IKEA to Unveil Sonos Line of 'Symfonisk' Speakers in April

[MacRumors]

IKEA today confirmed its plans to announce the Symfonisk line of speakers during the Milan Furniture Fair, which takes place next month. The Symfonisk speakers come out of a long-term partnership between IKEA and Sonos, resulting in unique products like a speaker that doubles as a bookshelf.

Neither company has released information about what the final version of the speakers will look like, but customers can expect the entire Symfonisk line to provide music playback with an extra purpose in your home's furnishing. IKEA put out a short video highlighting the Symfonisk speakers, but it appears the company has blurred out the actual speakers in the home set-up seen in the video, wanting to save the hardware reveal for next month's announcement.

The press release today also emphasizes the unity of sound and light, suggesting there could be more announcements from IKEA's smart lighting branch, or a product that combines the two.

There's sound, and there's light. What if we combined them both? Two hugely important elements for creating the right mood around the home. This was the starting point for making the playful exhibition FEEL HOME in Tortona in Milan. The results? It is best experienced on site, the ambition has been to share knowledge through fun interactive installations based on everyday life activities.

"Together with Sonos we wanted to combine our home furnishing knowledge with their expertise in creating great sound experiences for every room of the home, and in Milan we want you to experience the real difference that sound and light makes in your life", says Björn Block, Business Leader for IKEA Home Smart at IKEA of Sweden.

During IKEA's Democratic Design Day in Sweden last summer, the furniture company said that the Symfonisk system will fully integrate with other Sonos products as well as IKEA's Trådfris smart home line of lights and switches. Other prototype ideas suggested that a Symfonisk speaker will be compatible with many of IKEA's furniture products thanks to a bracket system, turning the speaker into a free-standing wall shelf or allowing customers to place it under a Metod kitchen cabinet.

In other IKEA-related news, the company today announced that it's delaying the release of its smart blinds until later in 2019. The smart blinds were originally set to launch in the United States on April 1, but IKEA decided to push back the release because it found "an opportunity for improved functionality," and the blinds need to have their firmware updated before the launch.

For the Symfonisk speakers, users can expect to hear more details about the IKEA and Sonos partnership sometime during the Milan Furniture Fair, which takes place April 9 through April 14 this year.

Article Link: IKEA to Unveil Sonos Line of 'Symfonisk' Speakers in April

 

[G5isAlive]

I am looking forward to seeing exactly what they have in mind. Not so sure about a shelf that is a speaker... wouldn't there be a vibration issue? Will have to wait and see. I typically like SONOS products, have 9 in my house.

 

[e-coli]

Sonos continues to be impressive.

 

[Don1985]

I’m very interested by this. Love Sonos and have more IKEA furniture than I care to admit!

I’ll hold off on buying a Beam until after this. Might not make a difference but I can wait to see.

 

[bpa1093]

Does this come with a package of meatballs?


I’m serious... love those things

 

[Marco Klobas]

Does this come with a package of meatballs?

I’m serious... love those things

No, you have to assembly it yourself, though.

Just kidding.

 

[Vasilioskn]

Hmmm will hold off on buying a HomePod for now. This sounds interesting

 

[rictus007]

I will need to assembly the speaker?

 

[dumastudetto]

Hmmm will hold off on buying a HomePod for now. This sounds interesting

Speaking as someone who once had an entire home full of Sonos products, I can tell you HomePod just blows Sonos away in terms of sound quality and seamless integration with all your Apple devices.

Sonos feels old and dated in every conceivable way.

 

[JetTester]

Have to wait and see. Could be really good, or just another gimmick.

 

[Don1985]

Speaking as someone who once had an entire home full of Sonos products, I can tell you HomePod just blows Sonos away in terms of sound quality and seamless integration with all your Apple devices.

Sonos feels old and dated in every conceivable way.

I’m glad you are so happy with it but that’s pretty surprising to hear. I was primed ready to kit my house in Homepod’s but using Siri on my phone was enough to put me off. Nowhere near as good as Alexa for carrying out tasks. Maybe it’s my Scottish accent that influences this decision!

I think it would take a lot to move me from Sonos as every year they improve upon their offerings.

 

[rmariboe]

Bang & Olufsen soo missed out by not getting on the Sonos train while they had the opportunity!
Image: B&O visual design with Sonos software and a collaboration in acoustics design. Unbeatable.
This will be a boon for IKEA and Sonos booth!

 

[Ad13]

Speaking as someone who once had an entire home full of Sonos products, I can tell you HomePod just blows Sonos away in terms of sound quality and seamless integration with all your Apple devices.

Sonos feels old and dated in every conceivable way.

How does your HomePod sound as your home theatre surround sound when connected to your TV and watching cable? Dated?

 

[dumastudetto]

How does your HomePod sound as your home theatre surround sound when connected to your TV and watching cable? Dated?

Definitely not dated at all. It's a really immersive cinematic experience.

Obviously where HomePod really shines and leads the market though is playing music.

 

[Ad13]

Definitely not dated at all. It's a really immersive cinematic experience.

Obviously where HomePod really shines and leads the market though is playing music.

Does HomePod work as home theatre with cable? Sonos has HDMI so will connect to TV. What connections does the HomePod have?

 

[dumastudetto]

Does HomePod work as home theatre with cable? Sonos has HDMI so will connect to TV. What connections does the HomePod have?

I have it connected to my Apple TV. I believe it uses AirPlay 2 and cannot connect to TV's directly using HDMI. I love that it's all wireless though and it sounds great.

 

[Ad13]

But that’s really limited no? My Sonos multiroom system links through to my OLED TV. I have surround sound through Dolby 5.1 to my Apple TV, but also my Sonos provides 5.1 sound with cable or any other media connected to HDMI. Why do you think the HomePod is a better option? It only works with Apple TV - no Dolby 5.1, no sub, no HDMI connectivity.

 

[FilipeTeixeira]

Sonos...
For some reason they keep on refusing to have a physical connection to their speakers unless you go for the high-end options. For example if I have some friends over and if they want to play music from their cellphones, they all have to install the sonos app, create an account and set up everything. Makes literally no sense to me.

 

[truthertech]

I’m glad you are so happy with it but that’s pretty surprising to hear. I was primed ready to kit my house in Homepod’s but using Siri on my phone was enough to put me off. Nowhere near as good as Alexa for carrying out tasks. Maybe it’s my Scottish accent that influences this decision!

I think it would take a lot to move me from Sonos as every year they improve upon their offerings.

What has always "deceived" folks is that the Alexa speakers obviously have room for bigger and more microphones than an iPhone. Now that HomePod is here, they have a great set up of microphones that most people concede are the best among all the smart speakers at hearing/listening, e.g.,see reviews about how they can pick up your voice even when music is playing loud, so you don't have to shout like you do with the others. Since I put a couple in my home, it's been fantastic sound and great way to use Siri. And remember, you aren't sacrificing your privacy as you are with Alexa or Google.

 

[Vasilioskn]

Speaking as someone who once had an entire home full of Sonos products, I can tell you HomePod just blows Sonos away in terms of sound quality and seamless integration with all your Apple devices.

Sonos feels old and dated in every conceivable way.

What’s dated is that you can’t use your $300 HomePod speaker for your cable tv or video game system. #next

 

[sracer]

What’s dated is that you can’t use your $300 HomePod speaker for your cable tv or video game system. #next

I'm a big fan of IKEA's Eneby speakers. (I've got both the larger and smaller models) I'm eager to see what these new speakers will be like.

 

[StellarVixen]

Will I have to assemble the speaker myself?

 

[dumastudetto]

What’s dated is that you can’t use your $300 HomePod speaker for your cable tv or video game system. #next

Apple TV does everything I need. It's an incredibly powerful gaming system and has all the TV and movie entertainment I need (and more).

 

[rmariboe]

Sonos...
For some reason they keep on refusing to have a physical connection to their speakers unless you go for the high-end options. For example if I have some friends over and if they want to play music from their cellphones, they all have to install the sonos app, create an account and set up everything. Makes literally no sense to me.

If they use Spotify or have AirPlay 2 compatible devices they just need to be on your wifi. I don't have Sonos but playing through friends' Sonos works out of box