IKEA's smart home, collaboration with SONOS to authentic audio

IKEA, a Scandinavian furniture manufacturer, has released a home audio.The Symfonisk series is a full -fledged audio product that injects the essence of IKEA manufacturing.This product was born in a collaboration with Sonos in the United States, who has a good sense of audio pursuing functionality.We asked Stephen Vegich of IKEA and Sara Morris of Sonos.

From the Symphony Square Series, a bookshelf type Wi-Fi speaker and a table lamp type Wi-Fi speaker will be released.Both are the same symphonyk, so in this article we will call them as a bookshelf SP and table lamp SP.This is the first Wi-Fi-compatible audio for IKEA, but you can also connect Sonos's Wi-Fi-compatible audio products through a home network, and enjoy multi-room playback and surround playback.

The story of IKEA and Sonos's partnership was raised in 2015, and the Symphonnisk development project began in 2016.The furniture IKEA, the audio Sonos brought the know -how in the fields that they are good at, and for the goal of "making smart audio that all music fans can enjoy simplerly," the two companies' tripods have slipped smoothly.Mr. Morris and Morris have a good idea.

Ikea was in charge of Symphonnisk's product design, and Sonos fully developed audio technology and tuning sounds.In addition to the two speaker systems, the Symphonnisk series also offers accessories and remote controls for installing speakers.

There are products that integrate lighting and acoustic equipment in other companies, but the Symphonisk table lamp SP is characterized by a more active pursuit of audio that blends into the interior.If you don't play music, few people will know it as a speaker just by appearance.The lamp shade is made of blown glass by craftsmen.The light that transmits the grinding glass spreads in a pale room, giving a warm atmosphere.The buttons and input / output terminals are not noticeable.

The bulb is sold separately, but there is a smart lighting "Tredfuri" series that can control the strength and color of the lights in the app (IKEA product).Alternatively, you can also attach a simple bulb of other companies that support the socket size "E17".

The book shelf SP is a Wi-Fi speaker that can be placed in both vertical and horizontal directions.I think that the idea that the speaker itself can be a simple shelf (shelf) can be installed in close contact with the wall by using a dedicated wall bracket of Symphonyisk."Even if there is no place to place audio in the room, you can use the empty space efficiently with a symphony to listen to music comfortably."

As a symphonic speaker, 2 table lamp SP.50,000 yen, book shelf SP 1.The price of less than 50,000 yen is also attractive (both include tax).There are many wireless speakers that have two pairs in pairs, but given the design that can be placed casually in the room and the reasonable price, "Symphony Squnisk and stereo playback" is not a real choice.Is not it.

I borrowed one Symphonisk table lamp SP and tried it at home.

Use the SONOS app (iOS/Android) for the setup, and it is easy to proceed according to the instructions.After connecting to the Wi-Fi router, you can start music playback immediately after casting the content in the iPhone from AirPlay for iPhone.In the case of an Android smartphone, it is a mechanism to play it via Wi-Fi by referring to the music file stored in the smartphone from the SONOS app.Up to 48kHz/24bit song files.

Major music distribution services such as Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Tunein's Internet radio will be played by the symphonic speaker directly via Wi-Fi.

The sound is vivid because the band of the instrument playing vocals and melodies is thick.I also feel glittering in the tone of the piano and guitar.Because it is a clear sound without an unnatural emphasis, I was able to listen to it for a long time with a BGM feeling while relaxing.

Even if a symphonic speaker is placed on furniture or table, it seems to be well -balanced so that the bass sounds and difficult to hear.If you put it on a strong material stand or rack that does not convey unnecessary vibration, you can freely arrange the balance between bass and treble with the equalizer function of the SONOS application.

There are three main ways to operate the symphonisk.One is the SONOS app, and if you select a symphonisk from a music distribution app such as a Spotify, you can select and play music from each app.

The second is voice control by Amazon Alexa.If you have a speaker of the Amazon Echo series, you may want to try it.Third, the simpler operation is Symphonnisk Sound Remote Mote.By clicking the main unit and the rotation operation of the wheel, you can play, pause, and change the volume of songs, and change the volume.

By the way, the LED bulb of the Trapling can adjust brightness and color from the "IKEA HOME SMART" application.Since it is a smart LED bulb that supports Apple's Homekit, the same operation can be performed with the "home" app.Since the sound and lighting can be controlled from the smartphone, I felt that the operation by the application was the easiest to use.

If you are an iPhone user, use Sonos's unique feature, TruePlay.It automatically optimizes the sound so that you can listen to the sound comfortably according to the location where the symphonic speaker is placed.Just hold the iPhone in your hand and walk around the room for about 3 minutes while turning the microphone in various directions.

Mr. Vegich repeatedly stated that the IKEA's Smart Home Series refers to the entire solution that creates a comfortable atmosphere for users, rather than referring to the device itself or the technology used there.。It seems that IKEA has developed and designed Symphonnisk while emphasizing that "advanced products and technologies can be used simply without hesitation."

Sonos's Morris also states that the ability to create a relaxed sound space without occupying the space in the room unnecessarily is the great attraction of Symphonysk.The point is that we focused on the Wi-Fi function without having Bluetooth and made the SONOS app as a gateway for functions and services.The audio used by connecting to the network is made to make it familiar to beginners.

At the same time, Morris said, "The fact that it can work with various cloud services is also the advantage of Wi-Fi, and Sonos focuses on it."In 2020, the Google Assistant is planning to operate audio operation, and the addition of functions using the software update after purchase is one of the real pleasures.Symphonysks also support more than 50 music streaming services that can be used in Japan.

Mr. IKEA's Vegich said that the symphony skin, which began in collaboration with Sonos, would be more and more familiar to the user's life.IKEA, including smart lighting, will continue to develop the smart homerous series vigorously around the world, including Japan.Mr. Vegich says that it is important that the device is simple and easy to use in order to make smart homes permeate life.Symphonyisk, which has thoroughly evolved by furniture and audio tripods, is likely to be interested in the future response to what user's heart and interest.

Journalist and writer.She became free after working as a web editing and reporter in an audio visual magazine.He has been interviewed by the Electronics Show "IFA" held in Berlin Germany every year, especially for the latest circumstances related to smart home appliances and IoT in Europe.He has a deep knowledge in the audio visual field, covers a wide range of music distribution, 4K and VOD.Taking advantage of the fluent English and French language, he will conduct an event coverage and an interview with developers from Japan to overseas.