Smart Speaker vs. Smart Hub: Know the Difference

Smart home technology has made leaps and bounds in just a few short years. With more and more smart products becoming multifunctional, some smart home gadgets have been thought to be interchangeable. 

Two technologies that are often considered interchangeable are “smart speakers” and “smart home hubs”. While they may seem similar at first glance, each serves a distinct purpose and offers unique features that cater to different aspects of home automation. If you’re looking to understand your smart home even better, read on to find out the differences!

What is a Smart Home Hub?

As its name implies, the smart home hub is the central command center for your smart home gadgets. It facilitates communication and integration between your smart home devices and allows you to control them through the hub. It focuses on coordinating the actions of various smart devices, such as smart locks, sensors, lights, and more for better home automation. 

Technically, a smart hub isn’t necessarily a particular smart device, but a functionality. If a smart device has the functionality previously mentioned, it can be considered a smart hub—from smart displays to smart TVs and yes, smart speakers.

What is a Smart Speaker?

From Google

A smart speaker is a device equipped with voice recognition technology and internet connectivity, designed to respond to voice commands and perform various tasks. These tasks can range from playing music and answering questions to controlling smart home devices—akin to smart home hubs. 

It should be noted that since smart speakers are mostly voice-controlled, using one to set up home automation can be difficult. For example, the Google Nest itself can be used to voice control specific devices, but it’s the Google Home app on your smartphone or smart hub that’s better suited to set home automation routines.

What’s the difference between the two?

From Paramount Movies Official GIPHY

 The key difference between a smart speaker and a smart hub lies in their primary functions. A smart speaker is a device that emphasizes voice interaction and multimedia playback, acting as an assistant and entertainment hub. In contrast, a smart hub is a functionality of certain smart devices that prioritizes device connectivity and automation, serving as the backbone of a comprehensive smart home system. While some smart speakers incorporate basic hub features, like controlling other devices in your smart ecosystem, they typically lack the advanced integration capabilities of dedicated smart hubs, like setting routines for better home automation.

What should you get for your Smart Home?

From Google

Choosing between a smart speaker and a smart hub depends on your specific needs and preferences. If you're primarily interested in voice control, music streaming, and accessing virtual assistants like Alexa or Google Assistant, a smart speaker like the Amazon Echo or Google Nest series is ideal. 

On the other hand, if you're building a sophisticated smart home with multiple devices from different brands that require seamless integration and automation, investing in a dedicated smart hub like Samsung SmartThings will provide greater flexibility and control. However, since these two smart home gadgets aren’t incompatible, getting both through separate smart devices or a smart device that can do both is much more advisable!

Make your next smart home upgrade with the Next Upgrade Shop!

Now that you understand the difference between smart home hubs and smart speakers, get the smart device that suits your needs through the Next Upgrade Shop! Grab great deals at affordable prices when you shop with Next Upgrade!