Sonos and Ikea’s Love Affair Is Over—Grab This $19 Device While You Still Can

Folks looking for an affordable Wi-Fi speaker to fresh betwixt their Jättebo sectional and Dyvlinge swivel chair will beryllium upset to study that Sonos and Ikea are parting ways. After 8 years of partnering connected everything from an overseas wall-mountable speaker successful a framework to a amazingly decent brace of bookshelf speakers, the Ikea models are being discontinued.

You tin of people get fundamentally everything nan Ikea-Sonos collabs offered (and much successful position of sound quality) by just buying Sonos-made speakers for illustration nan Era 100 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) and Roam (9/10, WIRED Recommends). The marque moreover makes a decent brace of headphones (8/10, WIRED Recommends). But location is 1 point we astatine WIRED will genuinely miss erstwhile this business ends: The Symfonisk Sound Remote ($19).

This unassuming rectangular puck acts for illustration a thermostat controller for your music, pinch play/pause, skip, and measurement controls that brace seamlessly pinch nan Sonos app (now that it's moving again). Amazingly, Sonos still doesn't connection a sleek, wall mountable remote, alternatively forcing maine to scope for my telephone aliases TV distant erstwhile I've sewage gobby sourdough connected my fingers aliases my 1-year-old is seconds distant from a meltdown if I don't instantly prime her favourite music. Yes, location are other Sonos remotes, but they only power TV speakers.

This wall distant (which needn't beryllium wall mounted astatine all) is easy to usage pinch an elbow, and it is discreet and good-looking capable that you won't consciousness for illustration 1 of those aged folks pinch those wired phones pinch immense numbers. And, yes, it useful pinch all Sonos speakers. It's besides hilariously cheap, at $19 per unit aft nan first bargain of a hub and distant together ($89). In this economy? If I was a Sonos user, I'd bargain 1 for each room successful nan location earlier they waste out. And you should, too.

Sonos has been struggling since a mediocre rollout of a caller app version past twelvemonth near galore longtime users struggling to support their once-reliable systems running. This could explicate nan extremity to this business from Ikea’s broadside of things, arsenic it's a awesome retailer that diligently keeps way of what is trading and what isn't.

From Sonos’ side, this could conscionable beryllium a logical conclusion to a somewhat unfruitful business pinch mid-tier products that nan marque itself progressively competes straight with. Sonos has pivoted to beryllium little of a premium marque successful caller years, and conscionable past period it dropped nan value of 2 of its products: nan fantabulous entry-level Era 100 speaker and arsenic awesome Ray soundbar.

In either case, we're sad to spot nan business go, and erstwhile nan Symfonisk Sound Remote Gen 2s are each gone, we dream Sonos will make a caller controller that’s arsenic bully now that there'll nary longer beryllium a third-party option. There’s room to make 1 that looks much “Sonos,” for sure. For Ikea’s part, nan marque says each its Sonos-compatible devices—including nan remote—will stay supported. I don't deliberation galore group will miss the talking lamp, but it's comforting to cognize it still works.