The Best Smart Speakers for 2024

The original Amazon Echo started the smart speaker trend and has only improved over time. The current iteration of the Echo is sphere-shaped rather than cylindrical. It features a built-in temperature sensor and a Zigbee smart home hub for compatible devices, and gets surprisingly loud for its size. It's effectively as powerful as the now-discontinued Amazon Echo Plus, which served as the scaled-up Echo speaker until the Echo Studio solidly assumed that role. That means strong bass in a fairly compact package.

We rate the Echo more highly than its Google Assistant counterpart, the Google Nest Audio, because of that stronger bass response and room-filling sound. The temperature sensor is a nice gimmick and the Zigbee hub can be helpful if you have older Zigbee smart home devices, but both Alexa and Google Assistant now have fairly extensive built-in support for home automations. It's the sound that puts the Echo over the top.

The Echo is the Goldilocks of Alexa smart speakers. It's loud enough to comfortably fill a medium-sized room, unlike the tiny Echo Dot, and it's half the price of the larger Echo Studio. It's a good anchor smart speaker, something to put in the living room to control lights and play music without taking up a lot of space or costing a lot of money.

This is the most powerful first-party Alexa speaker and the most technically impressive. The Echo Studio gets far louder than the Echo and has better treble response for crisp, clear sound as well as booming bass. That alone makes it a strong pick.

The biggest surprise in the Echo Studio, however, is Dolby Atmos support combined with directional audio. The speaker has five separate drivers that can generate a wide sound field with (if the geometry of the room is suitable for it) accurate imaging from left to right and even above. Amazon promotes the Echo Studio's ability to play 360-degree music via its Amazon Music HD subscription service, which is not included in Amazon Prime. The speaker also supports optical audio if you simply want to connect it to your TV and use it as your main TV speaker. You have to spend a few extra bucks for a 3.5mm-to-optical adapter, though.

If you want the best sound available from an Echo speaker, this is the one to get. It's loud, clear, and can offer precise imaging from its one-piece, mini-keg-shaped body. There are a few other Alexa-compatible speakers that sound even better, and one's on this list, but they're much pricier than the Echo Studio.

The Echo Pop Kids is, at its heart, an Echo Pop with some kid-friendly extras. It includes a colorful faceplate (with Disney Princesses or Marvel's Avengers), a protective silicone skin, a two-year warranty, and a six-month subscription to the Amazon Kids+ service. That's a lot for just $10 more than the regular Echo Pop, especially when you consider that Amazon Kids+ gives you access to kid-friendly audiobooks, ebooks, games, and video content on Amazon's various Echo and Fire devices, plus all smartphones and tablets.

This is the best smart speaker for little kids thanks to its protective skin. You can get a full year of Amazon Kids+ with the slightly more expensive Echo Dot Kids, but that speaker is less likely to hold up to being tossed around.

Apple's second-generation HomePod fixes most of what made the original HomePod a bit unappealing: It costs less and Siri is much more useful. Apple's largest smart speaker is three times as pricey as the Amazon Echo and the Google Nest Audio, but its Dolby Atmos sound quality and volume output make it far more enjoyable for movies and music. Excellent mic performance, Matter support, and sensors for temperature and humidity round out the package.

If you want a centerpiece Siri speaker with room-filling sound, this is the HomePod to get. Just know that you can get away with the less powerful HomePod mini if your main goal is to simply add Siri to a room.

This is, for all intents and purposes, Google's version of the Amazon Echo. It's $100, big-but-not-too-big, and lets you use Google Assistant hands-free without your phone. It surpasses the Echo in higher-frequency response but puts out weaker bass so it won't sound quite as nice at room-filling volume levels. Its chiclet shape is also a bit more plain and awkward than the friendly Echo sphere. The shape doesn't matter as much as the sound, though.

If you want to use Google Assistant instead of Amazon Alexa, and you want some good music performance as well as a helpful voice assistant, the Nest Audio is the best choice. It's another Goldilocks speaker, not too small or expensive, but versatile enough for wherever you want to put it.

Like the Echo Studio, the Sonos Era 300 offers Alexa voice control and supports Dolby Atmos spatial audio. But unlike the Echo Studio, the Era 300 seamlessly integrates into any Sonos multiroom system. It sounds excellent, too, especially if you pair it with a second speaker for more directional audio.

This is a centerpiece speaker for any home with other Sonos speakers. It produces loud, detailed sound even by itself and looks more stylish than most other models on this list.

The HomePod mini is Apple's smaller smart speaker option, costing a third as much as the HomePod. It still offers hands-free Siri voice control and solid, if not nearly as powerful, sound, along with Apple AirPlay 2 support. For our taste the Echo still sounds better among $100 smart speakers, though.

This is the small smart speaker for Apple users, and specifically for Apple users who turn to Siri instead of Alexa or Google Assistant for everything they need. If you have an iPhone and have been careful to make sure all of your smart home devices are HomeKit-compatible, this is ideal. You can also pair it with a second HomePod mini for stereo sound. Of course, if you aren't already on a first-name basis with Siri, you don't need to give it or the larger HomePod much thought.

Unlike most smart speakers, the Sonos Move 2 can be freely used anywhere in your home and in the great outdoors, thanks to its internal battery and support for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. It even has an IP56 rating, meaning you can take it to the beach and leave it out in the rain without worry. On the audio front, it produces powerful stereo sound with a pleasing mix of sculpted lows and highs. The slick, full-featured Sonos companion app is another highlight.

If you're willing to spend a premium on a smart speaker you can take around your home or outside, the Sonos Move 2 is a top choice. It gets loud, lasts up to 24 hours on battery power, and lets you choose between hands-free Alexa and Sonos Voice assistants.

The Amazon Echo Spot might look like a smart display, but it's really more like a smart speaker with a screen. We're fans of its decent audio quality, ability to show the time and weather, and reliable Alexa voice functionality. Wi-Fi and Matter support are both nice to see, as well. Just keep in mind that the Spot can't play videos, doesn't have a camera, and provides visual answers for only some Alexa questions.

Since it's small, simple, and can show you useful day-to-day information, the Echo Spot is an ideal clock radio for your bedside or desk.

This little puck is the most affordable Google Assistant smart speaker you can get. You can pop it anywhere—even on the wall!—and use Google's voice assistant easily; it fills the same niche for Google Assistant as the Amazon Echo Dot does for Alexa. It has clean treble but, otherwise, its audio is pretty weak. That said, it's suitable if you want to listen to music before you sleep or play podcasts to idly distract you during the day.

The Nest Mini is another speaker for your counter, desk, or nightstand: It's small and doesn't cost too much money. Sadly, there isn't an alternative version with a clock. If you want that functionality, consider the Amazon Echo Dot With Clock (5th Gen).