is a senior reviewer with over twenty years of experience. She covers smart home, IoT, and connected tech, and has written previously for Wirecutter, Wired, Dwell, BBC, and US News.
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Ikea just announced a bunch of super cheap, colorful Matter-over-Thread devices that will work with any platform, and it feels like Christmas came early for the smart home.
The 21 new products include a line of smart bulbs starting at just £4 and two new remote controls that start at just £3 (US pricing is not yet confirmed). Ikea also officially updated its Dirigera hub to a Matter controller and Thread border router to support the new products, which will start to arrive in the US in January.
It’s a big shift toward a simpler, more open smart home, a vote of confidence in Matter from a major mainstream brand, and great news for users, who get affordable, Matter-compatible devices that work with any smart home platform.
“The baseline for the new products was shifting to a new technology — from Zigbee to Thread,” David Granath, range manager at Ikea of Sweden, told The Verge in an interview. “But we also looked to make them more affordable, easier to use, and more interoperable.”
What this means for your smart home
Ikea’s new Thread products more or less replace its existing Zigbee products — from contact, motion, and leak sensors to smart plugs, smart bulbs, and air quality sensors (see the full details here). They will start launching in Europe this month and arrive in the US in January, with the lighting line expected to follow in April.
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