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Thanks to advances in artificial intelligence, smart speakers can answer any question, control your smart home, play games, and so much more. The best smart speaker hands down is the Amazon Echo with its 15,000+ skills, ability to buy items on Amazon, support for dozens of smart home devices, and stellar audio quality.
Amazon's Echo was the very first smart speaker on the scene with artificial intelligence, and it still dominates the field. Since its launch, Amazon has grown the Echo lineup to include the original Echo, the cheaper Echo Dot, the touchscreen-enabled Echo Show, and the upcoming fashion-forward Echo Look.
However, Amazon is no longer alone in the smart speaker space. Google entered the fray last year with the Google Home smart speaker, and its smart Assistant now rivals Alexa for power. Apple is also about to get into the AI smart speaker space with its HomePod and you can bet your life that Samsung is looking into making its own smart speaker sooner or later with its Bixby voice assistant.
So which one is best for you and do you even need a smart speaker with artificial intelligence? We've tested the main smart speakers and done a lot of research on each of the main players in this space to bring you the answer to both of those questions. Before we get into the battle royale between Amazon's Echo lineup and the Google Home, let's go over the basics of what's going on in the smart speaker space and why you might want one in your home.
Want an Echo? Sign up for Amazon Prime and buy now
If you're not an Amazon Prime member yet, you may want to consider signing up before you buy an Echo smart speaker. Also, Tuesday, July 11, is the third annual Amazon Prime Day, during which thousands of items go on sale, including Amazon gadgets like the Echo lineup. These deals will be available only to Prime members, but you can sign up for a free 30-day trial, which will give you full access to Prime Day and the many other benefits of being a Prime member.
Sign up and buy the Echo lineup now to get the best prices of the year:
What can a smart speaker with artificial intelligence do?
Smart speakers can do a number of different things, including answer questions, control smart home devices, set alarms, play music, and more. Each speaker has different strengths and weaknesses, but companies like Amazon, Google, and Apple are working hard to fill the gaps and make these speakers even smarter.
Perhaps the best thing about having a smart speaker is that it frees up your hands and gets you away from your smartphone. You can ask Alexa, Google Assistant, or Siri what the temperature is before you run out the door or ask if you need an umbrella. The voice assistants can also read you recipe instructions or set timers when your hands are occupied in the kitchen. They can play you soothing music after a long day or set the mood during a date. If you have smart home devices, you can control them with your voice instead of having to get out of bed or off the couch to turn your lights on and off.
Smart speakers are also fun for parties and kids, because they can answer trivia questions and even play games. If you have an inquisitive child at home or you like to win arguments, you can just ask your voice assistant a question and get the answer immediately without typing a word or opening an app. Once you've used one, you won't want to be without it.
What services and smart home devices work with the Amazon Echo and Google Home?
Feature sets vary based on the speaker and you should take into account which compatible devices and services you already own or subscribe to before you pick one or the other. Amazon's Alexa has many more skills, compatible products, and compatible apps and services than the Google Home. It's undoubtedly more fully featured, and Google Home is playing catch up. Here's a breakdown of which services and products work with the Amazon Echo and Google Home:
- Smart home devices: Phillips Hue, Ring, Schlage Smart Locks, TP-Link Smart Home Products, Leviton, Insteaon, SmartThings, Wink, Caseta Wireless, LI-FX Smart Bulbs, GE Link Smart Bulbs, WeMo, iHome Smart Plugs, iDevices Switches, Nest, Sensi Thermostat, EcoBee Thermostat, Lyric Thermostat, August Smart Lock, Arlo Pro, Nest Cam IQ, Rachio Sprinklers, Gargeio Garage Door, iRobot Roomba Smart Vacuums, and so many more. You can browse all of the Echo compatible products on Amazon and buy them by clicking this link.
- Services: Amazon's Alexa supports more than 15,000 skills, and it supports far too many services to list here. Big ones include Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, Sirius XM, Uber, Domino's, StubHub, Audible, Dish, NPR, and so many more. You can also buy things from Amazon with a simple voice command.
- Smart home devices: Chromecast, Chromecast-enabled TVs and speakers, Nest, SmartThings, Phillips Hue, LIFX Smart Lights, TP-Link Smart Home, Vivint Home Security, Rachio Sprinklers, Logitech Harmony, Geeni Connected Tech, August Smart Locks, Anova Precision Cooker, Insignia Wi-Fi Smart Plug, Belkin WeMo Insight Smart Plug, iRobot Roomba 960, Honeywell Wi-Fi Thermostat, Mr. Coffee Smart Coffee Maker, Lutron, Ring, and many more. See the full list here.
- Services: Spotify, Pandora, Google Play Music, TuneIn Radio, YouTube, IFTTT, Netflix, Google Services, Domino's, Food Network, Headspace, MadLibs, and more. See the full list here.
Apple's HomePod isn't available yet, so we don't know how many services and devices it will support at launch, but it's safe to say that Apple apps, Apple Music, and HomeKit smart home products will work with the speaker. We'll keep you updated.
Should I be worried about privacy, hackers, and companies selling my data?
There is a trade-off when you buy a smart speaker like the Amazon Echo or Google Home. Both devices are listening all the time for the wake words — "Hey Alexa," or "Okay Google/Hey Google"— that trigger actions. You can mute the speakers, so they're not listening, but that defeats the purpose of being able to wake the AI assistants up whenever you need them.
The companies say that nothing is being monitored or recorded until the wake words are spoken, but once they are, Amazon and Google tend to hold on to that voice data to improve the services for you. Luckily, it is all encrypted, so it should be fairly safe. You can delete that voice data from your Echo every now and then, and you should. Just go to Manage my device and delete recordings one by one or clear your search history. With Google Home, you can alter your permissions to limit the data it collects here.
Of course, neither situation is ideal, as Naked Security by Sophos points out. Gizmodo's Fieldguide has more tips on how to tighten your security and privacy a bit on both devices. The worry here is twofold: either hackers will use that data against you or Amazon and Google will mine it for advertising dollars. Unfortunately, it's the risk you take right now.
In contrast, Apple's upcoming HomePod advertises that its system is more secure and private than any other smart speaker. The promo page says that HomePod has, "multiple layers of security — including anonymous ID and encryption" to "protect your privacy."
Both Google Home and Amazon Echo encrypt your voice data, too, but there are two big differences. One, Amazon and Google associate your data directly with you and your account to learn how to serve you better. Meanwhile, Apple does not associate your data with you or your account, but rather with a randomized set of numbers. Secondly, Apple deletes the association between the data and the random code every six months, whereas Amazon and Google just hold on to it forever unless you bother to delete it yourself, Wired explains.
This becomes important when government requests for data come in. Amazon and Google can find that data and trace it back to you directly, but Apple literally can't because the numbers are randomized and the data is regularly deleted. Apple has the upper hand here, so if data security and privacy matter to you, you'll want to wait and buy a HomePod.
Should you buy a smart speaker?
Smart speakers are helpful, fun to use, and a sure sign of things to come in the future of artificial intelligence and the smart home. If you like to be ahead of the curve, you enjoy having a good speaker at home, you own lots of smart home devices already, and you don't mind some of the trade-offs; you'll love these smart speakers.
Apple fans should hold off until the verdict is in on the HomePod, but Amazon Prime subscribers would do well to pick up an Echo, Echo Dot, or Echo Show. Finally, Google fans who aren't into Prime should spring for a Google Home because it's bound to pick up as many tricks as Amazon's Alexa before too long. Read on to learn all about these different smart speakers and to figure out which one is best for you.
If you're looking for more great tech, you should check out our guides to the best e-readers, the best computer mice, the best wireless Bluetooth headphones, the best smartwatches, the best Bluetooth keyboards, the best home projectors, the best home security cameras, the best Android tablet, the best battery packs, the best Micro USB cables, the best lightning cables, the best USB-C cables, and more on Insider Picks.
Although the Amazon Echo is our top pick, for various reasons laid out in the slides below, you should also consider the Google Home, the Amazon Echo Dot, and the Amazon Echo Show. We also look forward to testing the Apple HomePod in December, so we've included a preview of what it does in our guide.
SEE ALSO: The Amazon Echo is one of the most useful tech gadgets on the market — here’s how I use mine
The best smart speaker overall
Why you'll love it: The Amazon Echo is the uncontested best smart home speaker with its 15,000+ skills, smart home support, and strong audio.
If you want a smart speaker that does it all, the Amazon Echo is the best one you can buy. Amazon got a head start on the competition, and it shows. Alexa has more than 15,000 skills, supports dozens of smart home products, and works with too many apps to count. You can even order things on Amazon with your voice.
This slim, modern cylinder plays audio that matches great Bluetooth speakers for quality, and it'll fit in with any room's decor. When you awaken Alexa, a subtle blue light flicks around the round top of the speaker as it listens in.
You can play music from Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, and more, and the sound quality is very good. If you subscribe to Audible's audiobook service, the Echo will also play the narration for you while you cook, relax, or work around the house.
Alexa can read you recipes, play audio news shows, tell you the score, look up local businesses, check the weather, and complete just about any other basic task that springs to mind. She'll even order you an Uber to the airport and read out your text messages.
If you have smart home devices already, chances are the Echo works with them. Major ones like the Phillips Hue and other great smart bulbs, as well as Nest and other smart thermostats, work with the Echo. Smart switches, garage doors, sprinklers, locks, and security cameras also play nice with Alexa. The Echo supports more smart home devices than any other smart speaker currently. You can browse compatible smart home devices here.
The only downsides are a lack of privacy, the general fear that Amazon is slowly but surely taking over the world, and the fact that Alexa's search chops aren't as good as Google's.
If you're a Prime member, this is the smart speaker for you, and if you don't have Prime yet, sign up, because all the perks like two-day shipping, free music streaming, free ebooks, and free video streaming on Prime Video are well worth the annual fee.
Pros: Strong speaker, you can buy things on Amazon, best smart home support, cool design, good voice recognition, huge support network, 15,000+ skills and counting
Cons: Some limits with search
The best smart home speaker for Android fans
Why you'll love it: The Google Home is great for anyone who's all-in with Google and doesn't have Amazon Prime in their lives.
Google has the search smarts to rule the artificial intelligence space, but its just getting started with the Google Home smart speaker and its artificially intelligent Assistant.
It's a great little smart speaker that's customizable and cute enough to fit in with any room's decor. You can choose from a variety of cloth and metallic bases in fun colors. The top portion is white and angled gently so the touch-sensitive surface is positioned perfectly for your hands. Although some people say it looks like the air freshener in your bathroom (it does, to be perfectly honest), we think the Home looks more subtle than Amazon's futuristic-looking Echo lineup.
When you say, "Hey Google," or "Okay Google," little lights dance along the top touch surface in Google's signature colors: red, blue, green, and yellow. You can ask Home to play music from Google Play, Spotify, YouTube Music, Pandora, and TuneIn. The sound quality is decent and even at top volume, it sounds as good as most Bluetooth speakers you can buy for the same price.
Google Home has lots of smart features, including the ability to read you a daily briefing, give you a recap of the day's news from NPR and BBC World News, and answer your questions on just about any topic. Since Home uses Google's search graph to answer you, the entire knowledge of the internet is open to you. Ask about weather, traffic, stocks, or trivia, and Google will know the answer.
Google also has lots of experience with different accents, so Home is likely to understand you easily even if you have a strong Colombian accent like my boyfriend. One of my favorite features is playing trivia games with Google. The Assistant will play cheesy game show music and act as the goofy host, giving you a weird nickname when you say, "Okay Google, play a game." She also tells really bad dad jokes that'll have you groaning and guffawing.
Home works with a variety of smart home devices, too, so you can use it to turn off your Phillips Hue light bulbs, control your Nest thermostat, or stream media to your Chromecast. If you have any of these devices in your smart home, Google Home is a great compliment to those products. I've been using Google Home since it came out, and I love it.
There are still funny limitations, and Google Assistant may tell you she "doesn't know how to help with that yet," but "yet" is the operative word here. Google will only continue to improve Home, so it's a truly fabulous option for a smart speaker — especially at its price of $129.00 on Jet.
Expert reviewers across the web agree that Google Home is a great smart speaker, including CNET, Pocket Lint, The Guardian, and The Wirecutter.
Pros: Customizable base, best at search, good voice recognition, good sound, blends into decor, works with some smart home devices, plays games, affordable, works best with Google services
Cons: Ecosystem isn't as fleshed out as it could be, limitations with cross-platform support, not as much smart home support as Alexa
The best affordable smart speaker
Why you'll love it: The Amazon Echo Dot is the most affordable smart speaker you can buy, and it's just as smart as the original Echo.
If you don't want to pay more than $100 for a smart speaker, you're in luck, because Amazon's Echo Dot is wildly affordable. For $50, you get all the smarts of the original Echo in a smaller package that can sync up with bigger speakers and other Echo Dots to make your home smarter.
Just like on the Echo, you can use the Dot to ask Alexa to play music, trigger smart home devices, make calls, read and dictate messages answer questions, play news casts, set alarms, read audiobooks from Audible, and more.
Since it's a smaller speaker, the Dot doesn't have the same level of sound quality you'd get from a bigger speaker like the Echo or Google Home. However, it can sync up with multiple Dots or you can connect other speakers you have via Bluetooth or the 3.5 mm stereo cable. The Echo Dot supports streaming from Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, and TuneIn.
If you have smart home devices, you can use the Echo Dot to control lights, fans, switches, thermostats, locks, garage doors, and more. You can browse compatible smart home devices here.
The Dot may be small, but it still has Alexa inside, so all those 15,000+ skills are just a voice command away. This is the best smart speaker you can buy on a budget. you can also use it to supplement the original Echo or other Dots in a large home.
Pros: Affordable, small, 15,000+ skills, tons of smart home devices supported, lots of app support, connects to other speakers, works with other Echo Dots
Cons: Not as strong a speaker
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