SMART SPEAKERS

AMAZON ECHO PLUS

$229, amazon.com.au

Thanks to its integrated Zigbeecompliant smart home hub, the Plus is a great smart home starter. Never pay the RRP, though: Amazon discounts Echos every time it has a sale.

SONOS ONE

$299, sonos.com

The Sonos One is a superb standalone speaker with integrated Alexa, but the real selling point is its flexibility: use it as part of a stereo pair or in a multi-room Sonos audio system.

AMAZON ECHO STUDIO

$329, amazon.com.au

With support for the Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Reality Audio – as well as Alexa, Amazon got serious about sound here. Five drivers give your music really rich, meaty audio power.

GOOGLE NEST HUB MAX

$349, store.google.com

A big 10-inch screen, plus good-quality speakers that can fill a room, make this a Google Assistant device that can really do anything. There’s a camera for video calls, and it’s a smart home hub.