IKEA lamp goes smart

IKEA has turned its VARMBLIXT “donut” lamp into a smart light, adding color control and app support to one of its most recognizable designs. (ikea.com) The company announced the smart VARMBLIXT on January 7, 2026, as part of its continuing collaboration with designer Sabine Marcelis. IKEA said the original lamp will stay on sale alongside the new version. (ikea.com) In the United States, the new 12-inch smart model is listed at $99.99 and can sit on a table or mount on a wall. IKEA says it ships with a pre-paired BILRESA remote that can dim the lamp and switch among preset colors. (ikea.com) The original orange-glass VARMBLIXT is also 12 inches wide and now sells for $99.99 in the United States after becoming a bestseller with more than 600 reviews on IKEA’s site. IKEA describes that version as mouth-blown glass with a built-in LED light source. (ikea.com) The smart version keeps the ring shape but changes the finish to matte white glass and adds color-shifting light. IKEA said the included remote moves through 12 preset colors selected by Marcelis, from white tones to amber, red, pink, lavender, turquoise and yellow. (ikea.com) With IKEA’s DIRIGERA hub and the IKEA Home smart app, the lamp can access more than 40 shades, adjust brightness and join automations with other devices. IKEA says the lamp uses Matter over Thread, which also lets it work with systems from Amazon, Apple, Google, Homey and Samsung. (ikea.com 1) (ikea.com 2) Matter is a common smart-home language, and Thread is the low-power wireless network some Matter devices use to stay connected. IKEA says phone control for this lamp requires a Thread Border Router, including its own DIRIGERA hub. (ikea.com) That technical shift changes what buyers are asking a lamp to do: not just glow, but fit into scenes, schedules and multi-device setups without giving up a sculptural look. IKEA’s January announcement framed the update as keeping the form intact while changing how the room’s atmosphere can be adjusted through light. (ikea.com) The viral video pushing the story this week presents the lamp as a design object that now plugs into a broader smart-home system, rather than a gadget dressed up as decor. That is also how IKEA is selling it: first as a table-or-wall statement piece, then as a connected light. (youtube.com) (ikea.com) For IKEA, the next step is already dated: the company said the VARMBLIXT collaboration with Marcelis will continue with a new collection planned for 2027. For now, the donut lamp that broke out as a decorative hit is being sold as both furniture-store eye candy and a Matter device. (ikea.com)