Our 5 Favorite IKEA Smart Home Devices And How They Can Improve Your Lifestyle

Our daily lives are hectic. Handling work tasks, taking care of your family, and maintaining your physical health all take a ton of time and effort, so when you settle in at the end of a long day, it's important to prioritize convenience and comfort. Smart home devices can help you accomplish this. While we're likely still pretty far off from a widespread switch over to fully automated houses, smart home devices have been gaining popularity for years and are now more accessible than ever. As a result, IKEA, a brand well-known for keeping its prices low, has even gotten into the game, offering a wide array of devices that work in conjunction with its DIRIGERA hub for smart products.

If you've been thinking about adding some more tech into your space, IKEA is a great place to start. Because each of the brand's smart items is sold independently but designed to connect to one central hub, you can slowly build a customized system over time and control it from one convenient app. To help you get started, we looked at IKEA's offerings to determine which items are worth the investment and how they could potentially improve your daily routine. For a more detailed look at how we selected items and our methodology, be sure to keep reading to the end of the article.

Most smart speakers have a very specific look that, while fairly low-profile, can still stick out like a sore thumb amongst the other items in your space. However, this picture frame speaker from IKEA can integrate seamlessly into your home décor. Reviewers are impressed by the speaker's sound quality, especially considering its unique shape and its ability to connect directly to streaming services on your phone so you can enjoy music without any interruptions. 

The SYMFONISK picture frame with Sonos Wi-Fi speaker is available from IKEA for $259.99.

If your curtains are stopping you from getting a good night's sleep, it might be time to invest in something more equipped to block out light. These black-out roller blinds from IKEA are a simplistic but incredibly convenient option, though some reviewers do report that they don't have the best longevity. For the price, however, these blinds are a solid budget option that you can automate to align with your morning routine using IKEA's DIRIGERA hub.

The FYRTUR black-out roller blind is available on IKEA's website starting at $129.99.

Air purifiers are often bulky and difficult to style, but this table air purifier from IKEA ensures your valuable space isn't wasted. When set to auto, this purifier detects harmful particles in the room and automatically eliminates them, but it can also be manually set and incorporated into a schedule using the IKEA home app. Reviewers note that the table is a fashionable and functional addition to their space and is worth the slightly higher price point.

The STARKVIND table with air purifier is available from IKEA for $199.99.

Pendant lights can bring a ton of style to your space, but combining a fashionable fixture with a smart light can take your upgrade to the next level. This simple pendant lamp from IKEA can be connected to a smart hub to turn it on and off, dim it, and adjust the warmth of the bulb. Overall, reviewers are impressed with the pendant light's style, functionality, and ease of installation, especially considering its reasonable price point.

The NYMÅNE LED pendant lamp can be purchased on IKEA's website for $99.99.

Investing in something that allows you to control the tone and color of your lights is one of the easiest ways to transform your space, and this smart bulb provides just that. It comes with nine different color options — three different white tones and six preset colors — and can be dimmed after connecting to an IKEA hub or remote control. It is a bit pricier than a plain bulb, but its 25,000-hour LED life ensures that it will last for years.

The TRÅDFRI LED bulb is available at IKEA for $21.99.

When we dive into and recommend products, our goal is to make well-informed choices so you can get the most out of your purchase. In order to do this, we judge according to a few different categories: reviews, popularity, value for money, and functionality. We first start by taking a look at the most frequently purchased items to ensure our picks are something a large number of people could potentially use in their home, then we dig deeper into the item's specs and how it could help to improve someone's daily routine.

From there, we go over the product's reviews to determine if the item adequately delivers on its promises. This includes the product's average rating, number of reviews, and specific comments from customers. After combining all of this data, we factor in the item's price to determine if it's a good value for money, helping to guarantee that readers will be satisfied with their purchase if they decide to take the leap and try it out themselves.