All the smart home news, reviews, and gadgets you need to know about – The Verge

Will a new CEO help realize Apple’s smart home potential?

2026-04-22T13:03:37-04:00

It took Tim Cook years to launch Apple into major new hardware categories, such as the smartwatch. But John Ternus could start his tenure right away with an ambitious new project: smart home hardware.

All signs point to a strong lineup of new smart home devices coming potentially this fall, putting Apple back in the game in a category where it has been painfully slow to ship new devices.

With a hardware man at the helm in Ternus, the chances of Apple fully committing to the smart home feel far higher than under Cook. And while, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Ternus was reluctant to invest deeply in the smart home a decade ago - tak …

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Ikea’s smart donut lamp is a sweet treat

2026-04-15T14:30:55-04:00

The Varmblixt is a smart donut-shaped light fixture that can sit on a table or be mounted on a wall. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge

Ikea's popular Varmblixt lamp just got a smart home glow-up. The delightfully bulbous light now features color-changing, dimming, and smart home control. I tested the new smart lamp in my daughter's room and found it made a great bedside lamp and added a fun touch of ambiance to her space. While she's rarely a fan of me adding smart tech to her room, she did give this an "It's nice" accolade - high praise from my 15-year-old.

The donut lamp, as it's known for its distinctive shape resembling everyone's favorite sweet treat, can be wall-mounted or set flat on a table. It comes with a long power cable, which helps with placement, and differs …

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Ring finally brings 4K video to its battery-powered doorbell camera

2026-04-08T12:03:42-04:00

Ring has announced its first battery-powered 2K and 4K doorbell cameras. The Ring Battery Video Doorbell Pro 2nd Gen ($249.99) offers 4K video resolution and 10x digital zoom, while the Battery Video Doorbell Plus 2nd Gen ($179.99) offers 2K video and 6x zoom. The Battery Video Doorbell 2nd Gen ($99.99) also has 2K but uses a built-in battery unlike the other two, which have removable batteries. The new doorbell cameras are now available for pre-order and will be released on April 29th.

The company also announced an upgrade to its Wired Video Doorbell 2nd Gen ($79.99), bringing 2K Video to its budget doorbell camera. All the models get the …

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Reolink’s first solar-powered floodlight camera offers wire-free home security

2026-04-08T12:04:59-04:00

Reolink's new solar-powered floodlight camera is now available. Announced earlier this year at CES, the Solar Floodlight Camera costs $109.99 but is on sale for $87.99 for the launch.

Most floodlight cameras require hardwiring into your home's existing wiring, which can limit placement options and be difficult to install. Reolink's latest model can be mounted anywhere. With a built-in 7,800mAh battery, it can run for up to three months without sun, but just one hour of rays can fully power it for a day, according to Reolink.

The Solar Floodlight Camera features a 2K HD camera, a 150-degree field of view, 1000‑lumen floodlights, and a 110d …

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Nuki adds Apple Home Key to its smart lock

2026-03-24T11:47:18-04:00

This week, my top pick for a retrofit smart lock launched the first Aliro-compatible keypad. The Nuki Keypad 2 NFC ($179) brings tap-to-unlock via Apple's Home Key and Samsung's Digital Home Key to the Nuki smart lock, allowing you to tap your phone or smartwatch to unlock your door, just like you tap to pay.

Aliro is a new smart lock standard supported by all major platforms and handset manufacturers. It is designed to allow any smart lock to be securely unlocked by any smartphone, regardless of manufacturer, without requiring proprietary apps.

An open standard, Aliro stores a digital key in your phone's wallet that you can tap to a com …

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Ikea tried to build a smart home for everyone — here’s why it’s not working yet

2026-03-17T14:55:19-04:00

Ikea’s new smart bulbs, sensors, and remotes use Matter-over-Thread to connect to any compatible ecosystem — including Apple Home and Amazon Alexa. In theory. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge

Ikea's new Matter-over-Thread products were supposed to prove that the smart home could be cheap, accessible, and reliable. The highly anticipated line - which includes sensors, remotes, smart plugs, air-quality monitors, and smart bulbs - has most everything you need to build a smart home, with prices starting at $6. It's an exciting idea, but it's still not ready for primetime.

When I first got the Ikea devices in January, I had a lot of problems connecting them to my main platform, Apple Home. And it turned out I was not alone. Reddit forums and user reviews were full of reports of onboarding and connectivity issues. Many people were str …

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Hands on with Aqara’s new Matter-compatible camera

2026-03-17T04:04:22-04:00

The Aqara G350 is the first camera you can buy that has support for Matter.

The first Matter camera is here - sort of. Camera support came to the smart home standard last year, and Aqara's Camera Hub G350 is the first to support it. The G350, which was announced at CES, launched this week and is a pan-and-tilt indoor security camera with up to 4K video resolution.

Today, the G350 only supports Matter on Samsung SmartThings, as none of the other platforms have added Matter 1.5 yet. I've only had the camera setup for a day, and it took several firmware updates before I could connect it as a Matter camera. So far, all it can do is stream a live feed, which is far less than what Samsung promises Matter cameras in Smar …

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Apple smart home display rumors now point to a fall launch with iOS 27

2026-03-11T07:50:52-04:00

The rumored "HomePod with a screen" we've heard so much about was reportedly lined up for launch in 2025, and then this spring, and now, according to the latest updates, it's on the shelf until this fall. Leaker Kosutami posted as much on X last week, and today, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman followed up with similar information, saying its robot arm-equipped cousin is now planned for launch in 2027.

According to Gurman, the J490 smart home display / HomePad is waiting for Apple to finish work on its chatbot-style AI update for Siri.

That was supposed to be ready by now, but it is now predicted to arrive later this year, along with the iP …

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The smart lock standard that could replace your keys is finally here

2026-02-28T11:55:57-05:00

A Galaxy smartphone using tap-to-unlock on a keypad for a Nuki smart lock. A new smart lock standard, Aliro, is bringing this functionality to all smartphones. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge

Aliro has officially arrived. The smart lock standard, first announced in 2023, finally has a 1.0 spec, meaning companies can now get hardware certified and roll out support.

Aliro is an open standard designed to let any smart lock be unlocked by any smartphone, regardless of manufacturer. It stores a digital key in your phone's wallet that you can tap to a compatible lock - just like you tap to pay.

If you've used Apple's Home Key, you already understand the idea - but instead of being locked into Apple's ecosystem, Aliro is cross-platform, working on both Android and iOS, and with the major mobile wallet ecosystems - Apple, Google, and …

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After Search Party backlash, Ring is still avoiding the bigger questions

2026-02-19T14:40:42-05:00

Siminoff acknowledged in an interview with The New York Times that including maps that showed mass surveillance in an ad was a mistake. | Screenshot from Ring video

Ring founder Jamie Siminoff has been on an "explanation tour," as The New York Times puts it, following the fallout from its Super Bowl ad and the introduction of its Search Party feature.

In an interview with The Times this week, Siminoff explained that he understands people's concerns and that "maybe people were 'triggered' by an image in the ad that showed blue rings radiating out from suburban homes. There will be fewer maps in any future ads, he said."

Graphics in ads are not the problem. The problem is the potential for Ring's vast network of AI-powered camera technology to be turned into a surveillance tool, one accessible to law en …

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