Jul 28, 2023 8:00 AM

The Best Google Assistant Speakers for Your Home

From smart displays to soundbars, Google’s voice assistant comes in all shapes and sizes. Here are our favorites.

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a pink round nest mini speaker on white background

4 / 7

There are several voice assistants locked in a tug-of-war over who controls the smart speakers in your home: Amazon's Alexa, Google's Assistant, and Apple's Siri. We prefer Google. Its Assistant answers questions more accurately, has a simpler setup process, and it connects to a growing number of smart home devices. All the devices below have built-in Google Assistant, so you can ask it anything you'd search for on Google, or ask it to control smart home products like robot vacuums, smart plugs, lights, and TVs.

Be sure to check out our handy guide on how to maintain your privacy as much as possible while still enjoying the luxuries of smart assistants. We also have many other buying guides, including the Best Smart Displays, Best Smart Speakers, and Best Alexa Speakers.

Updated July 2023: We've added the Google Pixel Tablet. We've also removed a few picks as Google is no longer providing software updates to some third-party displays.

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Photograph: Google
Best for Basics
Google Nest Mini (2nd Gen)
The 2nd-gen Nest Mini (7/10, WIRED Review) is the successor to the original Google Home Mini, though you'll be hard-pressed to find any visual changes. You do get improved audio quality, specifically stronger bass, and better voice recognition, plus the device is wall-mountable so you can save some space on the credenza. The volume controls light up as you approach the Mini and, perhaps best of all, the speaker is made with sustainable materials: The fabric around the top is 100 percent recycled plastic bottles, and the external enclosure is made with around 35 percent post-consumer recycled plastic.
If you're looking for the most affordable way to smarten up your home, the Nest Mini is where you should start. But if you're planning to stream music a lot, this isn't the option we recommend, because the Nest Mini doesn't get too loud. It's a little bigger than a hockey puck.
$45 at Walmart
$50 at Best Buy
$49 at Target
Photograph: Google
Best Bang for Your Buck
Google Nest Audio
The Nest Audio is impressive for its price (8/10, WIRED Recommends). This midsize speaker replaces the Google Home from 2016, and it improves on it with louder sound and deeper bass. It still won't take up too much room, and its discreet design allows it to blend into your home. The long power cable helps, making it easy to place anywhere. Best of all, if you pair two of these together, WIRED reviewer Parker Hall says you get some of the best stereo sound for the money. There's a physical switch to turn off the mic.
$100 at Target
$59 at Walmart
$100 at Best Buy

Photograph: Sonos
Best for Sound
Sonos One (Gen 2)
The second-generation Sonos One is a great option for people who want excellent audio quality but don't want to spend several hundred dollars on speakers. You get capacitive touch controls on the top, including a mute switch for when you want to ensure privacy. It also always makes a pleasant tone when Google Assistant is activated, so you know when it's listening. You can pair another Sonos One to get multiroom stereo sound, and if you have other Sonos speakers in your home, like the company's soundbars, it can seamlessly connect to them. The Sonos Move (8/10, WIRED recommends) is a nice upgrade from Sonos (and it's portable!), but it's twice the price.
Sonos also has new Era speakers, but these don't support Google Assistant for voice control. You can still control the Era models with a separate Google speaker (like the ones in this guide), but it's not as easy as using the Sonos One. Check out our Best Sonos Speakers guide for more.
$219 at Target
$219 at Walmart
$220 at Best Buy
$219 at Sonos
Photograph: Sonos
Best Soundbar
Sonos Arc Soundbar
The Sonos One sounds great, but if it's in your budget, spring for the company's Arc Soundbar (9/10 WIRED Recommends) and you'll really step up your sound quality a notch. It has built-in voice support for Google Assistant (plus Alexa and Siri). The four far-field microphones can pick up a voice over the TV, so you can tell it to pause or lower the volume. It's not the only soundbar with voice-assistant capabilities, but the Arc sounds downright excellent with Dolby Atmos support, and it will receive updates for probably the next decade. The only downside is the price.
The Sonos Beam (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is a smaller option with great sound for half the price. Read our Best Soundbars guide for more recommendations.
$880 at Amazon
$899 at Target
$899 at Sonos

Photograph: Best Buy
Best Smart Display
Google Nest Hub Max
Assistant-powered speakers are limited to sound, which is why smart displays have an advantage. You get similar audio quality plus a screen to see things like the weather forecast, rather than just hear it. Google's 10-inch Nest Hub Max (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is big enough to use as a screen to watch shows or YouTube videos while washing the dishes (though Amazon Prime Video isn't available). When not in use, the screen doubles as a digital photo frame, cycling images from Google Photos.
The Nest Hub Max doesn't look too techie, has good audio quality, and comes with a camera, so you can make group video calls with Google's video-chatting service, Meet. The camera can identify people in the household, so when you step in front of it, you'll see a personalized calendar. It can also recognize your palm, so just raise it to pause music or videos without having to say anything. Best of all, there's a physical switch on the back that turns off the mic and camera. If the 10-inch size is too big, the 7-inch Nest Hub (2nd Gen) (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is a nice option. It's a little too small for our tastes, but the lack of a camera means it's a more privacy-friendly machine for the more private areas of your home. It also has sleep-tracking functions if you use it on a bedside table.
$229 at Target
$225 at Walmart
$230 at Best Buy
Photograph: Google
A Smart Display and Tablet Combo
Google Pixel Tablet
The Google Pixel Tablet (7/10, WIRED Recommends) can turn into a smart display when it's placed on the included speaker dock. In this hub mode, you can access all your smart home controls right from the lock screen—even view security camera feeds—and the microphones do a great job of picking up “Hey Google” commands from across the room. The speaker dock sounds surprisingly decent for its small size.
As a tablet, the 11-inch LCD screen is great for watching movies and shows, plus you can even cast content from your phone or laptop to it. Pair it with a Bluetooth keyboard and you can do some light work too. There have been a lot of great improvements in Android that make multitasking so much easier on larger screens, with more tablet-optimized apps as well. Best of all, the Pixel Tablet supports up to eight users, and each person in the household can set up the slate the way they want. Just choose your profile, which is protected by the fingerprint sensor.
$499 at Amazon
$499 at Best Buy
$499 at Target

Photograph: Bose
A Portable Alternative
Bose Portable Home Speaker
The Bose Portable Home Speaker is for people who want a take-anywhere speaker that prioritizes sound quality. The 360-degree speakers toss sound in all directions, and there's solid bass response. The built-in handle makes it easy to carry around, and the battery lasts more than 10 hours on a charge. It connects to your Wi-Fi network, which is how you can talk to Google Assistant, but if you leave the house with it, you can connect to it via Bluetooth through your phone to stream music. It's one of the prettier portable speakers on our list.
The device's controls sit at the top, and there's a Mute switch for privacy. It has only an IPX4 rating, making it splashproof but not fully waterproof. That makes it fine to put in the bathroom if you want to jam out in the shower, but this isn't the speaker to take to the beach. It's also quite expensive.
$399 at Amazon
$400 at Best Buy

Nena Farrell covers consumer tech at WIRED and specializes in smart home products and parenting gear. She previously wrote for Wirecutter and Sunset. She lives in San Diego, where she can be found pushing her child around in various strollers.

Writer and Reviewer

Medea Giordano turned her shopping problem into a career as a product writer for WIRED. She covers a little bit of everything but loves health, beauty, and pet tech. Prior to WIRED, she was an assistant editor at Wirecutter and an assistant in the newsroom of The New York Times.... Read more

Writer and Reviewer