So IKEA just dropped the Kallsup, a ten-dollar Bluetooth speaker that’s actually kind of fire, and naturally, I had to see if buying a bunch of them could compete with the fancy audio brands we all know and love. Spoiler alert: it’s complicated.

Let’s start with what you’re actually getting for your ten bucks. The Kallsup is basically a 2.75-inch plastic cube that comes in pink, white, and yellow-green, and yeah, it’s cute enough that you’ll actually want to display it. It’s got two buttons (one for power and pairing, one for play controls), a USB-C charging port, and a single small driver inside. That’s it. No smart features, no fancy ecosystem integration, just pure simplicity. Setup is genuinely fast; pairing takes about 10 seconds and the speaker makes this weird breathing noise while it waits to connect.

Here’s where things get interesting. A single Kallsup actually sounds surprisingly decent for the price. At moderate volumes, it’s legit better than the tinny speakers built into most laptops, which is saying something. The audio focuses mostly on the midrange, so podcasts and audiobooks sound crisp with clear vocals. There’s not much bass to speak of, it’s a tiny driver, after all, but honestly, what did you expect? At maximum volume, you’ll hear some distortion on high-frequency tracks, but you’re not really going to blast a ten-dollar speaker anyway.

Now for the wild part: IKEA designed these speakers to connect up to 100 of them together. When I tested 20 of them against the $269 Bose SoundLink Plus, the $189 Amazon Echo Studio, and the $179 Sonos Roam 2, things got real. The Kallsup army nearly doubled the volume compared to a single speaker, jumping from 86 dB to 94 dB. That’s actually impressive. But here’s the catch: the other speakers still sounded way better overall. The Bose gets louder than all 20 Kallsups combined, and the Sonos Roam 2 has way more balanced sound with actual portability features. Plus, they’re water-resistant and come with stuff like smart home integration.

The real problem with buying 20 speakers? Pairing all of them is a nightmare. You have to re-pair them every single time they turn off, which turns into minutes of setup when you multiply it across 20 devices. And good luck finding 20 USB-C charging ports when they die after nine hours. They also make this weird “aahhhh” sound when charging that honestly haunts me.

But real talk: for ten dollars, the Kallsup absolutely delivers. If you want a cute, colorful speaker for your desk or a few scattered around your room, they’re genuinely fun and way less painful to buy multiple of than dropping $300 on premium gear. They won’t blow your mind, but they’ll definitely brighten up your space, literally and sonically.