Ikea’s cheap new smart home gear is struggling to get connected

Ikea smart home products on a table in front of Ikea boxes.

Some users are having trouble onboarding Ikea’s new Matter-compatible smart home products. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge

I’ve spent the last couple of weeks trying – and mostly failing – to test Ikea’s new Matter-over-Thread gear. These highly anticipated smart home devices include programmable buttons, smart bulbs, plugs, and temperature and motion sensors – all of which should work with any smart home platform and start at just $6.

But I’ve hit several walls trying to connect them to any smart home platform, and I’m not alone. The Tradfri subreddit is filled with Ikea customers sharing similar frustrations, reviews on Ikea’s website point to issues, and colleagues at The Verge have also been having problems.

Of the six devices I’ve tried to connect, I’ve …

Read the full story at The Verge.