You heard of the collaboration and now here they are, the IKEA x Sonos Speakers. After much anticipation, Sonos finally serves up some details on the products born out of this collaboration between the flatpack furniture giant and the American speaker maker. For starter, two products were announced: a table lamp/speaker hybrid called Symfonisk table lamp and Symfonisk bookshelf speaker that can literally double as a shelf. So, yeah, both products are also furniture (or in the case of the lamp, lighting) which is what IKEA is about. Clever. Very clever.
Both speakers feature Sonos’ TruePlay that tunes audio output based on the individual speaker’s position in a room. This being a Sonos speaker, we are kind of expecting a lot. That said, personally, I can’t wait audition both. I may not need a lamp now, but I could sure use a shelf that doubles as a speaker. Though it is worthy to note that bookshelf speaker is said to be the smallest speaker to come out of Sonos and so, whether or not it will live up to Sonos sound quality remains to be seen. However, Sonos reportedly says that the lamp “should sound almost as good as the $199 Sonos One.”
Apple users will be glad that both devices support Apple AirPlay 2, allowing them to join multi-room setups enabled by AirPlay and controlled via the Home app. Fret not if you are not an Apple user because, the speakers can also interface with existing Sonos speakers for a multi-room setup. Moreover, the Symfonisk also allows two to be paired to create a stereo setup. Well, that sounds a potential bedroom nightstand setup, doesn’t it?
As far as specs go, both devices appeared to sport the similar configurations which include two Class D digital amplifiers, one tweeter and one mid-woofer, with the lamp getting a sealed enclosure while the bookshelf speaker, a ported enclosure. Both the Symfonisk lamp and the Symfonisk bookshelf speaker are slated to arrive in August, priced at $179 and $99, respectively. Knowing IKEA, that would probably means $179.99 and $99.99. But I could be wrong.
Source: 9to5Mac.
