There are many smart speakers on the market, and picking the best keeps getting tougher. First, you need to decide which voice assistant you prefer. There are three worth using—Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple’s Siri—and each has its pros and cons. If you’re new, right now we prefer Google- and Amazon-powered models, as they are the most widely user-friendly.
Second, you need to figure out which speaker has the features you want. Is music quality your top concern? Do you want a touchscreen, or is voice assistance alone enough? Does your speaker need to connect to other smart home gadgets? That’s where finding the best option gets trickier. Don’t fear, you’ll find what you’re looking for here! We’ve tested dozens and dozens of smart speakers in the past few years to figure out what’s the best right now (and what’s not).
Check out our Best Alexa Speakers, Best Google Speakers, and Best Smart Displays guides for more recommendations.
Updated August 2024: We’ve added the JBL Authentics 200 as a new pick for dual smart home control, the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) as our smart soundbar pick, and the Google Nest Mini as our mini speaker pick.
- Best Overall Smart Speaker
- Best Alexa Speaker
- Best Google Assistant Speaker
- Best Smart Soundbar
- Best Google Assistant Smart Display
- Best Alexa Smart Display
- Best Mini Speaker
- Best Portable Speaker
- Best Dolby Atmos Speaker
- Best Dual Smart Speaker
- Honorable Mentions
- What About Siri?
- Why Still We Prefer Google Assistant Speakers
- Will It Become a Brick?
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Best Overall
We’ve been big fans of Sonos’ compact smart speakers for three generations now, with its previous Sonos One topping this list for years. With the newest Era 100 (9/10, WIRED Recommends), Sonos expands the best smart speaker to stereo and ups the bass, with new tweeters and a 25 percent larger woofer that do an even better job of filling your room with sound.
Built-in room tuning is especially awesome in this generation, with the ability to bounce a quick frequency scan around your room to help it automatically EQ itself for its exact placement. It’s not a gimmick: Bass sounds tighter, and highs shimmer even more. The new smart speaker also comes with a few physical improvements, including a large volume slider on top, and it has a switch that lets you easily mute the mics if you don’t want any voice assistant action. As before, it supports Alexa and Apple AirPlay 2 for easy integration with any smart home ecosystem.
If you’re used to asking Google Assistant to control your Sonos speakers, you’re out of luck with the two new Era models (this one and the 300, mentioned below)—they don’t support it.