Best smart speakers with clocks in 2023

There’s a wide variety of great smart speakers to choose from. Sometimes, though, instead of a Hi-Fi system that works with

Google

Assistant, what you really want is a compact bedside clock that gives you voice access to all your smart home devices without becoming the centerpiece of the room.

Enter the field of clock-bearing smart speakers. There aren’t many, but they’re all engineered to deliver extensive voice control while offering you the time and, sometimes, additional information via an LED or LCD screen on the front. You’ll find some that are meant mostly for accepting voice commands, some that excel in playing music, and others with a variety of novel features like built-in phone charging and customizable smart lighting. And aside from one or two specialty options, they’re relatively easy to operate and offer a wide range of helpful features.

Our picks for the top smart speakers for your bedside clock

The 5th-generation Amazon Echo Dot with Clock represents another significant upgrade to the Echo Dot lineup, though you wouldn’t know by looking at it. Indeed, it looks exactly the same as the previous model, except for a slightly altered color. The last Echo Dot sounded better than its size would have you believe, and this new model has a once again redesigned speaker driver that ensures it sounds even better than before. There’s also an upgraded set of microphones for more precise voice control. The 5th-gen model also includes a temperature sensor for dynamic smart home control events, like turning fans on or off when it gets too hot or cold. There’s also an accelerometer inside that allows for tap interactions on the touch buttons, enabling access to a variety of controls, including instantly snoozing an alarm.

You’ll find this last upgrade especially useful if you’re heavily entrenched in Amazon’s hardware ecosystem. Inside each new Echo Dot is an Eero Wi-Fi extender, which basically guarantees to eliminate wireless dead zones in the rooms near the smart speaker. All in all, this affordable package is a powerful improvement on the last generation, which is why it’s earned our Editor’s Choice badge.

Bose Home Speaker 500

Premium pick

Great sound in a small package

The Bose Home Speaker 500 provides surprisingly great sound quality for such a small speaker, with opposite-facing drivers that reflect sound and add depth to your music. The high-quality microphone array picks up voice commands from a distance and lets you make clear hands-free calls. It supports Bluetooth and AirPlay 2 over Wi-Fi, and while it doesn’t come cheap, the premium audio experience may be worth the price.

Pros

• Impressive sound quality
• Consistent voice recognition
• Compatible with
  
  Apple
  
  Airplay 2

Cons

• Pricier than most other speakers in its class

When it comes to pure sound quality, nothing tops the Bose Home Speaker 500. The two drivers inside face opposite directions, with one intended to point at a wall, so the sound reflects and adds depth to the music. It gets surprisingly loud and has a better bass response than you’d expect from something its size. The microphone array picks up voice commands from a decent distance away and lets you make hands-free phone calls with significantly better audio than other speakers.

It works great whether you’re connected via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi and even supports Airplay 2 for those invested in the Apple ecosystem. While expensive, it’s hard to find any competition for this powerful smart speaker.

Lenovo Smart Clock Essential with Alexa

Best value

Elegant, affordable, and versatile

Lenovo’s second-generation Smart Clock Essential with Alexa brings affordable smart voice control to your nightstand in an understated design. It’s small enough to fit on your bedside table and ready to give you instant access to the morning news and weather from Alexa as soon as you wake up.

Pros

• Takes up very little space
• Unobtrusive clock face
• Helpful physical controls

Cons

• Poor speaker quality
• Microphone range isn’t great

Lenovo’s second-generation Smart Clock Essential with Alexa brings affordable, smart voice control to your nightstand with an attractive yet unobtrusive clock face that belies its more powerful smart display functions. You can still see news, weather, and more, but it won’t clutter or complicate your morning routine.

Although it’s small enough to fit on your bedside table, it does have some audio trade-offs: the audio quality for music isn’t great, and the microphone works best at closer ranges. Nevertheless, this one ultimately shines in giving you instant access to voice commands and a morning briefing from Alexa before you even get out of bed.

Sandman Doppler

Best clock

An easy-to-read, full-

featured

clock that doesn’t compromise on sound quality

Sandman’s Doppler is a smart speaker that puts more emphasis on its built-in clock features than most. As a result, you can program all the alarms you need throughout the week, and you won’t have any trouble reading the time from its expansive display. It also offers impressive audio quality for its size, with stereo speakers and a bass port for a solid low-end.

Pros

• Customizable alarm schedule
• Above-average sound quality
• Plenty of charging ports

If your schedule varies throughout the week and you want to program all the alarms you’ll need in advance, there’s no better alarm clock than the Sandman Doppler. Initially a crowd-funded device, it lets you use Alexa or the specialized app to set multiple alarms and control various smart home devices. It doubles as a white noise machine and delivers impressive audio quality for something that isn’t directly marketed as a Hi-Fi smart speaker. In fact, unlike most smart speakers, it boasts stereo speakers and a bass port that enhances low-end response.

There are two versions; each has six USB ports, but one features three Type-A and three Type-C ports. While you can’t customize the appearance of the clock face, it does support automatic dimming, and you can change the color of the numbers.

There are two notable issues with the Sandman, though. First, it’s pretty costly. Second, it’s not very beginner-friendly at all. Those without any tech experience may find setup and maintenance confusing at best or impossible at worst. Nonetheless, Sandman has pushed updates ever since the Doppler was first released. Tech-savvy owners continue to sing its praises, and it’s a great choice if you’re willing and able to figure it out.

Amouhom Smart Bedside Lamp

Most colorful

Creates a soothing and enjoyable atmosphere

The Amouhom Smart Bedside lamp takes a unique approach with a design that’s made to stand out. Extensive color options, lighting modes, and special effects make this fun for upbeat tunes and soothing when you want to wind down. It also offers several built-in white noise options and other calming sounds to help you rest.

Pros

• Extensive color options
• Decent music streaming via Bluetooth 5.0
• Integrated white noise and sleep-friendly sound machine

Cons

• Requires a third-party app
• Not the most user-friendly

One glance tells you that the Amouhom Smart Bedside Lamp is quite a bit different from the rest. Instead of an unassuming speaker meant to blend in, it’s bold, bright, and built to stand out. It has extensive color options, and you can control various lighting modes and special effects. The clock face displays the current weather, so you don’t even have to get out of bed to check.

The speaker does a good job playing music, especially considering the device’s modest price. In addition to your favorite tunes, the Amouhom offers several white noise options and other soothing sounds to help you sleep. It’s a fun choice for both kids and adults, although several users complain that it’s not the easiest to control. You’ll need to connect it to Wi-Fi, navigate a standalone app, and then connect to Bluetooth for music streaming after it’s all set up.

Lenovo Smart Clock 2

Best touchscreen

An intuitive backlit touchscreen delivers a warm glow

Lenovo’s Smart Clock 2 is a full-featured, minimally sized, smart alarm clock with an intuitive touchscreen user interface that should be familiar to Android users. The warm adjustable backlight also offers some nice ambiance for whatever room you put it in and doubles as an effective nightlight.

Pros

• Takes up very little space
• Uses the versatile Google Assistant
• Plenty of clock faces to choose from

Cons

• Not ideal for playing music

If you’re searching for a no-nonsense smart alarm clock that offers voice control from the moment you wake up, the Lenovo Smart Clock 2 should be on your list. The touchscreen and convenient interface combine to deliver an especially intuitive user experience. In fact, its control scheme is similar to a smartphone’s, which means there’s basically no learning curve for Android owners. In addition, it offers even more backlighting than its predecessor and is an effective nightlight with customizable color warmth levels.

The base model is relatively affordable and takes up very little space on your nightstand. Alternatively, there’s an upgraded model that includes a dock with a USB port and wireless charging pad. So, the charging dock bundle is a great choice if you want to keep your smartphone and smartwatch topped up at night.

Amazon Echo Show 5 (3rd Gen)

Best for media

Best-in-class Alexa integration plus a gorgeous 5.5-inch screen

Amazon’s Echo Show 5 may be the runt of the company’s smart display lineup, but it’s still a fully capable voice assistant and a near-perfect Alexa-enabled alarm clock. You get top-notch integration with the Amazon Alexa ecosystem, plus a wealth of multimedia options that go well beyond just showing you the time.

Pros

• Flawless Alexa integration
• Responsive microphones and apps
• High-quality screen with multimedia support

Cons

• Zero support for Google Services

A pared-down version of Amazon’s full-size smart displays, the Echo Show 5 is every bit as capable as its larger relatives when it comes to voice control. Its small footprint makes it the perfect Alexa-enabled alarm clock, sporting the same impressive integration of Alexa and the third-party apps and products that other Amazon smart devices are known for. Plus, the 5.5-inch screen gives you plenty of multimedia options, including a smart picture frame and the ability to stream movies and TV shows from popular services.

While the speaker is small, it’s surprisingly loud and perfect for alarm clock purposes and making casual video calls. If you’re concerned about privacy, rest assured because the Echo Show 5 has a physical camera shutter, and there’s a tactile button for turning the mic on and off.

Why get a smart speaker with a clock?

Not everything needs the smart home treatment (we’re looking at you,

Samsung

Smart Fridge). Clocks, though, are an easy choice for adding voice control and wireless connectivity. When you can roll out of bed in the morning and get early news reports and the full day’s weather forecast just by chirping at Alexa, it’s easy to see where the convenience lies. A smart speaker with a clock also makes it much easier to set alarms on the fly and, sometimes, check out what song the speaker is playing.

The best smart speaker with a clock for you

It’s hard to argue with the supremacy of Amazon’s Echo Dot lineup when it comes to user-friendly operation and consistent, accurate voice responses. The latest 5th-generation model includes an enhanced speaker driver and integrated Eero Wi-Fi extender, which makes it a perfect fit for those who have already invested in Amazon’s wireless mesh system. If you’re in an Alexa Household, the Echo Dot is the one to get.

However, if getting the best sound quality is more important, it’s hard to go wrong with a Bose Home Speaker 500. Since it comes from Bose, it’s not surprising that this one sounds better with nearly any genre of music you throw at it than any other smart speaker in its class, but you’re also paying a premium to get it. Another highly-capable alarm clock that delivers surprisingly great sound is the Sandman Doppler; it’s one of the few other smart speakers with stereo drivers and features an appearance that’s most reminiscent of a classic clock radio design.

If you’re looking for a smart clock speaker that can get the job done without any confusing bells or whistles, the Lenovo Smart Clock Essential is worth a look. It’s affordable and capable, with customizable alarms and Alexa support. On the other hand, Google Assistant fans should opt for Lenovo’s Smart Clock 2 instead, which also provides a warm and intuitive touchscreen display. For something a little different, consider the Amouhom Smart Bedside Lamp, which boasts bright, customizable lights and doesn’t cost much. It’s not immensely full-featured, but it’s an interesting choice, especially for kids who enjoy using smart devices. Finally, the 3rd generation Echo Show 5 offers some immersive and helpful features, with a 5.5-inch display that can show your favorite photos and even play movies and TV shows.

Amazon Echo Dot with Clock (5th Gen)

Best overall

Well-rounded and packed with features

The Amazon Echo Dot with Clock (5th gen) packs in a lot of perks, including a display to show the time, tap recognition to pause and play music, and a built-in temperature sensor for smart home routines. It can also double as a Wi-Fi extender for an Eero mesh network.