Sonos iKEa Symfonisk speakers

A speaker which is also a lamp, obviously

$150 From IKEA, ikea.com Features AirPlay 2, light (LED bulb E14 max 7w) Needs iOS 11.4 or later

You’d be forgiven for thinking the Symfonisk is merely an IKEA lamp with a few drivers tuned by Sonos, but both this and the bookshelf speaker opposite slot seamlessly into the existing Sonos eco–system.

Using the Sonos control app, you can link the lamp to any other component in the Sonos multi–room family, or pair two of the same speakers to operate in stereo. Both new Symfonisk speakers can also be grouped with Sonos’s AV products and work as rear channels in a 5.0 or 5.1 home audio setup.

The power lead fits snugly into the lamp’s undercarriage, and there’s the option of a wired internet connection to what we assume is its rear. But that’s it save for the light switch and the play/pause and volume controls sitting on the plinth.

It’s worth mentioning right off the bat that this isn’t a smart light, though the

standard bulb fitting means you could turn it into one should you so desire.

You might expect the top end to be quite bright (it’s a lamp; keep up!) but the sound emitted from this Symfonisk speaker is actually rather decent, all told. There’s plenty of weight to the presentation, as is par for the course with Sonos speakers, and the performance doesn’t lose its focus despite the product’s rounded physique.

Our dialling down of the bass helped keep the soundstage from becoming overly cluttered, without making it sound thin or weak, and there’s certainly more space left over than with the lamp’s larger bookshelf counterpart.

THE BOTTOM LINE. The Symfonisk lamp speaker doesn’t quite match Sonos’s own products, but the performance is better than you might expect.