The Best Smart Speakers For Your Home

During the last few years, more and more companies have started exploring voice assistants. With its advantages, there has been a rise in consumers purchasing smart speakers today.

There are several smart speakers out there on the market today, which makes it excruciating to choose the one that fits your needs the best. The first thing you should do is analyze and decide on the voice assistant you prefer.

It’s fair enough to say that Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant are the most worthy picks for voice assistants. But, let’s also understand that they all come with their own set of pros and cons. Amazon and Google-powered models are known to be the most user-friendly services.

Also, apart from picking which model you prefer, you need to decide what features you are looking for in these smart speakers. Is music your preference? Do you want your speakers to be able to connect to other smart gadgets?

This is precisely where picking which speaker works best for you gets trickier. But, don’t worry as there’s nothing to fear since we have listed down some of the best smart speakers in the market and their features.

Let’s dig in!

Amazon Echo

The Amazon Echo smart speaker connects to Alexa. It’s also known to be the best Alexa speakers. Don’t be tricked by the Amazon Echo's cute size, because it has a bold base and a wide soundstage that gives a much more room-filling sound than you might’ve ever heard before.

This smart speaker can be placed anywhere in the house. You can put it in the kitchen while cooking and enjoy the beat of the music it provides. You can also put it in your living room or even your bathroom. The Amazon Echo speaker can easily fill the room with a thorough sound coverage.

Moreover, Alexa’s made getting weather and news updates fairly convenient. You can further set alarm clocks or kitchen timers on it. There is also a physical button thatallows you to turn the microphone off, especially when you have people over who aren't as comfortable with voice assistants as you are.

If you’re looking for an audio-focused and simple Alexa speaker, then the Amazon Echo speaker is your best choice. You can purchase them for $99.99 on Amazon.

Sonos One

Sonos One is a smart speaker that connects to Sonos, Alexa, Google Assistant, or AirPlay 2. Sonos One is generally known to be loud and more portable as compared to other smart speakers. There are several reasons why Sonos One stands out from the rest of its competitors.

From having an amazing sound quality to perfect multi-room audio to it being a smart-home utility, Sonos One is winning. Moreover, it’s compatible with more than just one ecosystem, so you don’t have to worry if you have an iOS or Android device.

However, Sonos has been tied in controversy since its older speakers are no longer able to receive a software update. There’s a fix to provide support to the legacy hardware, but in all honesty, this is the harsh reality of smart speakers that as compared to their analog predecessors, they won’t last forever.

You can purchase the Sonos One speaker for $199 at Sonos or Amazon.

Google Nest Audio

The Google Nest Audio connects to the Google Assistant. The Nest Audio is widely popular and is a direct competitor to Amazon’s Echo speaker. The Nest Audio has a pillow-like compact shape that comes withexcellent sound quality which easily fills small/medium-sized rooms.

You can also choose to purchase two Nest Speakers and use it as a stereo pair because when combined, they offer one of the best audio quality you’re likely to achieve. Similar to all Google Assistant devices, the Nest Audio allows you to play music, set timers, tell you the weather, and you can ask it anything that you usually would on Google itself.

Moreover, the Google Home app has made it much easier to pair the Nest Audio with other Google-friendly devices you have. You can purchase them on FirstEnergy Ohio for $99.99 or for $100 at Google itself.

JBL Link Portable

The JBL Link Portable speaker connects to Google Assistant. These speakers provide a 360-degree sound coverage and it comes with a cradle which makes recharging the speaker less of a chore as all you have to do is plop it on the cradle for it to charge.

Moreover, Google Assistant makes it easier to find answers to complicated questions. It further comes with Wi-Fi, which allows you to stream it at home. The best part is that on just a single charge, you can have around eight hours of playtime, isn’t that amazing?

Lastly, it’s water-resistant until 1 meter of submersion for almost 30 minutes. The only concern you should know is that it’s not the in-thing in the market now, so it’s best to get your hands on it while it still lasts.

You can purchase the JBL Link Portable for $90 at JBL.

Last But Not Least

Apple, Amazon, and Google have all not too recently updated their speaker lineups. In other words, these speakers ought to stay useful for the upcoming many years. Many of these improvements have been done to the services that power the digital assistants, rather than to the hardware of the speaker itself.

Know what you’re looking for in a smart speaker and which voice assistant you are most comfortable with, and then go on to purchase the perfect one!