Best Smart Hubs & Speakers in 2023

The 2nd-generation of Amazon’s original smart speaker, the new Echo 2 still operates on Amazon’s Alexa software, which can be activated by saying “Hey Alexa”, “Alexa” or even “Amazon.” From there, you can direct Alexa to do just about anything for you, just by speaking.

What can it do for you? Alexa has capabilities for weather, music, news reports, smart device control, and much, much more. You can even make free voice calls to anyone with an Echo device or the Alexa app. Amazon has also released a software development kit for third-party developers to make “Skills”, of which there are thousands (like calling an Uber or ordering a pizza).

For homeowners who want to have access to powerful voice control capabilities, as well as an ever-evolving network of third-party support, any of the Amazon products are a great smart home solution. 

The Echo Plus is a smart speaker and smart hub combined. All of the other Echo products require a smart hub to connect to most other smart products, while the Echo Plus makes that additional purchase unnecessary. You still get news reports, weather, calendar reminders, and music, (plus a whole lot more) but the Plus will connect to any other “smart” product you own right out of the box. 

In addition to new smart hub capabilities, the Echo Plus has some hardware and visual features that set it apart from the standard Echo 2. First, as a larger device, the Echo Plus has higher quality audio. While still not a high-end speaker, the larger size of the Echo Plus does make for a louder, crisper audio device. And second, unlike the Echo 2, the Plus comes in only three color options: black, silver, and white.

Sometimes a new recipe needs more than a step-by-step list. Other times you want to get that new Amazon Prime show started before the cooking is done. For these cases and more, the Echo Show has a seven-inch screen that will display whatever video you need right on your countertop. Like other Echo products, you can link it to your suite of smart devices with the help of a hub.

As an answer to the Amazon Echo, Google released their Home smart speaker. The biggest advantage to a Google Home is the wealth of data available through Google. Google Home can pull information from all aspects of your Google account (such as web browsing, emails, GPS records) to customize your experience. 

For example, Google Home can use your Google Calendar to proactively give you reminders and alert you to traffic on your commute. Additionally, Google Home can recognize different voices in your family, which gives it the capability to customize responses for different users. Integration with Google’s Chromecast media streaming device is an additional advantage.

Google Home can control many types of smart home devices, and more are constantly being added to its capabilities. A unique feature to the Google Home is its ability to communicate especially well with televisions and Chromecast. Through your Google Home linked to a Chromecast device in your house, you can simply tell your system vocally to cue up the next episode of your favorite show. 

As an added bonus, you can swap out the colorful base to your Google Home, allowing you to match it to the aesthetic of whatever room it happens to reside in. The Google Home is a great option for anyone looking for a high quality speaker with a wealth of information at the ready, all activated by your voice.

Smart speakers have traditionally been focussed only on the “smart” aspect of home automation, but the Google Home Max compromises nothing in the sound department. A larger, more powerful speaker than the standard Google Home, the Max offers high-quality sound to complement the intelligent capabilities of Google Assistant.

Not interested in talking to your speaker? You can connect an audio player to your Home Max with USB-C, Bluetooth, or an auxiliary cord, which means that you don’t need to rely on voice commands to play music if you choose. While the Home Max has the full power of Google Assistant at its disposal, it also functions as a high-quality standalone speaker.

The Home Max can do everything that the original Google Home can do when it comes to smart capabilities and controlling other devices (more supported smart devices are constantly being added), plus some cool new tricks. One unique feature of the Home Max is “smart sound”, which is the name for its ability to self-adjust audio levels based on its position in a room. For example, if your Home Max speaker is situated in a corner, it will automatically adjust the audio settings to make sure that music levels are rebalanced to sound best given the extra amplification being near a wall might create. 

With its sleek appearance, great sound quality, and access to Google Assistant, the Google Home Max is the perfect centerpiece to a voice-controlled smart home audio system.

For those looking to invest in a smart speaker with the highest audio quality, the Sonos One is the product to beat. Like the Amazon Echo, the Sonos One utilizes Amazon Alexa to let you access a wide variety of tasks using your voice, from a pizza delivery to setting alarms. Additionally, Sonos has said they are planning on adding support for Google Assistant as an alternative software to control the One. Beyond the software, the Sonos One offers the best audio quality of any smart speaker. With an already impressive sound for a 6-inch speaker, you can maximize your Sonos One’s audio power by pairing it with other Sonos speakers. 

There are some drawbacks to operating with Alexa on a non-Amazon product, however. Most notably, the Sonos One is not compatible with all other Echo applications, although Sonos has said they will be integrating new compatibilities over time. To control all of your smart home devices through a high quality speaker, you might be better off pairing the Sonos One with a smart hub instead. The Sonos One is a great smart speaker choice for shoppers looking for home automation and  a high-quality music player at the same time.

A powerful smart home hub option, the Samsung SmartThings offers many robust features. Most notably, SmartThings can connect to over 200 products, and several “SmartApps” are available to help facilitate device communication. SmartThings also supports IFTTT programming, a unique way of making several events occur at once across several kinds of smart devices. Aside from IFTTT, SmartThings employs SmartApps to help you create customizable functions that allow fine tuning of countless connected device actions.

A great feature of the Samsung SmartThings is its partner mobile app, which you can use on iOS, Android, and Windows devices. SmartApps are easily accessible within the SmartThings app. The mobile app offers intuitive ways to group devices into rooms and find new devices in your home network, making the SmartThings a powerful tool. 

As an added bonus, Samsung SmartThings has a backup battery attached – if your power goes out, your smart home can operate as usual. The Samsung SmartThings hub is right for someone who wants highly customizable home automation, built around your rooms and routines.