Manufacturer: Denon
The Denon Home 150 delivers fantastic audio quality, but its advertised smart assistant support is little more than basic voice controls to pause songs or change the volume. If you don’t need a smart speaker then this is a solid bit of kit, but rival devices deliver the same sound with superior smarts.
Most of the smart speakers we've reviewed so far seem to put the smarts ahead of the speaker. They sound good, sure, but often they don't sound as good as similarly priced speakers without the "smart" capabilities. The $249 Denon Home 150 aims to change this, with the ability to stream hi-res audio. Unfortunately, it doesn't yet fully deliver on the smart half of the equation, as the promised Alexa voice control functionality isn't yet active. And while it can indeed stream hi-res audio, heavy-handed DSP (digital signal processing) negates any advantage there. For $50 less, the Sonos One offers a better smart speaker experience all around.Design and Features Measuring 7.4 by 4.7 by 4.7 inches (HWD), the 3.8-pound Home 150 is a rounded rectangular speaker with gray wraparound clothe grille. The Denon logo and a status LED are situated at the base of the front panel, and the speaker otherwise appears devoid of any markings or controls, but they are cleverly hidden. The top panel of...
The Denon Home 150 is an interesting attempt at a hi-fi smart speaker, but it satifies neither ambition.
Solid audio performance with rich lows and crisp highs; Can stream high-resolution audio
Alexa voice features aren't active yet; Expensive; DSP changes sound signatures in obvious ways
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