Speakers are foundational to the way we enjoy music from Spotify, Apple Music, and other services — and our own music collections. And increasingly, they’re also a convenient way of controlling smart home devices compatible with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, or Siri. Companies like Sonos offer multiroom audio platforms capable of synchronizing music across speakers of all different sizes. Whether you’re looking for a smart speaker or a simple Bluetooth speaker to take everywhere, The Verge covers the best of what’s out there in 2025.
Hours after our own Chris Welch revealed what will likely be Sonos’s next two speakers, a leaker has tweeted what appear to be additional images of the Era 100 and Era 300. You can check out all the images in the thread. Sadly there is not a 3.5mm port in sight.
Check out iFixit’s take on the second-generation speaker in its latest teardown. And after you do, check out our review we posted last week.
Apple’s second-generation HomePod is available starting today. And the consensus in our review and others I’ve seen is that while one HomePod speaker sounds pretty good solo, it’s when you pair two of them together that you experience the best, most immersive audio.
Creating a stereo pair with two HomePods only takes a few steps. Just remember that you can only do so with two of the same model.
If you’ve ever used Sonos’ Trueplay feature to tune your speakers for the best sound quality, you know what a difference it can make. But since the process relies on microphone measurements from supported iPhones, Sonos is often slow to include new models.
Case in point: the company only just today added Trueplay support for Apple’s iPhone 14 lineup — nearly three months after the phones went on sale. Recent iPad buyers are still out of luck, and the tuning feature remains unavailable on Android altogether. Sometimes the best option is just borrowing a friend’s iPhone.
It’s one that French audio company Devialet could sell you on, with its new $2,900 Dione Opéra de Paris soundbar.
This version has a 22-carat “moon gold” finished layer that its weird orb center channel speaker is nestled into. Considering you’re getting something “inspired by the gilded interiors of Paris’ Opéra Garnier,” it’s probably worth it, right?
Add gold versions of the new Mania and Phantom to complete your life.
Borla, which makes loud performance exhaust systems for cars, has a new “exhaust system” for the Mustang Mach-E... which is just speakers playing preloaded engine sounds that can be controlled by an app. This is silly, but not as silly as Dodge pretending its fake EV exhaust system is not just speakers.
Amazon recently dropped a slate of new gadgets — including a new entry-level Kindle and a fifth-gen Echo Dot speaker — but it’s the last-gen devices that are receiving the biggest discounts right now. The latest Echo Show 5 is currently on sale for an all-time low of $34.99, for instance, which is great if you’re looking for a compact smart display for your nightstand.
The company announced last month that the update was on the way. If you’re looking to pick up one of the high-end speakers, it now comes in white, too.
