IKEA and Sonos launch picture frame with built-in Wi-Fi speaker

Homewares powerhouse IKEA and wireless audio giant Sonos have teamed up to make the Symfonisk picture frame with built-in Wi-Fi speaker.

The frame will be available in black or white with a number of interchangeable front-panel designs which are made to blend in on a picture wall, hung as a statement piece, or placed on a shelf or floor.

The slim smart speaker inside works just like any other Sonos speaker, with the ability to play on its own or connected to others in the Sonos range and IKEA’s Symfonisk lamp and bookshelf speakers.

Like other products in the Sonos range – such as the Sonos Five and the Sonos One speakers and the Sonos Beam and Sonos Arc home-theatre soundbars – it is controlled through the Sonos S2 app. However, the picture frame does have simple Play/Pause and Volume Up and Down buttons.

The Sonos system can play the audio from a huge variety of streaming services such as Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible, Deezer and YouTube Music, and from pretty much any radio station via services such as TuneIn and iHeartRadio.

Specification details are scant at this stage, but we understand the speaker measures 55.9cm x 40.6cm x 5cm. It can be hung horizontally or vertically.

Unfortunately, while the speaker has wireless audio it still needs a power cable which will snake up from the floor or down from the ceiling – unless you build it in.

IKEA designer Andreas Fredriksson says the picture frame speaker was inspired by the idea of furnishing your home with sound.

“You don’t need to put the speaker on a high volume – you can put a speaker in each room and choose the music,” he says. “You don’t really have to think about good sound, it’s just there.”

IKEA Symfonisk picture frame price

The Symfonisk picture frame speaker will be available for US$199 in Europe and North America from July 15, and in Australia in 2022. IKEA is yet to confirm Australian pricing.