IKEA Symphonic Picture Frame Review – Is It Art?

In summary

The idea that Sonos and IKEA have with the Picture Frame is fine: a flat speaker for the wall, which looks like a painting, where you can choose the image that is visible. There will be at least fourteen different designs to choose from. Unfortunately, there is no option yet to choose your own design. The Picture Frame unfortunately sounds a bit shrill and also lacks some bass, so that the whole sounds a bit flat and boring. The speaker fits seamlessly into the Sonos ecosystem and works especially well in stereo or as part of a home cinema system. However, some extra functionality such as a fixed audio input, bluetooth and a microphone would not have gone amiss.

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Ten years ago, no one could have imagined that IKEA would once again bring speakers to the market. Nevertheless, the furniture chain now has a nice range, including a number of smart speakers in the Symfonisk line. A third variant of this has just appeared on the market: the ‘Symphonic Picture Frame with WiFi speaker’. A whole mouthful, which in any case makes it clear what the difference is with the existing ones ‘Symfonisk Table lamp with WiFi speaker’ and the ‘Symfonisk WiFi bookshelf speaker’.

Like the rest of Symfonisk speakers, the new Picture Frame was designed together with Sonos and fits seamlessly into the Sonos ecosystem. And like its two predecessors, it is available in white and black. The Picture Frame costs 179 euros, just as much as the Table Lamp. Both are therefore slightly cheaper than the One, the entry-level model from Sonos. The Picture Frame is, however, a lot more expensive than the entry-level model from IKEA itself: the Bookshelf speaker. It costs just under 100 euros.

Is it art?

What is striking about the Picture Frame is that it is so flat. The frame measures 57 by 41 cm and the whole is 5.5 cm deep. That seems quite thick, but in practice you see less of it than you would think. That’s because IKEA has been smart enough to put the electronics in a smaller part of the housing. That part is only 48 by 32 cm and sticks out slightly at the back. This is hidden from view by a thinner part, which is only 1.5 cm deep. That is the list you see when you hang or put the speaker down. So you see that thin frame, which is no thicker than the frame of the average photo, with a few centimeters of space behind the frame.

The part you see has very thin plastic edges within which a canvas with an image is stretched. Just like with the Bookshelf speaker, that panel can be replaced. Only there is more choice here, which is of course to be expected from a product that has been christened Picture Frame. Initially, the speaker is available with white or black cloth, but from September 1, IKEA will supply three other panels. It is already clear that there are more designs to come. Anyone looking for something will find at least twelve designs that will become available in the coming months. The first three panels cost 15 euros, the later models all cost 30 euros, a somewhat remarkable price difference.

The big question is whether IKEA will offer the option to supply a design that you can have printed on a panel. The company has not disclosed anything about it yet. Perhaps a third party will offer that option. It should not be too difficult for the tinkerer to remove the cloth from an IKEA panel and stretch a new cloth over it himself. The panels consist of a plastic frame with a honeycomb profile to which a thin cloth is glued. With some patience it should be possible to pick off the existing cloth and glue a new cloth on it.

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