IKEA Quietly Launched These 'Smart Sensors' for All Over the Home — They're Affordable, Design-y, and They'll Work With Your Existing Tech Set-up

Want to keep an eye on your home's temperature, humidity, security, or just get more functional lighting? IKEA has taken it upon itself to make home sensors easy and affordable

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a humidity sensor in a bathroom
(Image credit: IKEA)

When I think of IKEA, my brain goes to sofa beds, kitchenware, and meatballs long before it goes to smart home tech, but, actually, our favorite budget-friendly furniture store does some just-as-clever things in this arena.

In fact, IKEA recently launched 21 new smart products across the home, including 'sensors' for things like temperature and humidity, security, and air quality, as well as smart lighting and remotes.

And, what you'll notice when you start to dig into it, you'll find that IKEA's products are not only better-looking than a lot of the others out there, but also super competitive. Take IKEA's ALPSTUGA indoor air quality monitor, for example. It's cheaper than pretty much any you'll see on Amazon, is stylishly minimalist, and has promising reviews.

It's a relatively new range, so take any star ratings with a pinch of salt, as they're over a small range right now, so one poor review can drag down the average significantly, and there are a lot of variables with connectivity, which seems to be the main complaint from some reviewers.

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ikea window security sensor
I already have expensive window-opening sensors from Simplisafe that looks just the same as IKEA's. (Image credit: IKEA)

You'll notice when you're shopping IKEA's newest smart range that everything is compatible with Matter — but if you're not into your smart home tech like I am, I don't expect you to know what that means.

Matter was launched a good few years back now, as a way to unite the disparate technologies being produced for smart homes under one system. Think of it this way: it's something that promises all your smart gadgets are talking the same language. That means, if something is Matter-compatible, you can generally integrate it into your existing (also Matter-friendly) set-up, whether that's Amazon's Alexa, Google Home, or Apple's HomeKit. Once upon a time, you would have had to add in another 'hub' to connect IKEA's smart gadgets too, so we can all be thankful for Matter.

It also means that IKEA's smart remotes, for example, can be used to control smart gadgets outside of IKEA's range.

Smart tech might not be the IKEA you know best, but these budget-friendly buys are perfect add-ons if you're looking to buy some furniture for your next IKEA hack, planning a new kitchen or bathroom, or just heading to the food hall. In fact, when you order a lot of these online, they'll have to be part of a larger order to qualify for delivery.

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Hugh Metcalf
Hugh Metcalf
Editor

Hugh is Livingetc.com’s editor. With 8 years in the interiors industry under his belt, he has the nose for what people want to know about re-decorating their homes. He prides himself as an expert trend forecaster, visiting design fairs, showrooms and keeping an eye out for emerging designers to hone his eye. He joined Livingetc back in 2022 as a content editor, as a long-time reader of the print magazine, before becoming its online editor. Hugh has previously spent time as an editor for a kitchen and bathroom magazine, and has written for “hands-on” home brands such as Homebuilding & Renovating and Grand Designs magazine, so his knowledge of what it takes to create a home goes beyond the surface, too. Though not a trained interior designer, Hugh has cut his design teeth by managing several major interior design projects to date, each for private clients. He's also a keen DIYer — he's done everything from laying his own patio and building an integrated cooker hood from scratch, to undertaking plenty of creative IKEA hacks to help achieve the luxurious look he loves in design, when his budget doesn't always stretch that far.