A smart speaker with reliable voice assistant support can be a helpful addition to any home. With the growing adoption of large language models, smart speakers are getting even smarter; instead of just processing voice commands to control music playback, the most advanced offerings can now manage your calendar and even order food for you. Still, no matter how smart they get, the best smart speakers earn their spot on your kitchen counter or coffee table with balanced audio output that gets loud enough for you to have a conversation about giraffes from across the room or play your favorite tracks while you make dinner. Because most smart speakers support functionally similar services like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple's Siri, additional features like spatial audio support and ecosystem expansion become differentiating characteristics between devices (along with price) that will help you pick which product is best for you.
We've tested over 185 speakers, and below, you'll find our recommendations for the best smart speakers. If you're looking for more options, check out our recommendations for the best home Bluetooth speakers, the best Alexa speakers, and the best Bluetooth speakers.
All of our recommendations start with the products we've tested. And, they're backed by in-house experts who ensure unbiased, objective data to help you choose the right speaker.
Want to see how we've tested more than 150 speakers? Our How We Test Speakers article walks you through the entire process: from selecting and purchasing products to testing, reviewing, and publishing our results.
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Best Smart Speaker
Voice Assistant8.6Music7.7Podcasts7.0Battery Powered:NoSpeakerphone:NoVoice Assistant:YesBluetooth:YesSee all our test resultsWi-Fi:YesThe best smart speaker we've tested is the JBL Authentics 500. This premium home speaker offers built-in support for two voice assistants, Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, and you can use both simultaneously. It stands out from the crowd thanks to its impressive sound quality and stylish retro design, which is inspired by classic JBL speakers like the L100. This speaker also comes with many modern-day features, like Dolby Atmos support and a room calibration tool that is designed to optimize the speaker's sound based on the unique acoustics of your room.
Thanks to its voice assistant support, you can activate this speaker using only your voice. It understands your commands clearly, even if you're in a noisy environment or on the other side of the room. In addition to excellent voice assistant support, it offers an impressive reproduction of voices and lead instruments, so you get a clear and balanced sound overall. The speaker's bass and treble knobs let you adjust the sound to your liking, and there's also a graphic EQ on the JBL One app if you don't feel like walking over to the speaker. Overall, this feature-packed speaker might be a little much for those who want a simpler option, but it stands out as among the best.
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Best Upper Mid-Range Smart Speaker
Voice Assistant8.8Music7.7Podcasts6.8Battery Powered:NoSpeakerphone:NoVoice Assistant:YesBluetooth:YesSee all our test resultsWi-Fi:YesIf you're looking for a more affordable smart speaker and don't want to compromise on sound quality, consider the Sonos Era 300. While its price can sit relatively close to the JBL Authentics 500's at times, the Sonos often goes on sale for significantly lower, so it's worth keeping an eye on them. Plus, you can use it as part of your home theater setup. That's right—this speaker can pair with compatible Sonos soundbars for expanded surround sound. It also comes with Dolby Atmos support, which is great if your streaming service of choice supports Dolby Atmos Music. On the smart device front, this premium speaker comes with Alexa Built-in for hands-free control and has slightly better ambient noise handling than the JBL for giving voice commands while hosting a lively party. However, the Sonos doesn't support Google Assistant, which may be a dealbreaker if that's your preferred assistant.
Like our top pick, this speaker gives you access to lots of premium sound enhancement tools. Trueplay, the manufacturer's room correction tool, is available to optimize the speaker's sound based on your room's unique acoustics, though the full feature is only available with iOS devices with Android users relegated to a more barebones version. Bass and treble sliders also let you switch up the speakers' sound signature manually, but the sound customization isn't as expansive as the graphic EQ available on our top pick. Still, this smart speaker is among the finest on the market, and lives up to Sonos's reputation for audiophile, quality sound. But if you find yourself frowning at its price, you can get the same ecosystem integration with the cheaper Sonos Era 100. Though smaller, it gets just as loud as the Era 300, but you'll miss out on a bit of low-end bass and access to Dolby Atmos.
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Best Mid-Range Smart Speaker
Voice Assistant9.0Music6.9Podcasts8.0Battery Powered:YesSpeakerphone:NoVoice Assistant:YesBluetooth:YesSee all our test resultsWi-Fi:YesThe Bose Portable Smart Speaker is the best mid-range option we've tested and the only battery-powered model on this list, making it the best portable smart speaker pick, too. But don't be fooled by its name, the Bose manages to strike a solid balance between portability and power, even with the Sonos Era 300 as the benchmark. Whether listening to the classics or the latest pop hits, you'll enjoy a clear reproduction of voices and instruments thanks to the speaker's balanced mid-range. Out of the box, there's extra warmth in the bass, which disco fans might enjoy, but if you prefer a more controlled low-end, you can adjust bass and treble sliders in the companion app. Still, the Bose's smaller stature has some downsides, as it can't reproduce low-bass frequencies as well as the larger Sonos.
Though you'll make some sacrifices sonically, this stylish device has a few tricks up its sleeve when it comes to usability. For one, it supports both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, making it the better option for users that use both voice assistants. And the IPX4 rating means the speaker can handle an errant splash of water from your kitchen faucet. Still, for the truly outdoorsy, the Sonos Roam 2 may be a better alternative thanks to its compact, lightweight (0.9 lbs.) design and IP67 rating. As you'd expect, the even smaller design further handicaps low-end bass reproduction, but it may be a worthwhile sacrifice if portability is your number one priority.
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Best Lower Mid-Range Smart Speaker
Voice Assistant9.0Music7.1Podcasts6.7Battery Powered:NoSpeakerphone:YesVoice Assistant:YesBluetooth:YesSee all our test resultsWi-Fi:YesIf you want even more smart speaker features at an accessible price, check out the Amazon Echo Studio 2025. Instead of standard Alexa built-in support on non-Amazon smart speakers, you'll have access to Alexa+. The paid service (included free with Amazon Prime) uses large language models to interpret less formulaic instructions and expands the capabilities of the virtual assistant to address complex requests like ordering food. Unlike the Bose Portable Smart Speaker, the Amazon Echo Studio 2025 doesn't have a battery, so you'll have to keep it plugged in.
Though the speaker is plenty smart, it also supports audio focused features like Dolby Atmos content, immersive spatial audio, and Alexa Home Theater, which allows you to connect supported Amazon devices together to form a home theater speaker setup. It doesn't get as loud as the larger, sound focused Era 300, though. Still, its balanced frequency response should reproduce music in many genres loudly enough to fill a living room.
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Best Budget Speaker
Voice Assistant8.8Music6.8Podcasts6.3Battery Powered:NoSpeakerphone:YesVoice Assistant:YesBluetooth:YesSee all our test resultsWi-Fi:YesIf you're searching for a smart speaker on a budget, check out the Amazon Echo Gen 4. Its built-in Alexa (upgradable to Alexa+) does an excellent job understanding your commands, so you'll have no trouble controlling it from the comfort of your couch using only your voice. It also has a built-in Zigbee hub, meaning you can control other smart home devices from the speaker. Its unique spherical design brings a stylish look to your home. At the base of the speaker, a ring of light flashes when you give it a command. That said, it's missing the newest Alexa features like Alexa Home Theater found on our previous pick, the Amazon Echo Studio 2025. For those that don't need the bells and whistles for movies, the Echo Gen 4 has a similar volume when maxed out, though its sound isn't quite as well balanced.
If you're still deciding between voice assistants, you can check out the best Google Assistant speaker we've tested in the budget range, the Google Nest Audio, while Siri fans can look at the Apple HomePod mini. All three speakers perform similarly, but the Amazon speaker's voice assistant performance is a touch better overall.
Notable Mentions
- JBL Authentics 200: The JBL Authentics 200 is a smaller and more compact alternative to the JBL Authentics 500. It has a similar design, built-in voice assistant support, and room correction. However, it lacks support for Dolby Atmos Music. See our review
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Denon Home 350:
The Denon Home 350 is another premium smart speaker with built-in Alexa. It has a better low-frequency extension than the Sonos Era 300, so you'll notice more rumble in the bass. However, its soundstage isn't as good, and the speaker doesn't support Dolby Atmos, so we still think the Sonos is the best-sounding smart speaker for most people.
See our review -
Apple HomePod (2nd generation):
The Apple HomePod (2nd generation) is a mid-range pick ideal for those already owning products in Apple's ecosystem. It has a better low-frequency extension than the Bose Portable S
mart Speaker, which is great for bass lovers. However, without bass and treble adjustments, it's not as customizable. It doesn't support Bluetooth, either.
See our review - Brane X: The Brane X is a premium portable smart speaker. It packs a loud, bass-heavy sound in a small package, along with Wi-Fi and Alexa support. It's larger and much more expensive than the Sonos Roam 2, but it can get significantly louder and play back stereo content without downmixing to mono. See our review
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Sonos Move 2:
The Sonos Move 2 is a large portable smart speaker. Though you can use the Sonos on battery power, it's over twice as heavy as the Bose Portable Smart Speaker, which stretches the definition of 'portability'. While the Sonos gets louder, has a longer battery life, and reproduces deeper bass, it's more of a hassle to move from place to place.
See our review
Recent Updates
Feb 19, 2026:
We replaced the Sonos Era 100 with the Amazon Studio 2025, which supports the newer Alexa+, and removed the Sonos Roam 2 as a dedicated pick. We also made text changes throughout the article and updated the Notable Mentions section.
May 12, 2025:
The Amazon Echo Studio and Sonos Era 100 are now the same price. Since the Sonos is the better smart speaker, we've removed the Amazon and replaced it with a new mid-range pick, the Bose Portable Smart Speaker.
Feb 10, 2025:
We've removed the Bose Home Speaker 500 from the Notable Mentions as it has been discontinued. We also made minor edits to the text for clarity.
Nov 06, 2024:
We made small changes to the text to improve comparisons between pick tiers but didn't change our picks.
Aug 13, 2024: We've updated our best portable pick to be the Sonos Roam 2, replacing the Sonos Roam/Roam SL. We've also made minor changes to the text to improve accuracy.
All Reviews
Our recommendations above are what we think are currently the best-sounding smart speakers for most people to buy, according to their needs. We factor in the price (cheaper speakers win over pricier ones if the difference isn't worth it), feedback from our users, and availability (no speakers that are difficult to find or almost out of stock everywhere).
If you would like to choose for yourself, here's the list of all our reviews for speakers that support voice assistants, sorted by their voice assistant performance. Be careful not to get caught up in the details. There are no perfect speakers. Personal taste, preference, and listening habits will matter more in your selection.