MARCH 20 2 1 T3 53Small speakers for every room
APPLE HOMEPOD MINI
Apple’s smaller, much more affordable
HomePod delivers surprisingly big sound
for its size: it sounds like a much larger
speaker. It’s a great device but it’s very
Apple-centric: if you’re not an Apple
Music subscriber, it lacks support for rival
services. The HomePod mini is a HomeKit
smart home hub and supports the new
Thread smart home protocol.
£99, apple.comAMAZON ECHO DOT (4TH GEN)
The diminutive Dot sounds better than
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speaker more effective than the previous
model’s unidirectional one, and its voice
recognition is better too. The bigger Echo
sounds better but the Echo Dot is happy in
smaller spaces, works well in a multi-room
setup and can add voice control to your
existing smart home devices.
£34.99, amazon.co.uk
AMAZON ECHO SHOW 5
If you’d like your smart speaker to
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Show is a good choice. The tiny speaker
is better for podcasts and talk radio than
for music (ours is connected to an external
speaker for that) but it makes a good
kitchen or bedside speaker and doubles as
a smart alarm clock. Never pay the RRP:
always shop around.
£49.99, amazon.co.uk