WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A WIRELESS SPEAKER

STREAMING PLATFORMS

There’s always Bluetooth, but it’s often a lower-quality of streaming than you can achieve from other streaming connections like Chromecast or AirPlay. Some systems can also stream direct from the internet, as do Spotify Connect and the new Tidal Connect (see News p10), which is preferable to doubled streaming to your smart device and then again from there to the system, a longer less reliable method that can reduce quality through re-encoding with different codecs.

The easiest access to music is often via the dedicated apps provided by the various wireless multiroom platforms, many of which have their own product ranges (think Sonos), while other platforms have been included in full-on hi-fi as well as smaller speakers — think BluOS in Bluesound and NAD, HEOS in Denon and Marantz, Naim’s combination of Mu-so and true hi-fi, or Yamaha’s amazingly diverse range of MusicCast products. Such platforms have developed easy one-stop apps over the years, playing from music services, internet radio, podcasts and network streaming. They often integrate Chromecast or AirPlay as well, to make them even more widely compatible. Even if you’re buying only one speaker, choosing something from these platforms can assure you easy and robust operation, not to mention an upgrade path.

VOICE CONTROL

Not many high-end wireless speakers yet have voice control built in, but those with Chromecast can be linked with a Google Home or other Voice Assistant device, while Apple’s Siri can be used for some level of control when using AirPlay. Those favouring Alexa will likely find things harder, but some speakers can be linked via a set of downloadable skills for specific speakers. Or, not that we’d recommend it for best sonics, you could plug an Echo Dot into an external input. If there is one. Talking of which...

PHYSICAL INPUTS

How many external inputs do you need, and of what kind? Bowers & Wilkins’ wireless speakers have none at all, and perhaps you don’t need any. But you may want to add a turntable, or a CD player, or a plug in a TV. Some top-end speakers have HDMI to take sound straight from your TV. Physical inputs provide future-proofing — apps may disappear, wireless standards change, but you’ll always get music out of an input.

UNEXPECTED EXTRAS

In the race to a price, manufacturers sometimes make things optional. Happily with premium speakers there isn’t too much of that – coloured grilles, perhaps, wallmounting kits, or battery packs to make smaller speakers wireless. But there is one thing they often miss out altogether...

REMOTE CONTROL

Some manufacturers would have you believe that an app on your smartphone is all you need to control a wireless speaker. We reckon that’s rubbish. Apps frequently ‘disconnect’; your phone may be charging somewhere else. How does the rest of the family control it, or visitors? What happens when your phone rings? The answer is to include a small physical remote control. But some systems don’t, even as an optional extra.