We Tested An Ikea Lamp/Sonos Speaker That Saves A Ton Of Space

Multitasking tech and home decor that sounds as good as it looks.

Finding a small, aesthetically pleasing, quality-sounding speaker for my bedroom? Easy enough. Finding a lamp for the same space? Infinitely harder. But why, though? Isn’t there supposed to be a “smart” solution for everything? One plays sounds. The other gives off light. This shouldn’t be that difficult.

Ikea

And as luck would have it, it’s not.

Ikea makes reasonably priced furniture worth arguing over. Sonos makes high-quality speakers. And now the two have teamed up to create the Symfonisk line — a stylish audio collection that consists of a speaker that can double as a shelf and another speaker that’s also a table lamp. While both offerings are designed to turn heads, the lamp is truly something to behold: It solved both of my needs while saving me space.

The Basics

Ikea

Like any Sonos speaker, this model supports all major music streaming subscription services. Stream via the Sonos app, Spotify, or AirPlay 2 for all Apple devices. If you happen to have multiple Sonos speakers, you can control each individually to play specific music in each room or they can play the same tunes throughout your home. Oh, and about the lamp. Well, it lights up and the glass lampshade is mouth-blown. Fancy yet functional!

What/Who It’s Best For

Viacom Media Networks / Via giphy.com

Apartment dwellers looking to maximize their space with multi-use objects, tech-averse interior-design snobs, audiophiles on a budget.

The Good

Ikea

Let’s start with the price. A voice-controlled Sonos One (Gen 2) speaker can go for $200 while microphone-free models will run $180. So you’re basically getting the latter with the added bonus of a lamp. Plus no voice control means no one potentially listening in to any potentially embarrassing playlists. That’s a solid deal.

It took less than five minutes to set up and connect to my existing Sonos network. If this is your first Sonos product it will take longer, what with downloading apps and all the registering and what-not. Still, a fairly quick and painless out-of-the-box experience.

Streaming music from my Spotify app was simple enough, and the sound filled the room and the hallway as well. Same aural quality as the standard Sonos One speaker, too. Regardless of the genre of music, all the tunes sounded good. There are only three buttons on the speaker itself (volume up, volume down, and play/pause), but you can control all of that from whatever app you’re choosing to use.

Not to be forgotten in all of this is the lamp, which does an amazing job lighting up the room. The glass lampshade is thick enough to provide a warm glow that isn’t too bright but just right.

The Not-So-Good

MGM / Via giphy.com

The only major complaint here is that you have to make an actual trip to Ikea to buy the damn thing because it's not currently available for online purchase. Plus, you can’t just use any old lightbulb for the lamp; it requires bulbs that are proprietary to Ikea. So make sure to buy a backup or two when you purchase the Symfonisk.

If you need absolute darkness in your bedroom to sleep, the tiny light on the speaker that stays on might become a bother but can also easily be covered.

Sometimes I forget that it’s actually a speaker because of the way it blends into the decor and the fact that it looks more like a lamp despite the fact that it’s covered in soft mesh speaker material. I’ll be folding laundry and listening to my music with earbuds until I realize what a dummy I am and then crank up that lamp. While the overall aesthetic might not be for everyone, it’s innocuous enough for my personal tastes.

The Takeaway

DreamWorks Pictures / Via giphy.com

Often, combining two objects into one does a disservice to one or both of them. But that’s not the case with the Symfonisk lamp. This quality speaker pulls double duty to light the way through your home. Looks good, sounds even better. Really, if you’re tight on space or budget, this speaker-lamp hybrid can save you some of both.

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