When it comes to smart assistants, we like Google Assistant over Amazon’s Alexa here at WIRED. It’s easier to set up and is just better at answering voice questions, hands-free. A growing number of smart speakers and smart displays support it, too.
The Klipsch “The Three II” speaker costs $250 at Amazon right now. It was $574 and dropped down to $300 around March. Now it’s the lowest we’ve seen, and the Amazon price is about $150 cheaper than other major retailers like B&H. It’s now at a much more reasonable price for its size and hands-free Google Assistant capabilities.
The Three speaker is one of the most expensive smart speakers we’ve seen, but it has a great retro style. If you have the space for its boxy design—it’s about 13.7 inches wide by 7 inches tall by 8 inches deep—it will look nice in any room of your house. It’s made of real wood veneer (unless you get the black version), with a sleek metal knob and switches that give it a vintage feel and are satisfyingly tactile—something that you don’t get with the buttonless speakers like the Google Home or Mini. Its sound isn’t vintage, with two drivers and a woofer, and a 60 watt amplifier. There’s dual microphones on top for when you need to talk to it, but you can turn it off when you don’t want it listening.
If even a discounted Klipsch is a little too spendy for you, we’ve tested a bunch of Google Assistant-connected speakers.
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