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.
The internal email from Chief Product Officer Maxime Bouvat-Merlin did not specify how many jobs will be lost. Per Bloomberg, the cuts will happen today, and are the result of “a shift in product strategy.” The email also disclosed that a team is dedicated to headphones inside Sonos, which might be behind the “major product in a new multibillion-dollar category” mentioned in yesterday’s earnings call.
Also discussed this week: Nilay’s ideal commute, our CSS hopes and dreams, and all the reasons T-Pain is the absolute ideal Vergecast guest. Plus, you know, Sonos and Google and antitrust and Pixels and the Meta Quest 3 and everything else happening in tech this week. But especially T-Pain.
The iconic Zeppelin speaker design has been around since the iPod days, and now features some McLaren-inspired styling to go along with the 2021 wireless refresh. Multiroom connectivity is also improved — just like Google’s — only days after Sonos lost its patent lawsuit. Prices start at £799 / $899 / €899.
Sonos has an ever-growing lineup, and after you’ve bought your first speaker, you’ll likely want to put one in every room.
9
Verge Score
With stereo sound, twice the battery life, and line-in playback, the Move 2 improves upon the original at every turn — unless you need Google Assistant.
Very early this morning, the new UE Epicboom was announced. It’s a pricey chonk of a Bluetooth speaker that should produce some powerful sound with the help of adaptive EQ tuning.
But it turns out that somehow, this is the first Ultimate Ears portable speaker to finally make the change from Micro USB to USB-C. Thanks to the commenters who pointed that out. And praise be, UE.
The service agnostic company was first to market with a speaker featuring both Alexa and Google Assistant, but JBL is first to allow simultaneous use of the two most popular voice assistants. Sonos previously said it was Google’s fault for blocking “concurrency” — a feature Sonos had been working on since at least 2017 — presumably out of spite for losing that lawsuit. We’ve reached out to Sonos for a reaction and will hopefully have something to publish soon.
JBL announced a new wireless party speaker today as part of a host of new products, like new earbuds and new smart speakers, debuting at IFA.
The company says the PartyBox Ultimate self-tunes, has Wi-Fi 6 and LE Audio-ready Bluetooth connectivity and supports the company’s multi-speaker connection feature. Oh, and RGB lights. It has those too.
