The IKEA NATTBAD is a simple Bluetooth speaker with more style than substance. It can pair with other speakers to create a larger sound system and uses Spotify Tap, but after spending time with it, the $50 speaker just isn’t anything to get excited about.
Connectivity
Bluetooth
Colors
Black, yellow, and pink
Buttons
Volume, Spotify Tap
Others
ABS plastic and polyester material
The NATTBAD Bluetooth speaker is the perfect combination of interior decor and sound. Choose a color that stands out or blends in – and fill your home with music in no time.
Pros & Cons
- Blended material design
- Physical volume knob
- Lackluster sound
- Prioritizes Spotify music service
- Connection issues
Price and Availability
The NATTBAD comes in three different color choices: black, pink, and yellow. It retails for $49.99 and is available for purchase now.
Connectivity
Bluetooth
Colors
Black, yellow, and pink
Buttons
Volume, Spotify Tap
Others
ABS plastic and polyester material
Battery
N/A
Cord length
6’7″
The NATTBAD Is a Lifestyle Speaker
Tyler Hayes / How-To Geek
At first glance, the NATTBAD is just a generic wired Bluetooth speaker. It’s almost too simple. It has a nice appearance that blends fabric and plastic in fun colors, but it lacks a battery for portability. There’s just not much to it.
For a basic speaker, the sound is passable. It’s not overly clear throughout the mids. And as you would guess, it’s not overly bassy. It does have just enough low end to make sure it’s not all treble. There’s no IKEA app for the speaker or way to customize the EQ, so what you hear out of the box is pretty much what you get.
More concerning than the sound profile of the speaker is its wireless connection. Connecting the speaker to my phone resulted in constant stuttering and messed-up audio.
Sometimes the wireless problem was in the form of dropped audio, while other times the songs sounded slowed down and sped up. The issues were sometimes immediate and frequent, while other times they only happened occasionally. However, it always happens within the duration of a song.
Interference can occur with Bluetooth audio, so I tried the speaker with other devices, in different rooms, with different streaming services, and with several other settings adjusted. The kicker is that I’ve reviewed more than 30 speakers over the last couple of years and haven’t had this issue with other ones. I’m even in the middle of testing a new Tribit speaker, and it doesn’t have any connection problems.
Ultimately, there’s still a chance this problem is exclusive to me. I would be surprised if the stars aligned for me in this way for this speaker, but I also can’t yet prove otherwise. So, right now, it’s more of a warning and a cautious note.
Tyler Hayes / How-To Geek
Lurking beneath the surface, beyond simply playing music wirelessly, are two features. There’s a dedicated Spotify Tap button to trigger music from that streaming music service, and you can link multiple NATTBAD devices together.
In both cases, I wonder how often the features will be used in practice. If you use Apple Music instead of Spotify, the extra button is useless—pushing it does nothing. If you are a Spotify subscriber, then the button acts as a roulette wheel and will start playing (semi) random songs that the service recommends.
If you do use Spotify, the speaker will trigger it when connecting to it so that the app is open and accessible. If you’re in the middle of a playlist, pressing the button will resume that music. If you press the button again, it will switch to something else it thinks you want to hear. In my case, it switched to its time-of-day-oriented playlist.
I wasn’t able to try linking multiple NATTBAD speakers together, since I only have one. But in this case, I think I’d rather buy a $100 speaker and move it around the house than buy two mediocre-sounding speakers.
Should You Buy the IKEA NATTBAD?
Tyler Hayes / How-To Geek
The IKEA NATTBAD is a Bluetooth speaker I recommend most people skip. Even despite its reasonable $50 price, fine aesthetic, and capable volume level, its overall sound remains lackluster.
If the audio disruptions I heard do turn out to be a widespread problem, then none of those other things can redeem it. It’ll be hard to hold back the NATTBAD jokes.
Connectivity
Bluetooth
Colors
Black, yellow, and pink
Buttons
Volume, Spotify Tap
Others
ABS plastic and polyester material
