The Sonos and Ikea partnership announced in December is now bearing fruit in the shape of speakers. The non-functional prototypes on display at Ikea’s Democratic Design Days event in Sweden are illustrative examples of what you can expect from Ikea’s new SYMFONISK range. In other words, the final products may or may not look like the prototypes. Nevertheless, Sonos says that the final products will fully integrate with Sonos’ existing range of Wi-Fi speakers and Ikea’s “Home Smart” range of Trådfris smart devices, including lights, dimmers, and switches.
And because they’re designed for Ikea, at least one prototype features brackets that makes it possible to use as a shelf, or to attach beneath an Ikea kitchen cabinet, for example.
In keeping with the theme of democratization, you can expect the new Symfonisk range to lower the cost of entry into the Sonos ecosystem which currently starts at $150. “Many people dream of built-in sound systems, but few can afford it,” says Björn Block, business leader for Ikea Home Smart. “Our goal is for our collective work to save space, get rid of cords, make clutter invisible, and bring sound and music into the home in a more beautiful way.” Unfortunately, Neither Sonos nor Ikea is confirming any pricing today.
Beyond Sonos, Ikea has taken a strong interest in sound reproduction recently. It launched its first Bluetooth speakers earlier this year, and it’s collaborating with Teenage Engineering to bring party audio into the home. The Eneby speakers are available now, but the Teenage Engineering mashup won’t be available until July 2019. The first speakers from the Symfonisk series will be available after summer 2019.
Update June 7th, 5:32AM ET: The original article displayed images wrongly labeled “SYMFONISK” by Ikea. These have been replaced with the correct images.
Comments
Thank god. They looked really weird.
By Ollieollieollie on 06.07.18 7:35am
yeah, they were from teenage engineering… which explains it!
By Thomas Ricker on 06.07.18 7:41am
if they really wanted to make wireless speakers more affordable they should just made the Eneby with built-in chromecast audio and not the Sonos overpriced ecosystem
By moromi_ken on 06.07.18 9:40am
Do you have to build it yourself?
By shabanga on 06.07.18 10:26am
Hehe, yes, of course DIY. Ikea way: with some tools included, some not, do spk yourself.
If Symfonisk < or = 100$ with full Sonos integration (like One with AirPlay 2 for example) that would be hit. But I think it will be similar to old Play:1 (no AP, no voice assist etc.). Interesting!
By Einsturzende on 06.07.18 11:24am
If it supports Airplay 2 I’d consider one of those…
By gutengel on 06.07.18 11:21am
If it’s anything like their smartbulbs, expect a half-baked and insane setup experience.
By mobile_phoney on 06.07.18 1:00pm
The current Ikea Bluetooth speakers sound like hot garbage. I do like how they have removable rechargeable batteries though.
I can’t imagine their going to deliver Sonos level audio quality for probably sub $100 speakers… But if they can make them sound OK for the price…
Release date of Summer 2019??? What a tease.
By deitiphobia on 06.07.18 1:24pm