Our Top Pick: Best Alexa Speaker

For

  • Fantastic sound quality Easy setup and great app

Against

  • Expensive option

Sonos entered the Alexa-enabled speaker market with the Sonos One. As well as Alexa, it also offers Google Assistant too, making it one of the most capable smart speakers around. As you’d expect, it sounds fantastic and looks just as good too, though not all of Alexa’s skills are available as yet.

If you want one of the best-sounding speakers around though, with Sonos multi-room capabilities and Alexa built-in, look no further. Sonos also offers a cut-down version of the Sonos One - Sonos One SL - that doesn’t have the smart element, if you’re not so fussed about it.

  • Stylish design Great sound with lots of low-end

  • No 3.5mm jack or multi-room

Bang & Olufsen has refined an already impressive speaker with this refresher of its diminutive but powerful A1 wireless speaker. One of the key additions is built-in Alexa support, making it a smarter speaker than ever before.

Elsewhere, though, you get superb sound and a really distinctive and classy design, plus the build quality that B&O is known for. It’s by no means the best bit of value on this list or the wider market, but if you’re looking for a high-class mini speaker, it’s a superb pick.

  • Solid build with water-proofing Great battery life

  • No Alexa calling or multi-room grouping

Ultimate Ears offers the Megablast (and smaller Blast), both offering always-on Alexa voice-control, that’s always listening out for your voice. The only caveat is that you need a Wi-Fi connection, so it can only be used at home.

Being a dedicated speaker first and foremost, the UE Megablast sounds fantastic and it’s portable and waterproof so while Alexa won’t work outside your Wi-Fi connection, the Megablast stills offer great portable speaker functionality around the house.

  • Clever and convenient design Awesome sound

  • Pricey

Sonos took a leap into the future (or the present, if you prefer) by finally releasing a portable speaker towards the end of 2019, and the Sonos Move is a seriously impressive bit of kit. With that textbook Sonos sound balance and great volume, even when you’re outside, it’s a brilliantly versatile speaker.

When you’re at home, though, you can dock the speaker and have it connect to your home Wi-Fi to become a really capable smart speaker, with Alexa compatibility just like the Sonos One. It’s arguably the best of both worlds, although it does have a pretty hefty price tag to go with it.

  • Setup can be fiddly

The Bose Home Speaker 500 features a well-known Bose design but it adds a display on the front, which is quite unique for smart speakers. The Home Speaker 500 has eight mic arrays to make sure it hears your Alexa commands, and there is a chance other voice assistants could be added in the future too.

How we decided on which products to include

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