Best smart speakers in 2024

Every year, the smart speaker market follows the general smart tech trend, delivering a newer and smarter range of impressive features and products.

So, when it comes to deciding on the best smart speaker for you, it helps to not only think about the sound quality, but its smart capabilities. And perhaps the most important smart feature to consider before buying is which voice assistant you want. For example, would you rather use Amazon’s Alexa, or do most of your other smart products use Google Assistant? Perhaps you’re an Apple loyalist and want to stick to Siri. If you already own a smart speaker, it’ll make sense to stick to the same system.

Aside from the voice assistant, you may also want to consider which speaker is most compatible with your other smart home tech like smart lights or security cameras, ensuring that everything works seamlessly together.

Additionally, you might want a speaker that will be powerful enough for a party, or you might be looking for something more modest for a bedroom. Some speakers have a clock face, others have a temperature sensor, and you can even buy a smart speaker to extend your mesh Wi-Fi network.

Whatever you’re looking for, Pocket-lint’s team has been reviewing and researching the best smart speakers on the market right now.

Best smart speakers: Our top picks

Best smart speaker overall: Which one should you get?

As things stand, the Sonos Era 100 is our favorite smart speaker. While the $200 is a hefty tag note that the sound is impressive, the speaker totes a stylish design, and packs in Alexa smarts. Additionally, the Sonos Era 100 promises multiroom functionality, Bluetooth capabilities, capacitive controls, and line-in functionality.

However, not everyone wants or needs something so pricey. In this case, there are some great budget offerings available right now, such as the Amazon Echo Dot (5th Generation) which, at only $40, costs a fraction of the price. While the sound quality can’t compare to the top dogs on the list, it still comes with a whole host of nifty smarts.

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FAQ

Q: What can smart speakers do?

Smart speakers are extremely versatile. Most commonly, however, users can benefit from using the speaker’s virtual assistant as a verbal search engine for both basic and complex queries, along with controlling other smart devices. And while these speakers range massively in price, you get roughly the same smart assistant experience whether you spend big or small.

Of course, they’re also a great way to enjoy your music and podcasts. Whether this is through streaming or casting, most now offer support for the major platforms — Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music Unlimited, and Audible, to name a few.

Q: Are smart speakers safe?

All smart speakers feature microphones, and, though they generally have a switch or button to turn them off, this does also slightly defeat the point of having one. Pocket-lint has spoken to Amazon about its privacy measures, but, as a general point, we’d say the always-listening concerns people rightly hold against smart speakers is something that’s improving all the time.

For the most part, the microphones only work once the wake word is uttered, and companies have done a lot of work to reduce the amount of false-positive recordings – we’re certainly moving towards a time when your voice data and privacy can be classed as very secure. For now, though, we’d still recommend checking out the official, up-to-date FAQs directly from Amazon, Google, and Apple if you have any concerns.

Q: What size smart speaker is best?

This all depends on how you use it. Perhaps your smart speaker will be used by your kids to ask who the President was in 1967 to help with their homework, in which case a small, simple, and cheap speaker may suffice. If you plan to use a music streaming service like Spotify or Apple Music, though, then you will want something with more audio oomph. This tends to be what separates the entry-level and the top-tier picks.

If you also want to pick up smart home devices, such as smart lights, don’t forget that they sometimes require a sold-separately hub. A smart speaker — providing it has a Thread radio, Zigbee chip, or another manner of communicative interoperability — can replace this, so it pays to know what you’ll need before you buy.

Q: Does smart speaker size affect sound quality?

You could choose a Hi-Fi speaker that needs a shelf to itself or a tiny one that can hide in the corner of the kitchen, bedroom, or living room. Some petite speakers have poor audio playback while others, like the recently-released Apple HomePod mini, produce a sound that’s way bigger than you would expect. While the most basic speakers can connect to Hi-Fi speakers to improve their sound, if music playback is important, you’re better off choosing one with bigger speakers built-in.