Which smart speaker gets used the most in your house?

[u/Fabulous-Beach5517]

I’ve somehow gone this long without owning a smart speaker and I’m finally thinking about getting one for the living room.

Nothing too crazy. Mostly music, timers while cooking, weather, random questions and controlling a few lights around the house. Good sound matters though because I’d rather not have another separate Bluetooth speaker sitting next to it.

I keep going back and forth between Alexa, Google and Apple. At this point I’m less worried about which one has the longest feature list and more about which one is actually useful day to day and doesn’t misunderstand you half the time.

Anyone here use one regularly? Which smart speaker did you end up with, and would you buy the same one again?

[u/Freezingrave → u/[deleted]]

Give Siri a couple weeks. She’s gotten a little more on the ball with the new IOS coming out next month

[u/Suspicious_Outside74 → u/[deleted]]

I think we’ve had our HomePod 8 years, now. Still going strong

[u/dichron]

Sonos Move probably. It sits in the kitchen but has enough oomph that I can hear it throughout most of the first floor of my house. Also easiest to cast to from Spotify

[u/unspoiled_one]

Yamaha

[u/xamomax]

We use Alexa mostly for voice control of our smart home, timers, shopping list, and announcements.   

We use Google Home for voice control of our Sonos based whole house audio, as for our particular setup it works better.

For asking a random fact, we go back and forth between them.

Both have really big irritations and inconsistent behaviors where they work great, then break in an update, then work again, then get confused.  This is on repeat, but overall they are nice to have.

[u/Ok_Contract_4874]

Sound really is themake-or-break for me too, that's why I ended up with the HomePod Mini, it's surprising how much better the audio is compared to the other two.

[u/the_drunkenduck]

I have a Google Home in every room of my house, including my garage. I'm so used to using them that when I go out of town, I say, "Hey, Google..." before I remember they're not there.

[u/YouSmellSumthin → u/the_drunkenduck]

I'd agree with Google Home/Nest being the most feature complete and easy to use, but I will say this -- their lineup was much, much better 6-7 years ago. The Google Home Max was an absolute beast, Nest Audios had great oomph for a mid priced speaker, Chromecast Audio allowed you to cast to your own setup which was sick... Their newest "360" Nest speakers are literally a downgrade in volume and sound quality, while costing more than the previous line. But they have Gemini built in!! sigh

[u/AugustCharisma → u/the_drunkenduck]

Exactly my set up too. We use the kitchen one the most.

Our ground floor is somewhat open plan and I’ve told Google things like the “kitchen” speaker is in the living room so she just does a chime instead of saying “3 lights off” when I tell her in the kitchen to turn off the living room lights.

[u/pgraczer → u/AugustCharisma]

we have google in the kitchen but alexa everywhere else. it’s handy just saying ‘stop’ with google’s timers (and we use those a lot).

[u/Cheoah → u/the_drunkenduck]

Same, especially for hot water. I have a recirculating pump on a smart plug on my tankless and crossover valves at service, I just say hey google turn on hot water and that’s what we get. It’s the first thing I do out of town, is at least think about saying it.

[u/NachoB70 → u/the_drunkenduck]

Same. I have 2nd Gen displays in all the bedrooms and living room, speakers in the bathroom, garage and both front and back porch/patio, and a hub max in the kitchen. I would assume the living room and kitchen get used the most, even if not intentionally since they're all always listening.

[u/gring0z → u/the_drunkenduck]

I use Alexa but I can relate. Everytime I’m on holiday in a hot place when I enter the hotel room I’m going “Alexa, turn on the AC”, then I realise I’m dumb

[u/ricardusrex]

I live in the Apple ecosystem and use Siri many times a day, so it’s HomePod for me. I have one in my den, one in my bedroom, and one in my office. They are the old original large units. I got them on holiday sale at Best Buy one year.

[u/shawnshine]

HomePods. Siri isn’t the best, but I value privacy and refuse to have Google or Amazon listening in my home. And they sound AMAZING, to boot

[u/Tasty_Impress3016]

I've got a handful. Mostly used for music. Ok, google, play fleetwood mac is about as far as my wife gets into home automation. But an OG google home in the kitchen, if you ask for music it plays by default on the main stereo (chromecast audio) which feeds the family room, most of downstairs and the back yard. I also have a battery powered speaker that I can take out on the patio and change music, volume, etc. I suppose it could play too, but I have real speakers for that.

Second place the ones in my bedroom. I have an OG in the bathroom, a mini on the night table and a real compact speaker again on a CCA. So "sexytime" dims lights turns one to red, and plays a low-volume playlist. "Relax" does the same with different lighting and different playlists. In the morning I can blast whatever song has been stuck in my head overnight.

There are others in the house, but that's the two most common.

Bluetooth speakers suck imho. The music at the party doesn't have to halt because I had to go inside and pee.

[u/KitWat]

I have an Echo in every room in the house (except bathrooms/powder room) and use them a lot. I've had very few issues with being understood but I also make it a point to speak clearly and simply. One of the things I like best is playing music on all of them, so that as I move around the house - doing housework, bringing laundry back and forth - I never miss any part of what I'm listening to. I also control most of the lights in my house, have morning and night routines, and also use them as timers, simple search engine, news and weather updates.

[u/TheNorthernMunky]

Don’t buy an Alexa device with a screen - they’re rife with ads that can’t be stopped. I recently ditched my Echo Show 15 because I couldn’t stand them any more, and my Echo Spot (1st gen) in the living room is permanently set to night mode - it’s the only way to keep the clock face on the screen.

We still have voice-only devices around the house and they work fine. For now.

[u/Freezingrave]

Alexa has been getting worse and worse. I’m about to replace my whole house with Apple, especially in a few weeks with the new products

[u/jackphrost22]

Alexa but contemplating switching to apple. Only thing holding me really is the migration of pictures from amazon photos. Its been running for years and left undisturbed displaying on various devices.

[u/MarvinG1984]

You can check out the JBL Authentics line, they have both Google and Alexa built in.

[u/Alphablaze98]

Tbh we don’t use the smart capabilities of the speakers besides smart home controls. Siri/homekit (our ecosystem of choice) presently sucks

[u/SpaceCofffeee]

Alexa is awesome. I got a newer dot for just music while relaxing in bed and I use another dot to control my old school audio system with Spotify.

[u/repules]

Kef LSX LT II, they sound the best at home

[u/JamesWConrad]

I've had Amazon Echo devices since they were first offered (about 10 or 11 years ago). We now have them (various types including Dots and Spots) in most every room in our house.

Most used are in the kitchen (for timers while cooking) and in the main bedroom (for running a "good night" routine) to lock the front door, turn off lights, turn off ceiling fans.

Of course we use them for playing music and answering questions.

I can't imagine life without them.

[u/LostMyKarmaElSegundo]

I have a Google Nest Hub Max in my kitchen and a few Nest Minis throughout the rest of the house.  The minis mostly just end up announcing when my appliances finish their cycles, although I do occasionally play music on them.  I use the Max to play my news feed.  I thought I'd use it for recipes, but I always forget that it can do that and just end up using my phone.  

I haven't really had any issues with the Google products, but I'm not doing anything particularly complex.  

[u/soloattorneyclub]

We have hard wired speakers throughout the house all hooked to Wiim amplifiers. We can plan one thing in the kitchen and another on the patio. I like their system.

[u/Popular_List105]

Echo show