Gadget Lab: Weekly Tech News from WIRED

A surge of voice-assisted speakers rushed the shores this month. So if you’ve always loved the Echo’s smarts but hated the way it sounds, well, now you can remedy that by getting an Alexa speaker from Sonos or Ultimate Ears. Or you can get one of Amazon’s newly retooled (and better sounding) Echo or Echo Plus speakers. Rather have Google? There’s the brand new Home Mini and Home Max, and now JBL has a speaker you can query with voice. All this month! Bananas. The hosts break down this rapidly proliferating market while concentrating on the new speakers from three companies: Sonos, Amazon, and Ultimate Ears.

Some notes: Weird digital artifact on this one! Sorry about the strange clicking noises, we’re fixing that. Michael reviews the Sonos One. David talks to Amazon about the new Echo models. Mike also got a demo of the new Ultimate Ears Blast and Megablast. The new JBL Link 300. The Google Home Max. Recommendations this week: The Good Place, rewatching the Black Mirror episode “San Junipero,” and Google Fi. Send the hosts feedback on Twitter. David Pierce is @pierce and Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. Our theme song is by Solar Keys.

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