Ikea’s tiny Bluetooth speaker now has a bigger, more serious brother

Ikea is expanding its line of Bluetooth speakers with a larger, slightly less fancy version of the $10 Kallsup. The Badkruka is a $60 Bluetooth speaker that can connect wirelessly to your phone or laptop, as well as to your home theater thanks to the ability to link two of them for stereo sound.

Since it’s also positioned as a speaker you might want to use for gaming or for home theater, Ikea decided to include an optical port so you can connect to other audio equipment via the included optical cable. Like Kallsup, there is support for multiple speakers, so you can use them in different rooms.

Badkruka’s size and price aren’t the only things that differentiate this speaker from Kallsup. The biggest difference is that it is not portable. Badkruka is wired only, meaning there is no rechargeable battery inside. There are also (unfortunately, to be honest) less fancy color options. The Badkruka is currently available in black and pink, both of which are quite subdued compared to the Kallsup’s color options, which include a vibrant yellow-green and vibrant pink.

This more grown-up presentation does come with some benefits, however, including new equalizer modes for different music genres and Spotify Tap support. Even if Badkruka looks a little less interesting than Kallsup, I understand what Ikea is trying to achieve and I like it. With your home theater you get the same Ikea design, but more powerful sound and versatility. Just don’t make it black if you have a Steam Machine because you might confuse the two.