Owners of Ikea’s new Matter-compatible smart home devices have been complaining about surprisingly high failure rates with newly purchased devices. Reports have flooded the Tradfri subreddit, and The Verge was able to replicate some of the failures, which include devices failing to pair and/or stay connected.
Ikea launched a new lineup of smart lights, temperature and humidity sensors, remote controls, bulbs, and plugs at the end of 2025. They swapped the Zigbee standard for Matter, but all is not going to plan.
Users on the subreddit report failure rates of up to 50%. Others have had intermittent connection issues with their smart bulbs for weeks. Of the six devices tested by The Verge, they only managed to get one to connect properly, and even then, it took seven attempts. Once it was connected, it later lost pairing, too.
An Ikea spokesperson says the company is aware of the problems and has a “dedicated team reviewing the raised concerns.”
Reddit users report that Ikea issued a firmware update for the Ikea Dirigera hub that manages its smart devices, though that won’t do much to help those using other smart home platforms.
Recommended by Our Editors
Not all Tradfri users have reported issues, with many saying on the subreddit that their devices are working fine. With so many different smart home setups and configurations, and unique combinations of devices and networking hardware, it’s possible that Ikea’s new devices simply need some time to improve compatibility. The scale of the complaints, however, is concerning.
Get Our Best Stories!
Your Daily Dose of Our Top Tech News
By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy
Policy.
Thanks for signing up!
Your subscription has been confirmed. Keep an eye on your inbox!
About Our Expert
Jon Martindale
Contributor
Experience
Jon Martindale is a tech journalist from the UK, with 20 years of experience covering all manner of PC components and associated gadgets. He’s written for a range of publications, including ExtremeTech, Digital Trends, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, and Lifewire, among others. When not writing, he’s a big board gamer and reader, with a particular habit of speed-reading through long manga sagas.
Jon covers the latest PC components, as well as how-to guides on everything from how to take a screenshot to how to set up your cryptocurrency wallet. He particularly enjoys the battles between the top tech giants in CPUs and GPUs, and tries his best not to take sides.
Jon’s gaming PC is built around the iconic 7950X3D CPU, with a 7900XTX backing it up. That’s all the power he needs to play lightweight indie and casual games, as well as more demanding sim titles like Kerbal Space Program. He uses a pair of Jabra Active 8 earbuds and a SteelSeries Arctis Pro wireless headset, and types all day on a Logitech G915 mechanical keyboard.
Read Full Bio
