Best Smart Speakers 2022BETAThis is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here Vetted Vetted Tech & ElectronicsAll Tech & ElectronicsAudioComputers, Tablets & AccessoriesGamingSmartphones, Smartwatches & AccessoriesHomeAll HomeCleaning & LaundryDecorFurnitureKitchen & DiningMattresses & BeddingOutdoorPetsToolsWine & BarHealth & WellnessAll Health & WellnessFitnessPersonal ProductsBeauty & GroomingAll Beauty & GroomingHaircareMakeupSkincareFashionAll FashionClothingGearAll GearBikesCamping & HikingTravelGiftsAll GiftsHolidayDealsAll DealsBig SalesCyber MondayBlack FridayHomeTech & ElectronicsTravelAll TravelHotels & LodgingAll Tech & ElectronicsAudioComputers, Tablets & AccessoriesGamingSmartphones, Smartwatches & AccessoriesAll HomeCleaning & LaundryDecorFurnitureKitchen & DiningMattresses & BeddingOutdoorPetsToolsWine & BarAll Health & WellnessFitnessPersonal ProductsAll Beauty & GroomingHaircareMakeupSkincareAll FashionClothingAll GearBikesCamping & HikingTravelAll GiftsHolidayAll DealsBig SalesCyber MondayBlack FridayHomeTech & ElectronicsAll TravelHotels & Lodging
More From Vetted
Oct 11, 2022,09:26pm EDTThe Best Smart Thermostats For Efficient Heating And CoolingOct 21, 2022,06:10pm EDTThe Best Smart Locks Make It Easy To Enter Your Home Without KeysOct 21, 2022,05:59pm EDTThe Best Portable Projectors Literally Fit In The Palm Of Your HandOct 21, 2022,05:52pm EDTThe 15 Best Board Games For Kids Of All AgesOct 21, 2022,05:09pm EDTThe Best Skincare Routine For Your 40s, According To DermatologistsOct 21, 2022,04:52pm EDTGoogle Pixel Watch Review: An Eye-Catching Android Smartwatch That Only Needs PolishOct 21, 2022,04:47pm EDT10 Of The Best Thermal Underwear Options To Stay Warm All Winter Edit StoryWe independently select all products and services. If you click through links we provide, we may earn a commission. Learn moreForbes Vetted Use Your Inside Voice The Best Smart Speakers For Alexa Google Assistant And More
Christian de LooperContributorForbes VettedContributor GroupOpinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.Oct 21, 2022,06:39pm EDTShare to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to LinkedinA great smart speaker can seriously change how you interact with audio and smart devices in your home. They make great facilitators for multi-room music playback and keep your podcasts playing while you’re cleaning. And, because they’re smart, they allow you to control your smart home and find information from the web using only your voice. Sonos One smart speaker in white.Sonos Amazon released the first modern smart speaker, the original Amazon Echo, in 2014, and since then the concept has seriously caught on. The likes of Google and Apple have released their own smart speakers, and companies have even built smart soundbars and other smart devices with smart speakers built into them. There are plenty of good reasons to buy a smart speaker. Maybe you want it for audio purposes, such as playing music around the house that is synced across multiple rooms. Or, maybe you’re into the smart home and want an easier way to control your all your devices. Or, perhaps you just like the idea of something you can use to set timers and find out information. Regardless of the reason, there are a ton of great smart speakers out there, and they’re not all created equal. Here are the best smart speakers you can buy right now. Best Smart Speaker Overall: Sonos One Best Smart Speaker With Alexa: Amazon Echo (4th Generation) Best Smart Speaker With Google: Google Nest Audio Best Smart Speaker With Siri: Apple HomePod Mini Best Smart Soundbar: Sonos Beam MORE FROMFORBES VETTED Pixel 7 And Pixel 7 Pro Review Google s Phone Finally Feels Mature
ByJanhoi McGregorContributor The 40 Best Gifts For Coffee Lovers To Perk Up Their Caffeine Routine
ByLeah KoenigContributor Best Smart Speaker Overall
A Great Sounding Super Smart Music Machine
Amazon Sonos One Gen 2
Buy From Amazon Best for: Smart speaker versatility. Sonos has built a name for itself as the smart speaker company, and the Sonos One is a perfect example of why. The speaker is super sleek, sounds great, and works with whatever smart home ecosystem you’re in, in one way or another. First up, the sound quality. Sonos has spent years refining the sound quality of its speakers, and the One offers excellent bass response, with decently-tuned mids and good clarity in the high-end. The result? You’ll get a super exciting music-listening experience that will make your music sound better than the vast majority of headphones out there. That’s not to mention the fact that Sonos offers tech like TruePlay (for iOS users), which tunes the frequencies of the speaker to the room that the speaker is in. Basically, the Sonos One isn’t just the best smart speaker, it’s also the best-sounding smart speaker. The Sonos One is super smart too. When setting up the speaker, you can choose to have it run Alexa or Google Assistant, and it supports AirPlay 2. That means that while it can’t run Siri itself, you can still connect to it wirelessly from your Apple devices. So what are the downsides? Well, the main one is that the Sonos One is a little expensive. But if you can afford it, it’s worth the cash. Pros:Great designExcellent audio qualityVersatile smart features Cons:Expensive Best Smart Speaker With Alexa
The Globe s Best Alexa Speaker
Amazon Amazon Echo 4th Gen
Buy From Amazon Best for: Amazon’s ecosystem. If you’re firmly in Amazon’s ecosystem and don’t plan on leaving any time soon, then the Amazon Echo is still the way to go. This isn’t the Echo that Amazon released in 2014, mind you—it’s the fourth-generation Echo. Yeah, Amazon has been working on its speaker for a long while. The Echo only works with Alexa, but for those who want an Amazon-based speaker, that’s not a bad thing. Alexa is easily one of the better digital assistants out there, and can play music from your preferred streaming service and control your Alexa-connected smart home devices. While the Echo doesn’t sound quite as great as the Sonos One, it still offers an excellent audio quality. Much of that is thanks to the globe-shaped design, which allows it to fit larger speakers with deeper bass. Best of all, you get all that at a relatively low price—normally it’s a still-reasonable $100, but it’s routinely discounted even further. Pros:InexpensiveAlexa is smartGood bass Cons:High frequencies aren’t great Best Smart Speaker With Google
The Best Digital Assistant Meets Great-Sounding Audio
Best Buy Google Nest Audio
Buy From Best Buy Best for: Google’s ecosystem. Do you have an Android phone and Google-compatible devices? Google offers an excellent ecosystem of products, and the Google Nest Audio is a perfect example of that. One of the best things about the Google Nest Audio is the fact that it comes with Google Assistant, which is considered by many to be the best digital assistant out there. Google Assistant is excellent at recognizing your voice, responding to prompts and works with a huge range of apps and services. That list includes a ton of smart home products, such as the perfectly paired Nest Learning Thermostat. The device isn’t just smart—it sounds pretty great too. The Google Nest Audio offers plenty of bass despite the small size. And while the detail and clarity in the high-end isn’t quite as impressive as the Sonos One, it gets about as close as you can get in this price range. Speaking of price, the Google Nest Audio costs $100, which is an excellent price for a speaker of this quality. And it’s all in a housing that looks great and comes in some nice understated color options. Pros:Great design and fun colorsCheap priceGoogle Assistant is great Cons:Audio is good but not as great as some others Best Smart Speaker With Siri
The Only Smart Speaker With Siri
Apple Apple HomePod Mini
Buy From Apple Best for: Apple users looking for a homebound Siri hub. Apple plays things famously close to the chest, and the result is that if you want a smart speaker with Siri this is really the only option out there. Even if there were other options, however, this might still be the way to go as the HomePod Mini has a lot to offer. Let’s start with the design. Like some of the other options on this list, it’s globe-shaped, but it’s smaller than most of the others and offers a display on the top to signal when Siri has been activated. Not only that, but for such a small device it also gets super loud and offers a whole lot more bass response than you would expect. Generally, the HomePod Mini has a well-tuned, clear sound quality. It can even be used with an Apple TV for your TV speakers. While Siri isn’t the smartest device out there, it’s still smart enough for most situations. You can use Siri to control all your HomeKit devices, play music and find out information from the web. It seems to get better over time too, and we expect that to continue. Pros:Well-designedGood audio qualityNot too expensive Cons:Siri isn’t the smartest Best Smart Soundbar
A Smart Speaker In A Soundbar s Body
Amazon Sonos Beam Gen 2
Buy From Amazon Best for: Smart living room audio. If you want a smart speaker in your living room but don’t want to also have to buy a soundbar for your home theater, then the Sonos Beam is worth taking a look at. This speaker works as a soundbar, but has all the smart features that you get in the Sonos One. In other words, you can connect the Sonos Beam to your TV and use it as your home theater system the majority of the time, and when it’s not playing audio from your TV, it works just like any other smart speaker. That’s to say, you can use your voice to talk to your preferred digital assistant and play music from your other devices. Like the Sonos One, the Sonos Beam works with Alexa and Google Assistant, plus it supports AirPlay 2 to stream content from your Apple devices. The soundbar sounds excellent too. The Sonos Beam is compatible with Sonos subwoofers along with industry audio standards like Dolby Atmos, making for an immersive experience. It’s more expensive than the other options on this list, but it’s relatively inexpensive compared to buying a smart speaker and soundbar separately. Or, if you want an even better-sounding soundbar, you can go for the bigger Sonos Arc, which supports many of the same smart services. Pros:Great designWorks with Alexa, Google Assistant and AirPlay 2Excellent audio quality Cons:Expensive What To Look For when Choosing A Smart Speaker
If you’re in the market for a smart speaker, there are a number of things that you should consider, but it mostly boils down to which smartphone platforms you prefer. Here are the most important things to keep in mind as you shop around. Ecosystem
The single most important thing to consider when buying a smart speaker is the digital ecosystem that you use devices and services in. Right now, there are three main ecosystems: Google, which includes Google Assistant and Android; Amazon, which offers Alexa and Fire devices; and Apple, which offers Siri, the iPhone and other devices. If you own devices in those ecosystems, it probably makes sense to stick within them, as there will be less of a learning curve and more compatibility with your existing digital life. Design
A smart speaker will likely live in your living room or another visible area of your home, and as such, you’ll want it to look good. Smart speaker manufacturers are putting more effort into the design of their speakers of late, and many of them offer a range of colors, approachable build materials and more. Design is ultimately subjective, so you’ll have to decide for yourself if a speaker fits your style and home décor. Audio quality
The main purpose of a speaker is to... play audio. Thankfully, most modern smart speakers offer at least a passable audio quality. It’s important to remember that bigger speakers usually offer more bass, just by way of being able to produce lower frequencies. But even the smaller modern smart speakers are perfectly good enough for interacting with your digital assistant and casual listening. Smart features
It’s in the name, “smart” speaker. Smart features are core to the smart speaker experience. We’ve already gone over the ecosystem, but within those ecosystems are Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri, the three main digital assistants. Generally, most consider Google Assistant to be the smartest, Alexa to be slightly less smart, and Siri to be a ways behind those two. Other smart features include the ability to use the speaker with your TV, stream audio from your other devices and more. Price
Price is an important consideration too. Most average smart speakers these days come at around $100, though premium options often cost a little more than that. What is a smart speaker used for
All kinds of things. You can listen to music using a smart speaker, of course, but they can also be used to search information from the web, control smart home devices like smart light bulbs, and stream audio from your phone, tablet and computer. Which smart speaker has the best sound quality
The best-sounding “traditional” smart speaker is the Sonos One, though there are some better-sounding smart speakers that double as soundbars, like the Sonos Beam or Sonos Arc. Are there smart speakers with Siri
Yes, but not many. Apple keeps things pretty locked down, so currently the only smart speaker you can get with Siri is the Apple HomePod Mini. It’s possible that eventually more smart speakers will offer Siri support, but that remains to be seen. Follow me on Twitter. Christian de Looper Editorial StandardsPrintReprints & Permissions