// WIRED US/UK — INTELLIGENZA ARTIFICIALE
5 Best Smart Speakers (2026): Alexa, Google, Apple
There are three big players in the running for the best smart speaker: Amazon, Google, and Apple. Each voice-assistant-powered system has its own benefits and limitations, and you’ll have to consider several factors to pinpoint the right smart speaker for your needs.
You may already have a favorite ecosystem. Maybe it's the one that’s compatible with your phone, as an Apple or Android user. Or maybe it's Amazon's Alexa, if you already own one of the many speakers that the company launched following the 2014 arrival of the first Amazon Echo. Amazon's smart-speaker fleet, in particular, is expansive, often seeing multiple new models every year, while the offerings are much narrower for Google and Apple. That said, a few months ago, Google did launch a new smart speaker for the first time in years—the 2026 Google Home Speaker—and I share my thoughts on it in this guide.
After trying nearly every single smart speaker that's come out in the last decade, I have a sense of the best options available today to fit various needs. Also, check out my guides to the Best Alexa Speakers, Best Google Speakers, and Best Smart Displays if you want more insight into each category.
Updated September 2026: I've added details about Amazon’s increased prices and which speakers were affected, and noted that the Google Nest Hub Max is currently out of stock online.
Google's latest smart speaker, the Google Home Speaker (8/10, WIRED Recommends), is an amalgamation of great features from other smart speakers. It shares its name with the original Google speaker from 2016, but its shape and size are reminiscent of an Apple HomePod Mini. It has the tap controls and fun colors I remember from the older Google Nest Mini. And it joins the rest of Google’s smart speakers (other than the Google Pixel Tablet with the charging dock) by using Google Gemini as the default assistant instead of Google Assistant.
Gemini does sound impressively human, offering answers that approximate an interaction with another person. Sometimes its answers get a little long-winded, so just be prepared for that. But Google Gemini is nonetheless a touch smarter than other assistants in its cohort; it’s able to answer questions about my own schedule and knows to check with me about my artist preference if a song I request has multiple covers.
Gemini for Home is free, but some features you might like to use are hidden behind paywalls. For instance, Google rebranded its video camera subscriptions to “Google Home Premium,” which bundles some smart-home assistant features and video storage into one price. There are two tiers: Standard ($10 per month or $100 per year), which includes 30 days of event-based video history, intelligent alerts for things like familiar faces and packages, Gemini Live, and an AI-based tool to help you create smart-home routines for your household. The Advanced tier ($20 per month or $200 per year) includes 60 days of event-based video history, 10 days of 24/7 video history, descriptive notifications, searchable video history, video event descriptions, and daily summaries of recorded events, plus everything in the cheaper plan.
Gemini Live is the main behind-the-paywall feature you might want; it lets you switch your smart speaker into a more conversational mode. Using this feature, I had a long, natural-feeling chat with my speaker that covered my 3-year-old’s sleep patterns, scalp sunburns, and the previous night’s Love Island episode. It worked well, but it's not a capability I imagine I’ll use when I'm not actively testing.
Gemini Live doesn't work on every Google speaker, but in addition to working on the Google Home Speaker, it also works on all three versions of its available smart displays, including two iterations of the Nest Hub. My favorite is the 10-inch Nest Hub Max; it doubles as a digital photo frame powered by Google Photos, which works much better than Amazon's clunky uploader and might even be a tool you're already using. Google accounts g