IKEA Symfonisk: a very good Sonos speaker hidden behind a lamp

It’s been a little over four months since the IKEA store of Swedish origin moved to Chile. It also meant its first official opening in Latin America, so little by little we discover what it has to offer, both in terms of furniture and home equipment.

Among these innovations, at least for the Chilean market, we find an IKEA product that remains a curiosity: Symfonik, a speaker lamp. Or will it be a speaker that also doubles as a lamp? Anyway, it’s a rather unusual two-for-one, a line that has two models: a glass enclosure lamp and a fabric one, which is the one that concerns this text.

The rarity of this device, at least for South American customs, makes it necessary to establish as the objective of this review whether the IKEA Symfonisk is a functional device or simply an extravagance. But let’s go step by step.

• Last name: SYMFONISC E1915
• Operating temperature : 0ºC to 40ºC
• LED bulb: E26/E27, max 15W
• Network Standby Consumption: 2.04W(Hine)
• Operating frequency and radio output power : 2412-2472 MHz – 18.83 dBm EIRP / 5150-5350 MHz – 20.51 dBm EIRP / 5500-5700 MHz – 18.81 dBm EIRP
• Connectivity: wifi and ethernet
• Compatibility: with AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa
• Measures : Cable length: 200 cm / Width: 16 cm / Shade diameter: 25 cm / Shade height: 20 cm
• Weight : 2.39kg

An intrinsic characteristic of IKEA is that its products are delivered disassembled, so you have to worry about assembling them at home. The tacit agreement behind this detail is that the task should be simple.

In this case, the Symfonisk is delivered in two boxes. And it’s not that they come with a lot of loose parts you should take care of. Quite the contrary: there are only five elements left to assemble: the loudspeaker —which is also the base of the lamp—, the lampshade, an adjustment ring and the power cable. Why divide the product into two boxes, then? Probably, to make them easier to load and put in a car, and also to avoid sudden friction between the elements – the screen and the base have fragile materials that could be damaged during transport.

The assembly, in the end, was quite simple, despite the clumsiness of the user and the fact that the quick guide contains absolutely no text: only drawings that, like hieroglyphs, must be understood. But as I said, it’s not a complex task.

Once the speaker-lamp is assembled, we can appreciate its futuristic design, which we could well see gravitating like a space station, and also minimalist: the color palette goes from white to gray, with the exception of the blue lights which subtly glow on the audio play button. These indicate the power connection and how it works, but they can be adjusted in the setup if you don’t want them.

The lamp body is made of plastic, while the speaker area is covered with a polyester mesh. Most of the screen is made of this same material, which in turn is made up of two bodies: the interior, which is an open capsule of polyester and a color that Pantone probably defines as “tofu white”; and the outer body, which seems to gravitate around the former, and which protects the bulb from direct vision when lit.

This second bodysuit, the most visible, is made of 80% polyester and 20% cotton, it is bright gray in color, and its extreme arches are joined by innumerable thin strips which give an effect of transparency. A neat design that will most likely appeal to lovers of minimalist decoration.

Once the assembly is ready, it is time to test the enclosure. But no, not so fast. Although the Symfonisk has WiFi connectivity – from which it links to the smartphone—, the reproduction of audio can only be done by downloading the Sonos application, the British company specialized in the field, with which IKEA has partnered for the manufacture of the speaker and its sound system .

Here begins the slowest part of the installation process: between downloading the app and setting up the device, it will take about 15 minutes. And as we said, going through this “stage” is unavoidable. Unless you only want to use the lamp… but I don’t think so.

The Sonos app works as an intermediary between the speaker and the voice service. diffusion that you use regularly. It has some compatibility restrictions, but don’t worry: with the most popular and massive services there is no problem. So it is operated from Sonos but played from Spotify, Tidal, YouTube Music or any other platform.

Regarding the app, it must be said that it has a not very agile and unattractive interface, however it has all the elements to find the audio content you want to listen to. The system configuration is also included, which allows, among other things, to indicate to the intelligence of the Symfonisk where the device will be in the house: bedroom, living room, bathroom, library, garden, kitchen, etc. It’s not only an intrusion into our privacy (even if it is a bit, because everything goes into the database), but it also serves to optimize the audio according to the space that occupy the enclosure.

From here you can also enable parental controls, manage audio equalization (EQ), and sync to another Sonos speaker or subwoofer. Here is a grace of this system: the Symfonisk allows you to connect with other electronic equipment of the brand, and in this way you can listen to music with stereo sound, or play the same content in different rooms of the house .

In the system settings, you can also link this speaker light to other smart systems, such as Google Assistant, Siri or Alexa.

Finally, time to listen. To do this, playback must be done from the Sonos app on the smartphone or the device you downloaded it to (free in google play Yes app store ). You can also do this from the speaker’s button panel, where you’ll find the play and pause button, as well as options for more and less volume.

The power of Symfonisk is sufficient, sufficient to drown out any conversation that takes place nearby. In the settings you can even increase the volume range to make it even louder. This will hardly be necessary, nor recommended, both for the health of your ears and for the quality of the audio, which begins to break out from the shrillness.

But at controlled volume, its audio quality is quite good, with a balance of bass and treble that is pleasant to the ear, and which can also be adjusted to taste from the settings. With clear bass and good consistency, without being very thick or incisive —although in the app you can play with that to some extent—, and with well-defined mids and highs.

Perception may change depending on where the lamp speaker is installed. In my case, I did the test both in the living room and in the bedroom. Either way it had a good response to fill the space and generate the atmosphere, but it’s clear that a more limited space improves its sonic characteristics.

This speaker is 360 degrees which means that from any position it is in, the sound will come straight to you. This is a trend of recent years, especially in wireless speakers. So, for example, at a meeting with friends or a house party, the wireless speaker can be placed on the coffee table.

In the case of the Symfonisk, this logic is diluted: remember that in addition to being a speaker, it is a lamp. And a lamp on the coffee table hardly makes sense. Otherwise, the device is not wireless and must be powered for operation. In any case, the proximity of a wall allows the sound waves to radiate into other areas of the house.

The limited technical information provided by IKEA regarding the audio of this equipment is not understood: there is no data relating to its hardware, such as the size and number of Drivers that it has or the compatibility of the system with different formats, such as AAC, LDAC or FLAC, among others.

You also cannot check this from the system configuration, although it does offer the option to choose whether to output compressed audio or not. Although I’m not sure in what context you might choose to compress it.

In any case, it is not a HiFi audio system —it is difficult to find this quality in devices of this type and at this price—, but I would say that it is not far behind what, for example, Bose offers at a similar price. And it’s definitely superior to wireless speakers from the most popular brands. Therefore, it is estimated as a very good alternative for an average audience, who does not care about the highest definition but is looking for a good sound and also a contribution to the home decoration.

The fabric WiFi speaker-lamp from the Symfonisk range is a curiosity. “What do you get when you combine furniture knowledge with solid expertise?” asks IKEA in its presentation. Faced with this question, one might well have suspicions about its functionality: why would you want something like that?

However, it is in its use that doubts are removed. Not only does it offer a very attractive design, especially for lovers of patternbut it also solves —in two for one— the lack of loudspeakers with good power and definition as well as the lack of lighting at home.

By the way, with this model you can perfectly illuminate a bedroom at night and leave it with very good clarity. And although my recommendation is, precisely, to install it in a room —where it seems to me that it has its best performance—, it could well appear in the lounge home, where it will also shine as a decorative object.

It remains to be seen to what extent it can improve its operation as system updates become available. Ideally, this would improve the usability of the Sonos app. Even so, the feeling remains that, far from extravagant, here we have a fairly functional home electronics device, with high sound, light and aesthetic quality, and which can also save space. Especially considering its value for money.

Note: ⭐⭐⭐⭐★

*Product prices for this item are updated as of December 30, 2022. Values ​​and availability may change.