lf-s50g
Latest
The nine speakers we recommend in our back-to-school guide
Though our back-to-school guide includes plenty of headphones, we threw in just as many speakers. Whether you intend to host a few parties or just want the convenience of a smart speaker, we found a number of models that we feel earn their space in your dorm. As you might expect, our list of nine picks include plenty of smart speakers, including usual suspects like the Apple HomePod, Google Home and Sonos One. Our feeling is, if you're going to invest in bookshelf or desktop speakers, you may as well have the option of using voice commands. That said, nearly half of our recommendations are portable, with highlights from JBL, Bang & Olufsen and the category leader, UE. As a warning, not everything on this list is cheap (we're looking at you, Klipsch), but some, like the UE Wonderboom are much cheaper, with a street price of around $70. Find all that and more (plus those headphone picks we mentioned) in our complete guide.
Sony LF-S50G smart speaker review: A solid Google Home alternative
The options for Alexa- and Google Assistant–powered speakers have exploded, as evidenced by companies adding voice control to any and every device at the last two CESes. As is typically the case when pretty much everyone hops on a bandwagon, there's some good and a lot of bad. The concept of voice control is still new to a lot of people, so when they do splurge for that first device, it had better work right. Sony's LF-S50G harnesses the smarts of Google Assistant to do just that, but it's far from perfect.
Sony's smart speaker harnesses the power of Google Assistant
Rather than build its own virtual assistant for a smart speaker, Sony is tapping into the power of Google Assistant. The company is debuting its entry into the category this week at IFA: the LF-S50G. Despite the lack of a catchy name, the device allows to you play and control music from a range of services with a simple "Ok Google" command. As you might expect, you can also ask for weather updates, traffic info and more. And yes, just like Google Home, the LF-S50G can be used to control other smart home devices like lights and thermostats. When you don't feel like chatting, you can just look over and see the time on the side of the speaker as well.
