The best speakers for your budget
IKEA Wi-Fi Symfonisk Bookshelf
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If you want to improve the sound of your entertainment setup, look no further. Adding the right wireless Wi-Fi speakers can seamlessly take your audio setup up a notch. The best Wi-Fi speakers offer a variety of features to enhance your music streaming setup, whether you’re listening to music in one room or controlling music in a multi-room environment.
For ease of use, most Wi-Fi speakers also offer voice control, such as Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, or Apple’s Siri. This means you can ask your speakers to play a specific song. If you don’t like voice control, you also have the option to turn it off and use your Wi-Fi speaker like a traditional music speaker. The great thing about Wi-Fi speakers is that they are available at a variety of price points. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to get a quality multiroom speaker.
To make choosing the right speakers for your audio setup and price range a little easier, we’ve compiled a list of all the best Wi-Fi speakers we’ve tried, tested, and loved.
Also consider: Best Bluetooth Speakers of 2023
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Sonos Era 100 costs $249. of A smart speaker that will satisfy any music fan. This compact device offers several improvements to the award-winning One, including stereo playback and improved sound quality. Compatible with Bluetooth, Amazon Alexa, and Apple AirPlay 2, Era 100 is the most flexible streaming speaker ever.
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There are some great smart speakers for $140, including the Amazon Echo, Nest Audio, and HomePod Mini, but the Symfonisk is bigger than them all. Generally, the bigger the cabinet, the louder the sound. This speaker is great as part of a Sonos surround sound system, but it’s also great as a speaker for your kids’ room or garage.
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Look at this: Introducing Sonos Era 100 and Era 300: Meet the next generation of wireless streaming speakers
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Google may offer a lot of speakers, including the Nest Audio, but one really great speaker for music, the Home Max, has been discontinued. It’s amazing that the list of affordable yet good-sounding Chromecast built-in speakers can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Among them, the JBL Playlist is the best one I’ve tested, with generously sized speakers and enough volume to fill a typical room. It also features Bluetooth and auxiliary input for expanded flexibility. It may not be “smart”, but if you want a system that you can control via your existing Google Assistant speaker, this is the one for you.
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Echo Studio is created by Amazon, the developer of Alexa. It’s easy to set up and loud enough to fill a room with sound. With powerful bass, clear sound, and great treble, this is definitely the best Amazon Echo. You can use Alexa to stream songs from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, Tidal, and more.
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Editor’s Choice
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The HomePod Mini may beat the new HomePod in terms of power, but it’s only a third of the price. HomePod Mini has a lot of useful features for its size, including the Siri voice assistant, temperature and humidity controls, and it sounds great. If you’re deep into the Apple ecosystem, especially if you use Siri a lot, the Apple HomePod Mini should be a seamless addition to your home.
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Sonos Roam is a powerful portable Bluetooth speaker. Use it on the go or as part of your Sonos multiroom system. It’s reasonably priced (for Sonos) and sounds better than other products of its kind. It also has a voice assistant, making song selection even easier.
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It’s not a speaker per se, but it’s a great option for people who don’t want to buy something completely new. Let’s say you have a stereo system, or an old Bluetooth speaker like the Fluance F170, and you want to be able to add Wi-Fi streaming to it. The WiiM Pro offers the best sound and streaming support of any other dongle I can think of. And it only costs $149. This app is easy to set up and use, and also integrates with many multi-room systems.
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- JBL link portable ($180): The Link Portable is a larger competitor from Sonos that supports both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and can play louder bass.in him Sonos Roam reviewreviewer David Carnoy says he prefers Sonos’ sound and build quality and would buy Sonos over JBL, but the Link Portable is currently $100 off, making it a more competitive choice.
- bose home speaker 300 ($264): If you’re looking for a responsive smart speaker, the Bose Home Speaker 300 is agile and looks great. In terms of audio quality, it falls short of its cheaper competitor, the Sonos One. Additionally, the onboard Bose Music multiroom system is not compatible with existing SoundTouch products. The 300 appears to be out of production, but you can still find it in new condition at some retailers. There are also many refurbished models available for purchase at even lower prices. Read CNET’s review of the Bose Home Speaker 300.
New HomePod now features edge-to-edge Siri display
- Apple HomePod (2023) ($299): The new HomePod is a refinement of Apple’s first smart speaker with better sound and more features. Despite the new support for Dolby Atmos, the most obvious changes are the temperature and humidity sensors. Still, for $300, most people would be better off buying the HomePod mini, which has roughly the same feature set. Read CNET’s Apple HomePod (2023) review
- Bowers and Wilkins Formation Flex ($500): The little brother of the flashy Formation Wedge, the Flex is still very stylish and boasts an open sound signature. However, there are many competitors at this level, including the Sonos Five, which is capable of larger-scale, party-ready performance. Read CNET’s initial thoughts on the formation range.
How Sonos works
- Sonos works ($399): If you want a wireless speaker model that’s (somewhat) portable and water-resistant, the Sonos Move is a great option, offering great sound in a very large box. This is great if you need to power a tailgate or a large party, but for most people, Sonos Roam is cheaper and fits in your pocket. Read CNET’s review of Sonos Move.
- Sony SRS-RA5000 ($798): Where should I put large speakers like the Sony SRS-RA5000 or McIntosh RS150? Do you have a really big dressing table? The Sony’s height is over a foot, but its 360-degree playback means that the “best” place to put it is in the middle of the room, adding to its potential awkwardness. The sound is good, but if you want to hear 3D audio, the Amazon Echo Studio is a quarter of the price. Read CNET’s original take on the Sony SRS-RA5000.
- Macintosh RS150 ($1,200): The massive McIntosh RS150 comes with some great features like Chromecast built-in, Roon Ready, and Spotify Connect. Despite this, the sound isn’t as clear as I expected, and the unit doesn’t have any EQ controls to compensate. Additionally, previous RS100s were equipped with the legendary McIntosh blue meters, but this update misses out on the trick of replacing them with LEDs.Competitive Naim Muso Qb It’s more compact and offers better performance for the same price.
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CNET follows a rigorous and unbiased evaluation process for all audio tests. We test Wi-Fi speakers, from simple bedside speakers to high-end systems. Our audio lab includes Roon servers running on Synology NAS, Google Nest, and Amazon Echo speakers, as well as both iOS and Android devices. Compare similar speakers side-by-side in a living room environment, stream different styles of music, and utilize multiple streaming platforms as needed. We grade the sound quality of each by evaluating clarity, dynamics, bass response, and stereo imaging (if applicable). If your speaker comes with its own app, compare it to other competitive controllers.
Wi-Fi Speaker FAQ
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Both can be called wireless speaker systems. Wi-Fi provides the same basic convenience as Bluetooth. Play music on external speakers or sound system using your phone’s Wi-Fi connection. Like any speaker that uses Bluetooth connectivity, it can work with subscription music service apps like Spotify (via Spotify Connect) and Apple Music, radio services like Pandora and TuneIn, or your own music collection. Here are the top reasons to buy a streaming Wi-Fi speaker.
- Wi-Fi speakers offer better sound quality than Bluetooth speakers because of their higher bandwidth.
- Wi-Fi has a wider range.
- Wi-Fi does not occupy your phone’s audio channel. So, for example, you can receive a call without interrupting the song.
- It’s also perfect for multi-room audio, allowing you to play from multiple speakers throughout your home over your Wi-Fi network, all controlled with one phone app.
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Multiroom allows users to play from one or more speakers simultaneously anywhere in the home, and most systems can support up to 12 or more different zones. For example, if you want to play a song in “house party mode,” which plays the song simultaneously from multiple speakers throughout your house, all those speakers must share the same ecosystem. For Sonos and other proprietary systems, all of those speakers must be Sonos (or connected to a Sonos device). For Chromecast, all speakers must be compatible with his Chromecast, regardless of brand. and so on.
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Most speakers come with dedicated companion apps for iOS and Android that are used to both set up and control the system. It goes without saying that you need an internet connection to use Wi-Fi speakers, but most speakers support at least a 2.4 GHz connection and even a 5 GHz connection. Check your documentation for the name of the app you need, and make sure you have your Wi-Fi password handy as well. Most apps use a simple step-by-step process, so you should be listening to music within minutes.
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