Design & Construction

Ikea may have been known for making wallet-friendly furniture that looks great and lasts well but with technology becoming more and more relevant, Ikea has been developing their own smart home products too. This time, joining forces with Sonos to create the Symfonisk line of speakers. Here we have the Symfonisk lamp speaker. The lamp speaker is essentially a Sonos Play:1 rewired into a lamp form. Now let's take a deeper look. In the centre of the speaker, you will find a fabric-covered grille that blends into the home interior pretty well if you have it around other furnishings. There is an on/off switch for the lighting but no option for a smooth light tuning experience. At the back of it, there is a Sonos | Ikea label for branding and two ports: the power port and the Ethernet port. In the box, both cables are included and you may opt to use the Ethernet for wired internet in case you are placing the speaker in an area with a weaker Wi-Fi signal. At the bottom is where you find your playback controls. You can increase and decrease the volume with the volume buttons, play/pause with a single press, skip forward with a double press and skip backward with a triple press. There is also an LED status indicator. At the top, there is a glass lampshade which is fully removable. It can fit an E14 bulb and you may choose from a Tradfri smart bulb which would make the entire set-up a smart home device. You can control various light settings and the colour of the bulb via the IKEA Home Smart app, available on both App & Play Store. Alternatively, if you decide to buy two lamp speakers, you can stereo pair them together or even join them into the same system to act as rear surround speakers.

Sound Quality

Moving on to sound quality, the lamp speaker features a similar speaker set-up as the Play:1 speaker. Out of the box. the bass response is deep, tight, and punchy. It never manages to distort or bleed into the mids even if you turn up the volume. The highs were clear and the mids were crisp and filled with details. The instrument separation and soundstage are decent and a pair of these would help in creating a full stereo effect. To actually set-up the speaker, you will require the Sonos S2 app, which will guide you through the process and register the speaker for you. The Sonos S2 app is available on both the App and Play Store. In the app, you may hook up your various music subscriptions like Spotify, Soundcloud, Sonos Radio, or content on your device, etc. and stream music from there. You can also add your favorites to the My Sonos category for easy access and change your different music streams on various speaker rooms as well as search your music collection. In the settings, you can change the individual speaker settings like the EQ for different genres, control the volume limit as well as hardware options. Overall, I felt that the sound signature was the best and cleanest in its default setting out of the box without the need to even alter it with any equalizer settings. The sound signature can be best described as being neutral with an emphasis on the bass. But you can always alter the sound signature with the bass and treble slider which by the way controls the speaker very well. Even if you try to max out the bass or treble, the sound signature stays relatively clean and was very enjoyable to listen to.

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Connectivity & Portability

In terms of connectivity, only Wi-Fi playback is available and you can choose to do Airplay to cast music if you have an IOS device. There is no 3.5mm audio-in port or Bluetooth connectivity built-in.

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PROS​

• Bass-Focused Sound Signature

• Interior-friendly Design

• Ethernet Port

• Smart lighting Support

• App Support

• Built-in Equaliser

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CONS​

• No Bluetooth Support

• Not Dust or Water-Resistant

 

The Bottom Line

All in all, the Sonos x Ikea Symfonisk lamp speaker is a great way to bring technology to interior-friendly furnishings. The Lamp speaker blends well into the Sonos ecosystem, making it a great addition to those who detest the sight of too many gadgets in their well-designed interiors.