The smartest speakers of 2025

Contact: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi | Help support: Amazon Alexa, Sonos Voice Control | Max wattage: 10w | Battery life: 10 hours | Height: 6.6″ | Width: 2.3″

While many people will be happy with a few speakers that are well placed in their home, you may want something that works both outdoors and indoors. Fortunately, you can find speakers that combine sound control and powerful music playback with versatile, weatherproof features. For my money, it’s hard to beat Sonos Roaming because of the flexibility, not to mention the sound quality.

When used in the home, the Roam works like any other Sonos speaker. It’s compatible with a multi-room Sonos setup, or you can get stereo speakers. Like many other Sonos speakers, it works with the Sonos Voice Assistant or Amazon Alexa, and supports every major music service available. It feels great because of its small size; it’s quieter and doesn’t sound as good as the Sonos One or Era 100, but it still has amazing sound and high-quality music.

Designed for on-the-go use, Roam has a battery and Bluetooth so you can take it anywhere and use it away from your Wi-Fi network. And its compact size makes it easy to carry anywhere, around the house and out and about. It’s the first Sonos speaker that’s waterproof, dustproof and dropproof, so don’t worry about taking it to the pool or the beach.

The Roam gets about 10 hours of battery life, whether you’re on Wi-FI or Bluetooth. There are also some portable speakers that last longer, so if you want to push the battery you can be helped by another option.

Another wireless speaker is $449 Sonos Move 2. It’s bigger and louder than the Roam, which isn’t surprising given its price. It’s a nice upgrade over the previous Move, with two tweeters for better sound, a battery that lasts more than a day and improved touch control on the top. It also has a built-in jack via USB-C, so you can plug in an adapter when using it indoors. If you’re willing to sacrifice power and better sound (and you can afford it), the Move 2 will be more satisfying than the Roam.

A better option than the Move, unless you have other Sonos products, is $399 Bose Portable Smart speaker. It supports Alexa and Google Assistant commands, and since it can connect to WiFi, you can ask your favorite assistant to play music from Spotify, Amazon Music and other services. On top of that, it produces good surround sound, sports an IPX4 rating with a convenient handle and lasts up to 12 hours on a single charge.

Bose also has another great option for Travelers. It’s $149 SoundLink Flex it supports Siri and Google Assistant commands, plus it has an IP67 design that’s about the size of a small clutch bag. It produces bright, powerful sound and can be paired with other speakers for stereo sound, too – it’s much better and a little cheaper than the Roam.

Although this book is about smart speakers, we would be remiss not to mention all the strong speakers who have little or no intellectual resources. We have total control for the best Bluetooth speakers, so if you’re concerned about the affordability and limitations of having a connected speaker environment, there are plenty of options to explore.