Ikea’s new smart sensor measures indoor air quality

By Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, a smart home reviewer who's been testing connected gadgets since 2013. Previously a writer for Wirecutter, Wired, and BBC Science Focus.

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Keeping track of air pollutants in your home just got easier thanks to Ikea's new Vindstyrka indoor air quality sensor arriving in April. The tabletop device features a large display so you can see in real time the particulate matter levels (PM2.5), humidity, temperature, and total volatile organic compounds (VOC) of your home's air. No pricing has been announced yet, but knowing Ikea, it's likely to be competitive.

The Vindstyrka (which translates to wind force) can work as a standalone air quality monitor or connect to Ikea's new Dirigera hub ($69) to view readings in the Home smart app and control Ikea's air purifier line, Starkvind, to help improve air quality.

A recent update to Ikea's Home smart app added air quality monitoring and reporting of PM2.5 levels from Starkvind products — and presumably will do the same for the new Vindstyrka when it arrives. According to the press release, the Vindstyrka will be able to automatically adjust the Starkvind's fan speed in correlation with the amount of PM2.5 in the air when connected to the Dirigera hub.

Additionally, the Dirigera is a Matter-ready device, and Ikea has said it will update the hub to work with the new smart home standard. Indoor air quality monitors are slated to be part of the next Matter release this spring, so it's possible that the Vindstyrka will work with Matter in the future.

This would allow the sensor to connect to and control any Matter-compatible device in any Matter-compatible ecosystem. For example, it could work in Apple Home to turn on a TP-Link Tapo smart plug controlling a fan or connect to an Amazon Smart Thermostat using Alexa to adjust the climate in your home when the temperatures rise. (At launch, Ikea didn't announce which smart home platforms the sensor would work with natively.)

Ikea already has a non-connected air quality sensor, but the $16 Vindriktning only monitors PM2.5, with an LED light that visually indicates air quality rather than using a screen or app. The new also Vindstyrka adds temperature, humidity, TVOC sensing, and connectivity, in addition to PM2.5 sensing.

It's likely the Vindstyrka will cost quite a bit more than the Vindriktning. My guess is around $60 to $80. Indoor air quality monitors are generally expensive, especially when they monitor PM2.5 and have a screen. The Airthings 2960 View — which measures everything the Vindstyrka does plus CO2 and radon and has a screen — costs $300. Sensibo's Elements, which doesn't have a screen but does add CO2 monitoring, is $179.

On the cheaper end of things, which is where Ikea's monitor is likely to land, Amazon's $70 Smart AQ Monitor has the same monitoring capabilities the Vindstyrka does (plus carbon monoxide) but doesn't have a screen. Then there's Aqara's small indoor air quality monitor with a screen that is only $45 but doesn't measure PM2.5 and requires a hub.

According to Ikea, the Vindstyrka will launch in April, so we should hear more about pricing then.

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