five of the best

AirPlay speakers and accessories

The top audio rivals to the HomePod

Apple HomePod $349 (£TBA) apple.com/uk/music

There’s a lot riding on the HomePod; it has to sound great and be smart enough to challenge the Amazon Echo for control of your smart home. It’s also Apple’s first foray into the multi-room audio market, thanks to the new features of AirPlay 2.

B&O BeoPlay M5 £529 beoplay.com

Bang & Olufsen has a number of AirPlay speakers, and has said that most of them can be updated to use AirPlay 2. The M5 is relatively expensive, but has a second woofer to boost the bass, as well as a powerful 130W output.

B&W Zeppelin Wireless £499 bowers-wilkins.co.uk

B&W’s Zeppelin was one of the first, and best, AirPlay speakers. Sadly, the current model, the Zeppelin Wireless, can’t be updated for AirPlay 2, although it still sounds fantastic. B&W is planning a new model with AirPlay 2 for later this year.

D-Link Music Everywhere £48 dlink.com/uk

It’s been around a while, and isn’t compatible with AirPlay 2, but D-Link’s Music Everywhere adaptor is an affordable way to add AirPlay Wi-Fi connectivity to existing wired speakers. Even basic AirPlay works better than Bluetooth.

Libratone Zipp Mini From £169 libratone.com

With prices starting at just £169, the portable Zipp Mini is the most affordable AirPlay speaker currently available, and Libratone has said that it will provide a software update that will enable both the Zipp Mini and the larger Zipp (£249) to work with AirPlay 2.