The choice is all yours!
This is the season to buy smart speakers, with both Amazon and Google revamping their line-ups before the holidays, and Apple promising to join the market with its own entry in 2018. But with an increasing number of models available, how do you choose between them? We’ve got all you need to know. All in all, Apple’s HomePod delay reflects a huge missed opportunity as smart speakers were an incredible gift this holiday season. So taking a look at the most popular smart speaker cum home controlling hubs!!!
A.Google Home
It’s a brand of smart speakers developed by Google.The standard Google Home speaker, not too big, and not too small, and comparable with the standard Amazon Alexa as being the best option for most people. You can choose from four different coloured finishes for the bottom grill, and there’s enough audio oomph to make music enjoyable
Weight: 477g.
Connectivity: Wi-Fi dual-band (2.4/5 GHz), Bluetooth.
Input: Voice commands, limited physical touch surface.
Google home Range
Google Home Mini
Don’t need that extra audio power? Try the Google Home Mini, which has all the smarts of the Google Assistant but only a basic speaker that’ll do for voice feedback, alarms and the like (it’ll play music at a push but don’t expect fantastic quality).
Price: 6650/-
Google Home Max: Designed for audiophiles and to take on the likes of the Apple HomePod and the Sonos speaker range, the Home Max can adjust its acoustics to match the contours of your room and is the only Google smart speaker with an aux-in port for extra devices. Dual 4.5-inch woofers head the powerful sound capabilities, and you can pair two for true stereo sound.
Price: 13650/-
B. Amazon Alexa
Alexa is an intelligent personal assistant developed by Amazon. First used in the Amazon Echo and the Amazon Echo Dot devices, developed by Amazon Lab126.
Amazon Echo
The second-generation Amazon Echo hits the sweet spot between speaker power and price: capable of decent-sounding audio without being too bulky or too expensive. In short, it’s the best Echo for most people. It comes with a choice of six different finishes at the time of writing. It also doubles as a Bluetooth speaker and has a 3.5 mm audio jack.
Price – $99
Buy now from Amazon India
Buy now from Amazon US
Amazon Echo Dot
The mini Echo is the one to buy if you don’t need decent audio from it (think podcasts and alarms rather than high-fidelity music) – or if you have a separate speaker you can attach via Bluetooth or the 3.5 mm audio jack. It supports all the same Alexa commands as the big Echos, so it’s a good choice for a second room if you’re kitting out the whole house.
Price: $49
Buy now from Amazon India
Buy now from Amazon US
C. Apple Homepod
The HomePod is a smart speaker developed by Apple Inc. It’s a music speaker as well as home controlling hub. It was first announced on June 5, 2017, at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference.
Weight: 2.495 kg
Memory: 1000 MB.
Connectivity: HomeKit compatible, Wi-Fi, Instant pairing, Stereo pairing
Price: $349
Release Date: Early 2018.
Sonos, already well established as one of the leading players in wireless audio speakers, has also jumped into the smart speaker market this year .which has Alexa on board and is adding Google Assistant in 2018. Oh, and Siri control via iOS is coming soon too, making it a good choice for those who like their music sounding crystal clear, and want access to as many smart assistants as possible as well.