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Ikea and Sonos get arty with streaming picture frame speaker

Ikea and Sonos get arty with streaming picture frame speaker
Ikea designer Andreas Fredriksson says that the speaker was inspired by the idea of "furnishing your home with sound"
Ikea designer Andreas Fredriksson says that the speaker was inspired by the idea of "furnishing your home with sound"
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Ikea designer Andreas Fredriksson says that the speaker was inspired by the idea of "furnishing your home with sound"
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Ikea designer Andreas Fredriksson says that the speaker was inspired by the idea of "furnishing your home with sound"
The picture frame speaker comes in black or white, though artwork by Jennifer Idrizi is available as interchangeable fronts
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The picture frame speaker comes in black or white, though artwork by Jennifer Idrizi is available as interchangeable fronts
The picture frame speaker can be hung on a wall, or stood on the floor and leaned against the wall
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The picture frame speaker can be hung on a wall, or stood on the floor and leaned against the wall
Sonos promises room-filling sound from the streaming picture frame speaker
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Sonos promises room-filling sound from the streaming picture frame speaker
The supplied front can be removed and replaced with artwork by Jennifer Idrizi
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The supplied front can be removed and replaced with artwork by Jennifer Idrizi
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Flatpack furniture brand Ikea has teamed up with wireless audio company Sonos to add another product to the Symfonisk range that debuted in 2019 with a table lamp/speaker combo and a standalone streaming speaker. This time the collaboration has merged a picture frame with a Wi-Fi speaker.

Ikea accidentally leaked the new Symfonisk picture frame Wi-Fi speaker earlier this month, when a product listing appeared online, before being swiftly removed. But now the combined wall art and speaker is back, and official.

Sonos promises room-filling sound from the streaming picture frame speaker
Sonos promises room-filling sound from the streaming picture frame speaker

"The space-saving picture frame speaker can hang on its own on the wall as an eye-catching art piece, be matched with other art on the wall, be placed on a shelf or on the floor, leaning against the wall," said Ikea's Stjepan Begic. "The interchangeable fronts make it easy to choose a style that suits your individual home."

The 22 x 16 x 2-in (56 x 40 x 5-cm) visual art and audio combination comes with a self-leveling bracket for pain-free installation, and can be hung vertically or horizontally on a wall, or even placed on the floor courtesy of its silicone foot – though a wall outlet will need to be nearby. The base is ABS while the front is polyester, and interchangeable fronts from artists Jennifer Idrizi are also being made available. Each houses a 4-inch woofer and a 1-inch tweeter.

The picture frame speaker comes in black or white, though artwork by Jennifer Idrizi is available as interchangeable fronts
The picture frame speaker comes in black or white, though artwork by Jennifer Idrizi is available as interchangeable fronts

The device connects to a home network over Wi-Fi, and can be used on its own, or along with the other products in the Sonos range, or the other two members of the Symfonisk family. Streamed content is served up via the Sonos app, and Airplay 2 and Spotify Connect are supported too. As you might expect, Sonos is promising top-notch, room-filling audio performance, though audio specs have not been shared at this time.

The Symfonisk Picture Frame Wi-Fi Speaker is available in black or white from July 15 for US$199.

Source: Ikea

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1 comment
1 comment
Hendrik Ehlers
It sounded like great news, but... Instead of using modern Magnaplar-type speakers with individually interchangeable fronts, these are two ordinary standard speakers together with the power adapter inside the 6cm deep housing. They can be daisy chained offering stereo and more options. You cannot choose the artwork; Ikea offers 12 motifs only. I guess this can easily be seen as a missed chance.