Welcome back Home Enthusiasts! We're IN THE HOME and we're here to help you decide
which Smart Speakers to buy today. As always don't worry about taking
any notes - all the links for the products we mention are in the description below.
The best smart speakers don't just play music, they also have a built-in voice assistant that
enables you to use the speaker to do things like getting the latest news and weather updates,
search cook recipes, and control smart home devices like lights and locks. They
even have the ability to change the channel on your television as well. In this video,
we will walk you through the process of selecting your next assistant-powered speaker.
We've compiled a list of the best-sounding smart speakers with a variety of styles,
budgets, and smart home ecosystems, so you should have no trouble choosing the appropriate one.
The team has prepared this list for you through comprehensive research.
The Smart Speakers that have been selected have been chosen based on product features,
reviews in the marketplace, quality of finish and price, and where possible we have been
mindful of the different types of buyers. We do suggest you stick around until the end to see
who wins the number one position on our list. Before we begin, be sure to like the video and
subscribe to stay with us IN THE HOME, especially if you are interested in more informational list
related content just like this one. Remember you can find the options to our list in the
description down below as well as timestamps to help you navigate through the video.
The Smart Speaker coming in at number 5 on our list is the Denon Home 350 Wireless Speaker.
The Denon Home 350 is a simple speaker with a wraparound cloth grille and a
black or white finish. It is made to last, with a reinforced glass top that lends a touch of class.
It also features an elegantly placed status light beneath the Denon logo on the front. With
a confident and spacious delivery that generates a surprising amount of bass, this speaker creates an
initial impact. Although this speaker has adequate power to handle even the largest of living rooms,
you should probably avoid placing it in a corner due to the full-bodied low-end presence.
Our team would like to highlight that Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant are supported, however,
a separate external device is currently required. A future software upgrade, on the other hand,
should activate the two microphones on the top panel, allowing voice interaction without the use
of a third-party device. The Denon Home 350 boasts touch-sensitive controls on the top that light
up when your hand approaches them. This is made possible thanks to its built-in proximity sensor.
Options such as play or pause, volume up or down, and six presets for your favorite
radio stations are among the controls. Using the dedicated app, you can quickly and effortlessly
connect to your wireless network and set up a multiroom system. You can listen to the same
music playing throught the house or different music in separate rooms. You can even use two
Home Entertainment Operating System speakers as the left and right channels of a stereo pair.
The Denon Home 350 is a fantastic wireless multiroom speaker that is packs a punch
with rich and powerful sound. This capable performer can handle larger rooms,
but the heavy bass can be a little overwhelming, so we suggest keeping it out of corners. For that,
we are giving it the fifth spot on our list. The Smart Speaker coming in at number 4 on
our list is the Marshall Stanmore II Wireless Wi-Fi Smart Speaker.
The Marshall Stanmore II Voice resembles a Marshall stack's amp head. It measures 13.78
by 7.68 by 7.28 inches and weighs a whopping 10.47 pounds. The dulcet tones of Google Assistant can
also be found within the wood and vinyl shell of this Bluetooth and Wi-Fi compatible speaker.
Our team found the device easy to set up. Simply turn on the speaker and open
the Google Home app to get started. This is a little easier than the Amazon Alexa version,
which requires you to download the Marshall Voice app as well. Our team would like to
highlight that when turned up, this speaker has a bold, brazen sound that fills the space,
but not at the expense of audio quality. One of the main features is its voice control with
Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant, which requires access to your Wi-Fi network. With WPA security,
the Stanmore II Voice can connect to any 2.4 GigaHertz or 5 GigaHertz network.
This allows it to play music from services such as Amazon Music, Spotify, Tidal, Deezer, Pandora,
and others. Other compatible gadgets, such as TVs, lights, locks, thermostats, and so on,
can also be controlled with this speaker. It can read your voice even if the music is turned up or
if you're across the room thanks to a far-field two-microphone array with noise suppression.
While the Marshall Stanmore II Voice sounds great when it's playing other forms of music,
it really shines with rock tunes. That is why we placed it at the number 4 on our list.
The Smart Speaker coming in at number 3 on our list is the Bose Home Speaker 300:
Bluetooth Smart Speaker. The Home Speaker 300 has a compact
and portable profile, measuring 6.3 by 5.6 by 4.0 inches and weighing 2.1 pounds. The oval,
upright frame of the speaker, which comes in black or white, has a wraparound speaker grille
that extends from the base and beyond the halfway point of the front panel. The front-facing display
has a thin status LED band and a control pad with touch-sensitive controls on top.
The said controls feature a central play or pause button flanked by volume plus or minus buttons.
There's an Action button to the left and right side that summons your preferred voice assistant,
a mic and mute button, an aux button to switch to the 3.5-millimeter cable input on the back panel,
and a Bluetooth button to switch to Bluetooth streaming. This panel also has six numbered preset
buttons that can be allocated to different radio feeds in the app. Our team would like to highlight
that the speaker can be controlled either via voice command or the new Bose Music app,
both of which are simple to use. Even configuring your voice assistant is very easy.
It is good to note that Bose has made selecting between the two voice assistants much easier.
The capacity to project sound at a high volume is the Home Speaker 300's
most astounding sonic achievement, which makes the speaker sound much larger than it is.
It may not have the bass impact of a larger model, but it surely has the richness and power of one.
Despite producing powerful mono output that would easily fill most spaces with a clear, bass-heavy
sound, the Bose Home Speaker 300 is actually the most budget-friendly on today's video. For that
reason, it earned the third spot on our list. The Smart Speaker coming in at number 2 on our
list is the Echo Studio - High-fidelity Smart Speaker with 3D Audio and Alexa.
The Echo Studio measures approximately eight inches tall and seven inches wide.
It's a big unit, after all, with output to match. On the top, there are volume buttons, a mic mute,
an Alexa-wake button, as well as the iconic blue-light ring. Inside the Echo Studio enclosure,
two cut-aways let air circulate freely, allowing it to blast out bass at a high
volume. It is worthy to consider that the speaker has directional sound capabilities. As a result,
you'll need to leave some room around the Echo Studio in order to benefit from the directional
sound. This is done by Echo Studio bouncing sound around your room's surfaces, adding micro-delays
to specific parts of a track. This feature makes it appear that the sound is coming from
all directions. Our team would like to highlight that the Echo Studio's microphones are constantly
monitoring its output and customizing the sound mix for your area and the output required for
each track. It's also worth mentioning that the Echo Studio functions as a smart home hub. All of
the most popular smart home devices will integrate smoothly with the Echo Studio and into the Alexa
ecosystem thanks to built-in ZigBee capability. The Amazon Echo Studio is a remarkable product,
combining a smart speaker and a Dolby Atmos immersive sound home theater system into one
neat box. It's a powerful smart speaker with a lot of features, especially for its price.
That is why this product deserves to be at the number 2 on our list.
And finally we come to the number 1 Smart Speaker on our list:
the Sonos Move - Battery - Powered Smart Speaker. The Move is water and dust-resistant, as well as
durable enough to withstand the odd drop, so you can take it with you to the beach or the park.
Setting up and controlling the Move using the app is simple, as it is with all Sonos speakers.
Using your iPhone, iPad, or Android smartphone, you can download the Sonos app, create an account,
and connect the speaker to your wifi network by pushing the connection button located at its back.
You can then start playing music by adding any music streaming accounts you have.
Sonos supports almost anything, including multiple Spotify accounts and playback from
local network drives. Our team likes to make mention of the Sonos system's unique feature
that allows you to search all your music providers at once. This eliminates the need to know
exactly where your music is stored. Playback through Bluetooth is very straightforward:
simply press the Bluetooth button on the rear and pair it with your phone, tablet, or computer just
like you would on any other Bluetooth device. Although it is optional, the Sonos app will
walk you through installing a voice assistant to the Move. The battery in the Move is removable,
which means you can swap it out for a new one when it eventually stops holding a charge.
The Sonos Move is truly a fantastic, great-sounding, wireless smart speaker. With wifi,
Bluetooth, a 10-hour battery, quick charging capability, a sturdy case, weather resistance,
and a strong and punchy sound, this portable powerhouse could go almost anywhere. Without a
doubt, it earns the top spot on today's list! And there you have it folks - the five Smart
Speakers which got our team at IN THE HOME excited this year. If you
have any contenders for our next Smart Speaker roundup, which you would like our team to test,
do drop it in the comments section below and we will be sure to look it over for our next update.
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