Echo Dot (4th generation) | Smart speaker with clock and Alexa (Blue)

Product Information

If you don't care for a screen but do want that Zigbee smart hub (to enable your lights, cameras and thermostat to work together for a truly smart automated home) plus a wider soundfield, all powered by Alexa, it's a great shout. Just want to dip your toes into the smart speaker, er, sphere? You may be fine with the Echo Dot. If Alexa is the one for you, there's a compelling case for it. If, however, you prefer the Google Assistant and like the idea of using your smart speaker as a sleep guru, the Google Nest Hub (2nd Gen) might be one to look into. Inside the Echo is a 3-inch woofer that faces upward and two 0.8-inch tweeters that face forward. Like the Echo Studio, the Echo uses its array of six microphones to determine the acoustic properties of the room it’s in, and adjust the sound output accordingly. It’s a feature that’s also found on the Sonos One and the Apple HomePod, but not the HomePod mini.

Of course, we'll have to test the new Echo Dot for ourselves before we can tell you how well the new model performs. They are functionally identical apart from the display, which shows the time, the outside temperature when asked, timers, the volume when adjusting it and the time of the alarm when setting it. A little white dot next to the time shows when an alarm has been set or a timer is active. KEEP YOUR HOME COMFORTABLE - Control compatible smart home devices with your voice and routines triggered by indoor temperature sensors. Create routines to automatically start a smart fan if the inside temperature goes above your comfort zone.The speaker projects sound forward through the mesh, rather than 360-degrees like its predecessor, while a silicone rubber foot keeps the ball from vibrating or rolling around. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian The Echo Dot has natural lifelike voices that were made possible because of the latest speech-unit technology. It also has high-speed accuracy which can process your commands instantly. These devices also have algorithms that are built into its text-to-speech engine. Launched originally in 2020, the spherical Echo Dot was updated in 2022, taking it from 4th to 5th generation. Interestingly, the Echo Dot is now a generation ahead of the larger Echo, which suggests to us that there's greater demand for the smaller speaker. The smallest and most affordable Echo speaker is now in its fifth generation. It might look the same as the previous model, but the Echo Dot (5th Gen) brings a serious sound upgrade. As well as hardware, there are still some omissions in the Echo multi-room functionality. Multi-room isn't possible when music is playing over Bluetooth, for example, and certain non-music content such as e-books aren't supported either.

The Echo Show 10's dual, front-firing tweeters and woofer cannot move along with the screen (the screen is on an arm at the top of the speaker), but the barrel-shaped design still offers a decent shot at omnidirectional sound. Said screen can also rotate while you're watching the news, flash briefings, or TV shows from Hulu + Live TV and Prime Video. So just because you're cooking, you won't miss a second of your favourite show. So, how does it perform? Well, the bizarre thing is that despite having the same internal speaker specs as the third-generation Echo Dot, the 2020 version somehow manages to sound markedly better. OUR BEST-SOUNDING ECHO DOT YET - Enjoy an improved audio experience compared to any previous Echo Dot with Alexa for clearer vocals, deeper bass and vibrant sound in any room. The new Echo Dots will also come with Eero wi-fi support built-in and can be used as mesh network extenders with Eero as well (the 4th Gen Dots will be updated with Eero in the coming months). A new low-power mode will reduce the Echo’s power consumption while it’s idle, with some caveats. The Echo won’t enter low-power mode if you linked a Spotify account to your Alexa account, if Alexa Guard is in Away mode, if there’s an active notification, if you have an external speaker plugged into the Echo, or if a smart home device is connected directly to the Echo via Bluetooth.The 2021 2nd-generation Echo Show 8 is smaller and slightly less well specced than the 10-in models, but its 8-in screen has the same 1280 x 800 resolution – the same number of pixels crammed into a smaller panel will actually make images look sharper than its larger siblings.