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With its playful design, versatility, and relatively affordable price, the Ikea Varmblixt quickly became one of my colleague Jennifer Pattison Tuohy’s new favorite smart light products when she tested it in April. Now, the donut-shaped lamp is on sale for $79.99 ($20 off) through November 11th at Ikea.
Don’t let us tell you where you can or cannot put your Varmblixt. But it’s meant to sit on a table or be mounted on a wall (it can hang from a drilled-in screw, nothing fancy). At just 180 lumens, it isn’t particularly bright, so it’s better suited for use as a bedside lamp or for mood lighting than being tasked to illuminate a room. The newer model lets you cycle through 12 preset colors, including shades of pink, blue, green, and white, as opposed to just orange with the predecessor. The included wireless remote lets you switch between colors, adjust the brightness, and turn the lamp on or off without needing an app or a separate hub (there’s a power button on the lamp itself) . You can also use the remote to control other compatible Ikea lights.
For those who want to embed the Varmblixt into their smart home setup, the lamp supports Matter, allowing it to work with compatible smart home platforms including Apple Home, Google Home, and Amazon Alexa. In addition to letting you control the lights with your voice, this gives you access to hundreds more colors, lets you set lighting schedules and sleep or wake-up routines, and allows you to connect the lamp with motion sensors and other smart lights you may have. You can unlock those features with Ikea’s Dirigera hub, as well, which also offers a feature through its Home Smart app that gradually adjusts the shade of white throughout the day akin to natural daylight.
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