IKEA BILRESA Remote Controls

The upgrade a smart lamp often needs

A light can be smart and still be annoying to control. BILRESA addresses that with buttons you can leave beside the bed or sofa. For compatible IKEA products, it can work directly without buying a hub, so the benefit does not depend on building a larger automation system.

The dual-button remote is the sensible starting point for one lighting area or an on/off plug, and it still dims an IKEA bulb with a long press. It costs about £3 in the UK, €5 to €7 in euro countries and about $7 in the US. The scroll-wheel model costs a little more (£1 extra in the UK, €1 to €3 in Europe, about $3 in the US) and earns it when you want to adjust light levels by turning a control, or select between three product groups. For a plug that only switches power, the wheel adds no scrolling function; the simpler remote is the better buy.

IKEA uses three sets of article numbers across North America and Europe, but they are the same remotes, so buy whichever one your local store lists.

More controls mean more to configure

The wheel is the more interesting design for a room with several light groups, but its IKEA grouping behavior is not a promise of identical controls in every Matter app. Once you use a smart system, that system has to interpret the remote's inputs and assign actions to them.

SmartThings is now a documented exception to that uncertainty. On September 28, 2026, Samsung said BILRESA currently supports lighting and blind control through SmartThings. SmartThings hub firmware 0.62.7 had added scroll-wheel control for Zigbee and Matter window coverings, with a note that the feature also depended on an upcoming app version.

Samsung's newer post presents blind control as current, but does not name the required app version, supported blind models or exact group mapping. The 0.62.7 hub rollout was marked completed on September 16, which leaves the app version as the less certain requirement. For a mixed-brand bedtime scene, the dual-button version is still easier to map to simple actions. Choose the wheel for a SmartThings blind only after confirming the hub firmware and installing the latest app, then test one window covering before buying several remotes.

For a small IKEA-only setup, direct control remains the lower-friction choice. Its extra controls are only valuable if the chosen route makes useful things happen with them.

There is also a specific limit for older TRÅDFRI lamps: two BILRESA remotes cannot both pair directly to the same lamp. A three-pack will not solve bedside control on both sides of that lamp through this route.

Buy one before buying three

Whether a three-pack saves money depends on the country. In the US the packs cost about $20 for the dual-button version and $28 for the wheel, a dollar or two less than three singles. In France and Spain they cost roughly a quarter to a third less than three singles. In the UK both packs cost exactly the same as three singles; the wheel pack saves nothing in Germany and Canada, and the dual-button pack saves nothing in Ireland. The packs come in mixed colors, while the singles are white, so color can be the better reason to choose one. No pack includes a hub.

Every remote needs two rechargeable AAA batteries, and IKEA recommends its LADDA cells, which it says usually power a remote for about two years before they need changing. A LADDA four-pack covers two remotes for about £4 in the UK or €4 to €6 in euro countries. In the US it costs about $10, more than a dual-button remote.

For most simple light or plug jobs, choose one dual-button remote and see whether its role is useful before filling the house. Choose the wheel deliberately for turn-to-dim control and group selection. Its appeal is the control layout; we have not tested button feel, wheel resistance or response speed.