To request music, get an answer to a question, program a timer or an alarm ... Connected speakers, with their appointed voice assistant, have established themselves in our homes, ready to intervene as soon as they are called upon.
Le Parisien gives you the keys to choose the one that's right for you.
If you are looking for the best voice assistant
Difficult dilemma: what is the best voice assistant between Google ("Ok Google"), Amazon ("Alexa") or Apple ("Hey Siri")?
The question is all the more important if you want to equip your whole house: it would quickly become painful to have to change your assistant at the same time as you change rooms!
We can say that
Google's
assistant
is the smartest compared to Amazon's, and also the most responsive.
His voice is also a little less robotic (but it's subjective).
It is all the more interesting when you have an Android phone since the ecosystem is similar and they can interact: you can for example tell your mobile to play music on the speaker ...
Amazon's
Alexa
is not left out either. It has the advantage of having many applications (Amazon having encouraged developers to create lots of "skills"). She manages to answer the most basic questions without worry. For “Amazon addicts”, it also has an advantage: it provides real-time information on the delivery of a package. It is also possible to buy a product on Amazon only via voice (rest assured: a voice code is requested before the speaker pays) ...
Apple's
voice assistant
has proven itself: Siri, on the iPhone, was the very first voice assistant.
Having more of a tendency to make jokes, he is a bit funnier than the other voice assistants.
However, it has a shortcoming: like all Apple products, it is designed to react in an Apple ecosystem, which can quickly become costly ... Google and Amazon, for their part, allow the deployment of their assistant in products other than those that they sell.
If you are looking for an inexpensive speaker
Your connected speaker will only be an assistant, to ask him a few questions here and there, or to set an alarm? No need to spend a lot, the entry level already has good sound quality. The cheapest of all the speakers is at Amazon, which markets its
3rd generation Echo Dot
(which is shaped like a puck) at 49.99 euros. At Google, the
Nest Mini
(which succeeded the Google Home Mini) is displayed at 59 euros. If you want to stay in the Apple ecosystem, you will have to pay 99 euros for the cheapest
speaker
(
Homepod Mini
) which is, by the way, the only Apple speaker still on the market.
Another tip too, if you are eyeing an Amazon or Google speaker: watch out for promotional offers.
Whether at resellers (at Fnac, at Boulanger, etc.) or directly online, many promotional offers allow you to have a cheaper speaker, sometimes at half its price!
Sometimes, you can even get one for free after spending a certain amount on a brand or by subscribing to a streaming platform.
This advice applies to these small speakers, but also to the larger ones.
It's Amazon's smallest speaker.
If you are looking for the speaker with the best sound quality
There is one truth to keep in mind when choosing a connected speaker: the more you pay, the bigger it is and the better the sound ... For sound and only sound, we will therefore tend to opt for the
Echo Studio
from Amazon (200 euros all the same) which promises an "immersive sound".
However, as noted, Google and Apple have opened up the use of their voice assistants to others and especially to brands where sound quality is the core of their work, such as
Sonos, Sony, LG or JBL
with Google Assistant or
Bose
with Alexa.
This can also be interesting to watch if you do not like the aesthetics of “classic” connected speakers ... Amazon, via its
Echo Flex
product
, also allows you to connect any audio device in order to be able to use it with the voice assistant: handy if you don't want to get rid of your speaker!
If you are looking for the best speaker with a screen
It is not always easy to control everything by voice and it is not always practical. Are you in the bedroom, you want information about your pregnant woman, but your partner is sleeping? We will avoid waking him up by questioning our assistant! Are you cooking, do you need a photo to understand the locker? It may be convenient to have a screen. Manufacturers have adapted and have therefore integrated screens. We must distinguish two types of screen: the small one, which will do the trick on a nightstand, and the large one, which will be more at ease in the living room.
At 100 euros,
Google's
Nest Hub
(12 cm by 18 cm) can do the trick for both: it offers good sound quality and its touch screen allows you to watch your diary, a video, launch music… Bonus: this speaker offers functionality for sleep monitoring. Amazon, with
Echo Show 5
, offers at 90 euros a similar speaker, in a design a little more raw, and in a shell a little smaller. If you want a simpler alarm clock, Lenovo sells the
Smart Clock
, a speaker / alarm clock that works with Google, at 60 euros.
If you want a bigger screen, you have to pay the price.
Google offers the
Nest Hub Max
which, in addition to offering very good audio quality, consists of a large 10-inch touchscreen, with a built-in camera to monitor the house when you're not there.
It comes at a price: 229 euros.
For almost half the price (130 euros), but with a smaller screen, Amazon offers
Echo Show 8
.
If you are looking to connect the whole house
If your goal is to have speakers in every room, maybe forget about Siri: the speaker is expensive, and since there is only one, it can't fit every room. . The match is therefore played between Google and Amazon: the assistant seems for the time being smarter and more responsive at Google, but the products are cheaper at Amazon. Amazon, with
Echo Flex
, which is a mini-speaker to plug directly into a socket, for 30 euros, can allow the transition of his house at a lower cost ...