+ well-balanced sound
+ 360 degree uniform reproduction all around
+ integrated LED lamp
+ Smart Spotify connection via smartphone
+ Volume control with rotary knob like on the hi-fi system
- no analog AUX input
- a bit diffuse, no stereo option
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Sound: Tonal Balance / Transparency7.7
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Tone: Bass / Dynamics6.7
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Ease-of-use / Connectivity8
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Price/Performance10
Home speakers evolving from IKEA´s cooperation with Sonos are simply astonishing, especially in terms of value for money. But what could all wannabe DIY guys like me, equipping their first apartment entirely with Swedish furniture kits, miss the most? No doubt, probably the most famous Allen key in the Western world. The new IKEA Vappeby is offering Bluetooth instead of Wi-Fi streaming in contrast to the Swedish´ Sonos. But – Yahoo! – it does have an Allen key and four screws with which owners have to – or are permitted to – attach the polycarbonate handle to the housing, which is made of sturdy ABS, reviving a decades-old IKEA ritual.
The functional, striking design leaves room for interpretation. Depending on the background, spontaneous associations range from Darth Vader´s helmet to a fire siren to what the IKEA Vappeby really is: an outdoor LED light for balcony and garden that is dustproof and protected from water splashes according to protection class IP65 . At least that is its part-time job. Indirect illumination is one thing, the main reason to buy it being the fact that is is a portable loudspeaker.
Musician with a side job as lighting technician
Sounds perhaps like a humanities scholar working as a cab driver. In fact, the Vappeby proves to be the ideal choice for both tasks. Surprisingly, synergies arise immediately, although the combination is nothing new to IKEA, realising a similar concept strictly for home application, the Symfonisk table lamp. Quite surprising: the latter is more than three times more expensive compared to Vappeby. And for those who don’t care about multiroom capabilities, the IKEA Vappeby offers quite a portion of streaming convenience as it could be connected to your Spotify account.
Okay, you definitely need a smartphone connected to the speaker via Bluetooth. But this duo already enables instant music playback using the “Spotify Tap playback” function by briefly tapping the power button on the lamp base. Convenient: The required Spotify app – if installed – opens automatically once bluetooth connectection is established.
Touching the power button twice switches to another automatic playlist based on the user´s preferences with smooth fade-in and fade-out. In the heart of the (unfortunately unlabeled) control panel, one can find a huge volume knob just like in the old days of hi-fi receivers. Press it and you have start and pause function.
The light switch is hidden on the back. Press once to turn on the downward emitting LED lamp at full power. Pressing twice dims it to half of its maximum and pressing the rubber button again turns the light off.
The table lamp for balcony and garden
Compared to the IKEA Vappeby, from a technical point of view designing the IKEA Symfonisk table lamp appears to have been relatively trivial. Sonos and IKEA simply transferred an existing 2-way speaker concept into a huge base and concealed the drivers with fabric cover. No question, in the environment of old-school wooden loudspeaker cabinets, this was already a kind of flash of genius. But Vappeby’s indirect lighting solution and mushroom-like lampshade, which is closed at the top and sides, required numerous acoustic tweaks. Because analogous to the indirect illumination, they also decided to use indirect sound. This makes things a lot more complicated.
While basswaves with their long wavelength usually are radiated unidirectional up to frequencies beyond 100 Hz, the directivity narrows with increasing frequency. To stay with lamps: Basses are like light bulbs whose light spreads evenly throughout the room. Mids already form kind of a desk lamp and short-wavelengthed treble tends to form a narrow sweet-spot like a flashlight. This immediately explains why there are very few successful examples despite a trend towards Bluetooth speakers with omnidirectional 360-degree sound. Typically, these fighters for equality in listening position lack tonal balance. Mids not infrequently sound diffuse and treble tends either to harshness or being completely absent. In worst case, both.
360-degree sound without a major flaw
Even more remarkable, a company with expertise for furniture – or whoever helped them with the Vappeby – came up with a tuning of clarity and tonal balance. The full-range speaker with its concave plastic diaphragm and an surprisingly large magnet is located in the very center of the illuminated ring, firing downwards onto a cone-shaped diffuser. Sound and light then emerge together evenly on all sides below the lampshade, which is supported by three struts.
A luminous mushroom with fine tonal balance
In the listening test, the different audible frequencies showed an amazing level homogenity. We deactivated the light to save the battery, which has to be recharged with a power adaptor (not included) via USB cable. While the room appeared to be a bit dull, the sound wasn´t by any means. I do not remember having experienced such fresh and at the same time well resolved and balanced treble from a comparable omnidirectional speaker system.
Chapeau! Even as an audiophile, you have to take pay respect to this little Bluetooth speaker with helmet. Quite apart from the competitive environment of this affordable price range, the Scandinavians have created the egg-laying woolly milk sheep. From the comparably deep, yet differentiated bass impulses to the clear, not at all washed-out mids to the silvery, but nevertheless smooth highs, this makes everything you can buy in stores for a comparable price look abundantly pale. A shining example in every single aspect of sound quality if you take size and prize into account. The portable LED lamp is virtually a free gift. How great is that?
Billy’s fathers are real builders
Okay, experienced HiFi listeners might notice that voices sound a bit rough and throaty especially at higher SPL – and the IKEA Vappeby offers quite some reserve. But hey, this thing is just 50 bucks! For the money, you were happy to get a speaker that could hint at some bass and didn’t offer a squawking, tinny midrange. Compared to the JBL Flip 6, which costs more than twice as much, the Vappeby’s playback doesn’t seem quite as impulsive and direct, but on the other hand a bit more relaxed. This is essentially due to the deeper, more differentiated bass and a premium of volume.
Especially with electro-pop like Thomas Dolby’s Salt remix of “One Of Our Submarines” with its abyssal synths basslines, the Swedish speaker confidently boasts with its larger cabinet. It in terms of sonority simply sounds more like a real hi-fi speaker, while the JBL falls behind more and more the longer you listen to it, especially with such multi-faceted compositions. However, you should not turn up the IKEA Vappeby to the limit, because the DSP audibly cuts the bass above 80%. This prevents distortions caused by excessive bass excursions of the small fullrange driver. So the IKEA always remains clean and clear sacrificing some bass if needed.
And although the Vappeby sounds particularly balanced and spacious from a greater distance, comparable to other omnidirectional Bose speakers like the Bose Portable Smart Speaker, it also cuts a great figure at short distances typically for a computer speaker on the desk.
Conclusion IKEA Vappeby: Dark times for competitors
Even for a Tronsmart Studio, which started out as a cheap solution, you now have to pay 100 Euros on Amazon. And a JBL Flip 6, which is comparatively tiny compared to the IKEA speaker, costs quite a bit more. But none of them sounds nearly as mature as the Vappeby. And the others can’t even light up yet.
In my job, I listen to high-end audio gear worth the equivalent of a middle-class car regularly. But some of them you wouldn’t even trade for a compact car. I say that because IKEA’s quirky-looking singing mushroom really left me speechless as to what is possible for 50 euros in terms of sound quality – including adequate workmanship and (it can’t be mentioned often enough) outdoor lighting. The developers have obviously seen the light. Bleak prospects for the classic Bluetooth box builders if the old Swedes continue like this.
- Retail Price: 50 Euro
- Dimensions 25 cm x 17 cm (diameter)
- Weight: approx. 1.5 kg
- Features: USB charging cable, two-stage LED light integrated, battery life at half volume and luminosity 11 – 13 hours, IP65 protection class.
- More at www.ikea.com
