iHome iSS50 Review: Eight Years on One Wall Outlet
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The iHome iSS50 SmartMonitor puts temperature, humidity, light, motion and sound sensors into one unit that plugs straight into a wall outlet, so there are no batteries to change. Mine has run since January 2018 and still reports accurately in Apple Home, years after iHome stopped supporting it and pulled it from sale. It is a basic device and it does basic things well. Buy a current Matter sensor instead if you are starting now, but there is no reason to rip one out if you already have it.
I bought the iHome iSS50 in January 2018. It has been sitting in a bedroom outlet reporting numbers ever since and has never once asked for my attention. That is the whole review, and the rating reflects both halves of it: reliable, and dull.
What it does
Five sensors in one housing: temperature, humidity, light level, motion and sound. Apple Home also exposes an inactivity detector, which fires when a room has seen no movement for a set stretch, and that’s a genuinely uncommon service to find on a consumer sensor.
The design decision that matters most is power. It plugs into a wall outlet rather than running on cells, and it joins over Wi-Fi rather than Bluetooth or Thread. Nothing to recharge, nothing to replace, no mesh to worry about. For a sensor you want to forget about, mains power is the right trade.
Readings have been accurate enough that I have never gone looking for a second opinion on them. They are not laboratory instruments and they do not need to be.
The unremarkable part
Nothing about the iSS50 is clever. The sensors are basic, the reporting is basic, and there is no feature here that a current Matter multi-sensor could not match or beat.
Compared with what I have added since, it is outclassed. The IKEA MYGGSPRAY pairs occupancy with a lux threshold you can set as an automation condition, which is more useful for building automations than raw numbers on a tile. The IKEA air quality sensor measures things the iHome cannot see at all.
So the iSS50 occupies an odd position. It works, it has always worked, and I would not buy another one.
Discontinued, and still going
iHome stopped supporting it and stopped selling it. Finding one now means an aftermarket listing.
It carries on regardless, for the same reason a pair of iDevices switches from 2016 carry on here. HomeKit pairing is local, so once an accessory is in your home it does not need the manufacturer to exist. Firmware 1.3.8 is where mine stopped, and where it will stay.
That is not universal. A Koogeek strip in the next room dropped off the network permanently and needs a factory reset to return, and its maker is equally gone. Losing the manufacturer is survivable if the firmware was sound to begin with.
Hands-on notes
Bought January 2018 and running in the bedroom ever since, more than eight years. It reports as SDI Technologies model iSS50 on firmware 1.3.8, in the Sensor category. Temperature, humidity, light, motion and sound all report in Apple Home, plus the inactivity detector.
It has been fine. Accurate enough, always available, and I have never had to re-pair it or think about maintenance. It has also never done anything I would describe to someone as interesting.
Verdict
Three out of five, and the number is doing real work. Reliability and accuracy earn it a straight pass. Being basic, discontinued, unsupported and unavailable stops it going any higher.
If one is already plugged into your wall and reporting, leave it there. If you are buying sensors today, buy something current.
Common questions
Does the iHome iSS50 still work with HomeKit?
Yes. Mine was bought in January 2018 and still reports temperature, humidity, light, motion and sound in Apple Home on firmware 1.3.8, despite the product being discontinued and no longer supported. HomeKit pairing is local, so an accessory keeps working without the manufacturer.
What sensors does the iHome iSS50 have?
Five: temperature, humidity, light level, motion and sound. Apple Home also exposes an inactivity detector, which reports when a room has seen no movement for a set period.
Does the iHome iSS50 need batteries?
No. It plugs into a mains outlet and joins over Wi-Fi rather than Bluetooth or Thread, so there is nothing to recharge or replace.
Can you still buy the iHome iSS50?
Not new. It has been discontinued and is only available from aftermarket sellers. A current Matter sensor is the better purchase for a new setup.
Where to buy, tested picks
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