Can a $200 IKEA Speaker Army Dethrone Sonos and Bose?

Ikea’s $10 Kallsup Bluetooth speaker is enjoyable and vibrant, delivering audio quality that exceeds expectations for its modest price. While not astonishing (it is, after all, a $10 speaker), and lacking notable functionalities beyond the capacity to link up to 100 units, I’m unconcerned given the cost. These units offer a speedy inclusion if I desire a touch more vibrancy and sound presence on my desk or in my son’s room.

The Kallsup epitomizes simplicity among Bluetooth speakers. It presents as a 2.75-inch cuboid plastic casing, supported by four diminutive feet at its base, and houses a sole loudspeaker. It’s offered in shades of rose, ivory, and chartreuse. A pair of controls and a compact LED indicator adorn its upper surface, with a USB-C charging receptacle located at the rear. The button marked with the Bluetooth symbol activates the device, emits a brief introductory melody, and initiates connection readiness. It produces some somewhat peculiar pulsating sounds while awaiting connection. You can also deactivate it with the same button, or re-engage pairing status if you need to switch to an alternative gadget. The second control, featuring a play symbol, enables playback management (start/stop), track navigation (skip/repeat previous), and linking with up to 99 additional Kallsups. Activating the speaker and pairing takes approximately ten seconds.

I held modest anticipations for a $10 speaker, but even a singular Kallsup proves remarkably competent. When set to medium sound levels, the device performs capably for ambient tunes or enjoying an auditory broadcast or digital book. While at my workstation, I found it superior to the anemic-sounding integrated speakers on my M4 MacBook Air.

The Kallsup’s audio transducer is quite small, resulting in limited low-frequency output, yet it surpasses what my laptop’s audio can produce. In line with expectations for a lone, compact transducer, the majority of sound emphasis resides in the mid-frequency spectrum, thus giving greatest prominence to vocal performances and spoken words — which renders the Kallsup suitable for listening to audiobooks and podcasts. Upon reaching maximum loudness, a minor degree of distortion occurs with songs rich in treble frequencies, but when auditing from a short distance at my workstation, I had no inclination to crank the minuscule speaker to full volume.

When these speakers were initially unveiled at CES, what most captivated the team at The Verge was their capacity to link as many as a hundred units. Interconnecting them proves simple and represents an excellent method to distribute audio and augment total loudness. Utilizing the twenty units I possessed, while gauging with a decibel (dB) meter from a short distance, a pink noise test tone rose from 86 dB with a single speaker to 94 dB when all were grouped — approaching double the audible loudness. Thus, dispersing them throughout a space will provide additional sound output, but they remain monaural transducers, lacking the facility to pair two for stereo sound.

When pitting two hundred dollars’ worth of Kallsup speakers against similarly valued Bluetooth alternatives — the $269 Bose SoundLink Plus, $189 Amazon Echo Studio, and $179 Sonos Roam 2 — the collection of Ikea units delivered acceptable audio, but the trio of other devices exhibited superior performance across the audio spectrum. The Echo Studio was my preferred choice due to its harmonious low-frequency blend with mid and high tones, although it requires a power connection and lacks the mobility afforded by the others. The Bose achieves significantly greater volume than all of them, even when all 20 Kallsups operate concurrently, and the Roam 2’s audio output is more uniform (and the device more mobile) than 20 Kallsups. All three of the more expensive speakers also provide a considerably wider range of functionalities: the Bose and Sonos are impervious to dust and water (the Kallsup lack an IP rating), the Roam 2 integrates within the Sonos environment, and the Echo Studio possesses the capability to procure your provisions. The Kallsup is an exceptionally basic Bluetooth speaker, and 20 of them are twenty exceedingly straightforward Bluetooth speakers.

Although arranging several of these speakers together or distributing them across a space enhances their sound output and spatial reach, this process can prove quite time-consuming. Activating and linking a solitary speaker merely requires 10 to 20 seconds; however, amplifying this by twenty units quickly extends the task into several minutes. Furthermore, this pairing is not preserved once the speakers deactivate, necessitating a repeat of the procedure each subsequent occasion you wish to employ the entire set. Beyond that, the challenge arises of locating twenty available USB-C power sockets once they deplete their charge following a nine-hour operational period. The Kallsup moreover emits a rather unnerving “aahhhh” noise when connected for recharging, a characteristic I find quite bothersome, particularly when emitted by multiple units simultaneously.

Nevertheless, when deploying merely one or a small collection of them, the Kallsups offer a delightful, vibrant, and charming method to introduce audio to one’s environment. One might envision placing a few within a child’s bedroom — my 10-year-old appreciated their appearance when arranged for photography — or simply injecting a splash of vibrancy onto one’s workspace. And at a mere $10, the Kallsups undoubtedly offer exceptional value for their cost.

Imagery captured by John Higgins for The Verge