Ikea and Sonos have today officially introduced the latest product in their Symfonisk line. It’s the $199 picture frame / wall art speaker that The Verge exclusively reported on earlier this year and Ikea later prematurely posted on its website. The “picture frame with Wi-Fi speaker” will be available for purchase starting on July 15th. Though it’s very confusingly called a picture frame, you can’t customize it with your own images. It’s really just a piece of artwork.
The front art can be removed, revealing the speaker drivers underneath, and swapped out for other colors and designs. Several styles from artist Jennifer Idrizi will be available, but options will vary by market.
The power cable can be routed out in several directions depending on where your nearest outlet is, and Ikea has also included an area for cord management on the back of the frame. The art speaker can also be placed on the floor with included feet; there’s a spot to tuck those away when not in use, as well.
Sonos said the challenge in designing this latest collaboration was to create room-filling sound in a product that will be placed differently than many of its more traditional speakers. But the depth of the picture frame helped there, and the company also built in a waveguide to direct audio all throughout a room.
Two picture frame speakers can be stereo paired, and they can also be daisy chained for a cleaner look so that only one power cord needs to run to an outlet.
Controls are located on the back of the frame’s left side, with the Ikea and Sonos icons used as a visual indicator of where to feel for them. You’ll be able to control the speaker with the Sonos app like any other device in the company’s multi-room audio ecosystem, and AirPlay 2 support is also included.
Only one new Symfonisk product was announced by the companies today, but The Verge has reported that a redesigned table lamp speaker is also on the roadmap. An Ikea spokesperson confirmed that “a new lamp is part of our plans, and we will share more when the time is right.” All of these joint efforts are meant to more naturally fit in with a home’s interior.