Handy: smart speakers that lend a hand at home. What should you pay attention to when purchasing a smart speaker?
What is a smart speaker?
A smart speaker, also called a smart speaker, can play more than just sound. It also has a microphone and the speaker listens to what you say. So you can give all kinds of voice commands. For example, ask what the weather will be like over the weekend. Or let the device play a music album or calculate a sum.
A smart speaker can also make the home smarter. This does depend on the other devices you have at home. For example, there are smart lamps that connect to the smart speaker. For example, give the command ‘Turn off the light in the kitchen’ and the kitchen lamp will go out. The speaker can also make contact with the television or a thermostat. These must of course be devices that you can connect to the speaker.
Speaker language
Smart speakers all use a voice assistant. The best-known voice assistants are the Google Assistant from Google, Siri from Apple and Alexa from Amazon. Only speakers with Google Assistant understand Dutch. That’s why we leave the other voice assistants out of this article. It is possible that devices from Apple and Amazon will support Dutch in the future.
Google’s voice assistant is installed on Google own devices and some third-party devices.
Small or big?
Smart speakers come in different sizes. One of the most compact speakers is the Google Nest Mini. The advantage of such a small device is that it is less expensive. The price is around 50 euros. A smaller speaker is therefore an accessible way to try out a smart speaker. Also handy: the speaker can be easily moved. The disadvantage is that small speakers have a less powerful sound than large speakers. In a very large room, the sound will not fill the entire room.
The larger models are slightly more expensive, but have the advantage that they produce a more powerful sound. The prices of these models start at 100 euros and go up to 300 euros.
The biggest smart speakers are for real music fans. These powerhouses can easily fill a large room with music. There is a price tag attached to this: prices are easily between 300 and 600 euros.
With or without battery
Also a consideration to make: do you want a smart speaker with or without a battery? Most smart speakers do not have a battery. Plug in the power cord and the speaker has power. Do you expect to take the speaker with you, for example on vacation? Then a battery can be useful. A number of models from JBL, Bose and Sonos, among others, are portable. You can charge the speaker with a cable and then use the speaker wirelessly for a number of hours (depending on the speaker between six and sixteen hours).
I’d rather have a screen
In general, smart speakers do not have a screen. Would you rather have a smart speaker that you control with your voice as well as via a screen? Then the Google Nest Hub is an option. Conveniently, you can view a recipe or your agenda, for example. Or set the device as a digital photo frame.
What about privacy?
Google always listening to what you say, that is of course not the intention. The Google Assistant won’t start listening until you say “Hey Google” or “Okay Google.” What you say before that will therefore not be recorded.
What about the voice commands you give? Google will include it. Google uses recordings to improve the assistant. The more people speak Dutch to the assistant, the faster he or she learns what is expected. Google can also better personalize the assistant with your voice data. It’s as if the device gets to know you. When setting up a Google device, you can indicate which information may and may not be sent to Google.