Why Speaker Placement Matters
But, even cloud cloud-powered, that intelligence doesn’t do much if the speaker can’t hear you.
Smart speakers have multiple microphones built to listen to everything around them. But, if you put the speaker in the wrong location, those microphones may not work optimally. But that’s ok; it’s an easy fix. Just move your smart speaker. It’s just a matter of knowing where to move it.
The Center of a Room is Best
That means if you place a smart speaker against the wall, you run the risk of blocking some of its microphones from hearing your voice. Worse yet, it may hear an echo of your voice hitting the wall and bouncing to its microphones. Similarly, any sound your smart speaker puts out goes in all directions, which means it will hit closeby walls and bounce off, giving your music a muddy sound.
Because of that microphone and speaker arrangement, the best location for your smart speaker is close to the center of the room as possible, preferably with few obstructions. Achieving that may be somewhat difficult if you plop your Echo or Google Home on a coffee table, for instance, as the power cord may trip someone.
You could consider mounting an Echo Dot or Nest Hub Mini (formerly Google Home Mini) to the ceiling. You can find mounts for both devices, and once you have it in place, you can run the power cord to the closest outlet.
With a ceiling mount, not only can you choose a spot very close to the room, you’re likely to have few obstructions like furniture in the way. Depending on the ceiling mount you use, it may also make the speaker more discreet, too.
Wall Mounts Are a Second-Best Option
Placing a smart speaker in the center of the room or the ceiling isn’t always possible. You may need to consider alternatives. On a stand or other furniture near people is a good option, but you may also want to consider wall mounts for something that gets your smart speaker out of the way.
You can use the same ceiling mounts for Echo and Google Home for wall mounts. You need to carve a hole in the wall, attach the smart speaker to the mount, then insert both into the wall. You’ll get a beautiful flush appearance, and gain a secondary benefit: this position points the entire mic array and set of speakers at open air instead of facing some of the hardware towards a wall.
Other mounts work by plugging directly into the wall and creating a stand to hold the smart speaker. Those are only a good idea if they orient the speaker on its side; if it’s facing up, you may block microphones and speakers.
If you have the new Nest Mini, you don’t even need mounting hardware! It features a mounting hole built into the unit; you can hang it on a wall like you would a picture.
If you can’t place your smart speaker in the center of a room or mount it to a wall, then you may have to put your Echo or Google Home somewhere less than ideal. Your smart speaker will still work, but it may not be as accurate and clear sounding. But there are a few places you want to avoid altogether.
Where You Shouldn’t Place You Smart Speaker
Sometimes the ideal locations aren’t practical for your home layout, so you’ll have to make do as best you can. But there are a few places you should avoid altogether. For example, don’t put your smart speaker near or on your stereo system’s speakers. That might be tempting since they are convenient flat surfaces often near a plug, but that placement creates a problem.
You wouldn’t want to stand in the middle of a loud concert and try to have a conversation. You’d have trouble picking up all the words and responding loudly enough to be heard. Your smart speaker will have the same problem, so don’t place it right up against other speakers.
Avoid windows, too. Placing your smart speaker near a window is asking for trouble, even if you keep them closed. Echo and Google Home devices are sensitive enough to hear a person, even through glass.
Depending on how security conscious you are, you may want to consider moving your smart speaker to a spot where it won’t be visible through a window, either. As some security researchers have shown, it’s possible to trick a voice assistant on nearly any device (smart speakers, tablets, and even phones), into accepting commands by shining lasers at them.
With the right signals, microphones will treat light as sound, and the voice assistant interprets the laser as spoken commands. Line-of-sight is necessary for the attack to work, so keeping your smart speaker somewhere away from a window helps.
