10 best smart speakers for immersive sound and virtual assistance
Smart speakers mean you can stream music from Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, Amazon Music and other services. You need only to invoke the speaker’s virtual personal assistant.
As well as playing music, smart speakers can also answer questions, tell jokes, pass on messages, and turn compatible lights on and off, for instance. Some are better at these elements than playing music anywhere near hi-fi quality, but others go big on the audio.
In this testing, audio quality has been put to the fore. After all, the personal assistant bit of the equation is being improved all the time through increasingly smart software. But the woofers and tweeters in the speaker are set, so you need them to be the best they can be from the off.
We also checked how good the speakers were at answering questions. Could you only ask a question one way? Could it handle follow-up questions? Was it able to compare two people, for instance, to know whether Donald Trump is taller than Boris Johnson? He is 5.5 inches taller, Alexa says. We also tested how well the speaker could hear us asking it a question when music was playing at the same time.
Most, though not all, are mains-powered: the speakers are constantly listening to hear their wake words and batteries would deplete quickly.
Similarly, most have a dedicated button to quell the microphone so you needn’t have any worries about being listened to when you don’t want to. Some smart speakers have screens and cameras, in which case a microphone and camera cut-off system is included.
You can trust our independent reviews. We may earn commission from some of the retailers, but we never allow this to influence selections, which are formed from real-world testing and expert advice. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
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Amazon echo studio
Virtual assistant: Alexa
Wifi? Yes
Bluetooth? Yes
Dimensions: 206 x 175 x 175mm
Battery or mains? Mains
The echo studio is extremely versatile, playing music formats such as Sony 360 Reality Audio (designed to make the music sound like it's coming from many different directions), which most other speakers don’t. For this 3D music standard you need a particular subscription, like Amazon Music HD, for instance.
The multiple speakers fire in different directions including two mid-rangers pointing upwards and a woofer which points downwards and vibrates visibly when there’s bass to be heard. The resulting experience is immersive and deeply impressive. Though larger than some of the speakers here, it’s still a surprise that so much sound comes from one small cylinder.
You can also connect the echo studio to an Amazon TV streaming device such as the fire TV stick 4K to create a home cinema system. This speaker comes closest to beating Apple’s homepod for audio quality and is more versatile in terms of answering questions, playing radio and controlling smart home gadgets for instance. Add this to the much lower price, and the echo studio glides into being our best buy.
Buy now £189.99, Amazon
Apple homepod
Virtual assistant: Siri
Wifi? Yes
Bluetooth? Yes
Dimensions: 172 x 142 x 142mm
Battery or mains? Mains
For sheer music quality, the cylindrical Apple homepod remained top dog for more than two years after it debuted, though the Amazon echo studio comes within a whisker of beating it. There are multiple speakers inside so no matter where you place it, it sounds good.
It’s aimed at Apple users, so you’ll need an iPhone, Mac or iPad, for instance. It works best with Apple Music, too. When you first turn it on, setup is intuitive and quick, and the first music it plays is as much for its own benefit as yours: it’s tuning the speaker to your individual room.
The sound is spectacular: clean, clear and faithful to what you’re playing. You can pair two homepods together, which sounds even better and is properly impressive. Its virtual assistant chops aren’t as advanced as Amazon’s but many of the shortcomings that dogged its first appearance have now been fixed, so you can set multiple alarms, play radio stations and so on.
It doesn’t have a hardware button to turn off the microphone, so you say, “Hey, Siri, stop listening,” and it will. You turn it back on using the settings in the appropriate app (after all, if it’s stopped listening, how can it hear you tell it to start again?). Choose from black and white finishes.
Buy now £279.00, Apple
Sonos move
Virtual assistant: Google Assistant, AlexaWifi? YesBluetooth? YesDimensions: 240 x 160 x 126mmBattery or mains? Both
Until now, Sonos has refused to put Bluetooth in its speakers, saying that wifi is better. This speaker is portable (only just, it weighs over 3kg) and has a handy dent with which to pick it up.
In part because it’s so hefty, the audio it makes is superbly powerful with a wide stereo soundstage and strong vocals. Unsurprisingly, there’s room for decent bass as well.
Sonos uses wifi where it can: its mesh networking system means it only needs to connect to any other Sonos speaker you might have, not your router. If it can’t, when you’re listening to music at the bottom of the garden, for instance, then it connects to the music via Bluetooth.
While some Sonos speakers have a brilliant system called “trueplay” which quickly tunes the audio to your room, here it’s done automatically. Solid and great-sounding.
Buy now £399.00, Sonos
Sonos one
Virtual Assistant: Alexa, Google Assistant
Wifi? Yes
Bluetooth? No
Dimensions: 161 x 120 x 120mm
Battery or mains? Mains
This is Sonos' smallest speaker. Like all of the brand's products, you can add to the system as you go. For instance, this is a mono speaker but sounds good.
When you’re ready to buy a second you can pair two together: as a stereo pair the audio is as good as the Apple homepod. The benefit of two separate speakers is you can get the best stereo separation because you can place them wherever you want. The microphone on the Sonos speakers doesn’t do quite as good a job of hearing you over music as Apple's device.
Buy now £199.00, Sonos
Nest hub
Virtual assistant: Google Assistant
Wifi? Yes
Bluetooth? Yes
Dimensions: 118 x 178.5 x 67mm
âBattery or mains? Mains
Google, owner of Nest, has a series of smart speakers which integrate perfectly with other Nest products. So, if someone rings your Nest Hello smart doorbell, the person at the door will appear on your Nest Hub’s 7-inch touchscreen.
The audio is not great compared to others here, so you’ll want this more for the smart bit of the equation. Unlike Amazon’s speakers with screens, there’s no camera on this one, so no video calling is possible, but you may feel more comfortable using it as a bedroom alarm clock.
The display means that when you say, “Hey, Google, what’s the weather like?” it can show as well as tell. Photos make the Nest hub look big but in fact it’s quite dinky (which doesn’t help the audio either). Still, it’s big enough to make photos look good and it’s easy enough if you’re reading a recipe from the screen, for instance.
Buy now £119.00, Google
Amazon echo show
Virtual assistant: AlexaWifi? YesBluetooth? YesDimensions: 86 x 148 x 73mmâBattery or mains? Mains
Of all Amazon’s echo devices with screens (there are two other echo show models with 8in and 10in displays respectively, plus the baseball-sized echo spot with a tiny screen), this one is the best balance of size and capability. Unlike the Nest hub model above, this has a front-facing camera making it great for video calls.
It is also superbly sized for use as a bedroom alarm clock and Amazon has installed a physical switch that slides a cover in front of the lens for absolute certainty of privacy. Like the Nest hub, the screen is useful for visual indications of everything from the weather to sports results. It looks good and works well for video calls (when you slide the lens cover open again).
Buy now £79.99, Amazon
Google home max
Virtual Assistant: Google Assistant
Wifi? Yes
Bluetooth? Yes
Dimensions: 336.6 mm x 190.0 mm x 154.4 mm
âBattery or mains? Mains
This is a big, beefy speaker that has a lot of power so that even with the volume turned up high, there’s no audible distortion. The Apple homepod has more detail and precision in its sound, but this is great for room-filling audio, beating even the Amazon echo studio for sounding great in big rooms.
It means it’s ideal for a party, say, not least because there’s a big emphasis on bass. It comes with a rubber pad so that it doesn’t vibrate the surfaces it stands on. The downside to the power of the speaker is that it doesn’t always hear you say “Hey, Google,” as reliably as some here.
Buy now £299.00, Google
Audio Pro addon C5A
Virtual Assistant: Alexa
Wifi? Yes
Bluetooth? Yes
Dimensions: 130 x 250 x 150mm
âBattery or mains? Mains
This is one of those gadgets with a face, and a very jolly one at that. Perhaps it’s just enjoying the sound it’s making, which is certainly enough to make you smile. Audio is strong and detailed, and the bass is particularly strong.
Twin microphones ensure you can be heard when you want to command the speaker to change tracks, for instance, though there are physical control buttons on the speaker as well. The microphones work well even when the music is playing at high volumes. With really excellent sound for a speaker this size, the addon C5A is easy to recommend.
Buy now £260.00, Audio Pro
Bose portable home speaker
Virtual assistant Alexa, Google AssistantWifi? YesBluetooth? YesDimensions: 192 x 119 x 104mmBattery or mains? Battery (rechargeable)
This portable speaker is water-resistant, so it can work poolside and in the bathroom as happily as elsewhere. The portable element is central here – it’s way lighter than the Sonos move and easy to carry thanks to the handle on top. Since the audio is sent in every direction, you can put it anywhere. It’s also smart enough to have both Google Assistant and Alexa built in. The design and build quality are excellent and it looks great. There is some splash-resistance, though it’s best kept away from water. The audio is warm and rich with detailed and balanced sound.
Read the full Bose portable home speaker review
Buy now £329.95, Bose
Amazon echo dot
Virtual assistant: Alexa
Wifi? Yes
Bluetooth? Yes
Dimensions: 43 x 99 x 99mm
Battery or mains? Mains
This is one of the cheapest and smallest smart speakers on the market. It can do all the Alexa-related stuff of the most advanced speakers such as answering questions, turning smart home gadgets on or off, and so on. However, the audio quality is pretty basic. Radio, podcasts and audio books all sound good, with clear vocals. Echo devices can make audio calls to one another and these work well, too. If you want to make music sound good, you’ll need to connect it to regular speakers. There are now two models of the echo dot. They look identical but for the fact that the model billed as echo dot with clock has a clear digital read-out of the time, temperature or any timer you might have running. The light sensor dims automatically according to the ambient light, so it also makes a great alarm clock. That version costs £10 more.
Buy now £49.99, Amazon
The verdict: Smart speakers
In the last couple of years, smart speakers have gotten smarter and managed to sound better. Even so, for sheer audio quality, the Apple homepod still stands out.
The Amazon echo studio is very nearly as good, though, and a lot cheaper, making it the best buy. For something really different, the Sonos move offers great sound and adds portability, too.
For more on speakers, read our 11 best Bluetooth speakers for every budget or enjoy more freedom while out and about with one of the best wireless earbuds.
