Ikea is the go-to company for any adult who misses the thrill of assembling a Lego set, but the DIY-nature of the furniture comes with a major benefit: significantly lower prices for good-quality furniture. These affordable prices extend to Ikea’s Tradfri line of smart home products, which include smart lights, blinds, and plugs. The Swedish-based company announced that it has delayed the launch of its smart blinds until later in 2019 in order to improve the device’s firmware. The Kadrilj and Fyrtur shades were previously expected to release in the United States in April 2019.
Fortunately, good news comes with bad. Because of this delay, the “smart” part of the blinds will be available when they launch, rather than later in the year. Ikea originally planned to add voice control through the Tradfri smart home app (and the ability to control the Tradfri app through Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant) in a firmware update after the blinds launched.
Smart blinds tend to be treated as a luxury item due to their normally high price. In fact, many luxury apartments advertise smart blinds as one of the benefits of renting through them. The most exciting part of the Ikea blinds is their affordability. The Kadrilj shades are rumored to start between 99 euros and 139 euros, according to Reddit user /u/GogoharryNL. Although no price point has been confirmed, Ikea’s wireless Fyrtur blackout shades start at 110 euros for the cheapest option, placing present estimates squarely in the price range.
Ikea has not confirmed a new release date for the smart blinds since the delay, but the French Ikea Twitter page said that the Kadrilj and Fyrtur shades are expected to release in August. The available sizes have not yet been confirmed either, although the company offers five default sizing options: 100×195 cm, 120×195 cm, 140×195 cm, 60×195 cm, and 80×195 cm. If your windows are sized differently, you might need to request custom sizing.
Smart blinds are one of those smart home products you don’t want to purchase until you’ve settled into your forever home. Because windows tend to be shaped differently everywhere you go, the blinds will most likely not fit the windows in a new location—and who wants to shop for a home based solely on window size? With the lower prices, the Ikea smart blinds might make voice-controlled shades more accessible to everyone.
