Smart speakers offer an easy first step into smart home technology. Before you kit out your house with thousands of dollars of lighting and security upgrades, you can familiarize yourself with voice-assistant technology while enjoying music, podcasts, and news in a hands-free home environment.
Here are our top picks in several categories. If you want information about smart speakers in addition to our top recommendations, scroll down the page to read our in-depth buyers’ guide.
Updated April 3, 2024: We’ve added a link to our JBL Authentics 300 smart speaker review. This high-performance portable speaker sounds fantastic, but its ability to respond to the “Alexa” and “Hey Google” wake words interchangeably is even more intriguing, because it doesn’t limit you to one or the other smart home ecosystem.
We also dig its retro industrial design, complete with a Quadrex foam grill that recalls JBL’s famous J-100 studio monitor from the 1970s. It’s a pricey speaker to be sure, but it’s not more expensive than its chief competitors, the Brane X and the Sonos Move 2. In fact, we’ve named it runner-up to the Move 2 in the Best-sounding portable smart speaker category.
In addition to our latest review, we’ve made revisions to the smart speaker buyers’ guide section of this roundup to bring it up to date.
Why you should trust us
TechHive’s editors and writers have been testing smart speakers since the early days of Alexa Siri, and Google Assistant, giving us more than a decade of experience with these devices and their accompanying mobile apps.
Michael Brown has been evaluating home audio gear for just as long. He designed his own custom-built smart home in 2007 and has tested nearly ever smart speaker that’s come to market since then. James Barber has worked in music and technology for more than three decades as a music producer, A&R executive, entrepreneur, and reviewer of both audio gear and recorded music.
We’ve evaluated basic smart speakers, models designed for audiophiles, portable speakers, and smart displays with built-in audio. You can trust TechHive to recommend the best smart speaker for you.
Our top picks in smart speakers
Amazon Echo Dot with Clock (5th Gen) — Best smart speaker for most people
Pros
- Larger display conveys more information
- Highly useful ambient temperature sensor
- Accelerometer for gesture recognition
- Can operate as a node on an Eero mesh Wi-Fi network
Cons
- Audio performance still pales in comparison to a Sonos One
- 3.5mm analog audio output has been removed
- Mesh node feature is useful only to those with Eero routers
Why we like Amazon Echo Dot with Clock (5th Gen)
Alexa is the most popular voice assistant, and the Echo Dot with Clock (5th Gen) is the best value in Amazon’s smart speaker lineup. The speaker can do double duty as a tabletop clock and weather monitor. When you’re playing music, it can also display the artist and song title—even if they scroll do a bit too quickly across its 2-inch display. The unit can also act as a Wi-Fi range extender for anyone who’s using an Eero mesh router.
Who should buy the Amazon Echo Dot with Clock (5th Gen)
The Echo Dot with Clock (5th Gen) is an excellent way to control smart home devices that are compatible with Amazon’s Alexa ecosystem. The unit’s display makes it a great replacement for a bedside alarm clock. The audio quality is solid, if not good enough for someone who wants to use a smart speaker primarily for listening to music.
Google Nest Mini — Best smart speaker for most people, runner-up
Pros
- Improved sound quality
- Google Assistant rarely gets stumped
- Works great with other Nest devices
- Inexpensive
Cons
- Capacitive buttons are easy to miss
- Sound quality still isn’t that great
- No cable management to go with the new mounting hole
- No analog audio output
Why we like the Google Nest Mini
The Google Nest Mini has an attractively low profile. In addition to supporting all Google apps, the speaker gives a user voice control for YouTube Music, Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, iHeart Radio, Deezer, and SiriusXM.
Who should buy the Google Nest Mini
If you want the most diminutive smart speaker, you’ll find the Google Nest Mini easier to hide away than the spherical Echo Dot series. Google Assistant also offers better answers to general questions than Amazon’s Alexa, and Android users who depend on Google Assistant on their smartphones will appreciate being able to use the same commands with the Nest Mini.
Apple HomePod mini — Best smart speaker in the Apple HomeKit ecosystem
Pros
- Impressive audio quality for its size
- Easy setup
- Works as a Thread border router for Matter
- “Intercom” feature lets you broadcast messages to family members
- Temperature and humidity sensor was recently added, along with sound recognition for smoke alarms
Cons
- No physical mic mute control
- Intercom doesn’t support two-way calls
- Supports third-party music services, but only a few are on board
- We’ve heard better-sounding smart speakers in the Mini’s price range
- Still pricey
Why we like the Apple HomePod mini
The Apple HomePod mini offers the best audio quality in the small smart speaker category, a feature that goes a long way to justifying its higher price when compared to the Amazon Echo Dot and Google Nest Mini. Apple has significantly polished the smart home experience for users who own devices that support its HomeKit ecosystem.
Who should buy the Apple HomePod mini
The Apple HomePod mini offers native support for Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, and Deezer, making it a solid choice for audio playback, especially when creating a stereo pair with a second HomePod mini. AirPlay 2 support allows you to stream Spotify, Tidal or Qobuz from another Apple devices. Apple users who have invested in HomeKit-compatible smart home devices will appreciate the HomePod mini’s ability to control their home setup. As for the larger HomePod (2nd Gen), that Apple shipped in 2023, we think it’s still too expensive for what it has to offer.
Amazon Echo Dot (5th gen) — Best budget-priced smart speaker
Pros
- A very inexpensive voice-powered smart home controller
- Very good audio reproduction
- Pretty industrial design
Cons
- Still not recommended for critical music listening
- Google Nest Mini offers tighter integration with Android smartphones
Why we like the Amazon Echo Dot (5th gen)
The Amazon Echo Dot (5th gen) offers all the same features as our top pick, minus the display, at a lower price.
Who should buy the Amazon Echo Dot (5th gen)
If you’re looking for a solid smart speaker at the lowest possible price, the Amazon Echo Dot (5th gen) lists for $15 less than the Amazon Echo Dot (5th gen) with clock. If you’re looking to put multiple Alexa-compatible speakers around your house, the savings can add up when deploying speakers in locations where you don’t care about seeing the time or temperature.
Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin — Best smart speaker for music
Pros
- Best-in-class stereo performance from a tabletop speaker
- Impeccable industrial design
- Streams high-res audio
Cons
- Alexa is the only supported digital assistant
- Control buttons are difficult to see
Why we like the Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin
The Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin justifies its high price with its arresting design and spectacular true stereo sound. The Zeppelin supports AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect, while the B&W app offers support for Tidal, Deezer, and Qobuz, with access to 24-bit/96 kHz streams where supported.
Who should buy the Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin
The current Zeppelin supports Amazon Alexa, making this model B&W’s first smart speaker. If you’ve got the cash and want a music-first speaker with interactive support, the Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin will be your most impressive choice. And if you have other B&W audio gear—such as the magnificent Formation Duo—you can set up a multi-room audio system using the Formation app.
Sonos Era 100 — Best smart speaker for music, runner-up
Pros
- Honest, full bodied, stress-free sound
- Unusually well carved bass, natural-sounding mids, and whistle-clean highs
- A great smart speaker with either Amazon Alexa or Sonos Voice
- No one does multi-room audio better than Sonos
Cons
- No support for Google Assistant
- You might need two to fill your listening space
- Lacks the channel preset buttons found on some competing speakers
- Optional accessory required to get line-level input and/or hardwired ethernet connectivity
Why we like the Sonos Era 100
The Sonos Era 100 delivers spectacular audio with a very small footprint, and the speaker supports both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections. You get access to the manufacturer’s own Sonos Voice digital assistant but can use Amazon Alexa if you prefer. Like all Sonos speakers, you can control playback with the company’s outstanding mobile app.
Who should buy the Sonos Era 100
One Sonos Era 100 speaker offers outstanding sound, but invest in a pair and you’ll get outstanding stereo sound at a significantly lower cost than the B&W Zeppelin. If you want to create a multi-room audio setup, Sonos delivers an unparalleled experience. The platform that popularized seamless home audio has yet to be matched.
Sonos Era 300 — Best smart speaker for spatial audio
Pros
- Dramatic, embracing, and exotic sound from a shockingly small package
- A great smart speaker with Amazon Alexa and Sonos Voice
- Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity
Cons
- Doesn't support Google Assistant
- Trueplay Advanced Tuning depends on an iOS device; cross-platform Quick Tune isn't as effective
Why we like the Sonos Era 300
Sonos adds support for Dolby Atmos surround sound for users who want a more immersive experience. It still delivers the same excellent smart speaker experience as the Sonos Era 100 and similarly outstanding two-channel sound in a stereo pair.
Who should buy the Sonos Era 300
To appreciate the Sonos Era 300’s immersive audio, you’ll need to subscribe to a streaming service that supports Dolby Atmos. Apple Music, Amazon Music HD, and Tidal subscribers will be able to enjoy these speakers, but Spotify users may want to opt for the less-expensive Sonos Era 100. Movie lovers can also use the Sonos Era 300 as surround speakers with a Sonos soundbar.
Amazon Echo Studio — Best smart speaker for spatial audio, runner-up
Pros
- Great audio performance for the money
- Supports 3D audio (Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Reality Audio)
- Can be paired with Amazon’s inexpensive subwoofer and/or a second Studio for stereo
Cons
- Lack of Z-Wave support weakens its abilities as a smart home hub
- You must subscribe to Amazon Music to get 3D audio
- Speaker enclosure is insufficently isolated from the surface it’s placed on
Why we like the Amazon Echo Studio
The Amazon Echo Studio speaker offers excellent spatial audio support for Amazon Music HD and sounds even better with a second speaker for a stereo pair. The speaker can do double duty as a Zigbee smart home hub. Two can be paired for stereo, and if you crave deep bass, you can add Amazon’s beefy Echo Sub to the mix (actually, you can add an Echo Sub to many Amazon Echo models).
Who should buy the Amazon Echo Studio
Amazon has limited immersive audio support to its Amazon Music HD service, so you’ll need to have a full commitment to the Amazon ecosystem to take full advantage of the Echo Studio. Amazon Music HD competes with Tidal, Qobuz, and Apple Music on the top tier of music streaming services (and costs less!), so the service is worth a look if you’re already an Alexa user and want a higher-quality speaker option.
Sonos Roam — Most convenient portable smart speaker
Pros
- Exceptional sound for its size
- Auto Trueplay now works over Bluetooth
- Sound Swap feature lets you “swap” music with other Sonos speakers
- Small and light, with a waterproof design
Cons
- Slow wireless charging (at least with third-party chargers)
- Sound Swap doesn’t work across Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and AirPlay 2 modes
Why we like the Sonos Roam
A portable speaker should be, you know, portable. The Sonos Roam is the perfect size to stuff in a backpack while delivering the excellent audio experience you’ll get from the company’s larger speakers.
Who should buy the Sonos Roam
There’s a lot of competition in the portable speaker category, with plenty of excellent options priced less than $100. It’s the smart speaker features that justify the extra cash for a Sonos Roam. If you’ve integrated voice assistants into your daily routine and regularly ask Alexa for intel, you’ll appreciate being able to take that convenience with you (connect it to a mobile hot spot if you’re out of Wi-Fi range).
Sonos Move 2 — Best-sounding portable smart speaker
Pros
- Excellent audio performance—in stereo!
- Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity—simultaneously!
- Very wide sound stage
- Incredibly long battery life
Cons
- Still no support for hi-res Bluetooth codecs
- Still best described as luggable
- $50 more expensive than the already pricey original
Why we like the Sonos Move 2
The Sonos Move 2 offers true stereo audio and exceptional battery life, but that comes at a cost. The speaker weighs more than 6 pounds and won’t really fit into a small bag. That said, the impressive sound stage and support for simultaneous Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections make this heavy speaker worth the extra effort.
Who should buy the Sonos Move 2
If you’re looking for a speaker to use in the backyard or something you can pack in the car for a trip to a vacation spot, then the superior audio quality makes the luggable Sonos Move 2 worth the upgrade over the truly portable Sonos Roam. If you use Apple Music, Amazon Music, or Deezer to stream your tunes, you’ll appreciate the ability to use those services with either Alexa or Sonos Voice Control.
JBL Authentics 300 — best-sounding portable smart speaker, runner-up
Pros
- Works interchangeably with Alexa and Google Assistant
- Makes a large and lively sonic impression
- Stand-out styling
- Competitively priced
Cons
- Placement is critical for best sound performance
- Heavier than rival Wi-Fi portables
- JBL hasn't published an IP code for protection from the elements
Why we like the JBL Authentics 300
We dig the JBL Authentics 300’s retro design aesthetic as much as we appreciate its dynamic, toasty-warm musicality. But the factor that sets it apart from other smart speakers is its ability to respond to both the “Alexa” and “Hey Google” wake words interchangeably.
Who should buy the JBL Authentics 300
Anyone who loves JBL’s characteristic “West Coast sound” will feel right at home with the JBL Authentics 300. The same goes for smart home dwellers who don’t want to choose between the Alexa and Google Assistant ecosystems.
Amazon Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen) — Best smart display
Pros
- Display can automatically rotate so it's always facing you
- Significant improvements in display brightness and image quality
- Strong home security features, including Alexa Guard and the subscription-based Alexa Guard Plus
- Very good audio performance
Cons
- You might find the tracking feature to be creepy (it can be disabled)
- Wi-Fi and Zigbee radios onboard, but there’s no Z-Wave or Thread support
- Needs at least 5 inches of clearance all the way around if it’s to fully rotate
Why we like the Amazon Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen)
The Amazon Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen) adds a screen and cameras to the smart speaker experience. If you’re using it for video calls, it’s 10.1-inch display can track your movement and rotate so that it always faces you as you move around a room. The audio output is excellent, and there’s an integrated Zigbee smart home hub.
Who should buy the Amazon Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen)
The Amazon Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen) doesn’t offer a best-in-class audio, video, or smart hub experience, but all of those features are good and no other device does as good a job of providing an all-in-one Alexa experience. If you want an even bigger display, consider the Echo Show 15, but read our Echo Show 15 review to understand why we didn’t pick that model in this category.
Google Nest Hub Max — Best smart display, runner-up
Pros
- Impressive audio quality
- Excels as a digital photo frame
- Built-in Nest camera
- Google Assistant is one of the smartest assistants we’ve tried
Cons
- No physical camera shutter
- No analog audio output
- Google Assistant’s smart home compatibility still lags Alexa
Why we like the Google Nest Hub Max
Android users know that Google Assistant has been closing the gap with Alexa, and it’s now a formidable competitor to Amazon’s smart assistant. The Google Next Hub Max offers surprisingly robust sound. Its smart home capabilities don’t quite match what’s on offer with the Echo Show 10, but it’s perfect for homes that are using Nest thermostats and security cameras. In fact, the Next Hub Max even does double duty as a Nest camera.
Who should buy the Google Nest Hub Max
If you’re a committed YouTube user, the Google Nest Hub Max offers an integrated app and the best viewing experience (Amazon Echo Show users must use the Silk browser to access YouTube).
What can smart speakers do?
Digital assistants–including Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri–are mostly cloud-based software that understands natural language voice commands to perform tasks and fetch information for you. As smart speakers have become more sophisticated, some of that processing has moved down to the chips inside smart speakers and displays.
Still, digital assistants aren’t quite sophisticated enough for truly seamless operation. While you don’t need to talk like a robot to them—e.g., “Alexa, set timer, 20 minutes”—they can all become easily confused, and you’ll hear a fair number of responses like “Sorry, I don’t know that one” (that’s an Alexa phrase, incidentally) when you trip them up. The good news is that the algorithms powering digital assistants learn over time and become better at predicting what you need.
Here are just a few of the things that most smart speakers can do (you can add “and more!” to the end of each item on this list):
Entertain
- Stream music over Wi-Fi
- Stream music over Bluetooth (most models)
- Work with Chromecast devices (Google Home models)
- Control your TV
- Stream music to multiple speakers (multi-room audio)
- Play games
- Stream videos (models with displays)
Retrieve news and information
- News headlines
- Weather forecasts
- Traffic reports
- Date and time
- Wikipedia entries
Manage your schedule
- Set appointments
- Provide reminders
- Serve as an alarm clock
- Maintain to-do lists
Help in the kitchen
- Recite recipes (and show steps on models with displays)
- Set multiple timers
- Get measurement conversions (“How many cups are in one quart?”)
- Maintain shopping lists
- Set the temperature for a sous vide cooker
- Get basic nutrition information (“How many calories are in an apple?”)
Contact friends and family
- Make and receive phone calls (video calls on models with displays)
- Serve as an in-home intercom
- Send text messages
Control your smart home *
- Turn your lights on and off (and dim them)
- Adjust your smart thermostat
- Manage your smart sprinkler controller
- Close your garage door
- Lock your smart deadbolt
- Arm your home security system
- Stream video from your home security camera (models with displays)
- Work with IFTTT
* There are caveats when it comes to using a smart speaker for home control. Smart home devices that can be controlled via Wi-Fi don’t require any other hardware. Products that use the Zigbee or Z-Wave protocols depend on the presence of a smart-home hub, such as a Samsung SmartThings. Amazon’s higher-priced Echo models are exceptions to that rule, because they have an integrated smart home controller (although it’s limited to Zigbee).
How to choose the right smart speaker
Some soundbars can double as smart speakers. The Sonos Beam (Gen 2), for example, can be configured with Sonos’s own voice assistant, Amazon Alexa, or Google Assistant.
Some soundbars can double as smart speakers. The Sonos Beam (Gen 2), for example, can be configured with Sonos’s own voice assistant, Amazon Alexa, or Google Assistant.
Some soundbars can double as smart speakers. The Sonos Beam (Gen 2), for example, can be configured with Sonos’s own voice assistant, Amazon Alexa, or Google Assistant.
In a perfect world, smart speakers and smart displays would be interoperable, so you could buy one brand because it’s better for music, another brand because it’s the best for smart home control, and a third because it’s superior for retrieving general information from the internet. That’s not how it works in the real world. Once you commit to one platform, you’ll want to stick with it. There is one exception to this rule: The new JBL Authentics series of smart speakers can handle Alexa and Google Assistant voice commands interchangeably.
That said, if you’re wedded to YouTube Music, streaming music from your account to an Amazon Echo is not perfectly seamless (the same goes for streaming music from Amazon Music Unlimited to a Google Home speakers). There are also some other major coexistence exceptions: Google blocks YouTube from appearing on the Echo Show devices, for instance (although you can get there using a web browser on an Echo Show). And Apple’s HomePod speakers are more or less locked to Apple Music. While tthere’s a recent workaround for Spotify, and you can use AirPlay to stream music from other services—provided both devices are on the same Wi-Fi network–stumbling blocks like that shouldn’t exist.
Bottom line on this point: If you plan to mix and match third-party products with your smart speaker or display, do a little research to make sure they’ll work together.
How we evaluate smart speakers
How does the speaker sound? Most of the testing happens at moderate volume in home environments, but we’re also checking to see if the speaker distorts at higher volumes. The most important features are clarity and how natural the instruments sound. Especially with smaller speakers, we want to find out how much bass the speaker can deliver.
Equally important for wireless speakers is how easily they can connect with an audio source and how stable that connection is during music playback. How far can you move the signal source from the speaker and still get an unbroken signal? Does the speaker support Bluetooth as well as Wi-Fi? Does it include an auxiliary input for wired playback?
We also look at any smartphone app designed to work with the speaker. Does the app allow the user to adjust the sound to their preferences? Does the app allow a user to adjust the speaker’s smart capabilities? For smart speakers, we evaluate how well the speaker processes voice commands. A large part of the performance depends on the capabilities of Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, or Apple’s Siri. .