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Best Google Assistant smart speakers in 2024
If Google Assistant is your smart assistant of choice, these speakers are your best bet
Smart speakers are a quick and easy fix for great home audio. But if you're looking to integrate your speaker with a smart home hub or virtual assistant, choosing the best speaker may require a little more thought.
How to set up an Amazon Echo for multiple users
Share your Echo or Echo Show with your family member or friends
Amazon Echo speakers are among the most popular smart speakers, offering plenty of features for your household. These include listening to music, asking questions, and controlling smart home devices. In addition, they can access personal data, such as calendar events. You don't need separate devices for each user. You can teach it to distinguish users to provide a personalized experience. This guide walks you through how to set up an Echo device for your household.
JBL Authentics 300 portable speaker review: Large sound in a large package
A big way to blast your favorite tunes wherever you go
The JBL Authentics 300 is a hard-to-justify but easy-to-recommend portable speaker. As paradoxical as that sounds, it has some issues that can easily dissuade, namely its weight and price. But, the performance, design, and feature set overcome those shortcomings as long as you can afford it. The JBL Authentics 300 is good enough to receive mention among the best portable Bluetooth speakers. That's especially true if you need something powerful enough for a party. It also does a great job with its Alexa support – good enough to possibly replace your Echo or Echo Dot.
Amazon Echo Dot vs. Google Nest Mini: Battle of the compact smart speakers
Which mini smart speaker should you buy?
The Echo Dot (5th Gen) and the Nest Mini (2nd Gen) are the latest tiny smart speakers from Amazon and Google, respectively. Ideal for individual rooms, these are two of the best smart speakers that use different voice assistants, Alexa in the case of the Echo Dot and Google Assistant in the case of the Nest Mini, to power their functionality.
Amazon Echo Pop Kids vs. Echo Dot Kids: Which is better?
Comparing Amazon’s two compact smart speakers for kids
Amazon started offering a kids-specific version of the Echo Dot smart speaker in 2020. But now the company has added a kids-version of the Echo Pop speaker as well.
Everyone knows Amazon's Alexa ecosystem, and it isn't an exaggeration to say Amazon makes some of the best smart speakers money can buy. Alexa's deep integration with smart home hardware only continues to improve, especially with the new Matter protocol. But sometimes, controlling your Amazon Echo's speakers feels a bit one-note if you haven't explored the possibilities.
Google Assistant: What it is and how it works
Google Assistant is a quick way to make your life a little easier
If you've used an Android phone for any time, you've probably encountered Google Assistant at some point. While some manufacturers prioritize their smart assistants (for example, Samsung's Bixby), you can install and use Google Assistant on any Android smartphone. It's also accessible through compatible smart speakers and displays.
Bundle a month of Amazon Music Unlimited and an Echo Pop to save $35
This makes the Echo Pop just $5
If you're looking for a new music streaming service to check out, Amazon has an offer that's hard to pass up. Right now, if you sign up for a month of Amazon Music Unlimited, you can get one of the company's colorful smart speakers for just a few extra bucks. That's right, new subscribers can get the Echo Pop for just $5 extra, bringing the total purchase price to just $15 for this great bundle.
Google abandons Fuchsia plans for Assistant smart speakers
Multiple Google Assistant speakers were excluded from receiving the upgrade
Google has been upgrading some devices to its custom-built Fuchsia OS, and the assumption was that the Zircon-powered software would make its way to Assistant smart speakers as well. Google recently pushed Fuchsia OS to more second-gen Nest Hub units to bring parity with the first-gen Hub and the Nest Hub Max, so everything seemed to be going well. Now, Google appears to be pumping the brakes on its Fuchsia rollout.
HomePod 2 vs. Sonos Era 100: Which is right for you?
Apple and Sonos both make great smart speakers, but which wins the gold?
Few smart home gadgets are as exciting and versatile as smart speakers. Both the Apple HomePod 2 and the Sonos Era 100 offer terrific sound, decent connectivity options, and beautiful designs that'll fit in with your home decor, all while showing off how great your favorite music albums sound.
My first few days with the Sonos Era 300 were frustrating, and it had nothing to do with the matte black speaker failing to blend in with my living room's messy decor. My right ear was blocked and everything sounded muddled, including the Dolby Atmos-mastered tracks I desperately wanted to find as compelling and straight-up better than whatever stereo mixes Spotify had been spitting out of various connected speakers for years. My first impressions of the Era 300 (and the smaller Era 100), in a small crowded Manhattan office officiated by the Giles Martin, made me hopeful that spatial audio — nascent, but not an entirely new concept to me at the time — was as transformative as Sonos wants it to be.
Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen) with Clock review: A delightful time
The fifth-gen Dot with Clock's new display is worth an upgrade
Third verse, same as the first: Amazon's latest Echo Dot with Clock is here. Technically an upgraded version of the fifth-gen Echo Dot, the third iteration of Dot with Clock brings a few noteworthy upgrades that make it well worth its often-discounted price. (Seriously: Amazon always seems to have these on sale.)
Acer's new smart speaker has an RGB base that doubles as a disco ball
The Acer Halo Swing has same marquee features as its predecessor, including DTS sound and an LED dot display
Acer made a splash in the smart speaker game when it launched the Google Assistant-enabled Halo in 2020. It offered a few distinct perks that set it apart from many of the best smart speakers, including an RGB-lit base, DTS sound, and an LED dot display. The Acer Halo aimed to add a colorful option to an otherwise bland market that only sees incremental updates each year, and Acer hopes to continue that goal with a new iteration of the speaker. The Halo Spring is the company's latest Google Assistant smart speaker, carrying the standout features of its predecessor with a few improvements.
Bosch’s Smart Kitchen Dock is a detachable Nest Hub in all but name
Okay granted, it comes with Alexa rather than Assistant, but hey, it's something
We all remember the rumors that Google was working on a detachable Nest Hub. At Google I/O earlier this year, the company then made clear that it was in fact working on a device in this category, although it is a proper Android tablet with a base rather than anything more outlandish. If you can’t wait for this device to be released sometime in 2023, or you just don’t like Google Assistant, Bosch’s latest smart home device might be for you. At IFA 2022, Bosch has introduced its Smart Kitchen Dock, which serves as a great standalone Alexa speaker that also is a dock for your existing tablet or phone.
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Amazon Echo Studio review: This premium smart speaker isn't a dumb purchase
Amazon's flagship Echo has more speakers than you can shake a stick at
Smart speakers can make a great addition to many homes, especially those with other smart devices like various, vibrant smart lights and plugs. While there are plenty of inexpensive, minimalist speakers that add lots of smarts to your home, they usually lack in the sound department. If you want a smart speaker that prioritizes sound quality, you’ve got to shell out more cash, so while the Amazon Echo Studio may seem like a big ask at $200, it’s in a different class than your average smart speaker.
Xiaomi's latest smart speaker is the spiritual successor to Logitech Harmony Remotes
You can now control your TV with the speaker's IR blaster
Xiaomi launched its first Mi Smart Speaker nearly two years ago. The Google Assistant-powered speaker was well received in the subcontinental region and rivaled the likes of products such as the Amazon Echo Dot 3rd Gen series. This month is Xiaomi India's eighth anniversary, and timed perfectly with the occasion, a new smart speaker is launching in the region: the Xiaomi Smart Speaker IR Control. It's here to give some of the best speakers in the market some severe competition.
Amazon Echo (4th Gen) review: A super sphere
Get an incredible sounding speaker for nearly the price of its smaller, spherical sibling
Amazon is slowly transitioning its smart home speakers from hockey pucks and cylinders to big, bulbous spheres—or that's how it feels, at least, with the fourth-generation Amazon Echo. This smart speaker looks exactly the same as Amazon's third-generation Echo Dot, just bigger. In fact, the design and naming similarities are getting a bit confusing at this point, so we'll make it easy: The $100 Amazon Echo (fourth-generation "sphere version") is a big, booming smart speaker-turned-smart-hub that's worth it for those attributes alone, especially if you can grab it during one of the many sales that makes it almost as expensive its smaller sibling, the fourth-generation Echo Dot.
How to block unwanted callers on your Amazon Echo
Don’t want your ex to call you via Alexa? Here’s a way to block them
Smart speakers have really opened up new ways for us to stay connected with our family and friends. For instance, with an excellent Amazon Echo speaker in your home, you can make hands-free calls to your contacts just by asking Alexa. While it’s a nice convenience to have, the feature could also allow some unwanted calls from either unknown callers or even those in your contact list whom you want to avoid. Thankfully, Amazon’s Alexa app has tools to help you filter and block unwanted callers on your Echo speakers.
Huge Nest sale has something for everyone, including smart displays, speakers, cameras, thermostats, and doorbells
Who said Nest product couldn't be marked down on Prime Day?
If you've been online today, you've most probably noticed the avalanche of Prime Day deals. Although these include a lot of tech products, there are no Nest products in there. Thankfully, these products are also marked down and available from a bunch of online and physical retailers.
Xiaomi Mi Smart Clock review, one month later: The same bugs, time and time again
This cute little bedside device is still limited by an annoying bug
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Lenovo is one of a few companies to ever launch dedicated smart alarm clocks with Google Assistant, so there's never been loads of competition in the market. Xiaomi is looking to change that with its new Mi Smart Clock, a cute little gadget that should fit well with almost any bedroom design.