![]() ![]() Rival Apple HomePod 2 is more natural with voices Read the full five-star review: Sonos Era 300 Yes, it’s expensive and yes, it smacks of a rip-off having to pay 20 quid extra for a wired connector, but the Era 300 has earned the right to be cheeky.Ī truly five-star performer, and one of the best smart speakers you could hope to find right now. Big choral numbers feel broad and immersive thanks to spatial audio, but the Era 300 excels seemingly with all genres hip-hop, classic rock, movie soundtracks, it’s all covered with ease. Music-wise, throw whatever you like at the Era 300, chances are it has it covered, filling our testing rooms with cohesive, spacious sound without a hint of a struggle. With its unique, “cinched hourglass” shape, there’s no question that the Era 300 is a bit more of an acquired taste than most of the brand’s rather more conservative designs, but what isn't up for debate is how superbly the five-star Era 300 manages to perform. There's no Google Assistant integration in the Era speakers sadly, due to a change in Google’s technical requirements for third-party devices. Smart features are courtesy of Amazon Alexa and Sonos's own voice control, the latter of which you can use to control music playback only. With the Era 300, Sonos has delivered a smart speaker capable of voice integration alongside revolutionary sound and an embarrassment of cutting-edge features to rival the best that Apple has to offer. Ever since Apple's HomePod 2 landed early in 2023 with the ability to deliver spatial audio, the race has been on to see who could challenge the biggest dog on the block when it came to integrating the much-vaunted tech into their own speaker designs. Right now, smart speakers don't come much more impressive than the Sonos Era 300. Some of the smaller smart speakers are limited purely because of their dimensions, so be realistic about your budget and what to expect. Find the right balance between great sound for your tunes and a helpful AI assistant, though, and you're on to a winner - like these top choices below.įrom cheap budget options to premium sonic experiences, read on for our pick of the best smart speakers. This can vary quite a lot between models and manufacturers, and while spending more doesn't always guarantee a better listening experience, you do get the benefit of your investment here. We're What Hi-Fi?, so the audio quality of a smart speaker still very much matters over the AI tech. Or maybe you want more flexibility and a wider choice of streaming features (hi, Sonos).įinally: sound quality. ![]() Love shopping at Amazon and have a Prime account? An Amazon Echo might be right up your alley. If you frequently use Google's services, for instance – Calendar, Maps, Gmail – maybe a product with Google Home baked in would be best for you. While most voice assistants do work with other services, they're tightly integrated with those made by their creators, making them much slicker to use. It's also worth thinking about which ecosystem you use most. Every smart speaker on this list has been sampled by our team of reviewers, both in our listening rooms and home environments, to ensure you can make a smart choice when investing your time and money. This handy guide to the best smart speakers includes all the top-scoring products we’ve tried and tested and will help you avoid investing in a subpar product. Many don’t offer best-in-class audio, with their manufacturers focussing more on their AI-assisted smarts than their sonic capabilities. You won’t be able to use an Amazon Echo Dot to control your Apple TV 4K, for example, although you do sometimes see non-Amazon products integrating Alexa, say, such as the Sonos Era 100.Įven if you know which platform you want, not every smart speaker doing the rounds is worth your time, attention and money. Any speaker you test will generally run using either Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri or Google Assistant, and it’s these digital helpers that let you quiz your speaker about today’s weather, check your calendar or even control your music.Įach is then also usually tied to a specific smart home platform, which informs what other equipment it can interact with and control. Firstly, smart speakers are, by their very nature, locked into wider ecosystems. ![]()
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