Today, Sonos and Ikea officially announced the second-generation Symfonisk table lamp speaker. The Verge previously reported that the product was in the pipeline, and its design, which is now more customizable and comes in different styles, leaked earlier this month. The new Symfonisk lamp will be available in Ikea’s US stores, US website, and “select markets in Europe” starting October 12th. It’ll expand to all of Ikea’s markets in 2022.
Ikea is changing up how it’s selling the new model; this time around, the lamp base (available in black or white) is sold separately from two different styles of lampshades. You can get an opaque glass shade that’s somewhat reminiscent of the original lamp speaker — though this one is open-ended on top — but there’s also a more translucent black glass shade.
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The textile lampshade looks quite different from the glass design, and like the base, it also comes in black or white. There’s also expanded compatibility with lightbulbs; Ikea says the second-gen lamp “supports a broader range of light bulbs thanks to the added E26 / E27 socket.” And the controls are now on the lamp itself, as the bottom plate of the original model is no more.
The lamp base is priced at $140; the glass lampshade is $39, and the textile shade is $29. That puts both pieces together at either $179 or $189. The original Symfonisk lamp speaker initially cost $179 when it was released and later went up by $10, so you’re essentially paying the same for gen two.
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Ikea and Sonos say the new lamp features a completely redesigned acoustic architecture that, similar to the Symfonisk wall art speaker I reviewed in July, uses a custom waveguide to produce sound that can blanket a whole room with music. The first-gen product had a similar sound signature to a Sonos One, so I’m curious to see what these internal changes will do in that regard.
Like all other products in the Symfonisk series, the new lamp speaker can be used alone, but it can also be added to your multiroom Sonos system. It supports Apple’s AirPlay 2, as well. The idea behind the lineup is to blend tech with a design that more naturally fits into home décor. But the lamp speaker definitely comes down to personal taste more than something like the nondescript bookshelf speaker, which launched alongside the original Symfonisk lamp and remains available for $99.
