Folks looking for an affordable wi-fi speaker to fit between their Jättebo sectional and Dyvlinge swivel chair will be upset to learn that Sonos and IKEA are parting ways. After eight years of partnering on everything from an odd wall-mountable speaker in a frame to a surprisingly decent pair of bookshelf speakers, the IKEA models are being discontinued.
You can of course get essentially everything the IKEA/Sonos collabs offered (and more in terms of sound quality) by just buying Sonos-made speakers like the Era 100 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) and Roam (9/10, WIRED Recommends). The brand even makes a decent pair of headphones (8/10, WIRED Recommends). But there is one thing we at WIRED will truly miss when this partnership ends: The Symfonisk Sound Remote ($19).
This unassuming rectangular puck acts like a thermostat controller for your music, with play/pause, skip, and volume controls that pair seamlessly with the Sonos app (now that it’s working again). Amazingly, Sonos itself still doesn’t offer a sleek, wall mountable remote, instead forcing me to reach for my phone or TV remote when I’ve got gobby sourdough on my fingers or my 1-year-old is seconds away from a meltdown if I don’t immediately select her favorite music. Yes, there are other Sonos remotes, but they only control TV speakers.
This wall remote (which needn’t be wall mounted at all) is easy to use with an elbow, and it is discreet and good-looking enough that you won’t feel like one of those old folks with those wired phones with huge numbers. And, yes, it works with all Sonos speakers. It’s also hilariously cheap, at $19 per unit after the initial buy of a hub and remote together ($89). In this economy? If I was a Sonos user, I’d buy one for every room in the house before they sell out. And you should, too.
Sonos has been struggling since a poor rollout of a new app version last year left many longtime users struggling to keep their once-reliable systems running. This could explain the end to this partnership from IKEA’s side of things, as it’s a major retailer that diligently keeps track of what is selling and what isn’t.
From Sonos’ side, this could just be a logical conclusion to a somewhat unfruitful partnership with mid-tier products that the brand itself increasingly competes directly with. Sonos has pivoted to be less of a premium brand in recent years, and just last month it dropped the price of two of its products: the excellent entry-level Era 100 speaker and equally impressive Ray soundbar.
In either case, we’re sad to see the partnership go, and once the Symfonisk Sound Remote Gen 2s are all gone, we hope Sonos will make a new controller that’s as good now there’ll no longer be a third-party option. There’s room to make one that looks more “Sonos”, for sure. For IKEA’s part, the brand says all its Sonos-compatible devices—including the remote—will remain supported. I don’t think many people will miss the talking lamp, but it’s comforting to know it still works.
