Ikea has been saving people money on affordable home furnishings for decades, and recently the firm began its efforts to bring cheap chic to smart home tech.
However, no sooner had we published our review of the Ikea Smart Lighting system, the firm announced an update that eliminated one of our key complaints.
The Swedish firm has announced voice controls are coming to the £69 lighting system through the Amazon Echo’s Alexa and the Google Assistant-enabled Home smart speakers.
The firm is also adding functionality to Apple’s Home app within iOS 10 (and subsequently iOS 11). That means Siri will be in on the act too.
Ikea says the new functionality will be rolling out during summer or autumn of this year.
In a translated press release, Ikea wrote: “
In our review, posted on Tuesday, we gave the Ikea Smart Lighting platform a solid 8/10 review. Our reviewer dished out praise for its affordability, easy set-up, well-designed app and the ability to use without Wi-Fi.
However, beyond the lack of colored bulbs, the omission of voice control was our chief bugbear.
“There’s no ability to turn your lights on or off remotely, no geofencing to have them turn on as you’re pulling into your road like Philips Hue, and no voice control,” writes Verity Burns.
“It’s also a very closed system, so can’t get involved in any IFTTT functionality. Not the smartest light system going then, but what it does offer it does very well indeed.”
Given the incoming functionality, it looks like we’ll be revisiting this review sooner than usual.
Will the addition of third-party devices tempt you into buying the Ikea Smart Lighting set-up? Share your thoughts in the comments below.