- Ikea announces a colorful new series of home electronics
- The range will be made in collaboration with Colorist Teklan
- Two new colors of its laptop Vappeby Bluetooth speaker is out now
IKEA is no stranger to home technology that makes smart lights, smart sensors and image frame speakers and more. Unfortunately, not many of those who come decorated in the bold colors that the Homeware giant is famous for, but Ikea has just promised to arrange it with a new series that it claims will “Reimagine” home electronics.
The new home gadgets are designed in collaboration with Tekla Evelina Severin, a designer and dyes known as Teklan on Instagram, and will apparently combine color, patterns and geometric forms to help the technology keep her own when surrounded by your bold, Complementary home decor.
So far, so on guard, but iKea has given us a teaser of what we can expect by refreshing its super-cheap (and surprisingly good) portable Vappeby Bluetooth speaker ($ 15 / £ 12 / AU $ 22) with two new Colors. When the speaker was launched last year, it was available in black, red or yellow finishes, but the Teklan collaboration has delivered some pretty picking blue and pink versions available now.
The slightly less good news is that the full Teklan range does not expect to launch until “early 2026” with more details to follow closer that time. Come on, Ikean – we were at least hoping to get some new socks in time for this Christmas. Still, the Vappeby speaker gives us some confidence that the new range may be worth waiting …
Cheap, cheerful … and actually good?
If Ikea’s refreshed Vappeby speaker is a taste of what is going to come from its new Teklan collaboration, it is a good sign -especially if it uses this formula for some actually new, affordable products.
Vappeby’s price tag may create understandable caution, but Techradar’s audio editor Becky Scarrott tested Vappeby last year – and her surprising conclusion was that it is “excellent” and an “alarmingly good bluetooth speaker for the money”.
While the speaker’s new blue and pink variants look promising, it is difficult to conclude that yellow (above) is still not the best for the bathroom tunes. Still, blue or pink could fit your décor better, and no matter what version of Vappeby you are looking for, it’s hard to beat it on bang-for-buck.
Our test found that it was “absolutely worthy to its IP67 claim” for waterproofing, which means it can be dipped in water down to a meter and still survive for 30 minutes. And our review concluded that “there’s very little wrong with Vappeby Sonically,” as long as you “expect a forward, exciting performance rather than a relaxed or refined listening”. That’s why it made our list of the best cheap Bluetooth speakers last year.
It would be great to see IKEA repeat Vappeby formula with other technique – I think of laptops, desktophy speakers, microphones, maybe even a really desirable router. What cheap-and-cheeting product would you like to see IKEA Rustle up in this new designer collection? Tell us that in the comments below.
