Speakers

The first-generation Sonos Beam delivers very good sound for a small soundbar, and comes with Alexa voice controls.

Polk Atrium 4 set the standard for wired outdoor speakers with a wide, balanced sound for under $200.

The Yamaha NS-AW150W outdoor speakers produce a bright sound with full vocals, at an excellent price.

The Sonos Roam is portable, durable and competitively priced, making it an attractive Bluetooth speaker on-the-go and a Sonos system enhancement back home.

The $399 Sonos Move is a battery-powered smart speaker and a portable audio beast.

The Sonos One is the best-sounding smart speaker, and its integration with smart assistants is excellent.

Thanks to above-average sound in a small package, the JBL Flip 5 remains one of the best portable Bluetooth speakers.

The V-Moda Remix offers booming bass, warm highs and mids, plus a built-in headphone amplifier and a slew of customization options.

The JBL Link 20 delivers almost all the features of Google Home in great-sounding portable speaker.

While the lights on the LG XBoom Go PL7 may attract your eyes, it’s the detailed sound that will hook your ears.

Vizio’s M-Series 5.1 M51a-H6 gives you a lot for the money, but you need to work to get it to sound at its best.

The Tribit StormBox Micro Bluetooth speaker packs a lot of sound into a very portable package.

Booming sound, and plenty of style.

Ultimate Ears Hyperboom portable Bluetooth speaker is a big speaker that produces a big sound — at a big price.

UE's Wonderboom 2 hits a sweet spot for small Bluetooth speakers, delivering good bass and vocals in an easily portable package.

The UE Megaboom 3 has what you want in a portable Bluetooth speaker: good sound quality, long battery life, ruggedness and more.

The Bose Soundbar 500 is a slim speaker with serious smarts.

The Yamaha YAS-209 delivers solid, all-around sound for a midpriced soundbar, and Alexa makes controlling it easy.

Yamaha's YAS-108 soundbar delivers plenty of features and overall very good overall sound, all for $220.

The Polk MagniFi Mini is a solid small soundbar that delivers big sound.

The Fugoo Sport 2.0 is a versatile and affordable wireless speaker, though it doesn’t improve much on the original.

The bass-rich JBL Bar 5.1 Surround soundbar creates an encompassing sound, if you can figure out how to take advantage of its talents.

The LG SN8YG delivers the precision of Dolby Atmos sound at an affordable price — and gets very loud.

Now this is what you call a sequel

Google Home plays nice with Google software and hardware, but it lacks some key features of its competitors.

With HDMI, Bluetooth and a wireless subwoofer, Sony's HT-CT370 delivers plenty of features and very good sound.

If you can afford it, the Sonos Playbase offers almost everything you want in a soundbase, especially big sound and ease of use.

The Anker Nebula Soundbar – Fire TV Edition is a tough sell, due to a clunky interface, a high price and a disappointing soundscape.

Amazon's second-gen Echo is more attractive and more affordable than the original, and it sounds just as good, too.