Ever watched 2001: A Space Odyssey and thought to yourself, “Do you know what? Hal 9000 wasn’t so bad, I think I could do with an AI assistant myself”? Well, modern smart speakers aren’t quite so murderous, but they do help you to manage various aspects of your life just by talking to them.
Tech has progressed to such an extent that you can just have a natter with your smart speaker to adjust your Spotify playlists and make sure nothing embarrassing crops up during a BBQ. A voice assistant can do everything from book taxis while you’re getting ready, to checking up on your calendar ahead of the weekend. All you’ve got to do is speak to your digital genie and your demands are met.
But which one should you go for? The market is full of high-end sound systems that can talk to your smartphone, control your home temperature, and tell you cheesy knock-knock jokes, and it can be a tricky choice to decide between Bose, Apple and Amazon. So we decided to help out by laying down all the facts and deciding which smart speaker is best. Oh, and we also included a couple of portable smart speakers in there too, in case you’re hoping to take it with you on your travels.
How we test
To put the speakers below to the test, we put on a playlist full of slow, melodious bass (Bonobo, Alt-J), rap (Trippie Red and Travis Scott), and treble-led rock (Kings of Leon and RHCP) testing out the range and volume. We also hooked them up to our smart devices to see how well they respond to our requests.
Some of the more portable ones we charged up and took out to the park, and even took on up England’s tallest peak just to see how well it performed.
Which Voice Assistant Is Best: Alexa vs Siri vs Google
There are three main assistants you’ll see: Siri, Google, and Alexa. Siri is for the Apple lovers as you’ll only find it on iPhones, iPads, AirPods, and Apple Watches. It’s good for connecting to your other devices as an extension to your iPhone, letting you make calls and texts, stream from your Apple Music, and link up to your calendar.
Google is great if you ask a lot of those head-scratching questions when you’re with your mates. “Hey Google, who got the golden boot trophy at Euro 96?” “Hey Google, what’s the difference between a pale ale and a lager?” These devices have direct access to the biggest search engine and so are a little smarter. Google assist is also able to have free-flowing conversations with you.
For example you can say, “Hey Google, what’s in a White Russian?” It will then run off the ingredients, and if you find your kitchen is missing some of the key ones, you can add it to your shopping list without having to say “Hey Google” again.
Alexa is Amazon’s voice assistant, and it has the most connectivity options with other smart devices. Philips Hue lights and plugs are compatible with Alexa so you can turn them on with a barked order. It’s also the most prevalent of the three, and is available on many of the non-Amazon devices below.
Key Specs To Consider
Before you go out and buy any old speaker, there are a few major specs you need to pay attention to.
Music services: Some streaming services won’t be available from all smart speakers. For example, Apple wants you to use its own platform, so you’ll be limited to using Apple Music and YouTube Music (though you can play Spotify tracks through AirPlay, which wirelessly casts music to your speaker). Google and Alexa will both play anything from Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music.
Other connections: Or you can opt to physically connect your speaker to your smartphone or tablet using a cable. Many models come with a 3.5mm plug so you can connect other speakers or devices.
Tweeters and woofers: No, we haven’t gone mad and turned into an anthropomorphic dog, we’re talking about what makes up a speaker. A tweeter focusses on reproducing high-frequency sound and will give you that crisp audio through vocals and treble-led songs.
Woofers and subwoofers deal with bass, vibrating through the bottom of a speaker for heavy-impact songs like R&B or rap. Most models you pick will have some combination of the two, with the better-sounding devices housing more variations.
Battery life: Smart speakers aren’t often that mobile, and will require you to plug them into a mains socket. However, some can be taken out into the world with the power of batteries, so you can jam out in the garden, down by the beach, or just in the park with a few bevvies. These are smaller devices that don’t weigh that much. The three battery-powered models on this list can last between eight and 18 hours.
These ones may often be waterproof to some degree too, so they can survive a splash of rain or even a dunk in the pool in some cases.
Dimensions and weight: Following on from that, you’ll want a device that’s small and light enough if you want to carry it with you on your escapades. The mains-powered models will be heavier, weighing as much as 3kg and roughly the size of a kettle. Portable options can be as light as half a kilo and can be as small as a hockey puck or a cricket ball in some cases.
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