Chris Wedel is a fan of all things tech and gadgets. Living in rural Kansas with his wife and two young boys makes finding ways to stay online tricky — not to mention making my homestead smarter.

All smart speakers nail the basics like timers, weather forecasts, music, and voice commands, but the differences show up once a real setup starts to form across multiple rooms. Amazon Alexa and ...

Amazon's options can be very powerful if you're willing to go all-in.