Wireless audio for the home is nothing new, but the last few years have brought a proliferation of speakers that use Wi-Fi streaming as an alternative to Bluetooth. The ability to control music on a multiroom environment is one of the best selling features of Wi-Fi, but almost all Wi-Fi speakers also offer voice control through a voice assistant, including Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri.
It’s a challenge to find a cheap speaker that doesn’t have built-in microphones, but they all come with microphone switches or you can choose a “dumb” speaker like the Sonos One SL, if you have privacy concerns. Read on to find out more about the best Wi-Fi speakers for your needs – there is a short buying guide at the bottom of the page if you have additional questions and don’t miss out CNET’s guide to the best smart speakers.
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For $ 100, there are some smart speakers to choose from, like Amazon Echo and Google Home, but if you want an affordable music speaker, it’s the complete Ikea Sonos line. The Symfonisk Bookshelf Wi-Fi smart speaker looks elegant and, after calibration, is far ahead of Echo in terms of sound quality. The Sonos speaker will not start your party, but this “donkey” shelf speaker is perfect for background music or kids’ rooms. Read our review of the Ikea Symfonisk Bookshelf WiFi Speaker.
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For less than $ 200, and with Alexa and Google Assistant, in addition to excellent sound quality, Sonos One is The smart speaker to get and will please any music fan. Pair it with another Sonos One and you’ll have a flexible, high-quality speaker system that responds to voice commands for less than the price of Play: 5.
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Sonos One is the smart speaker with the best sound you can …
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The problem with most WiFi speakers is that they don’t match the rest of the decor. They are square and usually black. The Ikea Sonos speaker literally thinks out of the box and offers a Sonos-compatible lamp that sounds better than most speakers in price. It is not smart, but the device will respond to Siri, Google Assistant and Alexa commands. Read our review of the Ikea Symfonisk table lamp with WiFi speaker.
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Now at a discount of $ 50 off its original price of $ 350, the Apple HomePod is much more competitive with other Wi-Fi and multiroom speakers. It is one of the best all-in-one wireless speakers with the best sound, with plenty of space and deep bass. Read our review of the Apple HomePod.
If you want a wireless speaker model that is portable and water resistant, Sonos Move offers great sound in a very large box. Read our review of Sonos Move.
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Featuring a compact bar and excellent sound, Polk MagniFi offers almost everything you need in a TV streaming speaker, including integrated Chromecast. We chose MagniFi over Yamaha YAS-209 because it offers a robust multiroom system, but if you want Alexa integrated, Yamaha is an excellent speaker. Read our review of the Polk MagniFi Mini.
Bluetooth x Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi offers the same basic convenience as Bluetooth: using your phone’s Wi-Fi connection to play music on an external speaker or sound system. Like speakers that use Bluetooth connectivity, it can work with a subscription music service application like Spotify (via Spotify Connect) or Apple Music, radio service like Pandora or TuneIn, or your own music collection. Here are the best reasons to get a streaming Wi-Fi speaker:
- A Wi-Fi speaker sounds better than a Bluetooth speaker due to its greater bandwidth.
- Wi-Fi has better reach.
- Wi-Fi does not take over your phone’s audio channel – so you can answer a call without interrupting the music, for example.
- It also works great for audio in multiple rooms, allowing multiple speakers to be played throughout the home via its Wi-Fi network, all controlled by a single phone application.
Apple vs. Sleeps vs. Google: the best (and worst) Wi-Fi speakers
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What are the main multiroom standards?
When you buy a Wi-Fi speaker, you are also investing in an ecosystem – a family of products and applications that work together, but generally don’t work with other ecosystems. Here’s a look at the major Wi-Fi ecosystems that exist today.
- Only U.S: It’s a bit expensive and a little exclusive, but Sonos still offers some of the best hardware available. The company is moving away from the single megalithic app in favor of native support for third-party music services (Spotify Connect, Apple AirPlay 2). Considering the exact sound quality and bomb-proof construction, Sonos is still The premium Wi-Fi system to get. The launch of the Ikea’s Symfonisk range it also makes the system more accessible.
- Apple AirPlay / AirPlay 2: The range of Apple’s AirPlay 2 will continue to grow along with your music streaming service – with its most intriguing feature being the multiroom – but there are many speakers out there that still support the original AirPlay. Great for iPhone ($ 599 at Apple) Commercial.
- Chromecast ($ 15 on eBay) built in: For the cost of entry and ease of use and setup, the integrated Chromecast is our current favorite Wi-Fi music system. There are no new apps to learn – just press the Cast button on an existing compatible app and the music will play through the speakers of your choice.
- DTS Play-Fi: This ecosystem of WiFi speakers can offer the largest number of manufacturers, but the number of hardware releases in the past 12 months has been quite sporadic. Meanwhile, official partners like Polk and Klipsch have chosen to launch new speakers integrated with Chromecast. The company will soon expand into TV and smart home with applications for Android TV and others soon.
Now that Chromecast Audio has been discontinued, the $ 30 Chromecast dongle for HDMI only will allow you to stream audio to it
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There is also Multi Room Music from Amazon. The speaker market has been knocked down by Amazon’s family of Eco speakers that combine wireless audio with voice control and home automation. MRM has been slow to take off, and the only non-Amazon product that supports it is Polk Command Bar.
There are several other Wi-Fi systems, some open and others specific to a single manufacturer. These include: Yamaha MusicCast, Denon HEOS, Bowers and Wilkins Formation, Bose Music and Bluesound. Many systems have been largely abandoned or replaced, either in favor of a newer version or in the competition for more popular protocols. This includes All-Play, LG MusicFlow and Samsung Multi-Room.
If you want to play a song in “home party mode”, for example, where it plays through multiple speakers throughout the house simultaneously, all of these speakers need to share the same ecosystem. For Sonos and other proprietary systems, all of these speakers will have to be Sonos (or connected to a Sonos device). For Chromecast, all speakers, regardless of brand, must be compatible with Chromecast. And so on.
Most WiFi speaker products support streaming services like Pandora and Spotify, but check first to make sure. Is your music stored on iTunes, Google Play Music or Amazon Music? You’ll still be fine with a Sonos (for example), but other products may offer less than perfect support.