Numerous companies including Google, Apple, and Amazon have released smart speakers in the past several years. The speakers released by Amazon, the Echo speaker, are widely known as being a good quality speaker with the beneficial help of Amazon’s virtual assistant, Alexa. For many consumers choosing an appropriate smart speaker involves considering anticipated functionality and price. Some companies like Google have released smart speakers that are very expensive ($400-$500), but bring incomparable sound quality. Amazon has not yet released a smart speaker that compares to these mega speakers, but they do have numerous smart speaker options to choose from. Additionally, all Echo devices can be synced with one another to play music in multiple rooms.
Best Amazon Echo
Amazon has released five Echo speakers that users can choose from to bring sound and assistance to their home. Two of these devices, the Echo Show and Echo Spot, also come with a visual display that users can utilize to Facetime with friends and family, view photos, or monitor other rooms. The other three, the Echo, Echo Plus, and Echo Dot act as speakers to play music and help users perform tasks. Each Echo speaker is generally similar to one another given that all utilize Amazon’s virtual assistant, Alexa, however they differ in price, sound quality, and some functionality.
The Best Echo Speaker
The best Echo speaker will likely differ from person to person. Those who want to monitor their baby from another room or watch videos on their device will want to purchase the Echo Spot or Echo Show. The Echo Spot is currently $130 and the Echo Show is $150. The Echo Show has a slightly bigger screen and better speakers than the Echo Spot. For consumers who are interested in controlling their smart home devices, the recently released Echo Plus acts as a smart hub to control any number of devices including thermostats, smart bulbs, and security systems. The device costs $150 and includes a Phillips Hue bulb when purchased on Amazon. The Echo (2nd generation) is the standard smart speaker from Amazon, currently priced at $80. The device can play music, call and message anyone, control smart home devices (although an external smart hub may be needed), or answer basic questions. Finally, for users that are looking to get all the benefits of Alexa and are willing to compromise on speaker quality, the Echo Dot is the cheapest of the speakers, currently at $30.
Echo Sound Quality
The sound quality of Echo devices differs from one another slightly. The Echo comes with a .6 inch tweeter and 2.5 inch subwoofer. The Echo Plus is similar but with a .8” tweeter. Users have reported that the sound quality is good on these devices, but that there are better speakers on the market. The Echo Dot is designed to be hooked up to external speakers, rather than act as a speaker by itself given its single .6” speaker. Currently, Amazon gives options to bundle Bose, the Vaux Speaker, or the Logitech Harmony Hub with the Echo Dot. The speaker of the Echo Spot is slightly better than the Echo Dot at 1.6” but comes with a port to connect to external speakers. The Echo show has two 2” speakers to bring quality sound to videos or lyrics on the screen.
Echo Products Compatible with Echo Speakers
There are other products by Amazon in the Echo family that do not act as smart speakers, but are compatible with an Echo speaker. The Echo Button is an external device that makes playing games through the Echo more interactive. Users can start a game like Jeopardy on an Echo device and use the Echo Button to physically buzz in. the buttons currently cost $20 for two. Another product is the Amazon Cloud Cam that can be used as a baby monitor or general indoor security camera. Users can sync the camera to their Echo Spot or Show to view the video on the devices or the video can be streamed to any smartphone. The device currently costs $120.