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

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

You tin of people get fundamentally everything the Ikea-Sonos collabs offered (and much successful presumption of dependable quality) by conscionable buying Sonos-made speakers similar the Era 100 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) and Roam (9/10, WIRED Recommends). The marque adjacent makes a decent brace of headphones (8/10, WIRED Recommends). But determination is 1 happening we astatine WIRED volition genuinely miss erstwhile this concern ends: The Symfonisk Sound Remote ($19).

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

This partition distant (which needn't beryllium partition mounted astatine all) is casual to usage with an elbow, and it is discreet and good-looking capable that you won't consciousness similar 1 of those aged folks with those wired phones with immense numbers. And, yes, it works with all Sonos speakers. It's besides hilariously cheap, astatine $19 per portion aft the archetypal bargain of a hub and distant unneurotic ($89). In this economy? If I was a Sonos user, I'd bargain 1 for each country successful the location earlier they merchantability out. And you should, too.

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

From Sonos’ side, this could conscionable beryllium a logical decision to a somewhat unfruitful concern with mid-tier products that the 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 the terms of 2 of its products: the fantabulous entry-level Era 100 talker and arsenic awesome Ray soundbar.

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