Smart speakers

Picking a smart speaker is mostly picking which company runs your house, since the assistant on it becomes the thing you talk to every day. A few models also include hub radios, which quietly makes them the cheapest way into Zigbee or Thread.

In the catalog: 17
Work without a hub: All of them
Most common radios: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth LE, Wi-Fi 6, Thread
Price range: $40 to $549

What decides compatibility

The assistant is the real choice. Alexa, Google, and Siri each have different device support, and switching later means redoing routines.
Some speakers and displays include a Zigbee, Thread, or Matter radio, so they work as a hub as well as a speaker.
A screen makes camera feeds and timers much better and puts a microphone and camera in the room.
Multi-room audio does not cross brands. Mixing makes and expecting synced playback does not work.

How these connect to your system

A works-with badge does not say how the device gets there, and the path changes what you get. Direct means the maker built the integration and the device's own features tend to come with it. Via Matter means the standard controls work and anything unusual about the device may not carry over. Via a hub means you need a second box, usually the maker's own, before it works at all.

System	Works with	Direct	Via Matter
Alexa	12	12	·
Google Home	9	6	3
SmartThings	3	·	3
Apple Home	3	·	3
Home Assistant	3	·	3

Smart speakers

What decides compatibility

How these connect to your system

Smart speakers we list