The Amazon Echo is a fantastic device. The smart speaker includes Amazon Alexa and can perform a variety of tasks. Furthermore, the Echo’s capabilities can be easily expanded with additional Skills. However, not everyone is interested in using the Echo as their home smart speaker solution. You may be looking for something more portable, less expensive, or simply something that looks (or sounds) better. So, here are 12 cool Amazon Echo alternatives to consider.
12 Best Amazon Echo Alternatives
We’ve gathered a wide range of devices like Amazon Echo in this comprehensive roundup. While some excel at providing high-quality sound, others are quite versatile in carrying out a wide range of tasks, for example, controlling smart home devices and making video calls hands-free.
We chose alternatives to Amazon Echo based on budget as well, taking into account various requirements. So, whether you’re looking for a premium substitute or a more affordable alternative, there’s a good chance you’ll finally find your ideal smart speaker. So, let’s get this party started!
[lwptoc]1. Google Nest Hub
Well, If you want a smart display, the Google Nest Hub (Amazon Echo alternatives) is the best option right now. For starters, it looks fantastic. It’s small, comes in nice, soft colors, and basically blends in no matter where you put it — this is a core part of Google’s design philosophy with its ‘Home’ line of speakers.
Aside from that, the Nest Hub has a 7-inch display that the company has calibrated to near perfection. In fact, if there’s one thing that everyone agrees on about the Google Home Hub, it’s that the display is so good that you can’t fault it.
The Home Hub is also technologically advanced, with ambient light sensors that automatically adjust the display’s brightness so that you are not dazzled by it at night. It also includes Google Assistant, which is one of the best smart assistants available right now, and far superior to Alexa (found in the Amazon Echo).
On the other hand, The Google Home Hub lacks a camera, so you won’t be able to make video calls with it. However, Google made this decision on purpose in order for people to feel comfortable keeping the Home Hub in their bedrooms and other private areas of their homes.
The Home Hub also includes a cool new Dashboard feature that gives you an overview of your entire smart-home, allowing you to control all of your rooms, lights, speakers, cameras, and door locks from a single ‘hub.’ It’s undeniably a fantastic smart display, and one of the best available.
2. Google Home
Google Home is 1 of the best smart speakers available today. The Google Assistant-powered smart speaker includes almost all of Google’s impressive capabilities, and the voice recognition works flawlessly. In fact, Google Home holds its own against the Amazon Echo.
You can use Google Home to do a variety of things, including setting alarms and streaming music from services like Spotify and Google Play Music. The speaker has a long list of commands and a slew of tricks up his sleeve.
In terms of design, I prefer the Google Assistant because it appears to blend in with the environment rather than looking like a strange tube placed on your living room table. Even the sound quality is much better in the Google Home, but this varies from person to person; some people prefer the Google Home’s bass-rich sound, while others prefer the Amazon Echo’s clear treble output.
Alternatively, if you’re looking for something in a smaller form factor that still packs a punch, the Google Home Mini may be of interest. It’s a solid, smart speaker with great sound quality, a beautiful yet low-profile fabric outer shell, and all of Google Assistant’s smarts. It’s also only $49.
3. Lenovo Smart Display
If you want something with a display but not Alexa, the Lenovo Smart Display is something you should look into. The Lenovo Smart Display is available in three sizes: 7′′, 8′′, and 10′′.
While the 7′′ model is low-end (1x microphone array, 2MP wide-angle front camera), the 8′′ and 10′′ models are higher-end, with more powerful specs such as a 22 dual-microphone array and 5MP wide-angle front camera.
Aside from that, the smart displays include Google Assistant and Chromecast support. In addition, with Google Duo integration, you can make video calls directly from your smart display using the built-in camera.
Having a camera on your smart display may not seem like the best idea, which is why Lenovo’s smart display has a built-in camera kill-switch that physically covers the camera so, you don’t feel creeped out by it.
The higher Lenovo Smart Display has 22 microphone arrays to hear you from across the room easily, as well as 10W speakers to enjoy your favorite music and videos by simply asking it to play them.
1 of the most common applications for this smart display is in the kitchen, where it can show recipes with helpful visual aids to help you along in your quest to cook the perfect meal. Here, If you’re looking for a smart display, the Lenovo Smart Display is a must-see.
4. Google Nest Hub Max
If you’re looking for a slightly larger and more efficient variant than Google Nest Hub, then Google Nest Hub Max is an option. For starters, it has a more visually appealing 10-inch display. And, thanks to the built-in camera, you can easily keep an eye on your home.
You can also send video messages and make video calls to stay in touch with friends and family. Because of the ability to share reminders and to-dos, you can take control of the important to-dos and complete the tasks on time.
One of my favorite Nest Hub Max features is the stereo speakers, which produce high-quality sound. It also provides an easy way to stream apps and listen to music via YouTube, Spotify, Pando, and other supported services, thanks to the built-in Chromecast. In addition, it supports thousands of smart home devices such as locks, lights, and TVs, making it a viable alternatives to Amazon Echo.
5. Apple HomePod
Because of its obvious deep integration with iOS, the HomePod is probably the best smart speaker for you if you’re an iOS user. The HomePod is a high-end smart speaker with audiophile-grade sound quality and the ability to get quite loud.
The speaker is designed similarly to the old Mac Pro or the recently launched Echo Sub, but it has a mesh design that looks nice, and the tiny display on top means when you activate Siri, you will see some amazing animations.
Yes, the HomePod is powered by Siri, Apple’s smart assistant, and it has a poor track record of being useful when required. However, if listening to music is the majority of your use-case for a smart speaker, the HomePod will not disappoint.
Apple’s audio design in the HomePod is simply outstanding, and the audio quality here is unparalleled. I would strongly advise iPhone users to investigate the HomePod.
Further, The HomePod has a six-microphone array for listening to voice commands, which is less than what the Amazon Echo has, but it’s still not bad. There is also support for multi-room audio playback, so if you have multiple HomePods, you can easily sync them and play music throughout your home.
6. Harman-Kardon Allure
If you’re looking for Amazon Echo alternatives because the design of those smart speakers doesn’t appeal to you, Allow me to introduce the Harman-Kardon Allure smart speaker to you. The ‘Allure’ has a pretty alluring design with a nice semi-transparent body and lighting features instead of the Echo, which has a mostly functional industrial design.
The Allure smart speaker includes the Alexa voice assistant, which means it has access to all of the amazing Alexa skills that the Amazon Echo does.
The speaker comes with four far-field microphones for voice recognition, and it should be able to hear you from across the room. It also has some amazing speakers, as you’d expect from a Harman-Kardon speaker. All things considered, the Harman-Kardon Allure is the smart speaker to choose if you want something classy and stylish while also being reasonably priced.
7. Libratone Zipp
The Libratone Zipp is another smart speaker (Amazon Echo alternatives) that never ceases to amaze me. It has a nice design and can compete with the best in the business in terms of sound quality.
The Libratone Zipp’s ability to deliver sound in 360-degrees is critical in providing an immersive listening experience. So, If you enjoy listening to music, you will appreciate its ability to fire at 360°. Furthermore, the presence of a dual-mic and a 15W woofer contributes significantly to the improved sound.
Notably, Libratone Zipp’s interchangeable jackets elevate it to a higher level. It, like most of its competitors, comes with a companion app that allows you to customize everything to your liking perfectly. With Alexa support, it can efficiently carry out a variety of tasks via a wide range of voice commands. It has a playtime of 12 hours, which is more than enough for a full tilt.
8. Bose Home Speaker 500
If there were a race to see who could make the best-sounding smart speaker, the Bose Home Speaker 500 would easily finish in the top three. Yes, you read that correctly! The smart speaker has eight mic arrays for high-quality audio. Another feature worth mentioning is the attractive front display, which makes it more functional. In addition, its modern design allows it to blend in with any home decor.
Aside from design, the Bose Home Speaker 500 supports Alexa, which opens the door to a plethora of voice commands. Notably, it is compatible with Amazon’s multiroom platform, allowing you to group the speaker with other Alexa speakers for a more immersive music listening experience.
Home Speaker is also compatible with Google Assistant. So, whether you prefer Alexa or Assistant, you can use your preferred assistant to control your smart home devices or perform other necessary tasks.
Compared to the Amazon Echo, the Home Speaker 500 appears to be quite pricey at $299. However, if you want an appreciable build quality combined with great sound, it’s worth a shot. If the $299 price tag of the Home Speaker 500 is too much for your budget, consider the Home Speaker 300, which costs $199.
9. Invoxia Triby Smart Speaker
Triby is yet another Amazon Alexa-powered smart speaker. The battery-powered portable speaker packs a lot of features into a small and attractive package. With Alexa built-in, you can do things like ask for the weather, read the news, and much more.
Further, You can do a lot more with your speaker if you have the Triby app on your smartphone. For example, it can be mounted on your refrigerator (a feat I’m glad Echo can’t do because it’d be quite strange to look at), and you can use the mobile app to send doodles to the speaker’s e-paper display, change your settings, and do a lot more.
When a new doodle is set on the Triby’s e-paper display, a little yellow flag appears, acting as a notification that there is a new message, which I like, even though it appears to be a novelty. In addition, the Triby can function as a portable Bluetooth speaker for listening to music or making hands-free phone calls. Triby is currently available for $110 on Amazon.com, making it a reasonable buy.
10. Bang and Olufsen Beosound A1
Missing out on a capable challenger like the Bang and Olufsen Beosound A1 when discussing highly rated Amazon Echo substitutes would be a huge mistake. Bang & Olufsen is well-known for producing high-quality speakers. And this one has all of the characteristics of a great smart speaker.
Design-wise, The Beosound A1 has a sophisticated appearance thanks to its compact and slim design. That means you can take it with you wherever you go. Aside from the design, it has a three-microphone array to deliver clear and crisp audio. In addition, Alexa’s voice assistant works well even from a distance, thanks to far-field technology.
The Bang and Olufsen Beosound A1 is one of a kind, with a battery life of up to 18 hours. Not only that but it’s also IP67 rated, so it’s ready to spice up your beach party. In short, if portability and high-quality sound are your top priorities, the Beosound A1 is a viable Amazon Echo alternatives.
11. JBL Link View Smart Speaker
The JBL Link View, yet another (Amazon Echo alternatives) smart speaker with a display, is not the most visually appealing smart display on the market, especially when compared to the Google Home Hub, but it is worth considering.
Because Google Assistant powers the JBL Link View, you can be sure it will be a fantastic experience. Google Assistant doesn’t have as many skills and third-party features as Alexa on the Amazon Echo, but it’s better for everyday use.
There is an 8-inch HD display here, which is fine because most smart displays under 10 inches have HD displays, which are great for watching videos or looking up recipes in the kitchen. Furthermore, you can make video calls with the built-in 5MP camera when you want to. In addition, the JBL Link View has a physical shutter button for the camera, which can be used to cover the camera when you simply need some privacy.
12. Mycroft Mark II
No, not Sherlock’s brother. This Mycroft is general-purpose artificial intelligence. Instead of using proprietary hardware, Mycroft’s developers built it on Raspberry Pi and Arduino, and then Natural Language Processing has been added to understand your commands and perform the appropriate actions.
Array microphones, active noise cancellation, beamforming, and a decent screen make the Mark II a significant upgrade. Also, It integrates with any smart home devices you own, including the SmartThings hub, allowing you to use your voice to manage your smart home devices.
Mycroft is intended to be an open platform, so the creators chose Raspberry Pi and Arduino boards. With such a vibrant community surrounding these hardware devices, it’s clear that Mycroft’s abilities will only improve over time. In addition, the company behind Mycroft is getting ready to launch the Mycroft Mark 2 soon, and it is already available for pre-order.
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Use these Cool Amazon Echo Alternatives:
If the Amazon Echo isn’t the smart speaker you’re looking for, you can easily select another from this list. I tried to include a variety of speakers in this list so that no matter what you’re looking for, you should be able to find something that meets your needs.
If you only need an Amazon Echo in a smaller form factor, you should look into the Amazon Echo Dot and Tap devices; otherwise, you can choose from any of the options in this article.
As usual, I’d like to hear your thoughts on the Amazon Echo, Alexa’s capabilities, and the devices in this list. Additionally, please share them with us in the comments section below if you know of any other cool Alexa alternatives.
