Ikea has a new version of its Symonisk Table Lamp speaker and, as rumored, it now comes with a choice of lampshades, something the first-generation Table Lamp lacked. The new model, a continuation of Ikea’s collaboration with wireless home speaker maker Sonos, will be sold in components. The base, containing the speaker and the light socket, will be available in black or white for $140. You can then top this base in a $29 fabric-based lampshade in black or white, or a $39 glass lampshade, again in black or white. The new model will be available at Ikea’s U.S. stores and online at ikea-usa.com beginning October 12.
The ability to mix and match lampshades is a big improvement over the original version, which forced you to choose either a white base with a matching white glass lampshade or a black base with a smoky-grey glass shade. But it’s not the only change: Ikea has also swapped out the small, candelabra-type E11 light socket for the much more common E26/E27 base, which most folks will recognize as a standard Edison light bulb. This gives the new Table Lamp the ability to work with many more kinds of light bulbs, including Ikea’s own line of Tradfri Smart LED bulbs.
Look closely at the above photos and you’ll notice another change. Ikeas has eliminated the saucer-like base from the first-gen Table Lamp that housed the speaker controls for play/pause and volume. Also gone is the oversized side knob that acts as an on/off switch for the light bulb. These modifications help to make the Table Lamp’s base smaller than the original, something that Ikea claims was one of its goals for the new model after research showed that buyers wanted the ability to use the lamp on a bedside table, something that wasn’t as easy with the larger size.
Apart from these highly visible changes, Ikea says there’s also an entirely new acoustic architecture that incorporates a custom waveguide. It should, the company claims, create a great sound experience from any angle.
As with the original model, the new Table Lamp is compatible with the entire Sonos ecosystem of wireless audio products and can be controlled from the Sonos S2 app. It also has Apple’s AirPlay 2 technology so you can stream directly from any Apple device without the need for a third-party app.
The new Symfonisk Table Lamp speaker joins the existing $99 Symfonisk Bookshelf speaker, as well as the recently introduced $199 Symfonisk Picture Frame speaker.
