The Smart Speaker Thread

[Lily Adler]

Do you own one and if you do which one?

I've been looking at the Amazon Echoes. I originally was going to get the Harmon Kardon Invoke which uses Cortana, but that one seems to be DOA. I actually may get an Echo Dot.

 

[Lily Adler]

So I'm very tempted to go for the Echo Dot cause Amazon has a special for two of them for $50.

 

[Yowza]

I've heard Sonos as a recommendation as far as ease of use. I'm a bit confused as far as which Sonos set-up to go with but see the "One" speaker is about $180.00 and newer than the "Playone". The "Beam" soundbar is newer than the "Playbar" yet is confusingly way less expensive (A "Beambar" on the way?). Also, the older "Play5" and older "Playbase" are still the most expensive therefore perhaps a (about to play with names here) "Five" and "Beambase" haven't come out yet? I don't know.

Anyway, Alexa seems to be built into the "One" and the "Beam" that just came out but compatible with a variety of home based smart systems described here along with comparison to the Echo: What Works with Sonos One: Wink, Lutron, Logitech & More

I'm not sure I want to buy smart home speakers extending room to room as my speaker set-up to go along with smart home system though. A speaker/stereo system I can just put out in the living room I'm content with. The Sonos "Connect" or "Connect: Amp" might be worth it if not want to buy any sonos speakers and just connect existing set-ups to smart-home I suppose but that's even more expensive...

 

[Lily Adler]

So I just discovered you can use Alexa skills with the Harmon Kardon with Cortana by asking Cortana to open Alexa.

 

[ComicChick]

i really dont like the idea of these things always listening to me and/or recording

 

[Lily Adler]

i really dont like the idea of these things always listening to me and/or recording

But it's the future... The Future!

 

[Iceman]

I’ve got the Echo mainly for music. No experience with the others.

 

[ezekiel7890]

Just to know, can we use speakers with Google Assistant without being connected in any way to the Internet?

 

[Lily Adler]

Just to know, can we use speakers with Google Assistant without being connected in any way to the Internet?

I don't know. I think they all require Wi-Fi connectivity upon initial setup.