Top 8 Best Google Assistant Speakers – Updated April 2021 - Android

Those that are new to smart speakers may feel a bit overwhelmed in trying to find the best Google Assistant speaker for you. These are the best Google Assistant speakers that are available today, in each area. There are speakers, smart displays, sound bars and much more all running the Google Assistant. The main thing [...]

Read More...

The post Top 8 Best Google Assistant Speakers – Updated April 2021 appeared first on Android Headlines.

Those that are new to smart speakers may feel a bit overwhelmed in trying to find the best Google Assistant speaker for you.

These are the best Google Assistant speakers that are available today, in each area. There are speakers, smart displays, sound bars and much more all running the Google Assistant. The main thing to focus on when finding the best Google Assistant speakers is to pick a couple of features that are must-have features and go from there. Whether that be a display, great sound quality, or the form-factor, all of these play into what speaker would be the best for you.

Top 8 Best Google Assistant Speakers

These are the best Google Assistant speakers that you can buy, as of April 2021. From smart displays, to tiny speakers to sound bars, and everything in between. Google Assistant now runs on virtually everything.

There’s also something here for every price. From $49 all the way up to $1199. So no matter your budget, you can get a Google Assistant speaker for your home.

Best for Google Assistant smart speaker

Google Nest Audio

• Price: $99
• Buy: Walmart

The Nest Audio was announced on September 30, as Google’s newest smart speaker – with Google Assistant built in. This is a really incredible smart speaker to pick up for a number of reasons. But perhaps the most important reason is the fact that it is 100% made from recycled materials.

Nest Audio is now wrapped completely in fabric, and fits in better with Google’s audio lineup. This model puts out some really incredible audio quality. With some deep bass, but crystal clear mids and highs. So you’re getting a really incredible audio experience here.

It comes in a slew of different colors, including chalk (white), charcoal (black), sage (green), sand (pink) and sky (blue). It is only $99, which puts it in-line with the Amazon Echo.

Nest Audio - Walmart

Best value Google Assistant speaker

Google Nest Mini

• Price: $49
• Buy: Best Buy

Formerly called the Google Home Mini, the Nest Mini is a small hockey-puck shaped smart speaker that does everything you’d expect from a smart speaker, for a small price.

This is not a portable smart speaker, it does need to be plugged in all the time. As there is no battery built-in.

There are four LED lights on the top of the Nest Mini, which will indicate when Google Assistant is listening or when it is speaking to you. It will also indicate the volume of the speaker.

It can do virtually everything that the Google Assistant can do, but the main difference between this and the Nest Hub Max, is the screen. So Google Assistant will be talking to you only, here and not showing you information.

As a speaker, it doesn’t sound incredible, but given the size and speaker, that should come as no surprise. Alternatively, you can connect another speaker to the Nest Mini. This is done over Bluetooth, and the setup is pretty easy. It’s the same as setting up any Bluetooth speaker actually, you’re just doing it in the Google Home app.

Buy Google Nest Mini

Best for audiophiles

Klipsch The Three

• Price: $499
• Buy: Best Buy

Just the name alone should tell you that this is a smart speaker for audiophiles. Klipsch is pretty well-known in that space, providing some great sounding speakers for those that have a fine-tuned ear for music. And the Klipsch The Three is no exception, even if the name is a bit confusing.

This speaker wraps a modern design around the Google Assistant, which makes it a great fit for a bookshelf or a table in your living room.

On the audio front, there’s a lot of hardware inside that is making this speaker sound so extraordinary. That includes a single 5.25-inch subwoofer, and two 5.25-inch passive radiators. This is going to provide you with some really good sounding bass that won’t drown out the mids or highs. These combine to bring you 60W of power, and a peak of 80W. So it can get very loud.

Then there’s the Google Assistant inside, and there’s really no limitations on what the Google Assistant can and can’t do. Whether you’re asking about the weather, for the news, or to change your thermostat, it can do it all.

As expected, there is multi-room support for playing music on multiple speakers throughout your house. That is done through the Google Assistant, which should work better than via Bluetooth. Since the Assistant is using WiFi to sync the speakers. And it means that you can sync Klipsch The Three with a Nest Mini or another cheaper speaker.

Buy Klipsch The Three

Best for multi-room audio

Sonos One (Gen 2)

• Price: $199
• Buy: Amazon

While multi-room audio is a feature of Google Home and Google Assistant, no one quite does it like Sonos. As Steve Jobs would say, “it just works”.

Sonos One (Gen 2) works with all of Sonos’ other speakers that are on the market. Including the PLAY:5, Beam, SYMFONISK and even the new Move, to name a few. With the tap of a button, you are able to group multiple speakers together and have them all play at the exact same time. The best part is, there is no lag at all. This is thanks to Sonos doing it all over WiFi.

Google Assistant does have multi-room audio, but it needs to go through a few more things before it plays on another speaker. Which brings some lag between them, so it’s not quite the same experience as Sonos.

Sonos One (Gen 2) also brings some really great audio, it’s not quite on the same level as the Klipsch the Three, but it’s fairly close. While you can ask Google to stream music from Spotify, Google Play Music or another provider, Sonos also has them available in their app. Since Sonos uses WiFi instead of Bluetooth, your favorite service provider also needs to be available on the Sonos platform, to use with voice control. But that shouldn’t be a problem, as just about every service you can think of (and some you’ve never heard of) are available on Sonos.

Google Assistant is built-in (along with Amazon Alexa), and it can do everything that all of these other speakers can do. Answer questions, control your smart home products and so much more. Not to mention the fact that it also looks really nice in either black or white.

Buy Sonos One (Gen 2)

Best speaker with a display

Lenovo Smart Display 7

• Price: $129
• Buy: Lenovo

Smart displays are starting to become a much bigger deal for Google’s partners, and the one that is really taking the lead is Lenovo. The new Lenovo Smart Display 7 is the best Google Assistant smart speaker with a display.

It sports a 7-inch display. Lenovo went with a smaller display on this model after feedback from its customers, that wanted to put a smart display into their kitchen, but didn’t have the space for a 10-inch model. So with this 7-inch smart display, it’s great for placing on the counter-top in your kitchen and use for following recipes and even watching some YouTube videos.

With its pretty small bezels, this is one of the best looking smart displays on the market right now.

Lenovo also put the speaker below the display, as opposed to on the left side, like on its older smart displays, because of customer feedback. The speaker is now much improved and actually sounds really incredible. Lenovo wrapped the speaker in fabric, which gives it a nice modern look, without making the smart display more expensive. It also doesn’t affect the audio coming out of the speaker.

While there is a camera on the front of the Smart Display 7, Lenovo has still included a physical camera shutter. So when you turn off the camera, you can actually see that it has been turned off. As the camera turns red, so it literally can’t see what you’re doing. This is going to save you from needing to put some tape or a post-it note over the camera.

The Lenovo Smart Display 7 is also one of the cheaper options out there, coming in with a price tag of $129.

Buy Lenovo Smart Display 7

Best portable speaker

Bose Portable Home Speaker

• Price: $349
• Buy; Amazon

Believe it or not, there aren’t many portable speakers with the Google Assistant built-in. So if you’re looking for one, you won’t find many. But this brand new portable speaker from Bose is definitely the best that you can buy. Just look at that hardware.

The Bose Portable Home Speaker is available in two colors: black and white. Each of which are made from aluminum and soft-touch plastic. Which just looks incredible. There are also built-in handles, making it easy to take these to the beach, or wherever life may take you. Expect it to last around 12 hours on a single charge, that’s with continuous playback. So if it’s not playing music the entire time, it will last longer.

Not to mention, this is also waterproof, so you can actually take it to the beach and toss it into the water without worrying about killing the speaker.

Sound quality on the Bose Portable Home Speaker is exactly what you might expect. Especially if you’ve used a Bose product before. You’re going to get some really crisp mids and highs, and a decent amount of bass. It won’t be overpowering, but it will sound really good.

Inside you’ll find the Google Assistant (and Amazon Alexa, so it does support both like the Sonos One). With the Google Assistant built-in, you can ask to have your favorite music from Google Play Music, Spotify and other providers playing on this speaker. Or you can turn off your smart lights, ask questions and so much more. The abilities that the Google Assistant has are pretty much endless.

Buy the Bose Portable Home Speaker

Best sound bar

Harman Kardon Citation Bar

• Price: $1199.95
• Buy: Harman Kardon

The Harman Kardon Citation Bar is a pretty high-end sound bar, that does feature the Google Assistant.

It sports a premium industrial design that is also covered in wool fabric. It gives it a very nice look that will fit any home. Especially with the fact that it is available in black or white.

When talking about sound quality, this is the best in the business. Harman Kardon’s signature sound is available on the Citation Bar, which is going to provide you with a real upgrade over the speakers that are built into your TV.

It’ll allow you to play your music anywhere, seeing as it does have multi-room capabilities with the other Citation speakers in its lineup. Adding more Citation speakers would be great for creating a surround sound setup, which the Citation Bar does support. But of course, you can also do multi-room with the Google Assistant, since that is also available here.

Finally, there is the Google Assistant built-in. Allowing you to ask Spotify to play the latest from Post Malone on your Harman Kardon Citation Bar, without having to pick up your smartphone. Google Assistant can also answer any questions you might have, as well as control your smart home products, and much more.

Buy the Harman Kardon Citation Bar

Best value sound bar

Sonos Beam

• Price: $399
• Buy: Amazon

Compared to the Harman Kardon Citation Bar, the Sonos Beam is an absolute steal. Coming in at close to a fourth of the price. It’s also much smaller, and it features both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.

Sonos Beam can actually control your entire TV, using your voice. This is because it is using HDMI ARC, which is a somewhat new standard (though most TVs made after 2015 should have it), it will allow the device to control the TV as well. So with the Sonos Beam, you can ask the Google Assistant to switch the input to another HDMI port.

It also offers some really incredible sound. There’s a ton of bass here, as well as some pretty good sounding mids and highs. This is all customizable in the Sonos app, so if you want more bass, you can turn it up.

Sonos Beam does work with the Sonos One that is also on this list, for some great multi-room audio. Or you can use them to set up wireless surround sound in the living room. This means that you can play the same audio throughout the house, without any lag whatsoever. It’s one of the big selling points of Sonos speakers.

It’s super simple to setup, and you can control it through the Sonos app. That also includes switching from the Google Assistant to Amazon Alexa – that’s right, the Beam is another smart speaker that supports both digital voice assistants. Which makes it one of the best Google Assistant speakers on the market.

Buy the Sonos Beam

The post Top 8 Best Google Assistant Speakers – Updated April 2021 appeared first on Android Headlines.