The Best Smart Speakers for Music and Voice Control
If you’re looking to make your home entertainment smarter, you need to take a look at the best smart speakers on the market. These devices are equipped with advanced features, such as voice control, that will enhance your music experience in a way that you never thought possible.
Denon Home 350
The Denon Home 350 is a high-end smart speaker for music and voice control. It’s a wired speaker with a sleek design and elegant finish. Among its many features is an audiophile-grade digital signal processing system (DSP) that delivers a rich sound that’s crisp in the treble, warm in the mids, and deep in the bass.
The speakers in the Denon Home range work with a variety of voice assistants, including Apple Siri, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant. The speakers also have a built-in Bluetooth speaker, Wi-Fi, and an Ethernet port. These features help create a multi-room audio experience.
Streaming high-resolution music files is supported by the Denon Home 350. It’s compatible with Apple Music, Tidal, Pandora, Spotify, and more. You can also stream from your computer, tablet, and smartphone.
Denon’s HEOS technology allows for seamless playback of music from all sources. The speakers are also EQ-equipped, so you can fine-tune the sound level.
There’s also an option to add a subwoofer. If you don’t want to do that, you can still use the speakers for stereo content.
Although it’s a bit bulky, the Denon Home 350 produces good bass. Its acoustics are well-rounded, and its mid-bass driver provides good resonance. That means the speakers will be able to fill even large rooms.
The speakers in the Denon Home series are Roon Ready, so you can use them with other devices, too. They come in black or white and are a stylish addition to any home.
If you’re looking for a smart speaker that’s easy to set up and handle, then the Denon Home 350 is a great choice. But if you’re looking for a more immersive soundstage, you might want to consider other models.
Sonos One
Sonos One is a small and versatile speaker that can be used in stereo or as part of a multiroom system. It can be placed almost anywhere.
It’s a smart speaker that comes with an acoustical mid-woofer and tweeter. It also features a six-microphone array for smart voice capture. The speaker features a touch-sensitive surface that makes navigation and control easy.
One of the big features of the Sonos One is its ability to play music from different streaming services. You can listen to your favorite tracks on various sources, such as Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, and Amazon. In addition, you can use the voice control feature to play your favorites from Bluetooth speakers.
Sonos is one of the leading manufacturers of home entertainment systems, and its wireless network is top-notch. This means that you won’t have to connect to your router.
The Sonos app can also be a powerful tool, helping you to manage your tunes from multiple services in one place. It supports the Google Assistant, which can help you control various music streaming services. As a bonus, you can ask the app to play your favorite songs in real time.
The Sonos One also supports the Amazon Alexa, which can play songs by itself or with the assistance of Sonos Voice Control. It’s also compatible with the TV’s Playbar, and can be paired with a Playbase.
Whether you’re looking for a good speaker for the living room, bedroom, kitchen, or any other room in your home, the Sonos One is worth considering. Its stylish design and sleek backlit touchpad make it a perfect addition to any space. And with Sonos’s support of multiple streaming services, you can be sure that you’ll never be without your favorite music.
Amazon Echo Studio
The Echo Studio from Amazon is a smart speaker that prioritizes voice controls, sound quality and smart home technology. It comes with Alexa and a Zigbee hub, making it the center of your smart home. You can control smart appliances, watch videos, check sports scores, play games and much more.
Despite its modest price tag, the Echo Studio is a capable device that offers the most advanced wireless listening experience. It has a decent range of features, including a mic mute, a micro-USB port for connecting an Ethernet adapter, and an acoustic enclosure for free airflow.
Besides its clever audio features, the Echo Studio also boasts a dazzling display. On the outside, it’s covered in a charcoal-coloured fabric mesh and has handles on either side.
Inside, the Echo Studio boasts a dual-band Wi-Fi adapter, a 3.5 mm mini optical line-in, a 5.25-inch sealed woofer, a 5.25-inch upward-firing midrange speaker, and a downward-firing bass driver. It also has a ring light that adds some pop and a nice touch of aesthetics.
One of the most impressive features of the Echo Studio is its 3D audio. It has a mic that self-monitors the room’s acoustics and adjusts its sound mix accordingly. That’s all the more impressive given the fact that it’s a wireless speaker.
Another feature is the “Stereo Spatial Enhancement,” which adds a height-speaker effect to stereo music. This is the most impressive feature on the device, and is only available with the new Amazon Music HD service.
For an entry-level speaker, the Echo Studio is an impressive feat of engineering. With a built-in DAC, it supports a wide range of audio formats. These include MP3, AAC, FLAC, Dolby Atmos, Vorbis, and Opus.
Bose Portable Home Speaker
With its sleek design, wireless freedom, and high-quality sound, the Bose Portable Home Speaker is a great option for a wireless speaker. The speaker is small and portable, making it easy to take with you. It also incorporates voice control, making it a versatile, hands-free device.
The Bose Portable Home Speaker is capable of playing music over Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and via its own internal speakers. In addition, the speaker is compatible with several smart assistants. This includes Alexa and Google Assistant. However, you’ll need Wi-Fi for these functions.
When paired with your iOS or Android smartphone, the Bose Portable Home Speaker offers convenient, hands-free control. Its controls are simple and intuitive, with volume adjustment buttons and bass and treble sliders.
Although the Bose Portable Home Speaker doesn’t get quite as loud as a speaker with a built-in subwoofer, it produces a clear, rich soundstage. Bass and midrange are evenly distributed. The speaker is also water-resistant.
You can charge the Portable Home Speaker by plugging it into a wall wart or using the included charging cradle. Charging takes around five hours from zero percent to 100%.
The speaker features a ring of LEDs for battery level and voice assistant indication. It also comes with a carrying handle.
Bose includes a charging cradle with the speaker, but you can also buy one separately. This will raise the price to $378, but will give you the option to recharge the speaker without using a wall wart.
One of the nice things about the Bose Portable Home Speaker is the ability to group it with other Bose speakers. If you’re interested in buying more than one, you’ll need to set up Wi-Fi to ensure each speaker is synced with the other. Alternatively, you can play music across multiple rooms with the Bose Music app.
Google Nest Audio
Google’s Nest Audio is a smart speaker that has a number of features. You can use it to play music or control your home’s lights and thermostat. The speaker can also connect to third party services, such as Spotify. It even comes with its own voice assistant, allowing you to perform common tasks with your voice.
The Nest Audio was designed to be an information hub, and is a far cry from the air freshener-esque designs of the previous generation. Instead of the angular shape and air freshener logos, the new Nest Audio has a simple oval shape.
In addition to its new design, the Nest Audio boasts a more powerful speaker, as well as voice recognition technology. This means that it will respond to commands much faster than its predecessor. And it comes with a hardware mute button to reassure users that they are not being eavesdropped.
On top of that, the Nest Audio has a slender form factor that will fit into just about any room. And it can be used round-the-clock.
The speakers feature Bluetooth 5.0 and Wi-Fi connectivity, which means that you can connect multiple devices to them. For better sound, you can pair two of them for stereo playback. There is also a hardware mute button that you can turn off.
As for the Google Assistant, the Nest Audio has a built-in intelligent assistant that can perform all sorts of functions. Among them, it can tell you about local traffic and news updates. Also, you can ask it for personalized appointments.
While the Google Nest Audio is not a top-notch audio system, it does offer a punchy bass and clear vocals. If you’re looking for a speaker that’s good enough to play the occasional party music, then this might be just the ticket.
