Smart speakers are a central pillar of the smart home, offering a quick way to interact with the rest of your gadgets, check the latest weather forecast, or listen to your favorite playlists. Most smart speakers are designed around a specific voice assistant platform — and Google Assistant has built a strong roster of supported devices over the past few years.
Whether you need something cheap to place in the kitchen or want a robust gadget that'll blast tunes to every corner of your home, here's a look at the best Google smart speakers. Many of the picks below were designed by Google, though you'll also find plenty of third-party products that deserve a closer look.
Google owns the Nest brand, so you can bet that their smart speakers are made to work with Google Assistant and the Google Home app right out of the box. Speaking of the box, this is one of the easiest speakers to set up that we’ve found -- thanks to easy automatic pairing and Google’s simple walkthrough prompts. The sound is also impressive -- the speaker sports a woofer, tweet, and tuning software that can adapt audio to the surrounding environment (as well as what type of audio you’re playing).
In addition to all the streaming possibilities and connections that Google Assistant can make, the Nest Audio can also pair with another Audio model, allowing you to set up a stereo system with truly impressive sound. The Nest Audio is also fairly affordable for this size of a smart speaker too, so you don’t need to spend too much to get the full package.
Sonos excels at combining top-notch sound with useful smart features, and the Sonos One is better than ever with its latest 2nd-generation model that can fill a room with sound while also making your life easier. The Sonos One is a third-party speaker that comes with support for both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, so you have a choice of voice assistants. Like the Nest Audio, you can pair two Sonos One speakers together, but you can also link it to other compatible Sonos speaker systems and even use them as rear home theater speakers in a surround sound setup.
While not exactly tiny, the speaker is compact enough to fit on most shelves or desks. There are basic controls on the top of the speaker, but one of the advantages of having a voice assistant like Google Assistant is that you can give hands-free commands, so you’ll have plenty of placement options for this sound powerhouse.
Oddly enough, the Sonos One's successor, the Sonos Era 100, does not currently offer support for Google Assistant. Because of this, you may want to reconsider upgrading if you're glued to Google's smart assistant.
If you are really, really invested in Google Assistant already, you probably have it working on other devices, especially something like an Android smartphone. Belkin’s speaker is designed just for such users: The beautiful exterior includes an angled resting place for your phone with wireless charging capabilities, so you can charge up your phone while keeping an eye on notifications. That makes the SoundForm Elite a great speaker to place in central locations — where you still want access to your phone — like a coffee table or desk.
In addition to the built-in Google Assistant, the speaker includes Active Matching technology to optimize audio, as well as dual-woofers with a vibration-canceling design, making this speaker excellent for more bass-oriented music and audio. It can also pair with any other Google-enabled smart speaker. The biggest downside to this amazing smart speaker is that it’s also one of the most expensive options.
Your smart speaker doesn’t have to just be a speaker — it can also be a smart display with Google built in. The Nest Hub Max is the best Google smart display around, equipped with a 10-inch touchscreen that allows you to interact with information, watch all kinds of videos, view livestreams through compatible security cameras, video chat with friends, and play unique games. The base includes speakers and a woofer so you still get powerful sound, too.
The Hub Max also has Chromecast for easy casting from other devices. Keep in mind that you’ll want to place the unit in a highly visible spot, ideally close enough to touch to take advantage of the smart display. But in the right spot, this model really can become a hub for your smart home offering a trove of useful info and entertainment whenever you want.
Many of the smart speakers on our list need to stay anchored in one spot near an outlet for power. Not so with the Sonos Move, which is a battery-powered speaker designed to be taken on the go. The battery can last for up to 11 hours on a charge (USB-C charger included), and the design has an IP56 rating to help withstand rain, snow, dust, salty ocean spray, and more.
Like other Sonos speakers, support for both Google Assistant and Alexa is included here. While you may not always be in Wi-Fi range to use the voice assistants all the time, there’s also Bluetooth support, so you can make direct connections to your smartphone and play all the tunes that you want. Read our tutorial to learn how to connect Google Assistant to Sonos.
A personal voice assistant is designed to be, well, personal. If you are less interested in big sound and more focused on a helpful smart speaker at your side, the Nest Mini is an affordable option. The speaker is tiny, but it can still play music or podcasts, and it's the ideal size to sit beside your computer at a desk -- although it can also be mounted on a nearby wall. It also works well as a pair if you’d like to get two.
Of course, sound won’t be as good as with a larger speaker, although you can still enjoy songs on a nearby Mini. Note: You’ll also need to connect the Mini to a power outlet, as it doesn’t have an internal battery.
The Google Nest Hub is essentially a smaller, more affordable version of the Nest Hub Max. Offering a seven-inch display, availability in multiple colors, and full support for Google Assistant, this affordable device is a great option for anyone just starting out on their smart home journey.
With a price tag of $99, the Google Nest Hub is one of the cheapest products on this list. But don’t let that fool you into thinking this is a “cheap” device, as it packs in tons of premium features often reserved for much pricier products. This includes a temperature sensor, motion sensor, and even an ambient EQ light sensor to help adjust its brightness.
While the Nest Hub is technically a smart display and not a smart speaker, it’s an easy recommendation thanks to the impressive sound quality offered by its full-range speaker and 1.7-inch driver. It’s also equipped with three far-field microphones that can hear your commands clearly from across the room – although you also have the option to turn off the mic if you want some privacy.
If it can be streamed, voice-activated, made better with an app, or beaten by mashing buttons, Tyler's into it. When he's not making the Internet a better place with the latest tech news, Tyler is working in the eco and investment world, writing fiction, or waiting for hiking weather.
Few things ruin a quiet evening faster than a robot vacuum roaring through the living room. Most of us end up pausing the cleaning run, which defeats the whole purpose of owning one. Matic thinks it has the answer with its new Serene robot vacuum, and the big selling point is how little noise it makes.
The Matic Serene runs at 52 decibels even when cleaning at full power. To put that in perspective, Matic compares it to the hum of your refrigerator. It is available now for $1,695, which is $200 more than the original Matic’s current price.
Outdoor security cameras are not always practical if you live in an apartment or rental. Drilling into an exterior wall may be off-limits, while pointing a regular indoor camera through a window can create another problem once reflections start showing up after dark.
Baseus is trying to solve both issues with the new PrimeSentinel W1, a $69.99 security camera designed specifically to monitor the outdoors through glass. It mounts directly to a window without drilling and uses a 4K Starlight sensor with an F1.0 aperture for full-color monitoring during the day and at night.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
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