Without a doubt, smart speakers like the Amazon Echo or Google Home will be some of the most popular gifts this holiday season. But unlike last year, when there were only a handful of choices, you now have dozens of ways to speak with AI assistants like Alexa, Google Assistant, and Cortana.
Some speakers offer superior sound quality or output powerful enough to DJ a party, some can drop bass in the bedroom, and others are even portable and waterproof enough to bring into the shower. Here's a rundown of a few popular options this holiday season, with reviews from VentureBeat staff members Khari Johnson, Anna Hensel, and Blair Hanley Frank.
Sonos One
The Sonos One is the first voice-powered smart speaker from the company known for delivering high quality audio. Like other Sonos speakers, the One delivers rich and powerful sound. Read this review by my colleague Anna Hensel to learn more.
An exclusive added bonus, and a great one for Sonos One users, is that in 2018 you'll be able to speak with Google Assistant and Alexa.
Sonos One comes in black and white and is available for $199. In October, Sonos released a software update to connect Sonos speakers with Amazon's Echo speakers.
That's why, when deciding whether you want to buy into the family of Echo or Home smart speakers from industry leaders Amazon and Google, you have to ask whether you want to populate your house with Google Home Mini or Amazon Echo Dot speakers. If sound quality is your priority, you want the Home Mini. As this VB review explains, it's not even a close contest.
Unfortunately, the top tap functionality for the Home Mini was disabled after a journalist discovered that a Home Mini given away at the Made by Google event in October made thousands of unrequested recordings. Some touch functionality has been added since then.
The Google Home Mini made its debut in October to compete with the Echo Tap.
The Home Mini comes in coral, chalk, and charcoal, and -- like the Echo Tap -- costs $49.
Like all other Echo devices, the Echo Plus is made to speak with Alexa, which means it can speak to streaming music services like Spotify and Pandora, and alarm systems from ADT and Nest.
The Echo Plus is currently on sale for $149 and is available in white, black, and silver.
The Home Max can deliver music with Google Cast, Bluetooth connection, or an Aux in connection to work with that old wood panel stereo. It can also be paired with more than 250 other devices that can cast with Chromecast to play music or bring you the voice of Google Assistant.
Like Apple's HomePod promises to do, the Home Max delivers spatially aware sound, sensing its surrounding walls to determine how to best fill space with sound.
Google Assistant is able to connect with more than 150 smart home brands for smart control of more than 1,000 smart devices.
The Home Max, which made its debut in October, costs $399 and comes in chalk grey and charcoal black.
Amazon Echo (second generation)
The Echo delivers firm, sturdy sound with the same 2.5-inch woofer that drives the Amazon Echo Plus, though the Echo Plus has a larger tweeter for high-frequency sound.
I find is best suited to the bedroom or kitchen, where you can configure Alexa Routines to bring you news flash briefings every morning, play musical alarms, or even keep a night light on.
The second iteration of the smart speaker costs $99 (on sale for $79 at the time this story was published), which is less than the first generation Echo that spurred the voice revolution, and it comes in six colors, including light and dark wood choices.
Design-wise, it's gorgeous, and sturdier than most. One downside to the Invoke may be that its far-field microphones listening for the "Hey Cortana" wake word are extremely sensitive, more so than Home or Echo speakers, and have a tendency to wake when not expressly needed. Read this VB review for more information.
Along with Cortana, this speaker offers some unique offerings, bringing you integrations for LinkedIn, Wunderlist, and Skype. Last week, Microsoft brought Gmail calendar and email integrations for Cortana to Windows 10 PCs and the Invoke, with more on the way next year.
The Invoke is the first speaker with Cortana inside but, funnily enough, Harman Kardon, owned by Samsung, may be one of the only companies around with speakers preset to speak to Cortana, Alexa, and Google Assistant. A speaker with Samsung's AI assistant, Bixby, is reportedly due out in mid-2018.
This September, Ninety7 announced two new products, the Loft and Dox, to make Alexa and Google Assistant portable. The Loft costs $49 and comes in black, white, and an attractive copper/bronze. The Dox is compatible with the second generation Echo, costs $39, and delivers up to 10 hours of battery life.
It won’t stay on for multiple days at a time, which means it’s not a replacement for a more traditional plug-in speaker. That said, it’s great at filling a gap in Google Assistant coverage around your house, or providing you with a remote node for your virtual assistant that can operate outside the home.
The TicHome Mini version of this story includes contribution from VentureBeat staff writer Blair Hanley Frank.