Smart speakers and displays compared for sound quality and assistant features.
The Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen) is the better buy for most households thanks to fuller sound, a built-in Zigbee and Thread hub, and the deepest smart home device support on the market, while the Google Nest Mini is the smarter pick if your home already runs on Google Assistant, Nest cameras, or Chromecast.
The Amazon Echo Dot with Clock (5th Gen) is our top pick for most nightstands, since it pairs a genuinely useful LED display with full Alexa support and a low cost of entry, while the Echo Spot and Echo Show 5 give you a nicer display for the rare shopper who wants to spend more.
The Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen) is our top pick for most Alexa households, since it delivers genuinely improved sound over older Dots, full smart home hub features, and an easy entry point into the Echo ecosystem at a low cost.
The Sonos Era 100 is our top pick for most shoppers chasing genuine sound quality, since it pairs a dual-tweeter design and Trueplay room tuning with multi-room flexibility, all without locking you into one voice assistant.