Credit:
Reviewed / Rachel Murphy
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Credit:
Reviewed / Rachel Murphy
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Amazon's 4th-gen Echo has a built-in smart home hub, a temperature sensor, upgraded speakers, and a sleek new design. Read More
The Alexa-enabled Sonos Era 100 sounds great, but lacks the smarts of other smart speakers, with no support for Matter and no built-in sensors. Read More
Google's Nest Audio smart speaker is fast, sounds great for the size, and offers a lot of value for the money. Read More
The HomePod is easily Apple's best-sounding smart speaker to date, and bests its competitors' products, like Amazon Echo Studio and Google Nest Audio. Read More
The Amazon Echo Pop is an Alexa smart speaker that comes in a compact size with small colors with decent sound for small spaces. Read More
Smart speakers can automatically adjust your thermostat, help you manage your calendar, and alert you to potential problems by listening for intruders and smoke alarm sounds. These functional smart devices can also play music, podcasts, and make phone calls, becoming a key part of any smart home.
We've tested smart speakers to learn which ones have the strongest blend of smart home features, audio quality, and usability. The Amazon Echo (4th gen) (available at Amazon for $99.99) is the best smart speaker you can buy because it offers plenty of smarts. It features quick, responsive Alexa, it includes support for Zigbee and Matter smart homes, and it features built-in motion and temperature sensors.
For the a portable speaker with a big kick, the Sonos Era 100 (available at Amazon) is our choice for best portable and best sound. There are many other quality smart speakers on our list, as well, each with something distinctive to offer.
The Amazon Echo (4th gen) is the best smart speaker you can buy.
Fantastic smarts
Supports Matter and Zigbee
Clear, relatively full sound
Distorts at top volume
The Sonos Era 100 is the most portable smart speaker you can buy right now.
Excellent, full sound
Plethora of music apps
Attractive design
Sonos app is cumbersome at times
Stereo effect is lackluster
Nest Audio offers incredible value for a smart speaker, striking an ideal balance between room-filling sound and smarts.
Matter controller
Good sound
Stylish, compact design
Microphones aren't as sensitive as they could be
The second-gen Apple HomePod is the best smart speaker for HomeKit.
Well-balanced audio
Temperature and humidity sensors
Matter compatible
Only works with iOS devices
The Amazon Echo Pop is the best smart speaker for small spaces.
Good value size and sound
Fun design
Matter controller and built-in eero support
No temperature sensors
Power cord is white
Exceptional sound
Dolby Atmos
Controls Zigbee and Matter-compatible devices
Large
Good sound quality for size
Works as an eero Wi-Fi extender
Temperature sensor is spotty
Room-filling sound
Excellent sonic placement with Atmos
Can be used as rear speakers
Sonos app search is awkward
Small
Hanging brackets on the back
Supports Matter
Sound distorts at top volume
Great sound
Compact
Multi-room listening
Siri only
Requires iOS device
Alexa or Google Assistant
Bluetooth capable
Rugged design
None that we could find
Bluetooth capable
Alexa or Google Assistant
Portable
Geared toward Sonos users
Comes with either Alexa or Google Assistant
Bluetooth capable
Sound quality just so-so
If you already have smart speakers in your home and use features like Alexa’s Announcement and Drop-In, Google Assistant's Broadcast, or speaker-to-speaker calling to communicate, you will probably want to go with an actual Amazon Echo or Google Nest speaker.
Third-party brands with Alexa or Google Assistant built in can certainly have their own strengths, but they don’t all feature the same communication capabilities as their first-party counterparts. This seems to be more of an issue with Alexa devices than Google Assistant ones.
If you don't plan to use your speaker this way, it doesn’t matter which brand you choose. Still, using the speaker to announce or broadcast a message can be life-changing if you have kids ("Dinner's ready!"), or if you realize too late that there's only a single square of toilet paper left and need to call for help from the bathroom.
Alexa is the most popular smart assistant out there. In our experience, it’s the fastest and can control the most devices. However, choosing a smart assistant ultimately comes down to personal preference and what other smart home devices you have (or plan to have).
Those already committed to Apple's ecosystem will definitely be attracted to the Apple HomePods’ solid sound quality and built-in Siri. Unfortunately, Apple’s proprietary approach to technology has made it difficult for smart home companies to make their products compatible with Apple’s HomeKit smart devices platform. You can technically run an entire smart home through Siri—you just don’t have a lot of options.
If you're just starting out with smart home tech, we recommend going with an Alexa speaker or one that has Google Assistant over Siri.
If you're researching smart speakers, bringing an ever-listening, Wi-Fi-connected device into your home might (should!) be a concern.
We know that Amazon and Google review and store voice recordings to improve smart assistant accuracy, and there have been instances when Alexa and Google Assistant have misheard commands, leading to invasions of privacy.
That being said, there are steps you can take to protect your privacy from Alexa and Google Assistant.
You'll want to pay attention to the setup process in the speaker's associated app, as you'll get the chance to opt out of voice recording storage and review. You can also hop into the settings later to delete voice recordings and adjust other privacy options.
We were already intimately familiar with many of the speakers included in this roundup. Testing smart home equipment means using a smart speaker, so we’ve worked with many of these. However, each one is so different in its strengths and its intentions that settling on testing criteria was difficult.
The two main criteria we’ve chosen are the speaker’s ability to be useful in a smart home setting, and its capacity to be used by the widest variety of people. As far as audio quality, while some are obviously better than others, most of the speakers we tested will perform just fine in the average home.
You probably don't care if a speaker can stream music from 12 different services or allows you to choose between two different assistants. You want a speaker that works with your preferred assistant and your preferred streaming service or music source. The winners we selected offer the largest variety of ways to use them, so chances are our winners will work nicely with whatever setup and services you already have going.
Sarah Kovac is an award-winning author and accessibility editor for Reviewed. Previously, she worked with a multitude of outlets such as Wirecutter, TIME, PCMag, Prevention, The Atlantic, Reviews.com, CNN, GOOD, Upworthy, Mom.me, and SheKnows.
John is Reviewed's Managing Editor of Tech. He is an ISF Level III-certified calibrator with bylines at ProjectorCentral, Wirecutter, IGN, Home Theater Review, T3, Sound & Vision, and Home Theater Magazine. When away from the Reviewed office, he is a sound editor for film, a musician, and loves to play games with his son.
Rachel Murphy is Reviewed's home editor. She holds a journalism degree from the University of Central Florida. Prior to joining the team, she worked as a freelance writer for publications like Insider and Mashable, and as an associate editorial producer for Good Morning America. Aside from smart home tech, her interests include food, travel, parenting, and home renovation. You can usually find her sipping on coffee at any time of the day.
Nick Woodard is a tech journalist specializing in all things related to home theater and A/V. His background includes a solid foundation as a sports writer for multiple daily newspapers, and he enjoys hiking and mountain biking in his spare time.
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