Pros
- Beautiful doughnut design
- Works on tables and walls
- Durable, high-quallity ABS plastic
- Matter support for multiple smart home platforms
- Easy to replace bulbs
- Versatile color options
Cons
- You’ll need a smart hub, either one of your own or Ikea’s, to control this lamp
- The remote struggled to function well once I turned to app controls
When the CNET team first saw pictures of Ikea’s Varmblixt lamp at CES 2026, upgraded with new smart features, the common response was, “I want one!” Now I have one, and it’s worth the $100 price.
The Swedish furniture giant has created a fun, aesthetically warming light you can fit nearly anywhere. It’s made far more useful and convenient with the addition of smart home and Matter standard support for use with Apple Home/Siri, Alexa, Google Home and more. It’s equally at home in a bedroom, dorm, living room, hallway wall or bathroom.
Ikea was set to release the upgraded lamp in April, but pushed the date earlier to March, so now anyone can try it. Here’s why you may want to, based on my experience.
An enthralling lamp design from Ikea
Measuring around a foot wide, the Varmblixt comes with a cord, a small on/off remote and little else. The doughnut-like cover looks and feels a bit like smooth ceramic, but it’s actually durable ABS plastic. That makes the lamp less likely to break, but you’ll still want to avoid putting it in places where it’s easy to knock it over.
The base of the lamp isn’t just for flat surfaces. You can also mount it to the wall with a few screws, giving you many more installation options. What happens when the light inside burns out? Ikea has a push button that unlocks the doughnut, letting you lift it up and replace the light inside when necessary.
As with the new Ikea security sensors I tested, setup was as simple as scanning a QR code and popping over to my home platform of choice (Apple Home in this case) to connect… well, almost. For this review, I had to try a few times before the connection completed, eventually moving the lamp closer to my Wi-Fi router, which seemed to help.
Ikea sells its own Dirigera smart hub to enable smart light controls, but you don’t need it if you have any device that can act as a home hub, including a Nest speaker or hub, an Echo speaker or smart display, an Apple HomePod or a newer Apple TV. That’s an ideal situation, as the Dirigera costs $110, making this smart lamp an expensive investment.
Cozy glows for ambiance and a bit of illumination
The Varmblixt lamp won’t win awards for sheer lumen output: It’s designed to be a far more gentle light than many of the floodlights and LED bulbs I’ve tested. That makes the lamp well-suited for ambiance, accent lighting or a fun centerpiece on a table. If the lights ever go down for a party, it will really start to shine.
That quiet light can have more productive purposes, too. Perch the lamp on a bedside table and it could be a cozy reading light. Hang it in a hallway (perhaps connected to a Matter-compatible motion sensor), and it would become a serene nightlight. In an entryway and set with a timer, it could greet those coming home late at night from work. I tried the lamp in several places and couldn’t decide where I liked it best.
Brightness controls are innate to the lamp, no matter which platform you use — something I’ll discuss below — and color options range from warm reds to cool blues. Ikea also offers a mode to pick your own color from the whole rainbow and turn adaptive lighting (responding to ambient light levels) on or off. There are no advanced features here like music syncing, so you’ll have to manage changes on your own with an app, but that only takes a couple of seconds.
Smart home features elevate this lamp in all the right ways
Ikea’s lamp is much, much better with Matter support and all the associated smart home connections. Whichever app you use, you can adjust brightness and color instantly with sliders and icons.
The Matter smart home standard and Apple/Alexa/Google compatibility also make it easy to set automations and scenes. Apple Home, for example, suggested scenes like turning on when you get home or in the morning, and you’ll find similar options on all platforms.
Automations also let you connect smart lamp behavior to actions like your smart lock unlocking, a motion sensor triggering and other useful tricks depending on the other tech you have around your home. And you can control the lamp with the voice assistant of your choice.
The only downside I noticed was that after using app controls on the lamp for a while, it seemed to cede control away from the remote, which I found hesitant to work properly afterward. I only noticed because I made sure to test it, since the app controls are superior as long as your phone is nearby. There is a manual button on the lamp to power on/off and reboot as needed.
Final thoughts on the Ikea Varmblixt smart lamp
Ikea’s round lamp proved a happy presence in my home, with its smart features elevating it to a high recommendation for anyone who wants ambient illumination. While operation with the included remote seemed a little iffy in my tests, the app controls and automation options were superb. The overall quality is also much higher than you may expect from Ikea, which explains the nearly $100 price tag.
This glowy doughnut is at home almost anywhere, including both tables and walls. If you’re looking for a special lamp, think about how you could use it.
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