About 66.4 million people in the US bought smart speakers in 2019. That is a quarter of the entire population. Soon, everyone in the US and around the world will own a smart speaker. That was 2019, what about 2024? What is the best smart speaker you can buy today?
Best Smart Speakers- Unlimited Options In 2024
The emergence of assistants embedded in standalone speakers has brought AI into our homes. At the same time, it is becoming harder to choose which speaker to purchase as more come into the market. In terms of assistants, Amazon’s Echo leads the others in adoption with Google Home following closely behind.
Should you go for the two most popular or are there other best smart speakers you can buy in 2024? Based on features, price, reliability and ease of use, the following are the best smart speakers compared you can buy in 2024:
What Is the Best Smart Speaker? - Amazon Echo Plus
Amazon’s voice assistant is by far the most refined and most popular to date. The echo plus is a top of the range smart speaker you can buy that also doubles up as a smart hub.
Here are some of the standout features that make the echo plus the best overall smart speaker you can buy today:
1. Alexa Integration-Best Smart Speaker
Of course, it wouldn’t be called a smart speaker without the chatty, ever-smart Alexa voice assistant. Besides being a bub, the echo plus also functions like your standard smart speaker. You can talk to the echo plus, play music, order items online, and check the weather as you would normally do with a regular smart home speaker.
2. Great Sound- For Music
The echo plus has one of the best sounding dual speaker setups in this segment. It’s better than the previous echo devices and comes with other music playing features like Bluetooth. You can use the echo plus as a standalone music player using Amazon music or connect it to an external Bluetooth device.
The echo plus’s dual-speaker setup (woofer and tweeter) delivers crisp 360-degree sound. For sound recording, it comes with seven microphones meaning you can speak to the echo plus from any direction and distance in a room.
3. It's A Full-Fledged Smart Home Hub
This one doubles up as a smart home hub meaning you can use it to control other smart devices in your DIY smart home setup. The echo plus can interface with thousands of ZIGBEE compatible smart devices from different manufacturers including smart doorbells, alarms, thermostats, smart lights, television sets etc.
What is a smart home hub? – A smart home hub is a central device that you can use to control every other smart device in your home. Popular smart hubs in the market include the Echo Plus, Google Home hub, Samsung’s smartThings hub, the Logitech harmony hub, among others.
The Sonos One- Second Best Smart Speaker
Most people prefer to choose between smart speakers from the two main competitors (Google & Amazon), what if you could have both? The Sonos One has been lauded as one of the best third-party smart speakers by major publications and tech influencers since its introduction.
Doubling up as a consumer-grade standalone entertainment speaker, the Sonos one comes with both Alexa and Google Assistant built-in. Apple users are not left out too because the Sonos one also comes with Airplay 2. This allows those who are using Siri to send commands to the Sonos One with an iPhone, iPad or any other Siri device they might be using.
Here are some of the standout features that make the Sonos One, one of the best smart speakers you can buy today.
1. Great sound
The Sonos one was made to play music first in addition to being a smart speaker. Just like any other Sonos speaker out there, the Sonos does not disappoint when it comes to sound quality.
2. Multiple Assistants
Comes with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. Also supports Apple Siri with a companion device.
3. Connectivity
You can pair it with other Sonos speakers within your home.
Choosing the Best Smart Speaker
Are you planning to buy a smart speaker for your DIY smart home setup? Use the following criteria to select the best.
- Features- Do you want a multi-featured smart speaker or a barebones voice assistant-only speaker?
- Compatibility- Would you like the smart speaker to pair up with other smart devices in your home? Which protocols do they support? Amazon, Google Home?
- Size- There are smart mini speakers and full-sized speakers.
All in all, a smart speaker is an essential component in any DIY home setup. Have fun while shopping for your next smart speaker!