Smart speakers are great for many reasons! They respond to your voice, let you connect to smart home products and services, and of course, play your favorite streaming music sources. But they may not be the most stylish gadgets on the outside.
On the other hand, the new Marshall smart speakers are the exact opposite! They are well-designed and have something to show off from the past of the legendary guitar company's real rock style. Today, there are two smart speakers from the company, one is the Acton II Voice, available for $ 300 and the other is called the Stanmore II Voice, available for $ 350. Both can be found in Google Assistant-compatible editions.
What makes smart speakers?
There's a lot to like about the Marshall Voice Speakers. Both feature Wi-Fi connectivity, a must-have for any voice assistant, allowing you to turn your entire home into an audio system controlled by the Google Home app. They also retain the Bluetooth and auxiliary inputs found on the non-Voice models. Both speakers pack a twin set of 15-watt class-D amplifiers, but the Stanmore II's bass is described as more energetic and powerful. In addition to the woofer being powered by 50-watt class-D amplifiers, the dual-microphone array is tuned for far-field voice sensitivity and can also cancel out acoustic noise to help distinguish voice commands from ambient sounds.
It's great that Marshall is supported by Alexa and Google Assistant, and generally by third-party speaker companies. The only downside is that there are two different versions of the speakers. Given that Google Assistant and Alexa have different advantages and disadvantages, it makes sense that some people prefer Google and others prefer Alexa. In the future, Marshall may release a product for both applications, but for now, the user has to choose.
