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The best smart speakers you will find in 2021 are gadgets you will live to cherish for a long time. Smart speakers have become super essential in the way they help to control home devices, watch TV, and play music.
Many of the best smart speakers on our list also double as smart voice assistants. You shouldn’t be surprised that these are also some of the best smart voice assistants in the market. They don’t only help to answer important questions in real-time, they also help you execute small yet tedious commands.
Smart speakers including Google Home, Amazon Echo, and Apple HomePod have their own AI virtual assistants which are the best in their class for reading the news, telling you the weather, controlling smart devices, amongst others.
Although we have highlighted how smart speakers can help connect all the devices in your home, living in a smart home isn’t a prerequisite for using a smart speaker. Thanks to the likes of Google Assistant, Alexa, and Siri,smart speakers can work without you placing your fingers on a knob. That alone is a time saver. With smart speakers, you can play any song of your choice without moving close to the speaker.
In this smart speaker comparison, we take a look at the best smart speakers that are must-have for home and entertainment (music, movies, etc) purposes. Our list includes some speakers that can double as soundbars for your smart TV.
1. Sonos One
The Sonos One remains one of the most popular smart speakers in the market. It has a super clean design, and produces great sound the owner will always be proud of. Sonos One combines many of the good features of Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa in one.
This smart speaker’s sound is almost unrivaled by any other. The AirPlay 2 is a great feature that is capable of talking to Apple Siri. It can also create a multi-room connection with Apple HomePod.
For those who would prefer a much smaller Sonos smart speaker, we recommend the Sonos Roam and the Sonos Move. These are the best portable smart speakers if you prefer a smaller version of the Sonos One. All the same, Sonos One is easily the best sounding smart speaker on our list.
2. Amazon Echo
Thanks to Alexa, Amazon Echo remains one of the best smart speakers for quality music and home entertainment. The Echo comprises cutting-edge technology such as the AZ1 neural edge processor which seriously reduces Alexa’s response time.
With Amazon Echo, you can make calls within your country of residence, control the smart devices in your home, and get answers to basic questions like weather updates and games reports.
The Echo has excellent sound, but its maximum volume is lower than that which you will find with most of its rivals like Apple HomePod and Google Home Max.
3. Apple HomePod
The HomePod may not be our top recommended smart speaker, but you should remember this is a gadget made by Apple. It has all the stamps and blessings of Apple and is the best smart speaker for iPhone and iPad users.
Generally, if you already use any Apple products, you won’t go wrong with the HomePod. Like other Apple products, it is made to fit seamlessly within the Apple ecosystem.
This product blends easily as a smart home hub and a premium smart speaker. It has a rich, incredible sound. And the intuitive setup is hard to beat. Among the best smart speakers, we highly Apple HomePod for music and music apps like Spotify because of how it blends so well with a smartphone.
4. Apple HomePod Mini
Like its bigger cousin, the Apple HomePod Mini is built for the Apple ecosystem, and remains one of the best smart speakers for music streaming. It is even better if you already have an Apple Music Subscription as this would be the speaker to buy.
Since it is under 100 dollars, the HomePod Mini is an inexpensive access to 21st-century voice control and sound entertainment.
This portable smart speaker has the best-in-class design and sound, bringing it further up our list of recommended smart speakers for home and entertainment.
5. Amazon Echo Studio
The Amazon Echo Studio represents Amazon’s first-ever entry into the best smart speaker for home entertainment category. It was specially made for the cinema experience at home.
If you can purchase two of these, you will undoubtedly have, in your house, the best smart soundbars for your smart TV. You do not need to spend extra for a soundbar which may not even be as good as the Echo Studio.
This product offers you an immersive cinema system at home. If you want to up the game, you should consider subscribing to Amazon Music HD. With or without the subscription, however, the Echo Studio is a game changer for your home and entertainment needs.
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6. Google Nest Audio
The Google Nest Audio is a powerful smart speaker thanks to its integration with YouTube and Google Assistant. The Nest Audio gives you the freedom to delve into YouTube and play any song of your choice.
This is a cutting-edge smart home hub that already works with some of the biggest platforms including Philips and Samsung. It also surprisingly doubles as a smart DJ tool that can entertain you at home.
This Google product isn’t as great in terms of its sound quality when compared to other rivals like the Apple HomePod and Amazon Echo. However, it has a simple yet stunning design, and picks voices quite easily.
7. Google Nest Hub Max
The Nest Hub Max is a completely different smart speaker than its cousin above, the Nest Audio. This gadget comes with a 6.5-megapixel front camera, giving it a sleek and unique design among the smart speakers on our list.
It might look like another iPad or tablet wannabe. But, this isn’t your tablet in any way. The sound that oozes from this speaker is far better than what you’d get on an iPad. Its 1280 x 800 7 inch screen resolution gives you a screen to monitor the workings of the Nest Hub Max.
While it doesn’t have Netflix support which might be a turnoff for many, the Nest Hub Max offers great value for money as it can be used as a security device to monitor movements around the house.
8. Bose Home Speaker 500
If you have been on the lookout for the best sound speakers for a long time, the Bose Home Speaker 500 is the smart speaker you should purchase. This is easily one of the best Google Assistant speakers you will find anywhere. It also combines with Alexa to deliver a stunning sound experience like none in its category.
The design is a sleek anodized aluminum, spotting an 8 microphone array. It doesn’t matter your proximity to the Bose Home Speaker, it will deliver all the time as it is particularly built for near and far-field listening.
9. Amazon Echo Show
One of the reasons we regard the Amazon Echo Show as one of the best smart speakers for home is because of its rotating screen. This screen is able to follow your movement around the room. It is always within your gaze irrespective of what you do.
The Echo Show 10 has a rounded aesthetic, strongly different from the angular shape of the previous versions of the Echo. Like the Nest Hub Max, it comes with a 1280 x 800 touchscreen that is super optimized for voice control via Alexa.
It supports Netflix, although some third-party streaming apps are unavailable on the Echo Show.
10. Amazon Echo Dot
Amazon Echo Dot is an entry-level smart speaker, and is primarily designed for newcomers who aren’t sure what the smart home gadget category seems like. At $50, it is also an inexpensive way to gain access to the world of smart speakers, albeit one that offers great value for money.
The Echo Dot isn’t the loudest smart speaker you will find on our list or anywhere at all. However, at its own price point, it is loud and has enough quality to fill a room.
Thanks to Amazon Alexa, Echo Dot lives up to its expectations. It has a quick response time, and its range of intelligence is quite vast. In essence, this is a cheap entry-level smart speaker made by tech giant Amazon. You won’t go wrong purchasing one.
11. Google Nest Mini
Having seen improvements in its recent version, the Nest Mini takes a spot on our list. It offers quality audio and the smartness of Google Assistant.
This is an alternative to the Amazon Echo Dot, an entry-level smart speaker that can do exactly what you want, when you want it. If you want better audio quality, you should focus on the Sonos and its likes. However, the Nest Mini and others in its class are unbelievably affordable smart speakers.
Conclusion
At this point, you should have gotten some ideas about the best smart speakers and gadgets to purchase for your home. The products mentioned in this list are guaranteed to boost your home’s entertainment ambiance and environment. The best point is that these products aren’t expensive and pack a punch when it comes to providing you with a high-quality entertainment experience.
