Ikea Badkruka Bluetooth speaker: optical input, price, specs

Ikea's new Badkruka Bluetooth speaker drops the one feature every portable speaker is built around: a battery. In its place is a TOSLINK optical input, bundled with a cable, that lets the speaker pull audio straight from a TV, monitor, or PC without touching Bluetooth for that connection (The Verge; Gizmodo).

It went on sale this week for $59.99 in the U.S. and €49.99 in Germany, roughly six times the price of Ikea's tiny $10 Kallsup (The Verge; Gizmodo). There's no rechargeable battery inside, and Ikea is pitching the speaker explicitly for gaming and movie watching rather than phone streaming on the move (Gizmodo).

What isn't yet clear is how well any of that holds up once the speaker is actually sitting next to a screen. None of the launch coverage includes independent measurements of latency, maximum volume, or optical-format support (The Gadgeteer).

Ikea Badkruka optical input: what's confirmed, what isn't

The port itself is well documented. Badkruka ships with an optical cable in the box, and its TOSLINK input connects to home theater receivers, TVs, and PCs that have an optical audio output (The Verge; Gizmodo).

The Gadgeteer called the included cable "particularly notable at this price," pointing out that wired digital input isn't something most budget Bluetooth speakers bother with (The Gadgeteer). Ikea's own product language backs that framing: the company describes the port as a way to connect to "other sound gear," phrasing built around screens rather than casual listening (Gizmodo).

What none of the current coverage addresses is exactly what that optical connection can carry. There's no confirmation yet of which audio formats the port supports beyond basic stereo output, no mention of whether video and audio stay in sync when the speaker is hooked to a TV, and no word on whether a paired stereo set can be driven from a single optical source or only over Bluetooth. Those gaps matter more than the port's existence, since they determine whether Badkruka actually functions as a screen speaker or just connects to one.

Badkruka Bluetooth speaker specs and design

Badkruka measures 16 by 16 by 17.5 centimeters, close to seven inches tall, a boxy cube shape a considerable step up from the pocketable Kallsup (The Gadgeteer). SoundGuys noted the resemblance is close enough to Valve's Steam Machine that owners of one might mix up the other, a comparison Gizmodo made too, joking that black is the color to avoid if a Steam Machine already sits nearby (SoundGuys; Gizmodo).

The upper cover is ABS plastic containing at least 50 percent recycled material, and the base is polycarbonate (The Gadgeteer). With no rechargeable battery inside, the speaker needs a power outlet within reach permanently rather than occasionally, a straightforward tradeoff for a design built to sit still (Gizmodo; The Verge).

Badkruka comes only in black and pink, both fairly muted compared with Kallsup's bright yellow-green and vibrant pink options (Gizmodo). It's available now in the U.S. and Germany (SoundGuys; Notebookcheck).

Building a system: stereo pairing and multi-speaker mode

A single Badkruka works as a standalone speaker, but two units can also be paired as dedicated left and right stereo channels, which effectively means two $59.99 speakers priced together at roughly $120 before tax (The Gadgeteer; pricing via The Verge).

That's a separate function from Ikea's multi-speaker mode, which syncs playback across several compatible Ikea speakers spread around a home rather than locking two units into fixed left and right channels (SoundGuys). Ikea states compatible units can sit at least 10 meters apart under good conditions, though walls and interference can shrink that in practice (The Gadgeteer). None of the current reporting says whether a stereo pair can also join a broader multi-speaker group at the same time.

Day to day, the speaker runs on Spotify Tap, a feature already present on several recent Ikea speakers. One press resumes playback from wherever a listener left off; a second press surfaces tracks pulled from listening history, no phone required (The Gadgeteer; SoundGuys). Three onboard EQ presets and physical volume and playback controls round out the interface (The Gadgeteer).

What's confirmed versus what still needs testing

The specs that show up consistently across the coverage, the optical input and included cable, the dimensions, the build materials, stereo pairing, and multi-speaker support, are reported without contradiction by every outlet that has covered the launch (The Verge; The Gadgeteer).

The sound quality claim sits on shakier ground. Ikea describes Badkruka's audio as "clear, powerful, and balanced in the midrange," but The Gadgeteer was explicit that this is an untested description, not a measured comparison against other speakers at the same price (The Gadgeteer).

Several other basics remain undisclosed across the current reporting: maximum volume output, which Bluetooth version and codecs the speaker supports, and how the optical port behaves with anything beyond simple stereo audio. None of the coverage cited here has independently measured these figures; they come from Ikea's own product listing and haven't yet been checked against a unit in someone's living room.

Badkruka's launch settles the basics: what it costs, how it's built, and what Ikea says it can do. Whether it actually earns its "home theater" pitch, through format support over optical, sync behavior with video, and how a stereo pair fills a room, is a question independent reviewers haven't answered yet.