T3 - UK (2020-08)

It was way back in 2014 that the Amazon Echo was

unexpectedly unveiled, launching a product category

that has grown to become essential for a lot of us –

many households now have at least one smart speaker

installed, and as we’ll show here, there’s never been a

broader choice of options to pick from.

The flexibility of voice control has played a big part

in making the smart speaker a success. These devices

can answer questions, read out messages, make phone

calls, play music, give you the weather forecast, tell

you the news, and of course control all the bits and

pieces that make up your smart home system.

And the stars of these smart speakers are the

digital assistants: Amazon Alexa, Apple’s Siri and

Google Assistant. They’re getting more intelligent all the

time too, which means you get regular upgrades for your

smart speaker without having to do anything.

You can find smart speakers in a wide variety of sizes,

at several price points, with a choice of different levels of

audio fidelity – if you’re interested in high-resolution

Spotify streaming then your choice of speaker might not

be the same as the one you’d pick if you were just

interested in occasional chats with Alexa.

As you’ll see from our picks, some smart speakers

even have displays now. Before buying, make sure your

choice of speaker works with your favourite apps and

music services, and the other smart home accessories

you’ve got installed.

Far from being just jabbering jukeboxes, speakers have

rapidly become the brain that can make your home so smart

SPEAKERS

SONOS BEAM

,I\RXQHHGKLJKTXDOLW\DXGLRIRUPXVLFDQG

PRYLHVJRIRU6RQRVåWKH%HDPZRUNVDVD

VRXQGEDUIRU\RXU79EXWDOVRVWUHDPVWXQHV

IURPDOOWKHPDMRUVWUHDPLQJVHUYLFHVDQGKDV

$OH[DDQG*RRJOH$VVLVWDQWRQERDUG

£399, sonos.com

GOOGLE NEST MINI

&KHDSYHUVDWLOHFRPSDFWVLPSOHåWKH*RRJOH

1HVW0LQLKDVDORWJRLQJIRULWQRWOHDVWWKH

HYHULPSUHVVLYH*RRJOH$VVLVWDQW7KLVZLOOWLH

LQUHDOO\QLFHO\ZLWKDOO\RXU*RRJOHDSSVDQG

RWKHU1HVWVPDUWKRPHJHDUDVZHOO

£49, store.google.com

AMAZON ECHO STUDIO

7KH(FKRVPDUWVSHDNHUKDVFRPHDORQJZD\

VLQFHDQGWKH$PD]RQ(FKR6WXGLRPRGHO

LVSURRIRILWKLJKĆGHOLW\DXGLR'ROE\$WPRV

WRRIIHULPPHUVLYHVRXQGDEXLOWLQ=LJEHH

VPDUWKXEDQGRIFRXUVH$PD]RQ$OH[D

£179.99, amazon.co.uk

SELECT SPEAKERS

 T3$8*867

Unmissable smart home upgrades