To help you navigate the hundreds of choices we reviewed our favorite – 7 Best Smart Speakers for the Home. If you like our list, please read our other reviews. We update regularly!
Table of Contents
Best Smart Speakers For The Home
Sonos Play: 1 Compact Wireless Speaker
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Sonos Play: 1 is an amazing compact wireless speaker.
While it’s much more expensive than you think – it does have a wealth of amazing features. You won’t be disappointed by its performance. It is compact enough to fit on bookshelves, counters – anywhere small, really, so wherever you are, you can enjoy your music played through great speakers.
Another super feature of this speaker is that is is connectable to Amazon Alexa, so if you are an Alexa home, you can hook up these speakers and enjoy the ease of being able to tell the speakers exactly what music you want.
You will be able to play different songs in different rooms at the same, or play one song in sync throughout the whole house. Imagine the parties with this speaker, the same music echoing through every room!
Wireless connectivity means you can stream all your favorite music services quickly and easily. These would be a great stereo pair of speakers, or as the rear speakers in a home cinema system.
Technical wise, Sonos Play:1 has 2 Class D amplifiers and custom-built drivers, which are all attuned to the distinct acoustics of the speaker. True-speaker Fine Tuning intelligently adjusts the sound of the music for the room that it is being played in.
You can even enjoy your tunes in the shower, as this speaker is humidity resistant! There is a free app that goes with the speakers to help you fully control your music experience. Importantly, these connect via Wi-Fi, not Bluetooth, so you are less likely to experience music drops or delays.
- Pros: amazing features, easy set up
- Cons: could be expensive to kit out a whole house, app can be “buggy”
Bose Portable Speakers
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This compact Bluetooth speaker is a great personal speaker. You can use it anywhere.Whether at home, the beach or one hike, this speaker can travel. With its compact size, it can fit into a backpack. So, you can enjoy great sounding music on the go. Imagine your pool party or BBQ with this speaker – it just looks right, doesn’t it?
High-definition sound through high performance drivers and a passive sub-woofer ensure crystal clear sound quality and strong bass. It also has a IPX4 water resistance rating, which makes it splash proof, giving you the confidence to use it around the pool or in the bathroom.
You can use the Bluetooth speakers as a speakerphone to free up your hands and it even has a built in microphone, and the rechargeable battery gives up to 8 hours of play time. Connect it to non-Bluetooth devices through the AUX port and included 3.5m aux cable, so your older devices don’t have to miss out!
- Pros: great sound quality, good construction
- Cons: water resistant doesn’t mean you can take it to the pool
Amazon Echo, Alexa Speaker
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The quintessential smart speaker – Amazon have really cornered the market with its range of speakers. You can play all of your music, from your apps, just by using your voice. What’s more, Echo also functions as a hands-free device. Again, through voice commands you can connect with any Echo devices in the house.
With Echo, your room will be filled with 360° omni-directional music – and of course, you can play music simultaneously across all your Echo devices in distinct rooms.
Unsurprisingly, connects to Amazon Alexa, so it can answer questions, read the news, control Amazon Fire TV – anything Alexa can do! AND it will control many of your other smart home devices, from your NEST thermostat to lights, fans and garage doors. It’s like having a Star Trek computer in your home, and we want one.
7 microphones ensure Echo can always pick up your voice, and the more you use it, the more it adapts to your voice and recognizes your speech patterns. Additionally, you have the app to help you connect everything you need. If you get Echo, you’ll never want to go back!
- Pros: excellent connectivity, great for people with disabilities, amusing Easter eggs
- Cons: somewhat portable: has to remain plugged in, could use an equalizer for improved sound.
DOSS, Home Portable Speakers
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Back to portable speakers now, with this DOSS Sound-Box Bluetooth speaker. High-definition stereo speaker gives you impressive volume wherever you are, using 12-watt full stereo sound through dual high-performance drivers and a specially enhanced bass.
Bluetooth 4.0 technology provides a great connection, and it automatically connects to the last device that used it. There is an impressive playback time with this device: up to 12 hours (at 75% volume) using the rechargeable Li-Ion 2200 mAh battery – and a super quick charge via micro USB of 3-4 hours.
Consequently, this speaker is great for traveling or for day trips, and it even comes with its own drawstring travel bag! Additionally, this speaker uses capacitive touch control: you have fingertip control of the tracks, the volume and more. The attractive design of this speaker, plus all the mentioned features, make it a brilliant portable speakers option.
- Pros: excellent touch controls, great price, balanced sound quality
- Cons: can get confused when paired with multiple devices, some distortion at the highest volume.
Anker Bluetooth Portable Speakers
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If you’re looking for a speaker to pair with Amazon Alexa, but don’t have the budget for Echo or similar systems, then the Anker may be the speaker for you! These speakers are Amazon certified as compatible with Alexa, so you’re getting all those great features of being able to communicate via Alexa.
Unlike Echo, you will have to press the microphone to engage voice commands. So, it’s not as simple as saying her name. For the price reduction, this may be an acceptable compromise!
Sound wise, there are dual 7.5W acoustic drivers, and frequency response of 50Hz -.20 Hz, so you’ll experience loud, crystal clear audio, that fills the room with streaming music services, or music from your Bluetooth paired device.
As these speakers are portable, they have a rechargeable battery with up to 9 hours of continuous playback, making it perfect for travel or parties. It has a connected Anker app, so you can take control: connect it to your Wi-Fi and enjoy music throughout the home.
- Pros: impressive sound quality, Alexa connectivity at a more budget price
- Cons: cannot run Bluetooth and Wi-Fi simultaneously, potential Wi-Fi security risk
COMISO, Bluetooth Speaker
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These bamboo, speakers are designed to impress! The wood aesthetic is scratch and damage resistant and is a personalized modern look. With dual high performance drivers, and passive bass, you get 360° surround sound. With less than 1% harmonic distortion, the sound quality isn’t sacrificed in the process.
The touch sensor panel uses capacitive touch technology. This provides easy control of your tunes, with a touch of your finger. Although this feature is only supported in Bluetooth mode, not when using the AUX mode.
Speaking of Bluetooth, this connects via 4.1 Bluetooth technology, allowing you a wireless connection of up to 10 meters indoors, and as mentioned, it has a 3.5mm AUX jack for non-Bluetooth devices.
The rechargeable battery allows up to 400 mid-volume songs with a single charge, so you can enjoy the high-quality sound anywhere. These are good speakers at a budget price!
- Pros: great volume for a small speaker, aesthetically pleasing
- Cons: bass is rather poor, touch controls can be unresponsive
AYL Mini Portable Speakers
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The AYL Box mini is perfectly optimized for smart devices, giving you high quality stereo sound as well as strong bass — perfect for music and movies!
This speaker has an attractive metallic design and you can even choose from a range of colors. 3-colored LED button on the top of the speaker controls the power and also lets you know the state of the battery charge.
Compact and slim, this speaker gives you the freedom and flexibility to enjoy music anywhere, at any time. The rechargeable battery gives up to 25 hours of nonstop playback or 1000 hours on standby. We were bowled over by this battery life. For that alone, this speaker is worth it. Especially if you are someone that’s always on the go.
Thankfully, it connects easily through NFC Tag, or Bluetooth. The S-Voice function lets you know about your timetable, messages and alarms. Also, there is a built in speaker phone function. Not to mention, the control buttons are easy and intuitive. All of this makes for an attractive and modern speaker. So, we definitely want one, for our outdoor summer parties next year!
- Pros: stylish, great charge
- Cons: not as loud as loud