IKEA has a weird new Matter smart lamp to sell you

IKEA’s got a funky new Matter-compatible lamp. The new Varmblixt is a donut-shaped, connected LED accent light that can be controlled with an included remote or any smart home setup that includes a Matter hub, and it’s available at some stores in the US now.

As reported by Notebookcheck, the smart Varmblixt was announced earlier this year with an April release date, but IKEA has been rolling it out in various markets ahead of schedule. In the US, the lamp costs $100. It looks pretty slick, though IKEA’s been having trouble with its Matter smart home gear.

The Varmblixt smart lamp is an updated version of the retailer’s existing, non-smart Varmblixt: it’s a foot across and designed to either mount on a wall or sit on a flat surface. Its cover is made of glass rather than plastic, which should help it look and feel a little more substantial in person. The color-controllable light seems to be more decorative than functional, with one review on IKEA’s website complaining that it’s “kind of dim.”

As with all of IKEA’s recent Matter efforts, the Varmblixt can theoretically be connected to any Matter-compatible smart home hub to easily integrate into existing smart home setups (IKEA also sells its own Dirigera hub for $110).

Users have reported difficulty controlling many of the retailer’s smart lights this way, though — and a review of the Varmblixt on IKEA’s website mentions that the reviewer couldn’t control the light over Matter. IKEA has acknowledged its Matter problems and says it’s working to improve the situation.

In any case, with a dozen reviews published on IKEA’s storefront as of writing, the lamp has an average of 3.7 out of 5 stars, so it must be working well for some users. If you’re willing to troubleshoot potential connectivity headaches, you can check IKEA’s website to see if the Varmblixt is in stock near you.