Google's long-awaited new smart speaker is finally here. The Google Home Speaker is being marketed as a new era for the tech giant's roster of AI-powered products.

Highlights include a new app, improved hardware and the inclusion of the Gemini smart assistant to take on the brainpower of Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri.

We first covered the Home at the back-end of 2025, but Google has only just revealed the date when buyers will be able to get their hands on it.

The smart speaker will officially launch on June 25th, while you can pre-order now for £100 / $100 if you've got an itchy trigger finger and want to guarantee a new Home for your home.

Am I set to become one of those keen beans desperate to test out what the Home can do? Pre-ordering might be a step too far, and the need to pay £8 / $10 per month for a Google Home Premium subscription sours the deal somewhat, but I'll readily admit that I'm fascinated by Google's re-entry into one of audio's most fast-moving markets.

The current problem for Google is that it has been badly left behind by the current market. While Amazon and Apple surged ahead by offering a host of products – be they in-house or made by licensed third parties – Google fell badly behind.

Our list of the best Google Assistant speakers has become increasingly thin as time has gone on. The JBL Authentics 300 and Authentics 500 are the most recent speakers to house Google Assistant in one form or another, and they came out almost two years ago.

Alexa, on the other hand, has gone from strength to strength, not only through licensed Apple products such as the Echo Dot (5th Gen) and the Echo Dot Max, but through third-party speakers integrating one of the best smart assistants into their respective feature sets.

Just look at the Sonos Era 300, the Sonos Play, the upcoming Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker or the new Denon Home multi-room range as proof of just how keen major brands are to have Alexa on board.

Google has recognised the need for a big swing to get itself back in the game, and while there's no guarantee of a home run, the integration of fully-fledged Gemini powers does point to a serious shift for the brand.

Whatever your views on AI, Gemini is a seriously powerful tool to pack into a smart speaker, and one that could genuinely tempt users away from the safety of Apple or Amazon.

The flipside of that, of course, is that Google might have focused more on headline-grabbing AI integration than it has on audio quality.

A smart speaker is still a speaker, after all, so that promise of 360-degree audio and a "uniform sound that you can hear from every direction" needs to be delivered upon.

Amazon recently dropped the ball with its mediocre-sounding Echo Dot Max, but Apple's HomePod 2 and HomePod Mini remain five-star sonic powerhouses. Plus, new models will surely arrive at some point, something which Google should have factored into their calculations when producing the new Home Speaker.

I'm fascinated to see whether Google can still compete in the smart speaker arena. This is a corner of the market which has become something of a duopoly between Amazon and Apple, but the revamped Home Speaker, complete with Gemini powers, could turn that two-horse race into a triple-threat standoff.

That monthly subscription price will be off-putting to some, while Google hasn't yet forged a reputation for itself as a purveyor of the finest audio quality around, but who knows? Maybe the Home Speaker is about to change all that.

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Devices that bring streaming powers to your old hi-fi kit aren't new, but this new device aims to bring the most popular streaming elements to existing products without being tied to any single brand or ecosystem.

Hailing from Sweden, the Atonemo Streamplayer is a small unit that looks like an oversized lighter (measuring just 70x50x19mm) and aims to update "any speaker, amplifier, or system – regardless of brand, age, or inputs – into a smart, wireless, multiroom audio system."

Atonemo's approach aims to be agnostic, meaning you can keep your existing speakers from different brands and from different eras, but update them with streaming technology without having to start all over with a specific smart brand or be tied to a particular ecosystem.

The device includes AirPlay 2, Google Cast, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Apple Music and YouTube Music, as well as Bluetooth and LE Audio Auracast streaming. Wi-fi 6 is on board, while Roon Ready integration is also coming soon.

The Streamplayer is also compatible with Apple HomeKit and Google Home smart home systems (but not Amazon Alexa).

The Streamplayer can be connected to any audio product that has a 3.5mm auxiliary input, with up to 24-bit/192kHz hi-res files supported. We're told that the 3.5mm audio output on the Streamplayer is a combination analogue and mini Toslink/SPDIF output.

You can power the unit using USB-C, while it connects to your home wi-fi using the Atonemo app. The app is there purely for set up, grouping together connected speakers and offering a 10-band EQ; all music playback is done through the native music streaming apps.

This means you can wirelessly unite various speakers (active, Bluetooth, even older models) from different brands in your house and be able to play to all from your chosen streaming service. To do this, you will need one Streamplayer for each product.

Founder and CEO of Atonemo Leo Ballesteros says he saw a gap in the market where "speaker manufacturers excelled in sound and design but struggled with software and streaming capabilities." Atonemo's agnostic approach aims to be as simple and out of the way as possible. “Speakers should be about sound and design, Atonemo takes care of the rest," he says. "We’re here to breathe new life into all the beautiful speakers, amplifiers and systems already out there, ensuring they remain timeless while embracing modern technology.”

We are increasingly seeing some music streamers miss out on one streaming feature – for instance, BluOS platforms don't feature Chromecast, while the new WiiM Ultra is missing AirPlay 2 – and if you are after a multiroom speaker system, you tend to have to pick a specific maker (Sonos, Amazon Echo, Apple HomePod, Bluesound, Denon etc) to get a seamless experience from multiple speakers. The Streamplayer is a clever way of supercharging any speaker or kit you already own and love with missing streaming elements that you can control from your smartphone without investing in any extra subscription or locking into a brand's own locked system.

The Atonemo Streamplayer is due to go on sale in Spring and will cost £99 / $99 / €99. You can register your interest on the official website to be notified of when it goes on sale.

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Using wireless headphones with Google TV is about to get easier than ever. Fast Pair will start rolling out in the next month, Google has announced. The feature lets you pair wireless headphones with your Google TV device without opening the Bluetooth menu, similar to how AirPods pair with Apple devices like the Apple TV 4K.

It's about time. Fast Pair was first announced back at CES 2022, so it's taken over two years to become available (though it launched on Google's Chromebook range of laptops last year).

The first device to benefit will be the Google Chromecast with Google TV, which will get the feature in the next month. Other Google TV devices will follow later this year. LG's 2024 range of OLED TVs will feature Chromecast built-in as part of its webOS 24 operating system.

Instead of having to open the Bluetooth menu to pair wireless headphones, Fast Pair brings a prompt to the TV screen. Click it and you'll pair. However, unlike AirPods, your headphones will have to be put in pairing mode first. Fast Pair also works with compatible wireless speakers.

Google also announced that video app TikTok now has Chromecast support, so you can cast videos from your phone to your TV. And it said that soon "select" Google TV and Android TV devices (and some LG TVs) will work as Matter hubs for the Google Home platform, to be controlled from the Google Home mobile app.

The firm says there are now over 220 million monthly active Google TV / Android TV devices in use, up from 150 million a year ago. 

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And the best TVs overall

You might be perfectly happy with your TV's picture performance, but find the sound quality is a little lacking. If that's the case, then investing in a soundbar is a great option.

After all, they are compact enough to fit under your TV screen, and offer plenty of different models to suit a variety of needs. We are yet to test a model that matches a multi-speaker setup, but many soundbars out there can still deliver an immersive yet detailed audio performance.

But which soundbar is right for you? If you find yourself asking this question, then you have come to the right place. In this guide, you will find the very best soundbars we have tested over the years, from budget bars to high-end systems.

You can read more about how we test soundbars, or simply scroll down to find the best model for your needs. If you are looking for models that are more wallet-friendly, we also have a guide to the best budget soundbars available at the moment.

We also have a guide for the best soundbar deals, so you can find out which models are at a discount.

1. Best soundbar overall

Replacing the original Sonos Arc can't have been a simple task (it's in the What Hi-Fi? Hall of Fame for very good reason) but, after literal years of rumours, said replacement is finally here – and it's exceptionally good.

The Arc Ultra looks very similar to its predecessor, but it's slightly less thick, which means it's even less likely to obstruct the bottom of your TV's image, and the new 'ledge', which houses most of the touch controls, is a stylish new touch.

As has always been the case with Sonos soundbars, simplicity is key. There's no remote or display – you just connect it to your TV via HDMI eARC and it takes over from your TV's speakers. For many people, that's ideal, but for others, the Arc Ultra will seem limited – particularly in its lack of dedicated HDMI inputs.

The lack of DTS:X support will bother some people, too, and it's fair to say that the Sonos app, while better than it has been, is still a little bit buggy.

Those flaws are worth overlooking if you're able to, though, because the sound quality is superb. The delivery is so crisp, clean and precise that it makes the original Arc sound a bit vague in comparison.

It's also vastly superior in terms of how much it fills the room and how accurately it places and tracks effects in three-dimensional space. A soundbar system that includes wireless surrounds and a sub, such as the Samsung HW-Q990D, will be even better in this regard, but the Atmos effect that the Arc Ultra delivers is deeply impressive by the standards of a solo soundbar – and you can always add surrounds and a dedicated subwoofer to the Arc Ultra at a later date if you have the appetite (and deep pockets).

The Arc Ultra also features a unique 'Sound Motion' woofer, which is markedly different to a typical speaker driver and which Sonos claims allows the new soundbar to produce 'double the bass' of its predecessor. In truth, the Arc Ultra doesn't sound vastly weightier than the previous model, but its bass is significantly punchier and more tuneful, even when really challenged. This is a real strength of the new soundbar.

These core audio qualities make the Arc Ultra almost as well-suited to music as it is to movies, which is very well indeed, making this a terrific all-rounder of a soundbar. If you can live with the lack of HDMI inputs, there's no better performance-per-pound soundbar around.

Read the full Sonos Arc Ultra review

2. Best cheap soundbar

If you're looking for a simple, constructive step up in sound from your TV's in-built speakers, Sony's HT-SF150 (known as the HT-S100F in the US) offers a significant sonic enhancement for little outlay.

Indeed there's almost no other competition worth considering for under £100 / $100 / AU$200. We have recently had a few contenders passing through the test rooms at a slightly higher price, namely the Sharp HT-SB700 and the Amazon Fire TV Soundbar, but the SF150 still comes out on top.

While the SF150 is very affordable indeed, it doesn't look or feel cheap and it won't look out of place nestled below a much more premium TV. Alongside HDMI ARC, it has an optical input supporting Dolby Digital, Dolby Dual mono and LPCM 2ch. There's also a USB port and Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity for music playback from an external source too.

The SF150 also features Sony's S-Force Front Surround technology, which applies processing to give the acoustic impression of a more encompassing soundstage. While there is no replacement for surround sound, it adds a dramatic sense of weight and separation.

Of course, you're not going to get sonic perfection for this sort of money, and the SF150's delivery of dialogue can be a smidge muffled at times. A little more impact to effects would be welcome, too. Still, the broad-strokes approach to sound taken here is probably a sensible one that means the 'bar gets the basics right and never offends. Anyone wanting a musical, finely detailed speaker should aim for a more sophisticated model. Still, this budget bar is ideal for those looking for a quick and easy improvement to their TV.

Read our full Sony HT-SF150 review

3. Best compact soundbar

The usual brands that jump out when you first think of a soundbar tend to be big-hitting brands such as Sonos, Sony and Samsung. But that doesn't mean lesser-known companies cannot be deserving of success. Take, for instance, the Creative Stage Pro, a small soundbar that comes from a brand best known for its computer accessories.

Consisting of a main soundbar that measures 8 x 55 x 11cm (hwd) and a slender subwoofer that comes in at 42 x 12 x 27cm, the Creative model is incredibly compact. This makes it ideal for small rooms, and it can be tucked neatly under a desk if you plan on pairing the system with a PC.

But how does it sound? The Stage Pro delivers a surprisingly cinematic audio performance despite its small footprint. We find when watching Blade Runner 2049, "Voices [...] are presented with impressive detail and emotion thanks to the bar’s solid handling of low-level dynamics."

The soundbar shines brightly when it comes to music as well, producing an enjoyable experience that’s underpinned by a pin-sharp sense of timing and impressively clean vocals.

We do find that the sound is pretty localised to the bar, and it struggles to push the sound out to deliver a truly immersive sound experience. But, considering its low price tag, the Stage Pro is a great choice if you are short on space and still want good audio quality.

Read our full Creative Stage Pro review

4. Best step-up soundbar

The HT-S2000 is a soundbar that’s centred on improving the sound that comes from your TV while keeping the cost as low as possible. There are few frills to find with this bar, with Sony opting for a straightforward design and feature set; but we think it's nailed it.

The S2000 is a fairly small unit, measuring just 6.4 x 80 x 12cm. It features Bluetooth 5.2 and HDMI eARC – something comparable bars such as the Sonos Ray do not offer. It also offers an Optical audio connection, in case your TV lacks eARC capabilities.

The S2000 uses a 3.1-channel arrangement with a built-in subwoofer and a total power output of 250W. There are no upfiring drivers which means that the height channels for the supported spatial audio formats, Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, are achieved through Sony’s Vertical Sound Engine psychoacoustic sound processing system.

If you want to improve the audio of your favourite shows and movies at a price that won’t put you off, then the Sony is worthy of attention. It provides clearer, more dynamic and more direct sound than your TV will be capable of mustering. Sure, you can spend more on meatier-sounding soundbars, but at this price, the S2000 offers plenty of quality.

Read our full Sony HT-S2000 review

5. Best entry-level Dolby Atmos soundbar

While it's undeniably diminutive in stature, everything else about the Beam Gen 2 is deeply impressive. Sonos essentially took its original Beam and added genuinely convincing Dolby Atmos without changing the overall design or adding dedicated upward-firing drivers.

It's all done through clever processing: the Beam Gen 2 uses psychoacoustic HRTF (head-related transfer function) technology to deliver a sense of height using two of the unit's five front-facing drivers.

The effect, while not quite as immersive as that offered by soundbars with dedicated up-firing speakers, is still very impressive, particularly considering the size and price of the Beam. All told, it provides an enveloping presentation that's rich, three-dimensional and full of detail.

During testing, we paired the Beam Gen 2 with TVs ranging from 43 inches to 65 inches in size, and in each case found that it "enhanced the cinematic scale and viewing experience". So don't discount this little soundbar if you've got a big TV.

Of course, with this being a Sonos soundbar, movie and TV sound is only one of its features. On top of that, you can use it as a full Sonos wireless speaker and even integrate it into a Sonos multi-room system. Control can be done via the Sonos S2 app, or you can simply send music to the 'bar using AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect or Tidal Connect. It even now supports hi-res 24-bit/48kHz 'Ultra HD' tracks from Amazon Music.

To cut a long story short, if you want a small, affordable soundbar that can deliver convincing Dolby Atmos, the Sonos Beam Gen 2 is the 'bar for you.

Read the full Sonos Beam Gen 2 review

6. Best mid-range soundbar

Soundbars for TV aren't new territory for Sonos, but the former What Hi-Fi? Award-winning Arc is the only soundbar from the brand, along with its Ultra sequel of course, to deliver Dolby Atmos with upfiring speakers. It sits above the Beam (Gen 2) in terms of pricing and is suited to 55-inch TVs and above, with optional wall mounting fixings available for £79 / $79 / AU$99.

There are touch-sensitive play/pause and volume controls on the bar with LEDs that indicate status and when you're talking to the built-in Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa. Connectivity includes AirPlay 2, ethernet and eARC for Dolby Atmos from compatible TVs.

The Sonos Arc uses 11 drivers to create your soundfield, several of which are upfiring and angled into your room to bounce sound off your walls and ceiling. “It’s so much more than just pointing a couple of speakers upwards,” said Sonos’s product manager Scott Fink when the Arc launched. “We focused on the playback precision of all the channels, including the height channels.” And that effort certainly paid off: the Arc offers one of the most convincing Atmos performances you can get from a single-chassis soundbar. Height junkies can turn up the volume of the Arc's upward-firing drivers using a separate control, but during our testing we don't find it necessary to overly boost the upfiring channels to enjoy the Arc's immersive delivery.

You're transported to the heart of the action. Surround effects are expertly placed, and there's great dynamism and good weight to the sound too. Tonally, it's nicely balanced if you just want to listen to music, although it could sound a tiny bit more direct. But make no mistake, this is a hugely impressive TV soundbar for the money.

Read our full Sonos Arc review

7. Best soundbar with HDMI 2.1

While the Sonos Arc Ultra is our top soundbar pick for most people, there are those for whom its lack of HDMI 2.1 inputs will be a deal-breaker. That's because most TVs have just two HDMI 2.1 inputs, one of which (the eARC port) will be taken up by the soundbar, which means there will be just one left for a current-gen console or gaming PC. That's fine if you have just one such device, but if you have two (or more!), only the one connected to the remaining HDMI 2.1 socket will be able to run with all of its fancy features – most notably 4K/120Hz – intact.

If that sounds familiar (and you want a solo soundbar rather than a system such as the Samsung HW-Q990D, below), you should check out the Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 9, which has a dedicated HDMI 2.1 input and support for 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM.

That HDMI input certainly isn't the only reason to consider this Sony soundbar, though. For sound quality, it's almost as good as the Sonos Arc Ultra – indeed, it won a What Hi-Fi? Award just before its new Sonos rival was launched.

The Sony sounds exceptionally crisp and precise, and the Atmos-ness of its delivery is hugely impressive for a standalone bar – though you can also add wireless surrounds (and a sub) at a later date if you so wish. It's really dynamic, too, delivering big shifts and low-level subtleties with ease. It can deliver deep bass by soundbar standards, too, although just occasionally a particular bass note can stick out a little more than it perhaps should.

Other than that, the only flaw of note is a slightly clinical character – the Arc Ultra is that little bit warmer in tone but still plenty precise.

In terms of design, the Theatre Bar 9 is a big improvement on the HT-A7000 it replaces, with a much softer and more subtle appearance. There are some handy feet in the box that can be attached to the bar so it can straddle a TV stand, too.

All-in-all, this is an excellent soundbar that should be considered alongside the Sonos Arc Ultra – and if you need the additional input, it's an easy decision in favour of the Sony.

Read the full Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 9 review

8. Best soundbar package

For many, buying a full surround system simply isn't feasible when it comes to both space and cost. On the other hand, a lone soundbar might not quite cut it. This is where a soundbar package such as the Q990F steps in.

The system is made up of a soundbar, a subwoofer, and two surround speakers. The step up from the five-star Q990D to the Q990F isn’t huge, but it has kept what we liked about the previous model and only improved on it.

It's an 11.1.4-channel system, with 23 drivers in total. With support for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, we were impressed by the soundbar's ability to create that all-important dome of sound as well as ensuring the sound moves organically between the channels.

When it comes to its bass performance, we say in our review: "There is a much greater sense of tonal variation from this sub [compared to the Q990D], which unearths a new layer to the bass. The Q990F’s bass feels more organic, balanced, and seamlessly integrated into the system as a result."

In terms of connectivity, there are HDMI eARC and optical ports to handle audio transmission from your TV, while the additional two HDMI sockets serve as passthrough ports. Both are rated to the HDMI 2.1 standard, with support for up to 4K/120Hz signals, plus HDR10+ and Dolby Vision.

Despite it launching at the fairly eye-watering price of £1699 / $1999 / AU$1999, we have also spotted regular discounts that drop the system to under a grand in the UK. That combined with its exceptional audio performance makes it an easy recommendation for serious cinephiles.

Read our full Samsung HW-Q990F review

9. Best budget soundbar package

It's pretty rare to find a soundbar system that performs as well as the Hisense AX5125H, especially at such a low price. We tested it at £249 / $350 and, as if that wasn't enough of a bargain, we have already seen it drop to as low as £199 in the UK.

That's all well and good, but how does it actually sound? During testing, we were pleasantly surprised to find that this Dolby Atmos soundbar system is an incredibly cohesive and immersive performer at this price.

In our review, while watching Civil War, for example, we say: “Explosions and deep gunfire have good impact and solidity, and there’s just about enough tonal expression for bassy soundtrack elements to sound reasonably musical.”

Vocals are clear and sound relatively emotive too, although the subwoofer can get a little overzealous and cause them to become muffled in the busiest sections.

Many owners will simply connect their TV to the Hisense AX5125H via HDMI eARC/ARC and be done with it. Those with external sources, however, will be pleased to hear that the soundbar also has a dedicated HDMI input – though, for gaming, it's limited to 60Hz.

The included soundbar, subwoofer, and two surround speakers are simple to set up as well, although there's nothing too interesting being done when it comes to their basic design.

If your budget can't stretch to the more pricey Samsung HW-Q990F model, this more affordable Hisense system would be a great option for you to upgrade your TV's sound.

Read the full Hisense AX5125H review

10. Best premium soundbar

KEF took its time releasing its first soundbar considering how long it has been in the hi-fi and home cinema business, but the XIO was worth the wait. It's quite the proposition – a premium soundbar crammed full of features including Dolby Atmos and DTS:X support, a comprehensive app and plenty of streaming options available.

On top of that, it is packed with some of KEF's signature technology including six Uni-Q MX drivers. Rather than having two separate drive units, a tweeter and mid/bass, that fit into a single assembly like we are used to seeing in KEF products, this new MX driver has a dual diaphragm arrangement that features a clever mechanical crossover to allow the high-frequency central section to operate separately.

Through the app, you can calibrate the soundbar to the room and choose from a variety of sound profiles. While the soundbar's design is relatively flat and mature, there are not as many HDMI connections as we would like with only one HDMI eARC input.

But how does it actually sound? In our in-depth review, we state: "Despite the XIO’s slim and relatively compact dimensions, it still manages to produce an impressively wide and immersive soundstage." Its ability to spread sound around the space is admirable, too, as it manages to keep each frequency clear yet integrated.

When compared with the rival Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Max, we find that while the Sennheiser produces a bassier and more impactful sound, "KEF counters with more clarity, greater precision in the way sounds are rendered and notably more finesse in the way low-level dynamics are delivered."

The XIO's performance with music is incredibly pleasing and we add that the soundbar "can easily serve as a standalone music system, which is more than we can say for the vast majority of soundbars that come our way."

For those who want a balanced overall sonic performance for music and movies at a premium price tag, the XIO is the best we have heard.

Read the full KEF XIO review

11. Best high-end soundbar

The cream of the soundbar crop comes in the form of the Focal Mu-so Hekla. The all-in-one system can act as a soundbar and a hi-fi system, making it a rare proposition.

The bar is one metre long, almost 30cm deep and weighs 15.5kg. This makes it less easy to accommodate than other premium soundbar rivals, as it needs a relatively large piece of furniture to support it. There is a stylish illuminated dial on the top of the bar, which lets you control volume with a twist to the side, and also acts as a touch screen to adjust input and power.

This all means you need to consider where you will place the system, as it only just fits under our TV screen and the light from the dial is reflected off the screen from certain angles.

But how does it actually sound? In short, absolutely brilliant. It produces a rich, detailed sound that outdoes other premium soundbar rivals with both music and movies.

Bass is composed yet impactful, adding an extra punch that never stands out too much from the other frequencies.

This impressive performance with films continues with music. We say in our review when listening to 500 Miles by Peter, Paul and Mary: "As the vocals get louder near the end of the piece then grow quieter to almost a whisper, it handles this change in dynamics with subtlety to compound the emotive finale."

It's by far the most expensive model on this list, but if you have limited space (and unlimited funds), then this is the top pick.

Read the full Focal Mu-so Hekla review

Also consider

The best alternative soundbars we have tested:

JBL Bar 300MK2
While it does not quite reach the same heights as the Sonos Beam Gen 2 in the entry-level Dolby Atmos category, the five-star JBL Bar 300MK2 produces a bombastic yet detailed sound for movies.

Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 7 + S
Another alternative to the Sonos Beam Gen 2 comes with the Theatre Bar 7 + S combination, which features a soundbar and subwoofer. It's a beautifully balanced soundbar package that is hard to fault, making it a top performer at this money.

Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 6
Although it did not trump the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) in the best entry-level Dolby Atmos soundbar category, the Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 6 provides excellent room-filling sound that will suit many people. It might lack the subtlety and detail to be the cream of the crop, but you get a lot of kit for your money.

Majority Bowfell Halo Atmos
This is the cheapest Dolby Atmos soundbar system we have had in our test room, but it well outperforms its low price tag. Don't go in expecting fully immersive surround sound, but the Majority system delivers a cinematic sound considering its size and price.

Sony HT-A3000
In terms of pricing and features, the Sony HT-A3000 is just like the Sonos Beam Gen 2. It doesn't deliver Dolby Atmos sound anything like as effectively as the Beam, but its detail and dynamics make it a big upgrade on TV sound.

Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Max
This Award-winning soundbar is quite the beast, measuring 127cm wide and 14cm tall. It sounds amazing, though, with oodles of bass and an immersive overall experience.

Sony Bravia Theatre System 6
We gave this Sony system five stars for its superbly punchy bass performance as well as its enveloping surround sound. It was just pipped by the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) for the top spot, but its oddball design gets you more kit for your money than the Award-winner.

How to choose a soundbar

Before you buy, there are some things to bear in mind. Consider the dimensions of your TV to work out just how big your new soundbar needs to be. You don't want it to be dwarfed by the screen, but then again, it could look strange partnering a massive bar with a small TV – like a tiny head perched atop overly broad shoulders. Look up the dimensions and compare the bar's width with that of your TV. Also, check the height – if you need to place the soundbar in front of your TV, you don't want it obscuring half the picture, and if it has upward-firing drivers, they need a clear line of sight to your ceiling to be effective.

Generally, soundbars are a single long speaker with several drivers inside but some come with external subwoofers for extra low-end extension and rear speakers for surround sound effects whereas others are compatible with other speakers from within the manufacturer's brand. If floor-shaking bass is high on your priority list then these are models you'll want to consider.

Next, features and connectivity. Many modern TV soundbars boast ARC and eARC-enabled HDMI ports, which can handle high bandwidth multichannel audio formats as well as optical inputs for older TVs. If your TV has ARC/eARC, you'll be able to control the volume of your soundbar with your existing remote control. It's worth considering if having a separate physical remote for the soundbar is important to you or if you're comfortable with controlling settings from a smartphone app.

Most modern soundbars have some options for wireless music playback with wi-fi streaming via services such as Airplay 2, Spotify Connect and Chromecast, as well as Bluetooth connectivity. Some also have microphones with voice assistant functionality or compatibility. If you have external devices such as games consoles or a 4K Blu-ray player, keep an eye out for additional HDMI passthrough ports that could make your set-up more flexible.

Should you be looking beyond just a simple improvement of your TV sound and want to purchase a soundbar that produces an immersive home cinema experience, you'll want to pay attention to models that can handle Dolby Atmos and DTS:X audio. Some soundbars do this virtually with processing, and some include up-firing speakers for height effects. If you're interested in the latter, it's important to remember that the result will be more successful if you have low ceilings to bounce the sound off and that the top of the soundbar needs to be uncovered and placed clear of the TV screen.

If high-quality 3D sound is important to you, then you'll want to make sure both your TV and potential soundbar support Dolby TrueHD and eARC. The ARC standard can handle Dolby Atmos, but only in its Dolby Digital Plus form, which is lossy, whereas Dolby TrueHD can deliver full-fat Dolby Atmos in all its lossless glory.

Have a think about the content you'll be viewing and the sources you'll be plugging in. If you are just watching Freeview, many of these technologies will be redundant. But if you're streaming the likes of Netflix, Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video in 4K HDR, you'll want to squeeze out the best possible audio quality to make sure your content sounds as good as it looks. For a complete overview, check out our in-depth guide on how to choose and set up a soundbar.

If you're specifically looking for an affordable model, check out our best budget soundbars page, or if a Dolby Atmos soundbar is more your thing, we have a page dedicated to that too. Whether you spend a little or a lot, we think that all the models recommended will up your audio game with a fuss-free set-up.

How we test soundbars

We have state-of-the-art testing facilities in London and Reading, where our team of experienced, in-house reviewers test the majority of hi-fi and AV kit that passes through our door. We allow for plenty of listening time as well as running them in before we begin reviewing.

Each soundbar we test is paired with an appropriate reference TV and is directly compared to the best in its price and features class – whether that's the current What Hi-Fi? Award winner or a few of the latest models we've been impressed by in recent reviews. What Hi-Fi? is all about comparative testing, and we keep class-leading products in our stockrooms so we can easily compare new products to ones we know and love.

We always try to be impartial and do our best to make sure we're hearing every product at its very best, so we'll try plenty of different styles of films and TV shows that show what each soundbar is capable of with both advanced and standard audio formats. For example, if it's a Dolby Atmos soundbar, we'll use Blu-ray discs to hear its Dolby True HD performance, but we'll also check its performance with streaming services that use Dolby Digital Plus too.

Although soundbars are typically designed with film and TV in mind, we also put them through their paces with music too, testing out a range of streaming options with a variety of genres, both classic and modern, enduring that we listen in the highest quality that the soundbar is capable of.

Our reviews are broken into three sections: design, features and sound and all verdicts are agreed upon by the team rather than just an individual reviewer to eliminate any personal preference and to make sure we're being as thorough as possible, too. There's no input from PR companies or our sales team when it comes to the verdict, with What Hi-Fi? proud of having delivered honest, unbiased reviews for decades.

Recent updates

19 June 2026

Added Focal Mu-so Hekla as best high-end soundbar.

30 March 2026
Added Majority Bowfell Halo Atmos to also consider.

19th February 2026
Added Sony Bravia Theatre System 6 to also consider.

5th February 2026
Added Creative Stage Pro as 'best compact', and added JBL Bar 300MK2 as an 'also consider' entry.

25th November 2025
All entries checked and updated to reflect our latest buying advice, today's best deals and a fresh FAQ added.

22 October 2025
Added Hisense AX5125H as best budget soundbar package, and Samsung HW-Q990F as best soundbar package.

18 September 2025
Expanded FAQ section with more entries.

20 August 2025
Yamaha True X Surround 90A added to list of upcoming soundbars.

14 July 2025
KEF XIO replaces Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Max as best high-end soundbar.

Soundbar FAQ

MORE:

Looking for a bargain? Here are the best budget soundbars

Best Dolby Atmos soundbars: surround sound systems without the hassle

Check out the latest and cheapest Sonos deals available now

It would be a glorious world if we all had the cash and space to afford a multi-speaker sound system for our home cinema set-ups. Unfortunately, that is simply not the case.

Luckily, soundbars are on hand to fill the market. They can deliver a clear yet immersive sound experience for music and movies at a range of different price points.

And, for those on the hunt for an even more room-filling experience, choosing a soundbar with Dolby Atmos support can provide a much-needed extra boost.

Sure, it's incredibly rare to find a soundbar that can compare with the full Atmos effect of a multi-speaker package. But there are plenty that come close, and you can find some of them in the guide below.

Our team of experts have decades of collective experience in reviewing soundbars, from budget models to premium entries.

We explain more about how we test Dolby Atmos soundbars at the bottom of this page. And if you want even more options, you can check out the best soundbars. Without further ado, let's take a look at our top picks.

Best overall

The Sonos Arc Ultra is the flagship Dolby Atmos soundbar from the iconic audio brand. Based on our thorough comparative testing it is also the best overall option for most people.

At a technical level it is an impressive piece of hardware, featuring a 9.1.4-channel configuration that’s powered by 15 Class D amplifiers. That’s a radical jump in drivers from the 5.0.2 arrangement seen on the original Sonos Arc.

The specific arrangement combines seven tweeters, six midrange woofers, and a custom 'Sound Motion' woofer. The latter is particularly interesting as it works to improve low end performance using a custom motor design to let the driver move more air around.

This is why Sonos claims the Arc Ultra can produce twice as much bass as its predecessor and a generally more balanced sound – two claims that after running the two head-to-head in our listening rooms we can confirm are true.

During our tests the Arc Ultra delivered a clean, precise, spacious and three-dimensional sound with deep, tuneful and expressive low end.

Whether it was the booming synths during the second scene of BladeRunner 2049, rapid conversations in Oppenheimer, or jets screaming overhead in Top Gun: Maverick the results were excellent, even compared to top-end rivals, including the Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 9.

Hence our perfect five star rating and conclusion: “It’s been a long time in the making but the Arc Ultra was worth the wait – this is a huge upgrade on the still-very-good original Arc.”

Add to this its upgradability, which lets you create a system by adding option Era 100/Era 300 speakers and a Sonos sub to the mix and it becomes an easy recommendation and the top slot in this buying guide.

Read our full Sonos Arc Ultra review

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Best small

Delivering Dolby Atmos from a small chassis is no mean feat but the What Hi-Fi? Award-winning Sonos Beam Gen 2 achieves a convincing, immersive performance without so much as an upfiring speaker in sight.

Instead, when watching Atmos content, two of the soundbar's five front-facing arrays are dedicated to reproducing overhead and surround sounds. With its hefty processing power, the Sonos Beam Gen 2 uses psychoacoustic HRTF (head-related transfer function) technology to give the impression of height without needing to get vertical.

While genuine overhead sounds are perhaps a stretch too far for this petite performer, based on our experience testing it, the bar's virtual delivery of the Atmos format outstrips any similarly priced soundbar and even a few that are more expensive. The Beam Gen 2 offers an enveloping, spatial soundscape with rich, detailed audio as well as tangible motion and depth.

Not that many soundbars at this price point come with networking capabilities, but this being a Sonos product, the Beam Gen 2’s ability to integrate into a wireless multiroom system is fundamental to its design. This means you can stream to the Beam Gen 2 from a handheld device using Apple AirPlay 2, and Spotify Connect is built-in too. Sonos introduced an update to add support for Amazon Music Ultra HD audio too, which gives access to lossless 24-bit/48kHz tracks as well as Dolby Atmos Music.

Don't let the lack of any upfiring drivers put you off. If space and budget are limited there isn't a better Dolby Atmos soundbar that we'd recommend at the money.

Read the full Sonos Beam Gen 2 review

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Best premium

KEF's first soundbar entry is an impressive piece of kit, performing excellently with both music and movies. Packed full of the company's signature technology such as its Uni-Q MX drivers, it is quite the proposition both inside and outside.

During testing, we experienced a clear and sophisticated sound experience that creates an immersive viewing. When watching John Wick 2, we comment: "One car leaps over a bump in the distance and then moves into the forefront, displaying the soundbar’s sense of precision. You can really feel the three-dimensionality of the sequence as the vehicle moves across the screen."

We would like to see an HDMI passthrough on the soundbar, and the lack of display makes it a little fiddly to navigate. But overall, it's rich and immersive sound is an amazing feat.

Read the full KEF XIO review

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Best cheap

If you're looking to spend less, the Sony HT-S2000 offers exceptional value for money. It’s a fairly compact bar (slightly wider than the Sonos Beam Gen 2, which is our pick of the smaller bars) that’s focused solely on improving your TV’s audio while keeping the cost down. Sony went with a straightforward design and feature set with the S2000, aiming for an impressive performance over fancy frills.

The soundbar features Bluetooth 5.2 and HDMI eARC – something lacking from comparably priced bars such as the Sonos Ray. It is configured in a 3.1-channel arrangement with a built-in subwoofer and a total power output of 250W. As there are no upward-firing drivers, the height channels for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X compatible audio are achieved through Sony’s Vertical Sound Engine, its psychoacoustic sound processing system.

During the testing process, we grew to really appreciate this bold little Sony soundbar. We admire that it knows where its strengths lie and how it doesn’t try to spread itself thin with unnecessary features. You can spend more on bigger, weightier soundbars, but at this price, the S2000 offers plenty of quality and will no doubt provide clearer, more direct sound than your TV will ever be capable of.

Read our full Sony HT-S2000 review

Best package

While we were hugely impressed by Samsung's previous flagship Dolby Atmos system, the HW-Q990D, its successor managed to improve upon its performance and ultimately take the crown for this category.

For many, a full surround system isn't feasible. On the other hand, a lone soundbar might not quite cut it. This is where a soundbar package such as the Q990F steps in.

The system is made up of a soundbar, a subwoofer, and two surround speakers. This all looks quite similar to the Q990D, except for the subwoofer as Samsung has moved from a tall, narrow cuboid sub to a much more compact, rounded-cube design. Side by side, the old subwoofer absolutely dwarfs the new model, with its dimensions of 25 x 25 x 25cm (hwd).

It's an 11.1.4-channel system, with 23 drivers in total. That’s 15 drivers in the main soundbar, three drivers in each of the surround-sound units, and dual 20cm force-cancelling drivers in the subwoofer, which features a claimed 300W power output.

The HW-990F also boasts DTS:X support, HDMI 2.1 passthrough (with 4K/120Hz gaming and Dolby Vision support), and countless sound modes.

But how does it sound? The Q990F is simply excellent, presenting us with detailed and rich audio that is hard to beat at this level.

As we said in our review: "This system should be on the radar for anyone who wants a full Dolby Atmos experience without having to buy an AVR or finding the space to place countless speakers around your room. The compact new cube subwoofer is easily the star of the show, offering a richer, more focused sound with greater tonal variation."

Read our full Samsung Q990F review

Best cheap package

If your budget can't quite stretch to the Samsung Q990F (above), then the five-star Hisense AX5125H is a great choice. We tested it at £249 / $350 and, as if that wasn't enough of a bargain, we have already seen it drop to as low as £199 in the UK.

The included soundbar, subwoofer, and two surround speakers are simple to set up as well, although there's nothing too interesting being done when it comes to their basic design.

All these parts work together to create a cohesive, detailed sound that is simply the best we have seen at this price.

In our review, while watching Civil War, for example, we say: “Explosions and deep gunfire have good impact and solidity, and there’s just about enough tonal expression for bassy soundtrack elements to sound reasonably musical.”

Vocals are clear and sound relatively emotive too, although the subwoofer can get a little overzealous and cause them to become muffled in the busiest sections.

It still offers a cinematic audio performance that is an instant upgrade on most TV's built-in speakers.

Read the full Hisense AX5125H review

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Best mid-range package

The Sony Bravia Theatre System 6 is certainly not your average-looking model, but its top-quality audio performance makes it our top mid-range package.

It's quite an oddball system in terms of build, with the soundbar directly wired to the subwoofer but not the surround speakers. Instead, the sub wirelessly transmits the surround sound information to a receiver box at the back of the room that is itself wired to the two surround speakers.

The idea is that while all of the speakers themselves are wired, there are no cables running from the front to the back of your room. There’s no wire running from the front to the back of the room, and that’s good news, but having cables dangling from the surrounds in particular will be a problem for neat-freaks.

But how does it actually sound? We were blown away when we had the model in our test room, impressing with its musicality and immersive surround sound.

Dialogue remains crisp and intelligible even when the soundtrack gets busy during hectic action scenes, and a solid midrange helps deliver natural voices.

When fed Dolby Atmos content it can create a genuinely immersive bubble of sound that is rare for this price point. On top of that, height effects are placed convincingly above you and there's a real sense of room-filling scale.

The Sony system does well with music, too. In our review, we said: "The subwoofer again proves to be surprisingly rhythmic and tonally flexible, and it blends pretty seamlessly with the sound from the bar."

Ultimately, the System 6 is a great choice for music and movie fans who are on a relatively tight budget.

Read the full Sony Bravia Theatre System 6 review

Also consider

The best Dolby Atmos soundbar alternatives we've tested:

JBL Bar 300MK2: This model is one of the only budget Dolby Atmos soundbars that has given the Sonos Beam Gen 2 a genuine run for its money, offering a bassy yet detailed sound that will suit many people's living rooms.

Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 9: If the Arc Ultra doesn’t meet your fancy we’d recommend the Sony Bravia Theatre 9. We compared the two head-to-head and found it is an excellent alternative. Though its bass isn’t quite as punchy, which is why we gave the Arc the top slot, it offers competitive performance and a slightly better sense of height with its audio.

Sonos Arc: The Arc Ultra is a replacement for the original Arc. But while stocks last the original is still a fantastic option, especially as it has been very heavily discounted since the Ultra launched. If you can’t afford the Ultra, we’d strongly recommend checking out the original Arc as a result.

Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Plus: This soundbar pushes the dominant Sony HT-A7000 closer than any of its rivals. Dolby Atmos sounds wonderfully spacious and immersive, it's easier to accommodate and the Sennheiser is also packed with useful features including two HDMI inputs.

LG S70TY: This soundbar and subwoofer package impressed during testing with its balanced performance and good sense of height. Launching as a mid-range 'bar, it has seen some decent discounts recently if you are looking for something on the cheaper side.

How to choose the best Dolby Atmos soundbar for you

Why you can trust What Hi-Fi? Our expert team reviews products in dedicated test rooms, to help you make the best choice for your budget. Find out more about how we test.

A slew of Dolby Atmos soundbars have hit the market in the last couple of years, and there's now a range of models to suit most budgets. The more you spend, the more features you tend to get and the more driver units the soundbars tend to use; hence, most of our entries tend to be pricier than ordinary soundbars.

In our experience, spending more also means you should get a more convincing home cinema sound, although some of the poorer-sounding soundbars could easily be outperformed by a more affordable model.

There are a few things to consider when weighing up a Dolby Atmos soundbar. A lot will hinge on the size and dimensions of your TV. This will influence the size of the soundbar you go for; after all, you won't want to use a tiny bar with a huge 77-in TV.

Also, check the height of the soundbar – if you need to place it directly in front of your TV, you don't want it obscuring half the picture. Also, upfiring drivers need a clear line of sight to your ceiling to be effective.

It's important to note that not all Dolby Atmos soundbars have upward-firing drivers. Some decode the format and present it virtually using DSP processing to create an illusion of a 3D soundstage. The performance of virtual Atmos models varies, and while genuine height effects are certainly beyond their scope, there's more to Atmos than just the Y-axis. In some cases, a high-quality virtual Dolby Atmos soundbar can deliver more immersive and engaging sound than a mediocre model with upfiring speakers.

Whenever a soundbar does have height drivers, it's important to remember that you'll get better results if you have low ceilings to bounce the sound off and that the top of the soundbar needs to be uncovered and placed clear of the TV screen.

Typically, soundbars are a single long speaker with several drivers inside, but some come with external subwoofers for extra low-end extension and rear speakers for surround sound effects. Some Atmos soundbars even come with satellite speakers with upward-firing drivers. If floor-shaking bass and encompassing sound are high on your priority list, then these are models you'll want to consider.

Moving on to features and connectivity, Dolby Atmos soundbars tend to boast either ARC or eARC-enabled HDMI ports necessary to handle multichannel audio formats and also allow you to control the volume of your soundbar with your existing TV remote. It's worth considering if having a separate physical remote for the soundbar is important to you or if you're comfortable with controlling settings from a smartphone app.

Most Dolby Atmos soundbars have some options for wireless music playback with wifi streaming via services such as Airplay 2, Spotify Connect and Chromecast, as well as Bluetooth connectivity. If you have external devices such as games consoles or a 4K Blu-ray player, keep an eye out for additional HDMI sockets that could make your setup more flexible.

If the highest-quality 3D sound is important to you, you'll want to make sure both your TV and potential soundbar support Dolby TrueHD and eARC. Some Dolby Atmos Soundbars will only have ARC, and while that can handle Dolby Atmos, it can only do so in its lossy Dolby Digital Plus form. In contrast, Dolby TrueHD can deliver full-fat Dolby Atmos in all its lossless glory.

Further down your list of priorities you might want some kind of voice assistant functionality built in. To that effect, some bars do come with built-in mics that allow you to control certain aspects of their performance. Alternatively, you've always got the remote or in some cases, your smartphone to help out here.

You don't have to look far to find Dolby Atmos content. Besides 4K Blu-ray discs, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Netflix and Disney+ offer plenty of Atmos movies and TV shows. Ready to boost your binge-watching with the best Atmos soundbar? Let's take a look at the options...

How we test Dolby Atmos soundbars

Like the normal models we test, Dolby Atmos soundbars are partnered with a reference TV and are directly compared to a rival at a similar price point. it could be a current What Hi-Fi? Award winner (which we always have to hand) or another model we've tested recently which we feel is a suitable comparison.

All our reviews are impartial and to make sure we're testing the soundbar thoroughly, we use a mix of video, from daytime TV shows to Hollywood blockbusters to get a feeling of its strengths and weaknesses with a wide variety of audio formats. We give the Dolby Atmos soundbars plenty of running-in time too, to make sure they are ready to be put through their paces.

Dolby Atmos content features heavily, whether played through a video streaming service or off a 4K Blu-ray disc. During the reviewing process, we'll ask ourselves questions such as 'how easy is it to set up?' 'how does it handle dialogue?' and 'how does it process Dolby Atmos soundtracks?'.

We'll also play music through the soundbar to learn more about its audio abilities and streaming skills over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and use the accompanying control app where possible, before checking all the other features on offer such as the HDMI connections.

We have state-of-the-art test rooms in London, and Reading where our team of experienced, in-house reviewers test Dolby Atmos soundbars. One member of the team will write the review but overall verdicts are agreed upon by the team to eliminate any personal preference and to allow us to be as thorough as possible.

There's no input from PR companies or our sales team regarding the verdict, with What Hi-Fi? proud of having delivered honest, unbiased reviews for decades.

MORE:

Best home theatre speaker systems

20 of the best film scenes to test surround sound

F.A.Q

Recent updates

• 8th January 2026: Added JBL Bar 300MK2 to 'Also Consider' section.
• 24 June 2025: Updated Samsung Q990D entry.
• 26th March 2025: LG S70TY added to 'Also Consider' section.
• 23rd October 2024: Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 9 added as the best overall entry.
• 10th May 2024: Added the Sony HT-S2000 as Best Cheap option.
• 19th February 2024: Added new 'Also Consider' section, new F.A.Q section.

Today's best Dolby Atmos soundbar deals

When smart speakers first emerged just over a decade ago, sound quality was not their strong point. With brands from Apple to Sonos now integrating voice assistants into their products, it’s possible to get both AI-powered smart skills and top-notch audio performance from one device, as long as you know where to look.

Before scrolling down to find out which smart speakers our experts recommend, it’s worth looking at which AI assistants are available. Amazon’s Alexa is probably the most famous and widely supported, with Google Assistant a close second, while Siri is only found on Apple products.

All three have their strengths and weaknesses, and which one you’re most used to using might dictate which of the products below are best-suited to you. If you just want to know which is the best wireless speaker or the best Bluetooth speaker, we've got guides for those, too.

All of the smart speakers featured on this list have been comprehensively tested by our team of experienced experts, and as well as the usual focus on sound quality, build and features, we’ve also assessed how responsive they are to voice commands and how well they perform their various smart duties.

You can find out more about how we test smart speakers at the bottom of this page, but first, check out our pick of the best smart speakers we’ve reviewed.

Best smart speaker overall

In terms of overall performance at a competitive price, there are few better smart speakers than the Sonos Era 100. Released as a cheaper, slimmer alternative to the superb Era 300, the Era 100 keeps up with its bigger, more expensive sibling by delivering a host of streaming playback features within a robust, deeply musical speaker.

Most of the same smart capabilities are on display here, too, and while Google Assistant has been officially dropped, Sonos' voice control and Amazon Alexa are here to take over such duties.

If you’re not keen on splashing a lot of cash to foot the £449 / $449 / AU$749 asking price for the Era 300, the Era 100 is a great option as a smart home speaker that will suit most needs almost all of the time. The number of streaming features is vast, and everything is as well-made and reliable as you’d expect.

Just like its larger counterpart, the 100 delivers a spacious, open sound, a lovely sense of rhythmic drive and all the detail and precision you could hope for considering the money paid.

As we said in our review: "There’s an ease with which Sonos delivers every track we play through it. It never feels dull or distant, nor does it try to attract your attention unduly; this is an overall pleasing sound that is comfortable to listen to for hours". Nice.

No, we’re not exactly happy to be spending extra money for a dongle to allow a wired connection, and the HomePod makes voices sound a touch more natural, but if you’re still happy to spend a decent amount without making as much of a dent in your funds as the 300, the Era 100 works superbly as a dedicated music player and a clever smart speaker.

Job done.

Read our full Sonos Era 100 review

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Best smart speaker for spatial audio

If home spatial audio is a priority, then smart speakers don't come much more impressive than the Sonos Era 300. With the Era 300, Sonos has delivered a smart speaker capable of voice integration alongside revolutionary sound and an embarrassment of cutting-edge features to rival the best that Apple or other rivals have to offer.

Smart features are courtesy of Amazon Alexa and Sonos voice control, with Google Assistant dropped due to a change in Google’s technical requirements for third-party devices. That's not the greatest loss considering it's never been the most popular AI helper, anyway.

With its unique, “cinched hourglass” shape, there’s no question that the Era 300 is a bit more of an acquired taste than most of the brand’s rather more conservative designs, but what isn't up for debate is how superbly the five-star Era 300 manages to perform. Per our review: "It all sounds detailed, engaging and accomplished, and it’s fun, too".

That fun is key to the Era 300, as is its versatility. The Sonos is a versatile and confident performer, consistently filling our testing rooms with cohesive, spacious sound across a swathe of genres. Big choral numbers feel broad and immersive thanks to spatial audio (although there's no support for Dolby Atmos on Tidal yet), but the Era 300 excels across hip-hop, classic rock, movie soundtracks and more.

Yes, it’s expensive and yes, it smacks of a rip-off having to pay extra for a wired connector, but the Era 300 has earned the right to be so impertinent.

A five-star performer and one of the best smart speakers you could hope to find, especially if you're mad about spatial audio.

Read our full Sonos Era 300 review

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Best budget smart speaker

If the HomePod 2 (below) is too big and expensive for your needs but you love the idea of an Apple-made smart speaker that will fit perfectly into your iOS-oriented ecosystem, the HomePod Mini is your best bet.

At just 8.4cm tall and 9.8cm wide, it’s quite a bit smaller than the similarly spherical Amazon Echo, but it certainly doesn't lack power. Get its swirling orb of coloured light up and running to signify that Siri is listening or processing and you're in for a real sonic surprise.

Siri, of course, is your voice assistant, and after a short period of learning it'll respond to the phrase “Hey Siri, play something I'll like” not by streaming your most played track of the last few weeks, but by playing something that you probably haven't heard before but which has been curated to fit in with your current tastes and habits. As a powerful way to discover new music, it's fantastic, and Alexa simply isn't as good at it.

The HomePod Mini goes loud, too. From the moment we start playing music, it’s clear that the Mini is happy to outperform its size and price, impressing us with the organisation and maturity of its bold, assertive sound that, as we stated at the time, "embarrasses its direct competition with the sophistication and maturity of its sound".

Apple products have occasionally laboured under the reputation of being a little overpriced, but the HomePod Mini, hovering around the £100 / $100 mark, actually seems like superb, Award-winning value.

Just be aware that there's no dedicated companion app, and you'll only get the most of it if you're committed to the rest of the Apple ecosystem, including Apple Music.

As is the case with the HomePod 2, we're hoping for a new model, Mini or otherwise, to arrive in 2026, but for now, the current Mini makes for a superb budget option. A no-brainer for Apple lovers everywhere.

Read our full Apple HomePod Mini review

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Best smart speaker for Alexa

Love Alexa? We'd heartily recommend the inexpensive and very cheerful fifth generation of the Echo Dot as the direct, if cheaper, rival to the HomePod Mini above. We 've reviewed the more recent Echo Dot Max, but given that the 5th-gen speaker is cheaper, oft-discounted and a better performer, it's the one that gets our seal of approval.

Amazon's smart speaker range has become big business in the last decade or so, with Alexa now almost synonymous with the whole concept of integrated, domestic AI. The Echo Dot (5th Generation) takes things to new levels, a powerful and clued-up smart speaker that practically gives itself away thanks to its meagre asking price and five-star quality.

Not that the Dot feels cheap - in fact, quite the opposite. Whereas once Alexa was a one-note performer capable of answering basic questions about the weather and or what the capital of Germany is, she's as filled to the brim with knowledge as Stephen Fry after a year in the British Library (with Alexa+ on the way to boost that even further).

The Dot's cybernetic assistant is more helpful than ever before, stuffed with so many tricks and quirks that you'll often find yourself falling into the trap of speaking to Alexa as though it, or rather she, were a real person. You can even use her to play Skyrim, albeit in a strange, truncated form.

Audio has come a long way, too. We weren't mad about the sound of Amazon's early Echo models, but the trajectory has been very much one of continual improvement courtesy of Jeff Bezos' tireless team of audio tinkerers.

Amazon's so-called “best-sounding Echo Dot yet” still distorts if you pump the volume too high, but it lives up to its billing thanks to a single 44mm front-firing speaker (4mm larger than the previous gen’s 40mm).

The result? A sound that, as our review surmised, is "peppy, robust and often genuinely musical from a small unit at an even smaller price". Great stuff.

Read our full Amazon Echo Dot (5th Generation) review

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Best portable smart speaker

When we reviewed it a few years ago, we dubbed the Beosound A1 "the weightiest and most refined little speaker we’d heard in a while", all while praising its "classy, well-made design, easy to use operation and the bonus of Amazon Alexa". Our initial affections, thankfully, haven't changed at all since the Beosound dropped in 2020.

Yes, the hugely impressive Beosound A1 qualifies as a smart speaker, even if you might think it's just a Bluetooth model at first glance. Thanks to its built-in Alexa compatibility and support from Qualcomm’s aptX Adaptive codec, the A1 is a proper smart speaker, something that's made even more remarkable considering how rugged, well-made and superb-sounding this bap-sized wonder is.

Most smart speakers are wedded to the mains as part of their nature, but the A1 has Alexa capabilities while also being a well-made and sophisticated piece of portable tech. That's a winning combination in our book.

In fact, the Besound A1 is something of a Jack-of-all-trades, master of many. Sonically, the well-made, hugely attractive unit offers a pleasingly comfortable yet authoritative performance that you'd be happy listening to all day, complementing your musical catalogue with an expansive, meaty and assertive presentation.

At the higher ends, there's very little strain, while an expansive, weighty bass lays the groundwork with ease. Oh, and there's even a convenient strap for ease of transport for what is still a primarily portable unit.

It's expensive, sure, and it's certainly not the newest, but if you have money to spend, the smart Beosound A1 is a rather remarkable all-rounder, and one you'd be happy showing off to your friends.

There's good news for fans of B&O: there's a new Beosound A1! The third-gen model is more costly (boo!) at £299 / €349, and it doesn't have Alexa, but it's made it onto the 'also consider' section of our best Bluetooth speakers list thanks to its rich sound and effortlessly stylish aesthetic.

Read our full Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 (2nd Gen) review

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Best Apple smart speaker

If you love Apple tech and want a great-sounding smart speaker with room-filling audio, the HomePod 2 is almost certainly the best option we’ve tested, and a fine alternative to the Sonos Era 100 above.

Apple's five-star model is the larger option in the Californian brand's current line-up, sitting above the smaller HomePod Mini in terms of weight and size. It's also one of the finest Apple products around today, even if we're been waiting for a while for a new model to drop. We were supposed to be getting a HomePod with a screen at some point in 2025, but as of yet, there's been no official sighting, so who knows what 2026 holds?

The HomePod 2's main draw is its ability to scan and optimise its audio settings for the room and position it's in on-the-fly, something which worked superbly during our own tests. Picking it from a place in free space and moving it close to a wall, our testers could hear it changing its settings in real time, mainly by reducing unnecessary bass that tends to muddy the sound when it isn't wanted.

We were particularly impressed with how well the HomePod 2 dealt with an Apple Lossless version of SBTRKT’s Trials Of The Past, a taxing track that can often suffer from unwanted sibilance and harshness. No such problems with the HomePod (even if some rivals do sound more direct).

Once set up, the built-in mics and smart features all worked perfectly. Siri universally heard and enacted our voice commands, even while music was playing and we were talking to the speaker from across the room.

We were also hugely impressed by the built-in temperature and humidity sensors which can be used to create custom automations using other smart home devices.

From top to bottom, the HomePod 2 is the smart speaker to beat for dedicated Apple acolytes (limited third-party support makes it less suitable for others), and the fact that it's still claiming What Hi-Fi? Awards only testifies to its supreme capabilities.

Read our full Apple HomePod 2 review

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Best smart speaker for Google Assistant

Alexa is by far the most common voice assistant when it comes to smart speakers, but if you’re more Google than Amazon there’s a lot to like about the JBL Authentics 300, not least the fact that it actually supports both. It’s not necessary to choose which one you want to use, it’ll automatically respond to requests directed at either, with both responding equally eagerly.

Retro designs aren’t to everybody’s tastes, but it’s hard to deny the appeal of the Authentics 300. The chunky controls on top could feel a bit nicer to twiddle, but on the whole we’re big fans of its waffle-esque grille and sleek metallic trim. The handle and 4800mAh battery inside also mean that it’s technically portable, but at almost 5kg it’s not something you’d want to lug around for long.

When plugged into the mains and connected to Wi-Fi the JBL puts on an assertive sonic performance with plenty of punch. It’s not quite as sharp over Bluetooth, and it can occasionally tip over into brashness with certain songs, but you can’t fault its enthusiasm.

With multiple connectivity options, including AirPlay 2, Chromecast and Spotify Connect, plus a lesser-spotted aux input and an intuitive companion app, the JBL Authentics 300 makes for a versatile option to anyone who’s committed to the Google ecosystem.

Read our full JBL Authentics 300 review

Also consider

WiiM Sound: WiiM is taking on the HomePod 2 with the similarly-shaped WiiM Sound, and giving Apple's finest a run for its money thanks to the Sound's pleasing design, excellent streaming feature set and smooth, fluid presentation. It doesn't sound as good as the HomePod 2, but we can't help but wonder if it's just a matter of time before WiiM really cracks the audio side of things.

Sonos Play: Think of the Play as a smaller version of the Move 2 below. In fact, the Play does pretty much everything a Move 2 can do, including integrating within the Sonos ecosystem, streaming via the wi-fi and housing dual voice assistants, but its smaller size gives it greater portability credentials as if you just want a robust, easy to manage Bluetooth speaker. An impressive jack of all trades.

Sonos Move 2: While it didn't quite hit the heights of a full five-star haul, there's so much to recommend the Move 2. As we've said many times before, part of the major appeal of a Sonos speaker is its compatibility with the peerless Sonos ecosystem, and while we felt the second-gen Move couldn't quite justify its hefty price tag, there's lots to like about that big, confident sound and excellent array of streaming features.

Audio Pro Addon C5A: What does the "A" in the Audio Pro Addon C5A stand for? Alexa, of course! Yes, the C5A is essentially the Alexa-enabled version of the excellent Addon C5 and that, as it turns out, is a winning combination. Merging the C5's detailed, engaging and snappy sound with frictionless Alexa integration, the C5A is like discovering how well salt goes with caramel. Delicious.

JBL Authentics 500: The biggest member of the Authentics family boasts Alexa and Google Assistant compatibility but also sports spatial audio support via Dolby Atmos. It's larger, louder and bolder sounding than anything else in the range, although a lack of an internal battery means you'll need to connect it to the mains at all times.

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How to choose a smart speaker

Compatibility
The first thing to consider is compatibility. Many smart speakers are platform agnostic, so they'll work with both Android and iOS devices, but Apple's HomePod range isn't much use without an iPhone or Apple OS device to set it up.

You also won't be able to make the most of it without an Apple Music subscription as support for third-party streaming services is limited. If you're a Spotify or Tidal subscriber, you'll be better off picking something that has Spotify Connect or Tidal Connect baked in.

Ecosystem
It's also worth thinking about which ecosystem you use most. While most voice assistants do work with other services, they're tightly integrated with those made by their creators, making them much slicker to use. If you frequently use Google's services, for instance – Calendar, Maps, Gmail – maybe a product with Google Home onboard would be best for you.

Love shopping at Amazon and have a Prime account? An Amazon Echo might be right up your alley. Or maybe you want more flexibility and a wider choice of streaming features (hi, Sonos).

Sound quality
We're What Hi-Fi?, so the audio quality of a smart speaker still matters over the AI tech. This can vary quite a lot between models and manufacturers, and while spending more doesn't always guarantee a better listening experience, you do get the benefit of your investment here.

Some of the smaller smart speakers are limited purely because of their dimensions, so be realistic about your budget and what to expect. Find the right balance between great sound for your tunes and a helpful AI assistant, though, and you're on to a winner.

Connectivity
Most smart speakers will do everything you need straight out of the box, so wired connectivity tends to be fairly limited. If you’re looking for something that’ll allow you to connect external sources, Sonos is probably your best bet – and even then, you’ll need to buy an adaptor to do so.

How we test smart speakers

Everything we test at What Hi-Fi? is subject to the same stringent approach, but there are some differences depending on what type of product it is, and smart speakers throw up some challenges not found in most other product categories.

In many ways we approach smart speakers in the same way we would any other wireless speaker, setting them up in our state-of-the-art listening facilities where our team of expert reviewers perform the majority of our product testing.

This is where we will test their sound quality by listening to various genres of music and judging how well the speaker reproduces all areas of the frequency range.

While we’ll also test how responsive the voice control is at this point, we also like to try it out under more appropriate real-life conditions: with the TV on in the background, when the kettle’s boiling, or over the sound of the dog barking.

This gives us a better idea of how a smart speaker will perform day-to-day and how well it integrates into a wider smart home setup.

As well as testing every product in isolation, each one is also compared to the best in its class on design and build, features, and sound quality. What Hi-Fi? is all about comparative testing, so we keep our Award-winners on hand to enable unbiased comparisons between new products and ones we know to have performed highly in the category.

All review verdicts are agreed upon by the entire team, rather than an individual reviewer, to eliminate any personal preference and to make sure we're being completely thorough.

There's no input from PR companies or our sales team when it comes to awarding star ratings or deciding on our overall verdicts.

You can read more about how we test and review products on What Hi-Fi? here.

FAQ

Recent updates

June 2026: Added the WiiM Sound and Sonos Play to our also consider section.

January 2026: Updated and refresh our copy for the start of the new year.

December 2025: Despite recently testing the Amazon Echo Dot Max, our mainline list remains unchanged.

August 2025: We haven't had many smart speakers pass through our test room doors recently, so we've made sure all of our existing copy is up to date.

May 2025: No new entries, but we've updated our copy to make sure it's all up-to-date and accurate.

March 2025: JBL Authentics 300 promoted from 'also consider' to the Best for Google Assistant slot due to lack of availability of the Sonos One, which has been removed. Expanded the FAQ section with two new questions. Refreshed the intro and added more detail to the 'how we test' section.

February 2025: Updated copy following recent Apple recent press event and improved intro readability.

January 2025: Ensured that all copy is up-to-date for the start of 2025.

October 2024: What Hi-Fi? Award winners labelled after the 2024 Awards Best Buys announcements.

August 2024: Some small copy adjustments and added pictures to our image galleries.

May 2024: Added JBL Authentics 300 and 500 to our 'also consider' section.

March 2024: Added FAQ section to help with buying decisions and frequently asked questions and an 'also consider' section to offer alternative buying options for readers.

November 2023: What Hi-Fi? Award winners labelled after the 2023 Awards Best Buys and Product of the Year announcements.

Google Assistant can do all kinds of things– play music, check the weather forecast, control your smart home – but one thing it can’t do is tell you which smart speaker to buy. Fortunately, that's what we're here for.

While it's not as imaginatively named as Alexa or Siri, Google Assistant is still a major player in the smart speaker game. Picking a Google product will tie you quite firmly to the brand, but if you're already using Google devices and services such as Pixel phones, Nest products and/or Gmail, Maps and Calendar, a speaker with Google Assistant onboard might make most sense for you.

To help narrow down your options, we’ve put together this buying guide which picks out the best Google Assistant speakers for various uses. All of the models below have been tested in our dedicated listening facilities and in reviewers' homes, so we have first-hand experience of how they perform in daily use, how effective Google Assistant is, and how they sound.

Not as many speakers seem to house Google Assistant as before, but that doesn't mean that new products are avoiding the tech entirely, with LG's expanding Xboom range, for instance, still making use of Google Assistant alongside Siri.

If you want to know more about how we test there's an explainer at the bottom of the page, or simply scroll down to see our pick of the best Google-equipped smart speakers you can buy today.

• In the US? Check out our list of the best Bluetooth speakers under $100

The quick list

Below we've provided you with a breakdown of all the Google speakers on this list with a short summary of their strengths and weaknesses. If you want more information, click the photo of the speaker and you'll be taken to a more in-depth breakdown of its tech specs, features and performance.

Best Google Assistant speaker overall

It feels like it's increasingly rare for a mainstream smart speaker to boast multiple third-party voice assistants, yet the burly JBL Authentics 300 gives you the best of two high-quality worlds by packing in two simultaneous AI helpers: Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. Both work side by side and can be switched between pretty much on the fly, making the Authentics 300 a versatile hub for two excellent hands-free aides.

It's versatile in other ways, too. Not only do you have Alexa and Google coexisting in one handsome, well-made package, but you're also treated to a multitude of use cases within a single box.

If you want portability, there's a carry handle and around 6 hours of battery life for taking your JBL out and about or transporting it from room to room, while a loud, full sound and access to mains power means that you can use your smart speaker as a burly boombox without fear that it can't fill all manner of domestic spaces.

Streaming options are various, too, as you can use wi-fi or Bluetooth (we find the former to be a little crisper and clearer) or hook up to your source player via the provided aux-in port.

It won't let you down sonically, either, and while the Authentics 300 can be a little too keen as it occasionally strays into the realm of brashness, there's plenty to like about the JBL's robustness, punch and undeniable sense of effervescence. If you want something a little bigger, check out the Authentics 500 in our also consider section below.

Read our full JBL Authentics 300 review

Best portable Google Assistant speaker

Sonos’s first portable speaker was succeeded by the Move 2 in 2023, but like the rest of its newer products the sequel has been relieved of its Google Assistant duties, so if you want one that offers Google’s AI helper alongside Alexa you’ll need to track down an original Move.

Most places only have the Google-less Move 2 in stock, but if you can track down an original (and there are still some out there), you’ll get a portable speaker that offers both wi-fi and Bluetooth connectivity (albeit without aptX), multi-room streaming functionality, and that all-important Google Assistant access.

For a portable speaker the Move is a bit of a beast, measuring 24cm tall and weighing a hefty 3kg. That means it’s better suited to spending the majority of its life at home, but is also capable of decamping to the garden when the sun comes out. (If you want something genuinely travel-friendly the Alexa-only Sonos Roam is far smaller and lighter, but our list of the best Bluetooth speakers has even better options.)

That extra heft does translate to a weighty and full-bodied performance, with a broad and expansive sound that will carry regardless of where it's placed, thanks in no small part to Sonos’s TruePlay tech.

It’s not cheap, and if you’re not fully committed to Google Assistant the less moveable Apple HomePod sounds even better, but the first-gen Move is still capable of scratching a very particular itch.

Read our full Sonos Move review

Best Google Assistant speaker with screen

If you're after a smart speaker that has Google Assistant baked in, decent-sounding audio and the added convenience of a touchscreen, the Google Nest Hub might have everything you've been looking for.

To put the Nest Hub’s 7-inch (1024 x 600, 18cm) touchscreen into context, it's only marginally bigger than the one sported by the largest iPhone 12 Pro Max when measured across the diagonal.

It may be small but it's not stupid. There are plenty of music streaming and TV services available - including Channel 4, Deezer, Netflix and Disney Plus - but perhaps the most innovative inclusion is Google's Sleep Sensing tech, a motion-tracking system that analyses your slumber via motion detection, and combines it with light and temperature sensors to assess your nocturnal habits.

The Amazon Echo Show 10 provides a similar smart-speaker-with-screen alternative, but it's almost three times the price of the Google Nest Hub. Thanks to Disney Plus, Sleep Sensing tech and the delivery of a solid soundscape, the Nest Hub is a worthy proposition if it meets your criteria.

Read our full Google Nest Hub (2nd Generation) review

Also Consider

JBL Authentics 500: If you love the look and sound of the Authentics 300 but want to go even bigger and bolder, the 500 is the logical next step. It's not as portable as the 300, but you do get spatial audio capabilities, a bolder, louder sound and a heck of a lot more power.

LG Xboom Go XGBT: The portable XGBT doesn't have Google Assistant built-in, but if you hold down the play button you can use its onboard microphone to summon the AI helper (it'll work with Siri, too) from your connected phone. It's not the most refined-sounding speaker, but it is good at getting parties started thanks to its powerful, punchy sound and customisable lighting.

How to choose the best Google Assistant speaker for you

Size
Google Assistant speakers come in all shapes and sizes, so finding one to fit your space shouldn’t be a problem, but do bear in mind that its dimensions will have an impact on its ability to fill your room with sound. Size isn’t everything, but small speakers include smaller drivers that won’t be able to go very loud without distorting, so make sure you buy something suitable for the size of room you plan to put it in.

Connectivity
Google Assistant requires an internet connection to work, so by default, you’ll have wi-fi onboard, but you might want to consider what other connectivity options you’ll have. Do you want Bluetooth as well in case your wi-fi goes down? Could a 3.5mm socket come in handy? And is there native support for your streaming service of choice?

Smart features
Considering you’re reading a guide to the best Google Assistant speakers it’s probably safe to assume you’re not looking for one with Alexa (although we have a list for smart speakers in general too), but that’s not the only smart aspect to consider when shopping for a smart speaker.

Some also support Matter and Thread, two relatively new wireless standards that make it easier to connect other smart home devices, so if you plan to use your speaker to do more than just play music and set timers, it might be worth making sure both are supported.

Finally, most smart speakers rely purely on voice for communication, but if you think you might like to supplement that with some visual feedback, some now come with screens as well. On the whole, we’ve found that these don’t sound as good as dedicated speakers, but they’re mostly meant to be used as a high-tech alternative to a kitchen radio or bedside alarm clock.

How we test Google Assistant speakers

The What Hi-Fi? team tests hundreds of products every year – and that includes wireless smart speakers. How do we come to our review verdicts and why should you trust them? Give us two minutes of your time...

We have dedicated facilities in London and Reading, where our team of expert reviewers handles every step of all our independent testing. This gives us complete control over all the products we test, ensuring consistency and impartiality.

When testing smart speakers, we download the accompanying app and test how well each speaker responds to voice commands, as well as how it handles third-party music app integration, such as BBC Sounds, Spotify, Tidal and internet radio.

If possible, we also take smart speakers home to test how we would naturally use them in our daily lives, and test their connections, user-friendliness, and sound quality with a variety of music genres and sources.

All smart speakers are tested in comparison with rivals in the same price category (always five-star class leaders and often What Hi-Fi? Award-winners) and all our review verdicts are agreed upon by the team as a whole rather than an individual reviewer. This helps to ensure neutrality and avoid any personal preference.

Finally, we choose the culmination of our efforts – the best products from all of our in-depth reviews – to feature in our Best Buys, which is where you are now. If you take the plunge and buy one of the products recommended above, or on any other Best Buy page, you can be assured you're getting a What Hi-Fi?-approved product.

Read all about how we test and review products right here.

FAQ

Recent updates

January 2026: No new entries, but we've checked our copy to ensure it's all up to date for the new year.

June 2025: No new entries or products removed, but checked copy to ensure it's up-to-date.

March 2025: Sonos One removed due to lack of availability, so the JBL Authentics 300 has been promoted to the best overall choice. Added two questions to the FAQ section and updated the advice on how to choose a Google Assistant speaker.

February 2025: No new entries on the main list, but we've added the portable LG Xboom XG8T to our also consider section.

Sonos has had a rough couple of years since its disastrous app update, but it still makes some of the best multi-room speakers you can buy. Its newest models have impressed us, too: the Sonos Play earned four stars, while the Arc Ultra soundbar won an Award. So only a fool would write it off.

But the competition is fiercer than ever – they've sensed blood, and they're going for it. Take Audio Pro's W generation of speakers (one of which, the C20 W, won a What Hi-Fi? Award) and the four-star WiiM Sound, to name but two recent challengers.

In other words, Sonos isn't the only game in multi-room town. If you're looking for an alternative, you've got some great options.

All of the below beat Sonos in at least one area, be it sound quality, design, versatility or price. And all have been thoroughly tested by our expert reviews team.

With over 100 years of experience between us, we know our audio onions, whether it's 'proper' hi-fi, wireless multi-room, home cinema or headphones. What Hi-Fi? has been reviewing products for nearly 50 years, and we've always been honest, thorough and straightforward, without fear or favour.

For more information on why you can trust us, check out our how we test section further down this page.

The best Sonos alternatives we recommend in 2026

Best overall

Audio Pro has made its mark on the multi-room market in a short space of time.

We're big fans of the Swedish company's wireless speakers, which look and sound superb, and together they make an excellent Sonos alternative.

The Audio Pro C20 W, Addon C3, Addon C5A and Addon C10 MkII all deliver excellent audio performance for the money. (In fact, the C20 W is a current What Hi-Fi? Awards winner, while the C3 and C10 MkII won in previous years.)

The latest entry into the range – the C20 W – is another five-star performer, building on the success of the C20. It retains all the versatility of the standard C20, with better usability and upgraded sonics, elevating an already excellent speaker to new heights.

Audio Pro speakers are entertaining, musical performers and superior to a lot of rivals at similar money. Crucially, they also offer Bluetooth and line-in inputs on many of their models, giving even more flexibility.

The Audio Pro range doesn’t include the same home cinema components as some of its multi-room rivals. The app has been updated throughout, and looks fresh and is easy to navigate (though it did fail to connect occasionally during testing).

But as we concluded our review: "[F]or sound quality at the price, this system is currently unbeatable."

Read the full Audio Pro multi-room system review

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Best for hi-res

If hi-res is your priority, then check out Bluesound. It pairs native hi-res compatibility of up to 24-bit/192kHz with ESS Sabre DAC chips for precise digital-to-analogue conversion. Its devices are also full of features and very competitively priced. No wonder they've reviewed so well.

The Node Icon earned a What Hi-Fi? Award for its trouble last year, while the standard Node (2024) and Node Nano are both solid four-star products.

As well as the streamers, the range now includes two Dolby Atmos soundbars: the Pulse Cinema and Pulse Cinema Mini.

They're all powered by the BluOS platform, which is compatible with over 20 streaming services and a massive raft of file formats.

Dirac Live room calibration software recently came to the range, allowing you to adjust the audio to match the layout of the room in which the device is placed (though this costs extra). Dirac Live also creates a cleaner, tauter sound by reducing phase issues experienced between speaker drive units.

Downsides? Only models from 2024 onwards support DSD files (by converting them to PCM), and Chromecast support is conspicuous by its absence.

But the Node Icon recently became the first to use MQA Labs’ Qrono digital-to-analogue technology, following parent company Lenbrook’s acquisition of MQA Ltd. Qrono refines the DAC's timing response to align better with the original recording.

The BluOS mobile app is intuitive to get around, and it contains plenty of settings to play with, like gain, mono/stereo playback modes and tone control. And BluOS is more open than Sonos' walled garden approach, so you can wirelessly pair other BluOS-compatible devices like the Award-winning Cyrus 40 ST, Award-winning NAD C 3050 (with MDC2 BluOS-D module), Roksan Attessa streaming amplifier, Dali Oberon C speakers (when coupled with the Sound Hub) and PSB Alpha iQ speakers.

Read our full Bluesound Node Icon review

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Best for iOS

The HomePod 2 is the pricier option in Apple’s current lineup, sitting well above the HomePod Mini.

It succeeds the first generation HomePod we tested all the way back in 2018, and while it may look similar, it contains some big changes.

Sonically, it's a leap forward.

Our tests revealed it to be one of the best sounding smart speakers you’ll find, blowing its closest rival, the Amazon Echo Studio, out of the water and offering a much more precise low end than the first generation HomePod.

The audio doesn't succumb to sibilance like a lot of speakers at this price. It has bags of energy too, playing tunes with infectious enthusiasm. And the bass is very good indeed – as we noted in our review, it "demonstrates the sort of low-frequency flexibility that the average wireless speaker can only dream of."

Classically Apple, it's a cinch to set up.

When it's paired with an iPhone all you have to do is scan for the speaker and run through a few on-screen commands to get it fully integrated with your smart home setup. It even adjusts its sound in real time to adapt to its surroundings.

But its biggest strength is also its greatest weakness: it's an Apple product, for Apple people. If you're not in Apple's ecosystem, you won't get anywhere near the best out of the HomePod 2.

Its primary connection is locked to Apple’s AirPlay 2 tech, Apple Music is the only music streaming service natively supported and Siri is your only option for voice commands. This will limit its appeal to those who aren’t Apple diehards. They might prefer more platform-agnostic options like Sonos, or another alternative from this list.

A HomePod with a screen has been rumoured for some time now – stay tuned for updates.

Read the full Apple HomePod 2 review

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Best for value

The fifth incarnation of the Amazon Echo Dot doesn’t exactly break from its predecessor in the looks department, retaining that round shape and understated aesthetic that served the 4th Generation so well.

It's lost the 3.5mm audio output, but can still be connected to another speaker via Bluetooth.

Like other Echo speakers, it prioritises Amazon's services, but isn't limited to them: Spotify, Deezer and Apple Music are supported alongside Amazon Music, though sadly Tidal is only supported in the US.

Amazon promises clearer vocals, deeper bass and vibrant sound in any room thanks to a single 44mm front-firing speaker, larger than the previous gen’s 40mm.

It sounds very impressive indeed – "the sonic experience is somewhat remarkable when you also consider the Dot’s remarkably slim price tag and unobtrusive design," we said in our Amazon Echo Dot (5th Generation) review.

The bass carries some weight, but isn't as clear as with pricier speakers. Crank the volume up and distortion starts to creep in. Nevertheless, this is another stunning entry to the Echo speaker range.

Read the full Amazon Echo Dot (5th Generation) review

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Best newcomer

WiiM might not be a household name like Sonos, but it's impressed us greatly in its short life so far. The WiiM Pro Plus won a What Hi-Fi? Award for its killer combination of detailed sound and ease of use, while the WiiM Amp Pro is fantastic value as a just-add-speakers system. The WiiM Sound smart speaker might not quite match the Apple HomePod 2, but is still well designed with excellent streaming features.

There's also a cut-price WiiM Sound Lite to compete with Amazon's Echo speakers.

So as you can see, WiiM has plenty of devices to suit a range of budgets. And generally, the quality is very good. (We say "generally", because there are some three-star products among the range, and the connections and technologies do vary by device – the newer ones lack Apple's AirPlay tech, for instance.)

Build quality is also solid across the range, though the plastic build can feel a little cheap. And they come supporting a host of file formats (up to 24-bit/192kHz hi-res) and streaming services, all accessible through the WiiM Home mobile app, which is a joy to use.

If it looks familiar, that's because certain Audio Pro speakers use a similar app by WiiM's parent company LinkPlay.

If WiiM keeps on in this vein, it could one day rival Sonos for market dominance.

Read our full WiiM Amp Ultra review

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Also consider

The best (other) Sonos alternatives we've tested:

Apple HomePod Mini: If you don't want to shell out for the full HomePod 2 experience, the HomePod Mini is a great budget option. It delivers surprisingly full sound in a much smaller and cheaper package, while offering a full suite of features.

Amazon Echo (4th Gen): Bigger than the Echo Dot, the standard Echo gives you the same experience with improved sound. And it's often discounted, so keep a look out come sales time.

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How to choose the best Sonos alternative for you

Before you dive right in and spend a fortune on a Sonos alternative, wait.

The beauty of a multi-room system like the ones above is that you don't have to buy it all in one go, you can start with just one or two speakers and expand it on a device-by-device basis, going room to room.

This will help you spread the cost over months – or even years – and take a more considered approach to which rooms really need adding to your multi-room set-up.

And if you find actually you would be better served by another brand's ecosystem, you won't have to replace your whole system.

App control is now pretty standard, but some apps are better than others, so it might be worth looking into how each works to find which is simplest for you.

Most systems also work with voice assistants like Siri, Google Assistant and Amazon's Alexa.

Deep into Apple's/Google's/Amazon's ecosystem? Make sure your Sonos alternative is compatible with your smart assistant of choice, or switch allegiance.

It's also worth investigating which streaming service(s) your speaker of choice supports.

The big ones are pretty ubiquitous nowadays, but it's always worth checking – do your homework before you buy to avoid disappointment.

You should also look at what physical connections each speaker offers – the HomePod range offers none at all bar a port for the power cable, while Audio Pro and Denon's models have optical, RCA and an Ethernet port for a more robust internet connection.

If you plan on connecting other devices to your Sonos alternatives, you'll need to know whether they're compatible.

Then there's the matter of price.

Most of the devices in this list are cheaper than their Sonos counterparts, and, with the exception of Apple, more likely to be discounted in the sales.

Choose wisely, and you won't miss Sonos at all.

How we test Sonos alternatives

At What Hi-Fi? we comprehensively test and review every product we recommend, from soundbars to speakers, headphones and TVs. And it's no different for Sonos alternatives.

As a rule, we do comparative testing – ensuring new products are tested against their rivals according to product type, features and price.

Almost all the testing is carried out by our team of expert reviewers at our dedicated test rooms, though we have been known for take Sonos alternatives home to really get the full 'living with' experience (sadly we have to give them back afterwards).

We test every aspect of a multi-room speaker system, including sound quality, features, ease of set-up and use, and overall performance.

And we test multiple products in each family, so we're not judging a whole range from one device (sound quality can really vary within the same range – some speakers score a five while others may only be a three).

As with all products we test, review verdicts are decided by the team rather than one reviewer in order to avoid possible bias. There's no input from PR companies or our sales team when it comes to the verdict.

In the nearly 50 years since we started reviewing, our aim remains the same – to give honest, unbiased advice so you can buy the best products possible.

For more, check out our how we test and review products page.

• Get the cheapest price: best Sonos deals
• Save with our best wireless speaker deals
• Best multi-room speakers
• Which Sonos speaker is best for you?

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F.A.Q.

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Recent updates

• 7th May 2026: Added Bluesound and WiiM as new entries to the main list, deleted Google Nest Hub. Replaced 'The quick list' with the desktop widget. Mentioned the new Bose soundbars in the F.A.Q.
• 26th January 2026: Rewrote intro to include reference to the WiiM Sound and our hands-on review. Added an update log below the intro.
• 14th October 2025: Deleted HEOS entry as it was out of date. Updated Awards references to 2025's winners. Added mention of the recently reviewed Audio Pro C20 W.
• 1st July 2025: Updated references to outdated speakers.
• 4th April 2025: Linked to Apple HomePod with a screen rumour round-up. Added links to AudioPro reviews.
• 17th January 2025: Rewrote intro. Added a quote from the relevant product's review for each entry. Linked to how we test and review products on What Hi-Fi?
• 13th September 2024: Rewrote intro. Deleted duplicate headings in 'The Quick List' section. Edited 'Q&A'.
• 4th July 2024: Rewrote intro. Removed test scores tables. Updated Audio Pro entry with mention of C20; updated Denon HEOS entry with mention of Marantz M1 and Denon Home 150 NV. Expanded 'How to Choose' section.
• 16th May 2024: Converted to new Best Buy format. Removed Bluesound Generation 2i, Apple HomePod Mini and Amazon Echo (4th Generation) from main list. Added 'Also consider' and 'Recent updates' sections.
• 12th January 2024: Added new introduction and mentions of Award-winning products where relevant.
• 5th June 2023: Added Amazon Echo Dot (5th Generation).

Today's best deals on Sonos alternatives

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What is Roon? It's not the easiest music platform to explain. The fact that Roon Labs has its own, dedicated Roon Knowledge website is a testament to that. The shortest way to describe Roon is that it is a membership-based, multi-device, multi-room music software platform.

Roon organises your digital music library across various sources, cleans up your files and their metadata, and directs the music to your motley crew of Roon-compatible hi-fi kit, of which there is now a lot. A walled garden of hardware this is not. Roon aims to be a well-organised, carefully considered democratisation of multi-room – and succeeds in that.

Roon's goals are also supreme usability and super high-quality sound. The interface was designed to be richer than anything else and it "supports bit-perfect playback of lossless and lossy file formats, including high-resolution audio content like PCM and DSD, in both stereo and multichannel".

Hardware support is almost universal in the hi-fi space these days – and hey, it must be doing something right as Samsung-owned Harman International (which owns JBL, AKG, Mark Levinson et al) bought it in November 2023.

So if you want to know exactly what the Roon music server is before you sign up to become one of more than 100,000 Roon users worldwide, read on...

What is Roon?

At its core, Roon is a music management software that brings all your digital music and hardware into one place – your personal local and networked files, your subscribed-to streaming service libraries, and even internet radio. Roon is not a music streaming service in its own right; it does not offer access to any music service you are not already signed up to.

It then lets you easily stream that music to Roon-compatible ('Roon Ready') audio output devices in your home in a multi-room environment as you please. This is all controllable via Roon's desktop, smartphone and tablet apps. 

Essentially, it is the brain which tells your music what to do and where to do it – the policeman directing the traffic. It joins the disparate dots of your listening ecosystem, giving you a one-stop-shop to access, control and play everything. To do that, there are several key parts to Roon's structure: the Roon Core, the Roon app and the audio devices. Roon also has two servers/streamers called Nucleus. So let's look at all those individually...

What is a Roon Core?

Every Roon set-up requires a Roon Core. It's the conductor of your music-streaming orchestra. It centralises the Roon application, which is responsible for all the thinking your system needs to do. That way, you don't need to update all your bits and pieces of hi-fi every time Roon is fixed or upgraded.

Naturally, your Roon Core needs to be something with decent computational chops, so in most set-ups will likely to be a Mac or Windows PC. It could also be a NAS (Network Attached Storage) drive, installable with the Roon Core server software, or a dedicated music server such as Roon's own Roon Nucleus One ($500 / approx £400 / approx AU$780) or flagship Roon Nucleus Titan ($3699 / approx £2900 / approx AU$5600), which naturally have the software pre-installed. Here you can find a list of Roon partner products.

Music management
Wherever it sits, the Roon Core software will manage the music from all of your digital sources: Tidal, Qobuz, NAS, HDD, USB and radio. It builds an interconnected digital library, with cleaned-up, up-to-date metadata, which is then tucked up into one, tidy interface with all the rich content that Roon can muster.

Those extras include photos, bios, reviews, lyrics, and concert dates, and make connections between artists, composers, performers, conductors, and producers. The idea is to create a more searchable, magazine-type feel to your music, so you can not only play your music but also be invited to interact with and learn about it.

Music playback
As well as organising your collection, your Roon Core is responsible for music playback too, and it aims to take as much of the heavy lifting away from your playback devices as possible. It does all the audio stream conversion and volume levels the output. It controls your play queue, your output devices and the multi-room zoning as well. It also handles all the software updates.

Keeping all of those computational processes in one place means that the audio circuitry of your hi-fi equipment can be freer of noisy chips and components which may otherwise harm the quality of music playback. It also means that your hi-fi kit won't become outdated.

"AirPlay for audiophiles"
Roon Advanced Audio Transport (RAAT) is the technology that allows this all to work in a centralised way. Roon describes it as "AirPlay for audiophiles". It allows the Roon Core to do everything apart from acting as your remote control or the audio output device itself. Consequently, it promises fewer dropouts, lower latency and hi-res audio streams of up to 32-bit/768kHz PCM and DSD512.

• MP3, AAC, WAV, FLAC: all the audio file formats explained

What is the Roon Remote?

This one's easy. Roon Remote is the name of the Roon app on most app stores. It is a software remote control for your Roon service. It's not the core, it's not your library; it's simply the way you access what you've got and the way you ask your Roon Core to play music on your devices.

There are Roon Remote apps for iOS, Android, Windows and Mac OS to use on smartphones, tablets and computers. You use these to browse and play music with Roon apps – and each variant of the app has been created with a single code base to make sure that the experience is uniform and therefore familiar. You can install and use as many as you like, and all the data is kept synchronized in real-time, with Roon claiming that there's no lag and no stale data.

In February 2021, the 'Roon 1.8' update introduced new personalisation features. The service has always organised music into a searchable digital magazine, but version 1.8 took things up a notch by adding an individually personalised Home screen that boasts an ever-changing roster of artists based on your listening habits.

It improved the ability to draw on user metadata to more accurately tailor music recommendations. The spiffed-up Focus feature, for example, can now search anywhere in Roon, including Tidal and Qobuz, making it easier to explore hi-res tracks by your favourite artists, genres and composers. 

It also enabled users to dig down into each artist's influences and collaborations – Roon describes it as a "360-degree view" – and use the new quick links to ask the Roon community questions.

That gives you a window into the sort of features and user experience you can expect, although in 2022 Roon changed the game again by introducing Roon 2.0.

Arguably an even bigger deal than 1.8, Roon 2.0 introduces the Roon ARC app for iOS and Android. This mobile app lets you listen to your entire Roon library of tracks on your phone, so you don't have to rely on just what the current streaming services have to offer – a Godsend if you have a ton of rare music stashed away on a hard drive that you can't find on the likes of Spotify, Apple Music et al. You can download songs in their original format for offline listening too, and access the Tidal and Qobuz libraries directly from the Roon ARC app. It's dead-handy for on-the-go listening.

Device support: what hi-fi is 'Roon Ready'?

"Audio devices" are the final part of the chain. They receive the music and either send it along the hi-fi chain or output it itself. These might be networked speakers, music streamers, headphone amplifiers, DACs or even just a laptop.

Look out for 'Roon Ready' certification on your playback devices. This is the guarantee that they will support Roon's hi-res streaming RAAT technology. Roon will discover Roon Ready devices without a problem and automatically deliver the highest possible audio quality to them.

Roon has become seemingly ever-present on the spec sheets of streaming-savvy hi-fi kit. It claims it is compatible with over 1000 devices from nearly 200 audio brands, including – deep breath – Arcam, Audiolab, Astell & Kern, Bluesound, B&W, Cambridge Audio, Chord Electronics, Cyrus, dCS, Devialet, Denon, Elac, JBL, KEF, Linn, Marantz, McIntosh, Mark Levinson, Meridian, Moon, NAD, Naim, Onyko, Oppo, Pioneer, Pro-Ject, TEAC and more. Essentially, Roon support has become as prevalent in product specifications as AirPlay and Bluetooth.

Take a look at the full Roon Ready list to see every brand Roon has partnered with.

Device support: what is 'Roon Tested'?

'Roon Tested' is a second tier of hardware partner program used by Roon. They're not guaranteed for the highest levels of audio quality but all Roon Tested devices have been checked and profiled by Roon to make sure that the software is configured to help these endpoints work at their very best.

The idea is to give users the confidence that Roon Tested kit will slot into their system easily and work properly. Roon Tested devices include those made by Audioquest, Denon, Marantz, McIntosh and many more. Take a look at the full Roon Tested list for more details.

Fortunately, that's not quite the end of it for Roon audio devices. There are one or two more commonplace audio and streaming standards that also work with Roon...

Does Roon work with AirPlay devices?

Roon will support most AirPlay devices, whether Apple-made or third party, and you should see them picked up by the Roon Core on your apps. Go to the Audio tab on your Roon Remote and you'll find a list of all available AirPlay endpoints. If your AirPlay device is sleeping, Roon may miss it. Wake it up and try again, if needs be.

The maximum resolution for AirPlay is a 'CD quality' (16-bit/44.1kHz), though, so Roon will downgrade any audio streams to fit with playback at that level.

Does Roon support Sonos?

Interestingly, it does! Sonos kit is fully supported by Roon. The maximum quality audio Sonos hardware can receive is CD-quality-like 16-bit/48kHz but, as with AirPlay, the Roon Core will downsample higher bitrate streams automatically to fit.

Does Roon support Chromecast?

Yes again. Anything that you can plug a Google Chromecast dongle into can also become part of your Roon system because Roon fully supports Chromecast with music streams up to 24-bit/96kHz.

That works for legacy Chromecast devices including the Chromecast (Gen 1 and 2), Chromecast Audio, Chromecast Ultra, Chromecast with Google TV, Google Home, Google Home Mini and Google Home Max. Google's newer Nest speakers are compatible too, and we presume the all-new Google TV Streamer will be too. In fact, Roon says that most devices with “Chromecast Built-in” should also be detectable by your Roon Core. Head to 'Settings' and then 'Audio' on the Roon Remote to enable your Chromecast device.

You'll get streams of up to 24-bit/96kHz using Chromecast Audio. Other Chromecast devices will support sample frequencies of up to 48kHz. Any video-supporting Chromecast devices will also work as a display for Roon to show album artwork, artist photos, and track information, as well as the audio, with what's known as Roon Display.

Voice control and zone grouping will also work depending on your Chromecast devices.

What audio quality can Roon stream?

We covered this above but just in case you're skim reading (as if?), Roon Ready devices can receive streams of up to 32-bit/768kHz PCM and DSD512, or in other words: the majority of consumable files and streams out there.

Not all networked audio outputs can handle those bitrates, though, so a Roon Core automatically converts the audio streams to the optimal resolution for those other devices.

For details on the bitrates when using AirPlay devices, Sonos and Chromecast, see the relevant sections above.

When connected to a compatible HDMI device, Roon also provides multichannel playback for (FLAC, WAV, ALAC, AAC, AIDD, DFF and DSF) content for up to eight channels per device, so 7.1 configurations are supported.

Does Roon support MQA?

Roon and MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) technology are firm friends. This used to be handy if you had a Tidal HiFi subscription but your music streamer didn't play nice with the file unfolding of hi-res (MQA-encoded) Tidal Masters streams. You see, in a Roon set-up, it isn't the streamer that decodes the files but the Roon Core. So, you could use your Roon Core to decode your Tidal Masters stream, unpack the MQA audio and then send it over to your non-MQA-supporting streamer as a playback format which it can cope with.

The way that works is that the Roon Core decodes the MQA file into an MQA Core stream. That then produces a PCM stream at 88.2kHz or 96kHz which is passed on to your output device. That stream also happens to include further MQA information. So, if your player has an MQA-compatible DAC inside it, then it can do further unfolding of that stream to unlock more levels of MQA's audio potential.

As Tidal has now ditched the MQA format, however, this example is no longer relevant. That said, the relatively new owner of MQA, Lenbrook, has announced plans to launch a new MQA-toting streaming service with HDTracks. So perhaps MQA, and its relationship with partners such as Roon, will get a new lease of life in the near future.

What is MQA? Take a look at our guide to learn more about it.

What does Roon cost?

'Not cheap' is the easy answer, but the engineers at Roon Labs would doubtless say it is worth it. To throw in our two penneth, we have found it to be a highly intuitive music management tool and, indeed, a bit of a hi-fi luxury.

There's a lot of work that goes into usability, functionality, look, feel and everything else, and the upshot is that Roon currently costs $149.88/year for the standard membership if you pay annually. That works out as – quick maths – $12.49 per month. Alternatively, it is $14.99 per month if you want to pay monthly. That includes full Roon functionality for one Roon Core to manage your music library and unlimited remote devices.

The other option is to bet the house and go big. If you love Roon and think you will want to use it for more than five years, then a lifetime Roon membership costs $830 and makes sense. This is a good time to note that nothing from early statements around the Harman International takeover of Roon suggests that the platform won't stand the test of time. Roon Labs Founder Enno Vandermeer has reassured subscribers that "Roon will continue exactly as it is", with memberships and billing processes remaining without interruption, no change to device support (or customer support for that matter), and the community forum site set to continue.

And by the way, if you aren't a US resident, that's fine... but your purchase will be charged in US Dollars, with any currency conversions conducted by your bank.

Thankfully, you can try Roon before you buy: simply head over to the Roon website and sign up for a 14-day free trial.

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The Google Home Mini is, basically, Google's spin on an Amazon Echo Dot. It's a dinky device that comes with Google Assistant and can be used purely as a wireless speaker or as a smart hub, through which you can control other Google Home or Chromecast-enabled speakers around your house.

What's more, the Google Home Mini has now been out for a while, so you should be able to pick it up at a substantial discount. 

• Amazon Echo Dot (3rd generation) review
• Best speaker deals 2019: Bluetooth, wireless, smart

Set-up

If the robot takeover is going to take place, it may well start with voice assistants. Just as Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft have been busy working on improving their respective AI assistants, we have been busy filling our homes with their voice-powered hardware. There’s no need for the robots to sneak in the back door, we’ve welcomed them in with open arms.

Plug in the Google Home Mini, the company’s entry-level smart speaker, and it’s easy to see why. The set-up process proves surprisingly calming in its faultless efficiency. Power-up, download the Google Home app on your phone and tablet, then tap and talk your way through a series of privacy warnings and voice commands, accompanied by various bleeps and flashing lights.

The set-up will help you connect to music services – Spotify and Google Play Music are offered here – and to nearby Chromecast devices (ours sniffs out a Sony Android TV), and then you’re just about done. Once the Google Home Mini is happy that it’s learnt your voice and enough about you, it’s ready to get started being your virtual butler.

• Best wireless speakers 2019: portable, multi-room, smart speakers

Design and Build

The device itself is unassuming. Its ‘360 sound’ design looks more like a small speaker than its nearest rival, the futuristic-hockey-puck-style Amazon Echo Dot. Buttons and connections are kept to a minimum, with just a mute microphone switch tucked around the back.

Touch controls on the device itself allow you to adjust the volume, but you’re meant to be using your voice or at least the Google Home app, of course.

• Multi-room audio: everything you need to know

Features

Like Amazon’s Alexa devices, much of the connectivity is handled by the app – though there’s less of it in general. There’s no aux output, so you can’t connect to a better pair of speakers or your music system, and there’s also no Bluetooth output.

The lack of Bluetooth is negated by the presence of Google Chromecast, which allows you to connect to and control compatible apps and services, such as Tidal, Netflix and YouTube. You can send music from your Tidal app to the Google Home Mini or play/pause Netflix on a compatible TV, for example, and can group multiple Chromecast devices for multi-room music.

What else you can do is largely dependent on compatible services and devices – the former is pretty thorough, the latter relies heavily on Google’s Chromecast ecosystem. Sonos, for example, is not yet on board, though the Sonos One, which currently supports Amazon’s Alexa, is due to get Google Assistant later this year.

Sony, B&O, Philips and Polk are on board with selected hardware, however. In terms of services, you can get news and sport updates from the BBC, Sky, Reuters, CNN and more, and you can control YouTube, Netflix and Spotify among others.

• What is Google Chromecast? Which speakers and TVs are supported?

Sound quality

And it all works pretty well. Sonically, the Google Home Mini sounds noticeably better than the Echo Dot. Voices are full and clear, and it’s perfectly listenable when it comes to talk radio or voice answers – and this is the speaker’s primary use.

If you want to play music, the better sonic balance means it’s fine but don’t expect it to go particularly loud or be anything more than an average sounding speaker.

Google Assistant’s abilities will be familiar to anyone with an Android phone or tablet and are largely impressive. It’s every bit as good at hearing you as Echo devices, and for the typical sort of questions, it understands you more often than not, and also tends to have an answer.

Provided you don’t veer too far from basic diary, weather and search queries, Google’s knowhow ensures you will hear a search result, even if it’s not quite sure of the answer.

• Google Home review

Verdict

While it’s not quite the perfect experience, it’s hard to complain too much about what the Home Mini does. It is primarily a good voice assistant, with the ability to control other devices. More compatible devices and improvements to the AI will only improve things – just don’t expect it to be a top-notch music speaker.

• Best smart speakers 2019
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• See all our Google reviews
• Best speaker deals 2019: Bluetooth, wireless, smart

This year alone, two Technics turntables and an SACD/CD streamer have been resounding, five-star hits with the What Hi-Fi? team. We’ve therefore got high hopes indeed for the first wireless speaker that we’ve been able to test from the Japanese audio firm - the catchily named Ottava S SC-C30.

Build

The Ottava S SC-C30 has four delicate little pointed feet; the kind that might descend from the undercarriage of a UFO. Combined with a central, downward-pointing power light that initially greets you, the SC-C30 appears almost to hover from some angles when you switch it on. Our review sample is cloaked in black fabric, with a premium-looking aluminium top panel. At 31.5cm across, it's wider than we had expected.

The SC-C30’s aluminium and glass-fibre body houses five drivers: a pair of 16mm soft-dome tweeters, two 6.5cm woofers and a front-facing 12cm cone subwoofer. These are driven by digital amplification that’s controlled by sophisticated software that aims to reduce jitter and noise issues while optimising the performance from the drivers.

Features

A nifty feature of the SC-C30 is Space Tune. The speaker already has three audio presets (‘Free’, ‘Near a Wall’ and ‘Near a Corner’), but holding the press/pause button for five seconds activates the ‘Space Tune’ function. Using the built-in mic, the SC-C30 then emits several swooshing noises and automatically adjusts the sound so that it is tailored to wherever you’ve placed it.

The six buttons around the SC-C30’s circular display can be used to switch between input options, which include Bluetooth, auxiliary, optical, USB, internet radio and Chromecast-enabled apps. Using the Technics Audio Center app, you can also stream music files from a device on your network. 

You can register nine favourite stations or playlists on the device by holding down the star button on the display, and you can also control the SC-C30 by voice, if you have a suitable voice-activated unit, such as a Google Home Mini, to pair it with.

Sound

The SC-C30 has been designed for the living room, and is at its best when placed close to a wall. Here, it offers a big sound for its dimensions – the bass weight solidity in particular is impressive. Jay-Z’s Picasso Baby is rhythmically tight and, while the bass is not overly forward, it’s nicely balanced.

Most alternatives are more prominent in the bass, but what the SC-C30 offers is agile, controlled and lag-free. There is ample separation between the softly-spoken French voices and Jay-Z’s heavy rap. When the beat periodically stops dead to leave us in silence, the Ottava obliges with precision and picks up exuberantly from where it left off. Tom Ford, from the same album, proves that the SC-C30 is capable of handling fast-paced rhythmic treble frequencies too. 

We switch to Junius Meyvant’s Floating Harmonies and the keys are well-balanced across the gamut of frequencies, dynamically nimble alongside Meyvant’s lilting, softly-sung vocal. In Bruce Springsteen’s Thunder Road, meanwhile, we’re met with a similarly detailed, musical and emotive harmonica at the outset of the song.

But despite the excellent sonic performance, the SC-C30 can’t get the full five stars. The unit’s control software and partnering app prove rather buggy during testing, with lags in response making for a frustrating user experience, particularly during playback and volume adjustment. It performs better when hardwired into our network, but not enough to completely eradicate these issues. And that’s a shame, because Technics has done so much right here.

Verdict

The Ottava S SC-C30 is a premium-looking product with all the right features that sounds great for the money. We’re surprised that a company with the resources of Technics hasn’t managed to make the control software work seamlessly. Until it does that, the C30 remains a tempting but flawed proposition.

SCORES

• Sound 5
• Features 5
• Build 3

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Read all our Technics reviews

Let’s start with the name. Philips has decided its new LCD model is so important and so uniquely well positioned that it needs a name rather than a number, calling it ‘The One’. Even if we ignore the fact that one is a number, The One is also referred to in the company’s press materials by the product number 7304.

It's a hit and a miss on the naming front, then, but almost everything else about The One seems pretty on point, based on the information provided so far and a brief hands-on at the launch event.

For starters, it’s a rare delight just to see a TV manufacturer putting some genuine effort into its mid-range models. While most rivals seemingly begrudgingly launch mid-range sets while focusing all of their attention on the flagship models, Philips is heavily pushing The One on its mainstream credentials.

Build and features

Those credentials begin with The One’s size options, of which there are many, including a couple frequently ignored by other manufacturers. 43in, 50in, 55in, 58in, 65in or 70in – the choice is yours.

While The One’s price is yet to be revealed, its predecessor, the 7303, launched at under £600 for a 43in model and at about £700 for 50in, so the price for the new model is likely to be reasonable.

Despite that price, The One boasts some very tasty specs: three-sided Ambilight, a direct LED backlight, 4K, HDR10+, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos.

Orchestrating matters is the first-generation version of Philips’ P5 processor, introduced in 2017 with the 55POS9002 OLED. It's of course a shame that it doesn't get a more recent processor (the new OLED805/854 has the third-generation P5), but it's entirely understandable for a more affordable set.

And The One will ship with Android TV 9.0 on board, which brings with it Google Assistant. The One is also ‘Works with Alexa’ certified, and either smart assistant can be activated using a button on the remote or a separate smart speaker such as the Google Home or Amazon Echo.

There’s no mention of HDMI 2.1 in relation to any of Philips’ 2019 TVs, which means it is likely to stick with HDMI 2.0, but could also mean that it isn’t yet sure whether its models will be certified by launch.

Neither have specific apps been discussed, which we’re assuming means Philips is relying once again on the selection offered by Android TV. In some ways that's fine, but last year it resulted in Philips TVs lacking ITV Hub, All 4 and My5, and it would be a shame to see those omissions repeated.

The One is a smart-looking TV. The combination of a light finish to the metal and thick bezels makes it look less sophisticated than many rivals, but there’s also something quite agreeable about the lighter, friendlier design, which should blend nicely in most rooms with light-coloured walls.

The angular pedestal looks rather smart and features a swivel function, which should help make up for any viewing-angle deficiencies incurred by the use of an LED backlight.

Picture

The demonstration of The One at the launch event was brief, but still enough to get us excited for the performance it appears to offer for the price. Next to the outgoing 7303, which it will replace, The One looks sharper, with crisper edge definition and improved overall solidity.

At first glance it also looks more detailed, although it could be that the extra definition increases the perception of detail, rather than the panel actually digging up more detail than the old model. Of course, you could argue that the distinction is irrelevant – what matters is that the image looks more detailed.

Colours are clearly punchier and more vibrant, too, but without looking overcooked or unnatural. All in all, The One looks every bit the upgrade over its predecessor.

There are caveats: there’s only so much you can tell from a demo, and on closer, independent inspection, the performance of the final sets could differ to that of the demonstration sample. And, of course, the price could be higher than expected.

In other words, while the picture performance of The One is impressive, we wouldn’t recommend placing an order until we’ve had the set in for a full review.

Sound

Less impressive than The One’s picture performance demo was the audio comparison. Philips talks a good game about the changes it has made, explaining that its new drivers go at least 40Hz deeper than the previous model, and, sure enough, The One sounds much bassier than the outgoing 7303. It’s more open and spacious, too.

The problem is that the bass itself doesn’t appear to be of a terribly high quality, sounding a bit woolly on first listen, and it also rather drowns out and muffles the midrange. During our demo, the sound wasn’t projected into the room effectively, either.

Again, the demo was brief and the sound may turn out to be better than it initially seemed once we get our review sample in.

Verdict

While it’s impossible to draw firm conclusions from a brief demo, our first impressions of The One are very good indeed. On the picture front, this appears to be a real step forward and could well be the new benchmark for mid-range TVs.

The sound is a bit disappointing, but we always recommend adding a soundbar to a TV anyway. What’s more, Philips will offer a TV with the same picture performance as The One and an improved speaker system. That TV will be called the 7504, and could well be worth checking out if the audio upgrade doesn’t add too much to the price.

Either way, Philips deserves appreciation for putting some real effort into its more affordable TV models. Rival manufacturers should take note.

• Hands on: Philips OLED804 / OLED854 review
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Did you know there’s a new Chromecast in town? There’s little reason why you should: Google didn’t even mention it at its October launch event.

Maybe it’s because the 2018 version of the video-streaming dongle is very similar to its 2015 predecessor. Slightly faster processing, support for 60fps and a new matte finish are pretty much the extent of it – at least until an update later in the year brings support for multi-room music. 

Thrilling stuff, we’re sure you’ll agree, but Google didn’t really need to make too many changes to the Chromecast because it was already brilliant.

Build

There’s nothing more hip than a soft-touch, matte finish, and that’s what the 2018 Chromecast sports, in either black or white – sorry, ‘charcoal’ or ‘chalk’.

The physical dimensions and general approach are the same, though, so this is a small disc that dangles from a short HDMI cable, with the power provided by a bundled microUSB cable. A wall plug is included, but if your TV has USB sockets, power from one of those should be sufficient.

Apart from the trailing USB cable, it’s an exceptionally attractive little device, but ultimately, neither of those things matter because once you’ve plugged the Chromecast in to the back of your TV, you probably won’t need to see it again.

Features

The core approach of the Chromecast remains the same as ever: instead of controlling it directly using a remote control, you select a video, song or web page via your phone, tablet or computer and ‘cast’ it to your TV using the button that’s now built into a surprisingly large number of apps.

Netflix is compatible, as are BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, All4, My5 and even Now TV. Google’s own apps, such as Google Play Movies & TV and YouTube, are castable, as are music apps such as Spotify, Tidal and TuneIn. The big absentee is Amazon Video, but otherwise the list is more or less complete.

The lack of a traditional remote will be an issue for some, and we encountered some occasional unresponsiveness when attempting to control an already-playing video from an iPhone, but the communication between handheld device and Chromecast is mostly slick and reliable.

It’s worth remembering that while you’re choosing what to watch or listen to using your phone (or tablet or laptop), you’re not actually sending media from the device you’re touching. Instead, the Chromecast is streaming directly from the internet, improving data rates and therefore quality, and preserving the battery life of the casting device.

The Chromecast is also now part of Google’s Home family of products, which means you use the Google Home app on Android or iOS to set up the device and ascribe it to a specific room. It also means that you can play content on the Chromecast by issuing voice commands to any Google Assistant smart speakers you might already have, such as the Google Home Mini. 

This feature is of limited use right now – currently only Netflix, All 4 and Spotify are compatible – but it is rather cool to be able to say “okay Google, play Ozark on the lounge TV” and have the Netflix TV show continue where you last left off.

Picture

Support for 60fps video doesn’t really add anything to regular TV and movie watching, so the picture performance of the new Chromecast is more or less identical to that of the 2015 model – which is no bad thing.

As before, 1080p is the upper resolution limit – the Chromecast Ultra (£69) goes up to 4K – but the picture is sharp and detailed, and boasts natural colours and a good deal of punch.

Blacks are a little all-consuming, so dark detail isn’t terribly strong, and there’s a little blur and judder to motion. Neither flaw is serious or particularly distracting, there’s just something a little computer-like about the delivery that you don’t get with more premium streamers.-

This isn’t a premium streamer, though: it’s a £30 streamer, and for that money the picture is very good indeed.

MORE: 4K streaming vs 4K Blu-ray vs Blu-ray – which is best?

Sound

When plugged into a good soundbar or home cinema system (either directly or via your TV) the Chromecast will output sound at up to Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 with compatible apps and videos.

This is a punchy, clean and detailed delivery, with more than enough dynamic headroom for a dramatic movie set piece. Dialogue, meanwhile, is clear and fairly nuanced. We occasionally encounter lip-sync issues, particularly when playing from Netflix, but a brief pause and resume is all that’s needed to get the video and audio playing in harmony once again.

Verdict

The Chromecast is a great product that’s clever on the engineering side but simple to use. Some might not like the lack of a physical remote, but that’s part and parcel of the Chromecast experience – and there are lots of options out there.

The new Chromecast does little that the previous model didn’t, so there’s no need to upgrade if you’ve already got one. But if you’re looking to make an older, dumb TV smart in a cost effective and innovative way, the new Chromecast is extremely easy to recommend.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 4
• Features 4

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