The best… smart speakers

Sonos One The Sonos app can connect this speaker to almost every music service, from Apple Music to Spotify. It sounds terrific on its own, but works even better in a stereo pair. It comes with Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant (£200; www.johnlewis.com).

UE Megablast Portable and waterproof, and able to last 16 hours on a single charge, the Megablast is a rarity: a smart Bluetooth speaker that you can take to the beach. It’s also Alexa-enabled and incredibly loud (£200; www.johnlewis.com).

Google Home This is top of the range at language recognition, and can hear you above most music and noise. It can google answers to questions, play music from streaming services and offers plenty of volume for its size (£130; www.currys.co.uk).

Amazon Echo The original, Alexa-based Echo has had a revamp, and is great for music playback as well as smart-home control. It’s able to pick up your voice at a distance and excels at understanding what you say (£90; www.amazon.co.uk).

Apple Home-pod With seven tweeters and one woofer, this device adjusts to its surroundings to create probably the most expansive soundscape you’ll get from a single speaker, with deep but tightly controlled bass (£320; www.apple.com/uk).