Lots of people stream their music these days. This is a good prerequisite for WLAN boxes as a replacement for expensive music systems. But is the sound right? Stiftung Warentest tested various speakers.
Sonos and the Amazon Echo with Alexa are WiFi boxes that everyone knows. But there are many more models on the market at very different prices. Some of them have quite a thin sound. But there are also models that deliver a decent sound despite their compact size. And that even at a price of just over 100 euros, as the Stiftung Warentest found in a comparison of twelve WiFi speakers priced between 60 and 800 euros (“test” issue 5/23).
Such loudspeakers are controlled via an app. Various systems exist for this and for interconnecting several boxes throughout the apartment or house, the so-called multi-room operation. In particular, these are Apple Airplay and Google Chromecast, but also Sonos or Bluesound. But you don’t always have to decide on a system when you buy the first box. Because many WiFi speakers support several of them and can be connected to each other, according to the Stiftung Warentest.
The three best WiFi speakers according to Stiftung Warentest
This also applies to the 375-euro test winner Canton Smart Soundbox 3 Gen 2 (overall grade 2.4), which supports Airplay and Chromecast. The same applies to the Harman Kardon Citation One MK III, which costs 226 euros. In the Stiftung Warentest test, it shares second place (overall rating 2.7) with the WiFi speaker Ikea Symfonisk Regal WiFi Speaker Generation 2 for 129 euros, which works with the Sonos system. Ikea introduced the Symfonisk series in 2019, and it is now in its second generation. It is very popular with buyers mainly because of its low price. In addition to the classic WLAN speakers, Symfonisk is also available as a mural or lamp with a speaker.
The Sonos system can be controlled with both Android and iOS devices. This also applies to Chromecast devices. According to the testers, only Airplay does not run easily with Android cell phones, but of course with iPhones and iPads without any problems.
With material from dpa