IKEA Symfonisk Picture Frame Is A Sonos Speaker In Disguise

Swedish furniture brand IKEA enjoys both popularity and notoriety of its minimalist design, DIY assembly, and, more recently, integration with IoT technologies. Unlike makers of smart home products, IKEA incorporates Internet-connected features in tasteful and sometimes bizarre ways. Its newest attempt might be to sell you an IKEA Symfonisk picture frame that isn't really a picture frame but more like an art deco that happens to house an invisible Sonos speaker inside the frame.

This IKEA-branded Sonos art deco first appeared last April in teasers of a new collaboration between the furniture maker and the smart speaker manufacturer. It isn't the first time the two worked together, of course, but this Symfonisk picture frame could be their oddest one yet. Then again, it also goes perfectly in line with IKEA's push to make technology blend in with the rest of your furniture.

The product page, which surprisingly hasn't been taken down yet at the time of this writing, doesn't have much in the way of visuals, ironic for something that's supposed to be an artsy picture frame. All visitors will be able to see is a section of the frame as well as the surface in the middle. Judging by that, it doesn't seem to be an actual picture frame where you can put your own pictures in.

The Symfonisk picture frame is, instead, really a Wi-Fi speaker in a rather unusual form. With Sonos' name on it, there's some guarantee of sound quality and, more importantly, wireless connectivity with audio sources. It isn't explicitly stated but The Verge says that AirPlay 2 is supported.

For a $199.00 price tag, you could probably opt for a better Sonos speaker or one with more features. Then again, those can't disguise themselves as art pieces and amaze your guests anyway.