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 passed the eight-year mark still reporting accurately in Apple Home, long after iHome ended the product line. 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.
Jump to where to buy →What works
- Eight years in one outlet with no re-pairing and no maintenance
- Powered from the wall outlet, so there are no batteries to change
- Temperature, humidity, light, motion and sound all still report in Apple Home
What doesn't
- Discontinued and unsupported, so only aftermarket listings remain
- A current Matter multi-sensor matches or beats every feature here
- Gives raw numbers on a tile rather than settable automation conditions
I bought the iHome iSS50 in January 2018. It has been sitting in a bedroom outlet reporting numbers ever since, and I have never had to touch it.
What it does
Five sensors in one housing: temperature, humidity, light level, motion and sound. In Apple Home you can also automate on a room seeing no movement for a set stretch.
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, so there is nothing to recharge and no mesh to keep healthy.
Readings have been accurate enough that I have never checked them against another sensor.
What it doesn’t do
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.
Support status
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.
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’s website no longer resolves.
Hands-on notes
It has run in the bedroom since purchase, 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.
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
It passes on reliability and accuracy. Being basic, discontinued, unsupported and unavailable stops it going any higher. Three out of five.
Where to buy, tested picks
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Common questions
Does the iHome iSS50 still work with HomeKit?
Yes. Mine still reports all five readings in Apple Home. Pairing happens on your own network rather than through a manufacturer cloud, so an accessory that is already set up keeps working whether or not the company behind it is still around.
What sensors does the iHome iSS50 have?
It combines a thermometer, a humidity sensor, an ambient light sensor, a motion detector and a sound detector in a single plug-in unit. Apple Home can also use the motion data to trigger automations after a room has been empty for a chosen period.
Does the iHome iSS50 need batteries?
No. Power comes straight from the outlet it sits in, and the connection is your Wi-Fi network, so it has no batteries and no dependence on a Thread mesh.
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.
Runs the homekit.reviews test home, a real mixed Matter/Thread/HomeKit house. Everything reviewed here was set up, paired, and lived with. See how I test →