Since Amazon launched the world’s first Echo smart speaker in 2014, it revolutionized the speaker industry with a fresh experience, quickly attracting the attention of internet technology giants such as Baidu and Huawei. Consequently, smart speakers emerged like mushrooms after rain. Although the hype around smart speakers has decreased compared to three or four years ago, with the popularization of smart homes, they remain an ‘important member’ of modern households. Smart speakers can not only play music but also control smart home appliances and even provide remote care or technical teaching, bringing a lot of fun and convenience to our lives.
When faced with a wide array of smart speaker products, how can one avoid pitfalls and unnecessary expenses? As a digital appliance blogger, to help newcomers find a suitable smart speaker in 2025, I am sharing some tips for selecting a smart speaker and recommending two models worth buying.
In terms of design, the Huawei Sound X4 smart speaker continues the classic barrel shape of the X series, with a body made of glass and metal mesh in different materials, perfectly integrated. It comes in two color options: Joyful White and Rhythmic Black. The side wall is also integrated with a smart colorful light effect, equipped with 48 full-spectrum RGB lights, providing a 360-degree visual effect. Various lights change with the music, making the music not only audible but also visible.
In terms of sound quality, the Huawei Sound X4 adopts an eight-unit three-frequency structure design, equipped with one subwoofer, four mid-range speakers, one tweeter, and two passive radiators, totaling eight sound units. The subwoofer unit has a power of up to 50 watts and a large stroke of 25mm. Thanks to the passive radiators, the low frequencies can go down to 36Hz, and the high-frequency speakers use pure titanium diaphragms, extending up to 40kHz. The mid-range speakers use Huawei’s self-developed mica fiber diaphragms, so the Huawei Sound X4 will bring more accurate sound detail performance. At the same time, the Huawei Sound X4 smart speaker can automatically recognize the structure of the room and adjust the sound effect, precisely control the sound units, reduce sound distortion, and has obtained the Hi-Res Little Golden Mark certification. In addition, the Huawei Sound X4 uses the Sym-Pole mirror design, canceling out the noise produced during vibration, making the bass more mellow. Regarding smart home control, the Huawei Sound X4 brings a new HarmonyOS smart experience. Although smart home control has become a basic function of smart speakers, the one-touch transfer function of Huawei products adds an extra touch, allowing the transmission of high-definition music supporting LHDC and L2HC. Just by bringing a phone, tablet, computer, TV, etc., close to the Huawei Sound X4, the screen will automatically pop up for pairing and connect to the network with one click, becoming its super terminal. With a simple drag, the audio flow is transferred to the Huawei Sound X4 for playback. By combining the Huawei Vision smart screen with the Huawei Sound X4, relying on the distributed capabilities of HarmonyOS, a strong high-quality distributed sound system is formed, bringing a cinematic 3D audio-visual effect. The Huawei Sound X4 not only supports smart control of more than 1000 brands of home appliances but also supports voice control of more than 100 categories and more than 3000 models. Owning it can truly achieve mutual connection of home appliances. The second model: Xiaodu Smart Screen X9Pro, is one of the most influential smart speakers of 2024. It is an intelligent screen built by Baidu based on the Wenxin large model. With the support of AI, it makes Xiaodu speakers smarter, capable of accurately understanding user needs and providing personalized services.The body of Xiaodu Smart Screen X9Pro adopts a simple yet stylish design language. It is high-end and elegant with a full sense of texture. The screen is framed in black. It is equipped with an 8-inch 1280×800 high-resolution smart screen that supports multi-touch. At the top, there is an intelligent camera with infrared night vision function that supports 360-degree rotation and can be used for video calls or remote monitoring. At the back end of the body, there is an HDMI high-definition interface for convenient connection to a TV or monitor for large-screen display.
As the first smart screen based on the Wenxin model, Xiaodu Smart Screen X9Pro has strengthened dialect recognition. Whether it is Sichuan dialect or Cantonese, it can be easily recognized. This enhances human-computer interaction for the elderly who cannot speak standard Mandarin. It is especially suitable for the elderly to chat. Especially when there are no children around, Xiaodu Smart Screen X9Pro can have conversations with the elderly like a relative. And there is no need for multiple awakenings. With the support of the Wenxin model, the voice chat of Xiaodu Smart Screen X9Pro is more humanized and profound, like a learned scholar who talks eloquently. For the smart home control function, although it has become a standard feature of smart speakers, Xiaodu Smart Screen X9Pro is equipped with a dual-core intelligent AI. Users can customize a suitable IOT scheme for AI whole-house intelligence and can control all smart home appliances in the house to create a favorite home environment. The highlight is that Xiaodu Smart Screen X9Pro can also be remotely controlled through a mobile app, and the smart home appliances at home can be remotely debugged or controlled. Xiaodu Smart Screen X9Pro is equipped with a 360-degree infrared night vision panoramic camera and can automatically rotate 360 degrees following the human face. Elderly people who do not know how to operate only need to say ‘Xiaodu Xiaodu, I want a video call’, and they can easily achieve video calls without answering. This perfectly solves the problem of elderly people having difficulty making video calls with smartphones. The ‘Go Home and Take a Look’ function integrated into Xiaodu Smart Screen X9Pro brings its practicability to the extreme. Users can remotely control Xiaodu Smart Screen X9Pro through a mobile phone. Through the camera, they can shout and communicate with the elderly at home and keep an eye on or check the family situation at all times. In conclusion, Xiaodu Smart Screen X9Pro and the smart speaker Huawei Sound X4 are popular smart speakers under Baidu and Huawei respectively. One is a smart screen and the other is a high-end smart speaker. Both are high-end smart speakers. AI Q&A and smart home control are their highlights.If you have high demands for sound quality, it is recommended that you prioritize the Huawei Sound X4 smart speaker. Should you prefer video calls or have elderly family members living at home, the Xiaodu Smart Screen X9 Pro is your top choice.
