Ikea and Sonos' latest innovation is a speaker that you can hang on your wall. The speaker takes the form of a sleek frame, letting you stylishly incorporate the device into your home's existing decor.
A Speaker That You Can Decorate With
After rumors swirled about another Ikea-Sonos collaboration, the rumors turned out to have some substance. A press release on the Ikea Newsroom revealed yet another addition to the Symfonisk line of Wi-Fi speakers.
The Symfonisk lineup, which already includes covert bookshelf speakers, wouldn't be complete without a speaker that takes the form of wall art. The picture frame speaker is a 22x16 inch panel that you can hang on the wall, or prop up on a table using the built-in kickstand.
Calling it a "picture frame" speaker is a bit misleading, since you can't frame your own pictures within it. Rather, the speaker is simply an art piece.
You can order the speaker in either black or white, and choose from different interchangeable panels. So, if you get bored of its look, you can always switch out the panel for another one. Just keep in mind that the different fronts come at a price—you'll have to pay $20 for a new panel.
The speaker isn't all about looks, however. A tweeter is hidden behind the art panel, and comes with a waveguide that helps distribute the audio throughout a room.
On the back of the panel, you'll find a power cable that you can sneak through the sides or the bottom of the speaker to connect to an outlet. If you have other picture frame speakers in your home, you can stereo pair and daisy chain them, preventing you from having a disorganized mess of cables running along your wall.
The speaker's volume controls and pause/play buttons are hidden on the back of the frame. They're still easily accessible, but the location preserves the look of the disguised speaker.
And since the speaker can connect to Wi-Fi, you can also control the speaker via the Sonos app. It's compatible with AirPlay 2 as well, but is still lacking support for Bluetooth.
Symfonisk Picture Frame Speaker: Price and Release Date
The Symfonisk picture frame speaker will be released on July 15, 2021, and will be available on Ikea's website and in stores.
You can expect to pay $199 for the speaker. This might be worth it if you don't want to go through the trouble of wall-mounting speakers, or if you don't want the look of speakers clashing with your decor.