The Amazon Echo kicked off the smart speaker trend a few years ago, but it's no longer alone. There are dozens of smart speakers already on the market in 2018 and a ton more are coming. Picking the best smart speaker for your needs isn’t always simple, though.
You need to decide which voice assistant you prefer (there are now four—Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri, and Cortana) and what features are most important to you. Is music quality highest? Does it need to play Spotify? Is video important? Does it need to connect to your other speakers and smarthome gadgets?
Below, we’ll try to help you answer them by highlighting our favorite smart speakers for a number of special use cases no matter whether you prefer Amazon, Google, or if you want to know how Siri and Cortana stack up to the rest.
Best Overall
Sonos One
($200 on Sonos[1] and Amazon[2])
Sonos
There are speakers that can belt out tunes louder, and others that are more portable, but no smart speaker is a better buy than the Sonos One right now (8/10 WIRED Recommends[3]). It sets the bar in a number of areas, including sound quality, multi-room audio, and smart home compatibility.
On the audio front, the Sonos One is virtually unrivaled. Apple’s HomePod[4] is the only speaker we’ve heard that may best it in sound, but even it doesn’t blow the One away. The fact that you can literally buy two Sonos Ones for the price of a single HomePod also shouldn't be ignored. WIRED’s Mike Calore noted in his review that the Sonos One “plays just about everything under the sun” thanks to its robust...