These are the smart devices that I have and my quick review after using them for a while. Hopefully if you are considering buying one this may help.


Sonos One
It is probably the best sounding smart speaker you ever need.
+
Best sounding with room tuning capability
Best mid range with natural treble and adequate bass
Nice looking especially white color unit
Reasonably loud
Multi rooms play. In fact Sonos is probably the first with this feature

-
It is expensive. RM1199 sold here.
Not smart in Malaysia. Supposed to be able to work with Alexa but only for a few selected countries and of course Malaysia is not one of them.
No Bluetooth
Can't play very high resolution music like dsd



Amazon Echo Show
+
Screen display
Decent sound
Tons of recipes. Good to use in kitchen
Full Alexa
Solid built
Works with both 2.4ghz or 5ghz wifi
Voice command screen navigation
Bluetooth connectivity
Multi rooms play

-
Expensive for the capabilities especially so so screen resolution
You tube integration cranky
Sound below expectation for the price although ok



Amazon Echo Dot 2nd Gen
+
Full Alexa
Good value
Decent sound but not for serious listening
Sensitive mic
Decent look. Not offensive
Multi rooms play

-
Simple device with no built in thermometer or other capabilities
More outages lately where it disconnected from amazon hence no service



Google Home mini
+
Great value
Good mic pickup
Sound is similar to Echo Dot. Not for serious listening but good to listen to radio stations
Good understanding of language

-
It is just me or what I can’t set up google to play Tidal without another “mediator app”. It is not good. Alexa I can play easily
For the price really nothing to complain



Amazon Echo Plus Gen3
+
Good sound. About 80-85% of Sonos One
Built in thermometer
Full Alexa
Good mic
Good size. Less obtrusive
Bluetooth connectivity
Multi rooms play

-
Slightly costly
Amazon has more outages lately



Amazon Echo Dot (see newer Echo dot comments but this one is great. My oldest device and still works great)



UE Megaboom 3
+
Good sound. Almost as good as Sonos. Not quite but close
Great bass and can play super loud
Good for parties
20 hours of battery life on full charge. Hence can play anywhere
Water proof. Dust proof. Can float in swimming pool
Very good Bluetooth connectivity. Long range
Good selection of bright colors
Can set up stereo or multiple pairs

-
Look can be divisive. Look like a phallus
Mid range is not so great even with EQ
Straight Bluetooth speaker. No smart capabilities

This post has been edited by blancpain4470: May 22 2020, 12:48 PM

Check out Huawei CM510 blue tooth speakers that can paired for stereo playback.
Cheap and sound close to audiophile

Sonos. Megaboom all can do that. You can connect hundreds of UE speakers together if you want.
Multi room play for higher Amazon models, Sonos and UE

CM510 close to audiophile? I wouldn't dare say my Sonos one is audiophile. I very much doubt so

This post has been edited by blancpain4470: May 17 2020, 10:44 AM

Maybe can consider this for being portable and a smart speaker.

to make your sonos one smarter and more usable. you should pair it with alexa echo dot for example since the build in alexa doesnt work very well in malaysia.

im running sonos play 1 and echo dot. it does everyting. now just waiting for my smart plugs to arrive to control some lamps.
- playing music and radio directly from spotify
- checking weather and tempreture
- setting timers, reminders and alarms
- basically ask any question you have
- playing games

That's what I did. I put my echo dot close to Sonos 1. 😄. That said you only have limited capabilities with this set up such as play next, play previous, mute. Because Sonos one doesn't have bluetooth I can't connect them to make everything coming out from Sonos

It's a shame that Sonos can't be smart here. It is damn good a speaker. I am very happy with the sound quality

This post has been edited by blancpain4470: May 17 2020, 01:26 PM

Oh, lucky I didn't buy the Sonos. But my JBL Link 300 working fine on Google. Btw, did you managed to pair any Zigbee devices to the Echo plus? Non of my Tuya zigbee devices can be detected on my Echo plus 1st Gen.

This post has been edited by adamw: May 17 2020, 12:54 PM

Lol. Can't consider anything more as wifey will kill me. But I doubt too many will be better than Sonos. 😬

oh ok haha.. so your sonos one is smart just that the built in alexa is not supported in msia. can u call up a radio station or playlist from your echo and get it to automatically play it on your sonos?

for me as long it plays all music out of the sonos its enough. the rest is handled by echo, non music task so doesnt matter if it doesnt use the sonos. considered good since msia is not a country thats supported by amazon alexa.

Alexa might not be supported officially here but been using it with a 'fake' Amazon US account for some time now.
And using it in Home Assistant is even better as below

I haven't been able to play the like of TuneIn via Echo dot but I can use Sonos app to play. Just no voice command.

My biggest gripe is you can't play from Synology the DSD music I stored there because it is (blue)toothless! I can use Synology audio app to play DSD files on any device with Bluetooth connectivity.

yeah thats the thing im trying to say. im playing off my sonos tunein and whatever playlist available in my spotify via voice command from my echo dot. you can set it up that way.

Duplicate

This post has been edited by blancpain4470: May 17 2020, 03:13 PM

Ok. Thanks

blancpain4470 Great reviews. I'm currently using Siri and therefore an Apple HomePod. Your review will come in handy when I move away from Apple stuff.

You are welcome. In terms of Amazon vs Google, I started with Alexa and thus with more of them. But both are equally good with AI but Google has more global support as Alexa is not officially supported in Malaysia. It is not easy to get the Alexa app on your phone especially iPhone. You can access via web site but some features are crippled. So you need to get a US apple id if you are apple user like me. Only then you can get full benefits of Alexa system.

For example I need Alexa app to enable unlocking of my smart door lock (strangely locking is ok). But with Alexa app you can set it so. Not with their web interface. But with Google I can do both easily.

This post has been edited by blancpain4470: May 18 2020, 09:41 PM

CM510 is good enough to put in my toilet. You expect close to audiophile quality for speaker under RM100? Even the best of smart speakers are not audiophile grade. In that case Huawei will put Sonos, JBL, UE out of business

The closest to audiophile is a pair of Sonos in stereo. However since it doesn't play DSD/DSF I won't count it audiophile. Good enough for semi serious listening

I have 2 units of Echo Dot (Gen2) in my apartment, one in the bedroom and one in the living room. Both are hooked up to external speakers via the 3.5 mm jack. I also use a cheap bluetooth speaker in the spare room that I use to exercise, paired with one of the Dots. Can't hear the music well when exercising, it's just filler music. But I can play my workout playlist

Sound is decent enough playing Spotify (paid) and I'm very happy with the flexibility of this setup. I used to have my own music on my NAS, and using Plex, and then MyMedia for Alexa to play the music to the Dots. But really, most of what I want to hear is on Spotify, so stopped all the other solutions.

I sleep in a totally dark room. I like that should I wake in the middle of the night, I can ask Alexa the time, and that the Alexa app controls my bedroom Xiaomi smartlights, and gradually brightens it to wake me in the morning. I also have a set of red LEDs, Alexa controlled, that I can use as a night light should I have to pee in the middle of the night without killing my night vision. Sorry, a bit off topic already

Have u tried?
If not, check it out before comment.