app makes it easy to use.
My smart home philosophy has always been to buy something cheap and reliable. If you can get the same basic features for under $30, there’s little point in purchasing a $200 smart light switch. The flashy software tricks of more expensive models are nothing if few people use them.
IKEA’s smart home offering meets these requirements. Phillips Hue Blushing especially for remotes and sensors:
Ikea Smart Lights vs. Philips Hue
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| Remote Control | Motion Sensor | Contact the sensor |
|---|---|---|
| Ikea Controlable ($14) | Ikea Vallhorn ($9) | IKEA Parasol ($12) |
| Philips Hue Tap Switch Mini ($50) | Philips Hue Motion Sensor ($45) | Philips Hue Secure ($40) |
No delve into many smart lighting products from either brand. However, note that while IKEA has an advantage in pricing, Hue’s choice is big. Smart hub for IKEA ($70) and Phillips Hue ($60) offer similar features, but the price difference is not noticeable. Ikea’s sensor prices have broken most budget brands, including Aqara, Sonoff and Thirdreality.
IKEA is excellent with local smart home controls
The Ikea Dirigera Smart Hub is part of the IKEA Smart Lighting System, but is part of the options.
The secret ingredient of Ikea is that most of its smart lighting devices use the Zigbee Smart Home protocol. This means you can run without a Wi-Fi connection. Zigbee can also link up to 10 smart lights to a single IKEA remote (or sensor) without a hub. Perfect for beginners as you can add hubs at any time for smart home control such as scheduling, remote access, automation and more.
Local control has also been extended to IKEA’s smart hub. I’ll give you instructions. You can connect to your router and access controls for anyone registered with the Wi-Fi network’s IKEA Home Smart App without having to connect to the Internet. It is also possible to set up remote access over the Internet, but that is the case with the Smart Hub course.
IKEA wall remotes are clean and simple to match the brand’s minimalist Scandi aesthetics.
Ikea’s Zigbee connection also helps to extend the battery life of the remote and sensors. Unlike certain connections to Wi-Fi, Zigbee only communicates with the hub when sending and receiving commands. In other words, your Zigbee device is basically sitting in standby until you need it. It does not slowly drain batteries like Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.
Another advantage of Zigbee is its compatibility with smart homes. This means that Ikea’s Zigbee devices will work with most other smart hubs that support Zigbee: Amazon Echo, Smartthings, Philips Hue, and more.
My favorite smart home remote
I have been using IKEA remote in my smart home for years.
I’m using IKEA Trough Samsung Smartthings Smart Hub remote controls a variety of Zigbee and Wi-Fi devices. As a tenant, IKEA remote is the ideal setup for my smart home, as I don’t want to violate my property manager by replacing my hardline light switch.
Ikea Remotes frequently controls Sengled Smart bulbs and Kasa smart plugs with scenes and commands, so you don’t have to find your phone or ask your voice assistant. Plus, the remote is a great option to keep guests from accidentally flipping my light switch over. Schedules and scenes do not work even if the smart bulb is turned off. I love magnetic mounting plates. This was strategically placed on top of the light switch. (It’s not the most elegant solution, but it’s practical at least.)
That said, IKEA’s remote is not perfect. My older Tradfri models in my smart home use a small coin cell battery, which leaves me with a terrible battery life. Ikea seems to have learned this from now on by switching to larger AAA batteries with newer models like The Rodret and Styrbar. AAAS is a great upgrade as it allows you to find a rechargeable version and reduce e-waste.
The AAA battery on IKEA’s new remote control is a major improvement over the coin cell battery.
Please note that my SmartThings Hub does not support the dimming feature of the IKEA remote, and the new remote requires a bit of behind-the-scenes work. SmartThings Forum To run. If you want a remote option with less programming, we recommend using Dirigera Hub.
Thankfully, Dirigera Hub supports it Amazon Alexa, Apple Home and Google Home – Easy to connect to these smart home setups. Beta support is also available Case. I managed to link the Diregara to Smartthings via material – all my connected IKEA lights were ready to fit into the rest of my system.
You can link your Dirigera Smart Hub to other material compatible systems, such as SmartThings.
Lots of smart lighting variations
At the time of this writing, IKEA has sold over 150 smart lighting options online. Most of these are smart lighting kits with a variety of LED bulbs, fixtures, remotes and accessories. Still, there are an astonishing number of smart bulb options standard (e26), candelabra (e12) and Track the lighting (GU10) Equipment. Similarly, many of IKEA’s bespoke lighting fixtures, lighting panels and lighting strips can be connected to the Diligara hub.
That said, there aren’t many options for multi-colored lights as well as Philips’ hues and other rival brands. IKEA sells a number of models with adjustable color temperatures. This is one feature I use again and again at home. This is a soft white tone for sunlight tones that relax while I work.
Ikea’s smart lighting offering includes a variety of light strips, such as Silverglans.
Ikea sells several other types of smart home devices beyond smart lighting, but it’s the only one that stands out. Electric blinds. The biggest limitation of IKEA Smart Shades is to find the right size for your window. Therefore, it is difficult to recommend.
Overall, it’s worth considering IKEA smart lighting products, especially if you have a budget. It’s not the perfect solution, but it’s practical enough for most people.