Need to know
- Certain mattresses, ovens, cooktops and cots performed well in our lab tests, but quality can vary from model to model
- Our tests also uncovered a fridge that was so bad we gave it a Shonky Award in 2019
- We test Ikea products against other brands in a wide range of product categories – check out our full reviews
Does the sight of Ikea's bold blue and gold send a frisson of retail-related pleasure down your spine? Or perhaps you're literally offended by the thought of paying money for furniture you have to assemble yourself? Maybe you just go there for the meatballs.
Whatever your thoughts on the Swedish Temple of Homewares, there's no denying that Ikea often hits the mark with a huge range of great-value, functional products, and there are probably few homes that don't have at least one item with an unpronounceable Scandinavian name.
Ikea does have a few dodgy buys that are best avoided on your journey through the warren of Hemnes, Hovags and Bjurstas
However, our product experts have found Ikea does have a few dodgy buys that are best avoided on your journey through the warren of Hemnes, Hovags and Bjurstas.
Whether you're furnishing your home, preparing for a baby or just love dropping cash on things you didn't know you needed, here's our round up of the best buys and the scandi-lous (sorry) rip-offs.
Good buys
Ikea mattresses (mostly)
CHOICE home expert Peter Zaluzny says Ikea offer a solid range of mattresses, which come with additional advantages over other brands.
"Ikea's free trial period of a year is three times longer than Koala's or Sleeping Duck's, plus their warranty lasts a whopping 25 years and it's easy to try each mattress in store before entering the free trial period," say Peter. "Plus, they have quite a few models to choose from."
We take testing very seriously at CHOICE.
The five Ikea mattresses we've tested range in price from $349 to $799 and three of them scored 70% and higher in our tests.
But be wary – three of their mattresses rated just OK overall, while another made our worst mattress list with issues including sagging over time, incorrect firmness and a poor sweat repellent score. CHOICE members can access our full review results for all Ikea mattresses.
If you do need to exchange, it's important to know Ikea doesn't have free delivery or pick up, and you're only eligible for one exchange under the trial period.
Ikea cot mattresses
We test cot mattresses for safety, which includes firmness and accuracy of dimensions. Of the 44 cot mattresses we've reviewed, we recommend more than two-thirds. We tested four Ikea cot mattresses in our CHOICE labs and they rated from very good to excellent – see our full cot mattress reviews.
Ikea Antilop highchair
We reviewed the iconic product and although it didn't score as highly as other highchairs in our tests, at $24.99, it's hard to deny that this is a bargain buy that does the job. It's cheap, lightweight and easy to clean, although our testers did note some downsides:
The Antilop high chair. BYO cute baby.
- the harness has no shoulder straps (and it's not permanently attached, so could be a safety issue if you lose it)
- it's not foldable
- it has no footrest
- the tray is very hard to remove.
A CHOICE member said: "The Ikea high chair is simplicity and function rolled into one affordable piece of baby equipment. Everyone I know who has purchased a cheap Ikea highchair as a 'back-up' at granny's, or for a holiday house, has soon discarded their fussy, expensive chair in favour of this one."
See our expert highchair reviews.
Kitchen kit: Wall ovens and cooktops
Although none of the Ikea wall ovens we tested made our Recommended list in our wall oven reviews, they all scored very well, especially given their low price point.
Ikea ovens impressed in our tests.
Likewise, Ikea offers quality options when it comes to cooktops across its gas, ceramic and induction ranges. Our experts were impressed by their performance for their modest prices, and three models scored a CHOICE Recommendation after rating higher than 80% overall. Some models definitely perform better than others, so check out our full review results to get the best one.
Products to be wary of
Ikea cots
If you're considering an Ikea cot, it's important you take a look at our cot reviews as their range varies notably in terms of quality, ease of use and safety.
We've tested four cots with mixed results – we recommend one model while others have minor failures or ease of assembly issues.
The Nekyld scored a CHOICE Shonky Award in 2019 and has since been discontinued.
Bad buys
Ikea Nedkyld fridge
This fridge was so bad, we awarded it a Shonky in the 2019 CHOICE Shonky Awards. It shockingly failed its energy test, meaning it uses a lot more electricity than it claims on its energy star rating label.
It's also one of the worst-performing fridges we've ever tested. Our experts found its freezer temperatures changed by 10°C depending on outside conditions, which means your food won't last as long.
Fortunately, Ikea took our feedback on board and discontinued the Nedkyld fridge. Phew!
The Sundvik change table
This is one cheap nursery buy that's best avoided. It may only be $259, but this unit has been plagued with issues. Not only is it supplied in a whopping 199 pieces and took us about two and a half hours to assemble, the Sundvik table failed our in-house stability test.
The Sundvik was recalled after several children fell off it.
In May 2019, Ikea issued a product recall after three reports of incidents where the foldable top part came loose and children fell. The recall warned all users to secure the safety locking fittings to avoid the hinge coming loose or breaking.
But none of the Ikea change tables we've tested have performed very well – the highest score any of them achieved was 65%. They did pass all our key safety tests, but all of them had 1–2 minor safety failures.
The Myllra change table comes with nearly 300 individual pieces and took our experts (who are no slouches when it comes to assembling flat-pack furniture) nearly two hours to put together!
Symfonisk wireless speaker and lamp
If you really don't want a speaker and a separate lamp cluttering up your bedroom this is one of the few options available. This Frankenstein's monster of a device combines a table lamp and a wireless speaker.
Designed to work as part of a home network rather than a personal speaker, it uses Wi-Fi but not Bluetooth. This means you need to connect the lamp to the home network to play music, rather than connect with Bluetooth directly using your smartphone. Because of the way that it's set up, it's better used as part of a larger Sonos home speaker environment.
Unfortunately, our expert testers weren't impressed by this bright idea from Ikea
Unfortunately, our expert testers weren't impressed by this bright idea from Ikea, giving it an overall CHOICE Expert Rating of just 56%. They say it has a poor general app score, very poor power score, no Bluetooth and single band (2.4GHz) Wi-Fi only.
And for $269, it's definitely not a great way to spend your money. There are plenty of great-performing wireless speakers for this price – they just won't come with a table lamp attached!
