The best smart speaker is one of the most versatile gadgets you can own. As you’d expect, it enables you to listen to your favorite music from an array of different streaming services, but it also boasts a voice assistant that can free up your hands. The best smart speakers let you use your voice to control music, set timers, and even serve up the latest news headlines or sports scores for you.
The best smart speakers offer access to either Alexa, Google Assistant, or Siri. Smart speakers manufactured by the brand behind the relevant voice assistant will only come with their own virtual helper installed. However, smart speakers from third-party names such as Bose or Sonos ensure there’s a choice as to which voice assistant you can use.
Smart speakers can prove an affordable way to control your smart home devices without reaching for your smartphone too. Using just one command, you can ensure your smart lights illuminate to the right brightness for the time of day, or lamps connected to a smart plug or switch turn on to create a cozy ambiance.
The best smart speaker can even double as a chime for the best video doorbells or home security cameras, playing a tone to alert you that motion has been detected or the doorbell has been pressed. Some even allow you to converse with anyone in the camera’s field of view too. Although, unlike the best smart displays, they don’t allow you to view a live feed from the camera.
The plethora of ways you can put a smart speaker to use doesn't stop there. They can also act as an intercom in your home - great for telling the kids dinner is ready - as well as letting you stay in touch with friends and family by letting you make audio calls without needing your smartphone close by.
There are both mains-powered and portable options, which feature a rechargeable battery when it comes to smart speakers on the market. However, with portable smart speakers, you will need a mobile data connection, such as from your smartphone, for the voice assistant to work if there’s no Wi-Fi connection close by.
There’s a wide array of smart speakers to choose from, which may leave you feeling overwhelmed. So we’ve put a range of designs to the test, assessing the audio quality, style, and voice-assistant smarts to discover just which is the best smart speaker you can buy in 2022.
The best smart speaker 2022
How we test smart speakers
To discover the best smart speakers on the market, we assess the the sound quality of the speaker and how effective the built-in voice assistant is at controlling playback for you; from selecting specific playlists, albums and tracks to adjusting the volume, skipping tracks and even the number of streaming service its compatible with.
We also evaluate each model on its ability to pick up your voice when issuing commands to the voice assistant, privacy features that help ensure the smart speaker isn’t constantly watching and listening, and the smart home devices it's compatible with, as well as how compact and durable the design is.
Best smart speaker FAQs
What to consider when choosing a smart speaker?
When it comes to choosing the right smart speaker for you, there are a number of factors to consider.
Start by working out which voice assistant you want your smart speaker to offer access to. If you already use a voice assistant on your smartphone or tablet, or have existing smart speakers or smart displays in your home, it makes sense to plump for a smart speaker that has the same assistant baked in. However, if you’ve yet to settle on the voice assistant for you, Alexa vs Google Assistant can help you decide.
Next, consider where you intend to locate the smart speaker; smaller, more compact smart speakers are best suited to bedrooms and kitchens, for setting timers when cooking, while larger smart speakers work in rooms with bigger footprints such as a lounge or dinning room.
If you intend to use the smart speaker as your main listening device, make sure you consider the number of speakers, and the sound output and quality they offer. Those with smaller speakers are best suited to background music, while larger smart speakers will offer a louder, more room-filling sound. Also look for models that can be paired together to create stereo sound if you’re planning to use a smart speaker as part of your home cinema set-up.
If you have an iPhone or an iPad, it might also be worth checking out the best AirPlay speakers, which allow you to stream music from your devices to your speaker. Many of these also come with your favorite smart assistant on-board.
What is a smart speaker used for?
As we’ve already mentioned, a smart speaker can do more than just offer a way to listen to your favorite music streaming service, or the albums and tracks stored on your smartphone. The built-in voice assistant can control the playback of your music for you; adjusting the volume, skipping tracks and even selecting a specific song, album or playlist for you, leaving your hands-free.
It can also provide a weather report, offer an audible summary of the day's headlines, and answer your burning questions; whether that’s ‘what is the tallest mountain in the world’ or simply ‘who is the Queen of England’.
Smart Speakers can even be used for light entertainment in the form of jokes and games and also allow you to stay in touch with friends and family by making audio calls through the device.
If that wasn’t enough, a smart speaker can also control compatible smart home devices; for example it can dim or brighten any smart lights you have in your home, turn the temperature up or down if you have a smart thermostat and let you converse with anyone at your doorstep by connecting to your video doorbell.
Which voice assistant is best?
On the whole that's subjective. Some people have always liked Apple products the best and stay loyal to Siri. Others really like Alexa after snapping up an Echo as soon as the smart speaker was first launched.
The general consensus seems to be that Google Assistant is, largely, the most accurate voice assistant. If you've got a lot of Apple products, of course Siri is the best and for overall compatibility, you're best opting for Alexa. But they're not hard and fast rules.
Is Alexa better than Google?
For starters, the choice might depend on which speaker you like the look of the most. Sure Amazon's Echo range is very similar to the Google Home, but the Show, Spot, and Dot look quite different – check out our guide to the best Alexa speakers for more information.
When it comes to the smart assistants within the speakers, they're both extremely capable. Amazon's Alexa has many, many Skills, which set it apart from the rest. But Google has been a leader in the AI game for a long time now, well before the smart speaker market emerged. It's a lot harder to change Alexa's voice, too.
- Check out the latest Amazon Echo deals
