Smart Speakers.

A smart speaker is a voice-activated device that can be controlled with your voice using a “virtual assistant” that helps you with everyday tasks. It will answer questions for you, perform various automated tasks and control other compatible smart devices. This may include telling you the weather, turning on the lights, playing music and countless other tasks.

The key to the operation of smart speakers is the voice recognition technology that is used. Using voice recognition, it is possible for the smart speaker to understand what is being said and act upon it.

Different manufacturers use different voice recognition systems: Apple uses its Siri assistant voice recognition, Microsoft uses Cortana, Google Home series and Amazon Echo speakers use their own voice recognition schemes for their smart speakers.

The most popular smart speaker brands include Amazon and Google, though you can also buy speakers made by the likes of Apple, Sonos, and Bose. For example, Amazon’s smart speakers use an assistant called Alexa and when you ask questions such as ‘what is the weather like on Sunday?’, she will respond. 

Smart speakers come in many different brands, sizes, and colors. Some are larger with amazing sound quality. Others are smaller and sound mediocre at best (but may be able to plug into a larger external speaker). Some will even come with a color display.

In fact, if you’re thinking about a purchase decision, let’s see what smart speakers are available for this quarter (Q4 2021).

1.- Amazon Echo Dot (4th Gen) Smart Speaker.

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Meet the Echo Dot. Our most popular smart speaker with Alexa. The sleek, compact design delivers crisp vocals and balanced bass for full sound.  Voice Control Your Entertainment. Stream songs from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, SiriusXM, and others. Play music, audiobooks, and podcasts throughout your home with multi-room music. Ready to help - Ask Alexa to tell a joke, play music, answer questions, play the news, check the weather, set alarms, and more. Control Your Smart Home. Use your voice to turn on lights, adjust thermostats, and lock doors with compatible devices. Connect with Others Hands-Free. Call friends and family who have the Alexa app or an Echo device. Instantly drop in on other rooms or announce to the whole house that dinner's ready. Designed to Protect Your Privacy. Amazon is not in the business of selling your personal information to others. Built with multiple layers of privacy controls including a mic off button. Rating: 4.7 of 374,250 Ratings in Amazon.

2.- Amazon Echo Dot (4th Gen) Smart Speaker with Clock.

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Meet Echo Dot with Clock. Our most popular smart speaker with Alexa. The sleek, compact design delivers crisp vocals and balanced bass for full sound. Perfect for Your Nightstand. See the time, alarms, and timers on the LED display. Tap the top to snooze an alarm. Ready to Help. Ask Alexa to tell a joke, play music, answer questions, play the news, check the weather, set alarms, and more. Control Your Smart Home. Use your voice to turn on lights, adjust thermostats, and lock doors with compatible devices. Connect with Others Hands-Free. Call friends and family who have the Alexa app or an Echo device. Instantly drop in on other rooms or announce to the whole house that dinner's ready. Designed to Protect Your Privacy. Amazon is not in the business of selling your personal information to others. Built with multiple layers of privacy controls including a mic off button. Rating: 4.7 of 119,646 Ratings in Amazon.

3.- Amazon Echo (4th Gen) Smart Home Hub.

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Premium Sound. Rich, detailed sound that automatically adapts to any room. Voice Control Your Music. Stream songs from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, SiriusXM, and more. HD requires a compatible music streaming service. Smart Home Hub. Built-in hub to voice control compatible lights, locks, and sensors. Easily set up compatible Zigbee devices or select Ring Smart Lighting solar lights and bulbs. Alexa is Ready to Help. Set timers, reminders, and alarms. Alexa answers questions like "Alexa, what time is it?" Fill Your Home with Sound. With multi-room music, play synchronized music across Echo devices in different rooms. Or pair your Echo with compatible Fire TV devices to feel scenes come to life with home theater audio. Connect with Others Hands-Free. Call friends and family who have the Alexa app or an Echo device. Instantly drop in on other rooms or announce to the whole house that dinner's ready. Privacy Controls. Designed to protect your privacy – Amazon is not in the business of selling your personal information to others. Built with multiple layers of privacy controls including a mic off button. Rating: 4.7 of 83,344 Ratings in Amazon.

4.- Amazon Echo Studio.

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Immersive Sound. 5 speakers produce powerful bass, dynamic midrange, and crisp highs. Dolby Atmos technology adds space, clarity, and depth.  Ready to Help. Ask Alexa to play music, read the news, and answer questions. Voice Control Your Music. Stream songs from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, Tidal, and more. With Amazon Music Unlimited, enjoy access to 75 million songs in high quality audio formats like HD or Ultra HD, and select songs in spatial audio formats like Dolby Atmos.  Adapts to Any Room. Automatically senses the acoustics of your space, fine-tuning playback for optimal sound. Built-In Smart Home Hub. Ask Alexa to control Zigbee-compatible devices. Keep Your Family in Sync. Use your Alexa devices like an intercom and talk to any room in the house with Drop In and Announcements. Designed to Protect Your Privacy. Amazon is not in the business of selling your personal information to others. Built with multiple layers of privacy controls including a mic off button. Rating: 4.6 of 29,690 Ratings in Amazon.

5.- Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 4.

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Amplify your listening experience by wirelessly connecting more than 100 HK connect+ enabled speakers. The rechargeable battery supports up to 8 hours of playtime. Stream music wirelessly via Bluetooth to enjoy room-filling sound. Connect up to 2 smart devices at the same time and take turns playing music. Access Siri or Google now from the speaker with a simple button press. This can be easily configured via the HK connect app.  The superior fabric and finishing combines with iconic design to compliment any style. Signal to noise ratio: 80dB A-weighted Rating: 4.8 of 7,051 Ratings in Amazon.

6.- Sonos One (Gen 2).

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Sonos One. The powerful smart speaker with voice control built-in. Brilliant Sound. Get rich, room-filling sound with Sonos One, and control it with your voice, the Sonos app, Apple AirPlay2, and more. Voice Control. Amazon Alexa is built right in so you can play music, check news, set alarms, get your questions answered, and more, completely hands free. For Every Room. The compact design fits just about any space; Put it on your kitchen countertop, or tuck it away on your office bookshelf; It's humidity resistant so you can even put it in the bathroom. Stereo Sound with 2. Pair 2 Sonos Ones together in the same room for stereo separation and more detailed sound; Use a pair as rear home theater surrounds with Arc or Beam Rating: 4.7 of 6,595 Ratings in Amazon.

7.- Sonos Move.

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The durable, battery-powered smart speaker for outdoor and indoor listening. Easy to Use. Setup takes minutes, and control is simple with the Sonos app, Bluetooth, AirPlay 2, and your voice. WIFI and Bluetooth. Stream over Wi-Fi and connect Move to the rest of your Sonos system at home. Switch to Bluetooth when you're away and offline. Voice Control. Amazon Alexa is built right in so in Wi-Fi you can play music, check news, set alarms, get your questions answered, and more, completely hands free  Battery that Lasts. Enjoy up to 11 hours of continuous play time and deep, powerful sound. Easily recharge Move on the included base, or a compatible USB-C charger. Weather Resistant. With an IP56 rating, Move stands up to humidity, rain, snow, dust, salt spray, UV rays, and extreme heat and cold  Ultra-Durable. Don't worry about accidental drops or bumps. Move's components are protected by a hard-wearing, shock-resistant case, Brilliant Sound. Enjoy surprisingly rich bass, a wide soundstage, and automatic Trueplay tuning, which continually adapts the sound for where you are and what you’re listening to Rating: 4.8 of 5,266 Ratings in Amazon.

8.- Apple HomePod Mini.

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Fills the entire room with rich 360-degree audio. Siri is your do-it-all intelligent assistant, helping with everyday tasks. Easily control your smart home. Designed to keep your data private and secure. Place multiple HomePod mini speakers around the house for a connected sound system. Intercom messages to every room. Pair two HomePod mini speakers together for immersive stereo sound. Voice recognition gives each family member a personalized experience. Seamlessly hand off audio by bringing your iPhone close to HomePod. Requires a HomeKit-enabled device. Requires multiple HomePod devices or AirPlay 2–compatible speakers. Requires two or more HomePod speakers. Multiuser features are available in English. Setup requires Wi-Fi and iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with the latest software. Rating: 4.6 of 4,822 Ratings in Best Buy.

9.- Bose SoundTouch 10 Speaker.

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Works with Alexa for Voice Control (Alexa device sold separately). The smallest one piece wireless speaker from Bose features delivers room filling sound; Instant Listening. Works with your WIFI and Bluetooth devices to play music services like Amazon Music, Spotify, Internet radio stations and your stored music library. A Network Attached Storage (NAS) drive can be used to allow playback of stored music without a computer. We recommend Western Digital MyCloud and Synology drives. Most others will work as well, but have not been as extensively tested. Get to your music the easiest way possible using the powerful app, the intuitive remote or six presets. Part of a full family of multi room wireless speakers designed to grow with you. Wireless network compatibility: 802.11 b/g/n. Ask Away. With the new Bose Skill for Alexa you can now enjoy hands free voice control of your SoundTouch speakers using any Alexa enabled device like the Echo Dot  NOTE. Kindly refer the User Manual, User Guide for assistance which is available below Rating: 4.5 of 3,746 Ratings in Amazon.

10.- Bose Home Speaker 500.

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Sound Performance. Fill any room with impressive wall-to-wall stereo sound from a single speaker. Built-In Alexa. Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant are built into this smart speaker for hands-free voice control. And a noise-rejecting mic system listens in every direction for your voice  Connectivity. Pair your device to this home speaker to stream your favorite music and more via a Bluetooth connection, your home Wi-Fi network, Apple AirPlay 2, or Spotify Connect. Control. Easily control your home speaker with three different ways to manage what you hear: your voice, the Bose Music app, or 6 one-touch presets on top of the speaker. Make or Take Calls. With Alexa only, make or take calls from this smart speaker to Bose smart products, Amazon Echo products, and anyone in your contacts list. Hands free, phone free, and free of charge. Bose Music App. Use the Bose Music app for simple setup with detailed prompts. Compatible Products. This home speaker is part of the Bose Smart Family and works with other Bose smart speakers and soundbars for a multi-room listening experience. Bose SimpleSync. Use Bose SimpleSync technology to pair a member of the Bose Smart Family with a Bose Bluetooth or SoundTouch speaker for synchronized music playback Rating: 4.5 of 3,613 Ratings in Amazon.

11.- Bose Home Speaker 300.

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The Speaker must be plugged into a wall outlet to function, Sound performance: Room-rocking bass and 360-degree, lifelike sound in a compact size. Built-In Alexa. Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant are built into this smart speaker for hands-free voice control. And a noise-rejecting mic system listens in every direction for your voice. Connectivity. Pair your device to this home speaker to stream your favorite music and more via a Bluetooth connection, your home Wi-Fi network, Apple AirPlay 2, or Spotify Connect. Control. Easily control your home speaker with three different ways to manage what you hear: your voice, the Bose Music app, or 6 one-touch presets on top of the speaker. Make or Take Calls. With Alexa only, make or take calls from this smart speaker to Bose smart products, Amazon Echo products, and anyone in your contacts list. Hands free, phone free, and free of charge. Bose Music App. Use the Bose Music app for simple setup with detailed prompts. Compatible Products. This home speaker is part of the Bose Smart Family and works with other Bose smart speakers and soundbars for a multi-room listening experience. Bose SimpleSync. Use Bose SimpleSync technology to pair a member of the Bose Smart Family with a Bose Bluetooth or SoundTouch speaker for synchronized music playback Rating: 4.4 of 3,419 Ratings in Amazon.

12.- Google Nest Mini.

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Play your go-to music, podcasts and more. Stream your favorite audio content on the improved speaker and create a home audio system with other Nest speakers. Hands-Free Help from Google. Ask Google to get answers, news, turn on lights and more, all with your voice. Thoughtfully Designed to Fit Any Room. An eco-friendly design made with recycled materials fits seamlessly into any room you choose. A More Helpful Home is Easier than You Think. Lock the doors, set the lights and fine-tune the temperature, without leaving your couch. The connected home is here to help. Hang It on the Wall. The integrated wall mount makes it easy to put in any room.  Easy Volume Controls. LEDs light up to show your volume controls when you approach it.  Sustainable Materials. Fabric covering made from recycled plastic bottles. Rating: 4.5 of 3,746 Ratings in Google.

13.- Bose Portable Smart Speaker.

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All-In-One. The most versatile smart speaker from Bose; a portable Bluetooth speaker, a home speaker, and a voice control speaker with 360 degrees of deep, clear, lifelike sound and powerful bass. Portability. Grab the handle and take this lightweight (just over 2 lbs) speaker wherever you go out of the house, or move it with you from room to room around the house. Rugged and Ready. This portable speaker has a durable design, battery life of up to 12 hours, and a water-resistant IPX4 rating for all life’s drops, bumps, sprays, and splashes. Bluetooth Speaker. Outside Wi-Fi range, use it as a portable Bluetooth speaker and control it with your mobile phone or tablet to listen to anything your device can play. Smart Speaker. Within WIFI range, control the speaker with your voice and use it as an Amazon Alexa speaker or your Google Assistant speaker to play integrated music services like Amazon Music, Spotify, and Pandora. Make or Take Calls. With Alexa only, make or take calls from this portable speaker to Bose smart products, Amazon Echo products, and anyone in your contacts list. Hands free, phone free, and free of charge. Compatible Products. This Bluetooth speaker is part of the Bose Smart Home Family and works with other Bose smart speakers and soundbars for a multi-room listening experience. Bose SimpleSync. Use Bose SimpleSync technology to pair a member of the Bose Smart Family with a Bose Bluetooth or SoundTouch speaker for synchronized music playback. Award-Winning Design. The Bose Portable Smart Speaker has taken home a Red Dot and an iF Design award for its ability to act as both a portable and home speaker without compromising either experience. Rating: 4.5 of 2,345 Ratings in Amazon.

14.- Google Nest Audio.

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Just Say “Hey Google”. Google is a huge help around the house. Experience room-filling sound. Stream your favorite music, podcasts and more. Help just got even more oomph. You can say things like, “Hey Google, set a timer for 5 minutes” and get help even faster.11 Ask Google about the weather, news, or almost anything. Privacy Built In. Nest Audio is designed to protect your privacy. You can delete your history by saying, “Hey Google, delete what I just said.” To physically turn off the microphones, slide the mic switch on the back to show orange. Use Guest Mode to Control Your Private Information. With Guest Mode turned on, everyone can enjoy popular features like asking questions, setting timers, or playing music, without seeing your personal calendars or contacts. Control Your Smart Devices with Your Voice. Just ask Nest Audio to… Turn on the lights, turn up the heat, and more.12 Nest Audio works with your compatible smart devices. And it’s easy to set up right in the Google Home app. Peace of Mind When You’re Away. With a Nest Aware subscription, Nest Audio can detect unusual sounds, like glass breaking or your smoke alarm going off, and send you an alert. Fits in Beautifully. The colors and slim design blend right into your home. Environmentally Sound. Nest Audio is designed for sustainability. The enclosure is made from 70% recycled plastic. Rating: 4.4 of 723 Ratings in Google.

15.- 808 SPAL1GM Smart Speaker XL-V.

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Voice Recognition connects to Alexa Instantly, providing information, music, news, sports scores, weather and more. Multi-Room Audio. connect additional 808 xl-v smart speakers in other parts of the home and stream music everywhere at the same time or use for surround sound. Enjoy Music wirelessly over Wi-Fi from your favorite streaming service or directly from your smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth. High-Powered Audio with outward facing drivers provide room-filling, immersive stereo sound, delivering crisp vocals and dynamic bass response; reflex port enhances the speaker output for deeper sounds without distortion. The Alexa app is currently only functional in the United States, Canada and Germany. Rating: 3.9 of 245 Ratings in Amazon.