The best smart speakers in 2025

Amazon's Echo Dot speaker gets great reviews, and demonstrates how consistently this speaker performs, generation after generation. Indeed, this is the fifth iteration and by this point the humble Dot has become a staple of many, many households.

As always with the Echo Dot, you control your music and stream songs from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, and other services via voice commands. The Echo Dot produces rich, stereo sound that fills your home with music. Of course, it's not all about music with the Echo Dot. You can also ask Alexa to answer questions, read the news, check the weather, set alarms, create a shopping list, control compatible smart home devices, and much more. 

There are other variations you can try, too, including the Echo Dot for kids, or the Echo Spot, which is more of a smart alarm clock with a speaker. Whichever one you choose, you'll get hours of entertainment just from talking to Alexa. She's got an answer for (almost) everything.

The B&O Beoplay A1 sounds bigger than it looks, with impressive mids, highs, lows, and bass. It actually sounds like a more comprehensive stereo system, though for true stereo sound you'll need to hook it up to a second speaker.

The Beoplay A1 is controlled by B&O's highly intuitive app, which gives you the option to cycle through EQ levels and listening modes. It offers the most impressive sound customisation available in this roundup.

If deep layers of smart tech are important to you, this might not be for you. It has Alexa built in, but because the Beoplay A1 connects with Bluetooth instead of WiFi, you'll need to connect the speaker to your smartphone or tablet, which may limit what Alexa features are available to you. But the sound quality — a trademark of B&O — counters those smart feature shortcomings.

OK, let's get the awkward part out of the way. The Sonos Era 300 is expensive for what is effectively a fancy bookshelf speaker. There's no denying that, but — if you've got the cash — don't let it put you off, because this is an incredible device. And there are pricier options out there.

The big sell is spatial audio, which creates a three-dimensional sound that seems to come from all directions. It achieves this with the help of six optimally placed drivers and, of course, Dolby Atmos. It doesn't matter where you are in the room, the sound will hit you — full, rich, and detailed.

According to Sonos, the best sound quality comes through a WiFi connection though it also has Bluetooth for playing tunes via a paired device. And it will stream from pretty much any streaming service, whether its Apple Music, Amazon Music, Spotify, or an alternative.

You can control using Alexa, which also allows you to connect and control other smart home devices, or there's a handy Sonos app. You can use the app to set up automatic Trueplay tuning, which analyses the unique acoustics of the room and adjusts the sound to suit your space. That means the best listening experience at all times.

OK, so we've already raved about the Echo Dot, but fewer listeners are as familiar with the Amazon Echo Studio. It’s Amazon’s attempt at an audiophile-quality smart speaker. While it doesn’t match the quality of the most serious audio brands (few smart speakers do), the sound is very good indeed.

It supports a range of audio tech formats — such as Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Atmos, and Sony 360 Reality Audio — and delivers 3D audio. The 3D sound comes via a combination of directional-firing speakers. Hi-res tunes come courtesy of Amazon Music HD, though that requires a subscription.

Where the Amazon Echo Studio really excels is being hooked up to a home cinema set-up — particularly when you have two Echo Studios and Amazon Fire all connected at once. Being an Amazon device, the Echo Studio also gives you the very best of Alexa and smart home control.

OK, so we're talking mega money here but the Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin is well worth the cash for its audio quality, and has scored rave reviews. The sound quality should come as little surprise. Bowers & Wilkins are well known in the audiophile world. It's one of the best brands around for audio tech, whether you're after speakers or headphones.

The Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin offers stereo sound — as good as you can get without two separate speakers, at least — with a big audio performance that's both highly detailed and immersive. Reviewers even rate the finer details of the sound when you have the volume cranked up all the way.

In terms of smart features, this speaker has Alexa built-in and it's equipped to connect with pretty much any streaming platform you can name. It's also upgradable, which means it adds new services as they appear, while there's additional streaming control with the Bowers & Wilkins app.

A lack of physical inputs might put off some listeners but this is purpose made for wireless listening and streaming, with both WiFi and Bluetooth.

JBL is a great mid-range audio brand that makes no-nonsense devices. The JBL Authentics 200 is no different: a retro style smart speaker that delivers fantastic sound and more smart functionality than your average Alexa speaker. That's because this speaker offers both Alexa and Google Assistant is one excellent package. That's a whole lotta voice assistant.

You can customise the sound through the JBL One app, though — in true retro radio style — it has physical dials on the speaker for customising the bass and treble. Other features include automatic self-tuning, which optimises the sound to suit the room, and the ability connect two or more speakers for multi-room sound that fills the entire house.

You'll also get access to all your faviourite streaming services and while it doesn't support Dolby Atmos, that should only be a dealbreaker if you're super specific about audio tech. There's also a (pricier) wireless version available.