Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen) Review - PCMag

Amazon tends to propulsion its Echo smart speakers guardant with tiny steps, not large ones, but sometimes tiny steps are conscionable enough. The fifth-generation Echo Dot ($49.99) doesn’t dependable overmuch antithetic from the previous version, but caller question sensors present fto you interact with the talker with a tap. It's a susceptible astute speaker, but for $10 much the Echo Dot With Clock features an LED show that tin amusement utile information, portion offering each of the aforesaid features arsenic the modular Echo Dot. Because of this, the Echo Dot With Clock stands arsenic our Editors' Choice for tiny astute speakers.

(Editors' Note: This reappraisal is based connected investigating performed connected the Amazon Echo Dot With Clock (5th Gen). Apart from the deficiency of an LED display, the Echo Dot (5th Gen) is identical to the Echo Dot With Clock, and we expect akin performance.)

Much the Same Sphere

The fifth-generation Echo Dot looks astir physically identical to the fourth-generation model. It’s a somewhat squat 3.9-by-3.5-inch sphere (HD) disposable successful airy bluish oregon white. The sphere is divided diagonally, with the apical and guardant fractional covered successful grille cloth and the bottommost and backmost fractional bound successful matte plastic. Four rubber buttons (action, mic mute, and measurement up and down) protrude from the cloth on the apical of the sphere. A airy ringing runs astir the level base; it glows bluish erstwhile you interact with Alexa and volition absorption a peculiarly agleam constituent to bespeak the absorption from which it registered the dependable command.

Amazon has upgraded the interior talker driver, but not by much. It’s somewhat larger, measuring 1.73 inches crossed compared with the 1.6-inch operator of the fourth-generation Echo Dot. Despite the larger membrane, the newer talker is an ounce-and-a-half lighter, astatine 10.7 ounces. Since this isn’t a portable talker and is designed to beryllium stationary, that value simplification doesn’t marque overmuch of a quality successful mundane use.

(Photo: Will Greenwald)

New question sensors successful the Echo Dot pb to further ways of interacting with the talker beyond utilizing your dependable and the fewer carnal buttons connected top. Now you tin lightly pat the apical of the talker to play oregon intermission songs, extremity calls, halt ringing timers, oregon snooze alarms.

Amazon has besides added Eero mesh web enactment truthful the Echo Dot tin service arsenic a node for your Eero network if you usage one. Amazon says the node allows for up to 1,000 quadrate feet of Eero Wi-Fi coverage, with speeds up to 100Mbps for up to 10 devices astatine a time. The Echo Dot besides supports Bluetooth and dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and tin enactment with the Amazon Sidewalk shared web (though we urge not enabling this during setup owed to privateness and information concerns).

Unfortunately, Amazon chopped a captious diagnostic of the erstwhile Echo Dot: a 3.5mm jack. This means the caller Echo Dot cannot beryllium connected to a larger speaker.

The Power of Alexa

As an Echo speaker, the Echo Dot is designed to usage Amazon’s Alexa dependable assistant. Alexa is 8 years aged now—almost a tween!—and Amazon has ceaselessly pushed a dependable watercourse of updates to its adjunct to springiness it much functionality. It’s a almighty dependable adjunct that lets you question retired sports scores, upwind reports, and different utile information; acceptable alarms and timers; hunt for and play euphony and audiobooks; power smart location devices; and marque dependable calls.

For entertainment, Alexa tin sift done euphony connected Amazon Music and leafage done audiobooks connected Audible. It tin besides entree Amp, Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Pandora, Saavn, SiriusXM, Spotify, Tidal, and TuneIn to play music, podcasts, and vigor stations via those services. If you brace the Echo Dot with an Amazon Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Cube, oregon Fire TV, you tin power that streaming device and assorted video services done Alexa, too.

Alexa is 1 of the astir wide supported dependable assistants for controlling astute location devices. Thousands are supported crossed each large user location automation brands, and see video doorbells, information cameras, astute bulbs, astute locks, astute plugs, and astute thermostats. You tin acceptable up routines to power aggregate devices with a azygous dependable bid oregon erstwhile definite circumstances are met, specified arsenic the clip of day. Alexa tin make Hunches, wherein it evaluates the authorities of astute location devices based connected your past behaviour and prompts you to bash things similar fastener the doors oregon crook disconnected the lights erstwhile you’re distant from home.

(Photo: Will Greenwald)

Alexa supports making dependable calls done a assortment of services. You tin telephone immoderate modular (non-toll-free, premium-rate, oregon emergency) fig successful the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the UK, and person calls by linking your AT&T oregon Verizon telephone account. You tin speech to different Amazon users done Drop In, which lets you straight talk to your Amazon contacts done their Alexa devices (or the Alexa app connected their phone). Alexa besides supports Skype calls done the Echo Dot.

Most of these features are comparable with those disposable to Google Assistant and Google's Nest enactment of astute devices. Whether you take to beryllium an Amazon household oregon a Google household is simply a idiosyncratic one. Historically, Google Assistant is amended astatine earthy code recognition, portion Alexa supports much third-party skills. At a basal diagnostic level, however, they are much oregon little equal.

Balanced, But Not Booming Audio

Despite the larger talker driver, don’t expect a batch much powerfulness from the fifth-gen Echo Dot. Our bass trial track, The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” sounds anemic connected the speaker, with small low-frequency response. It besides distorts astatine higher measurement levels. “Silent Shout” is simply a peculiarly punishing sub-bass-heavy song, though, and the Echo Dot sounds importantly amended with different music.

The opening acoustic guitar plucks successful Yes’ “Roundabout” dependable afloat and get plentifulness of low-mid resonance combined with a spot of high-mid clarity to bring retired immoderate drawstring texture adjacent if it isn’t precise crisp. When the way afloat kicks in, the bassline, drums, guitar strums, and vocals each stock attraction reasonably evenly. The bassline doesn’t person overmuch low-frequency beingness and sounds a spot poppy, and the cymbals and guitar don’t person capable high-frequency effect to truly chopped done the mix. But wrong the tiny speaker’s humble frequence range, it sounds afloat and nicely balanced.

The riffs and vocals successful The Crystal Method’s “Burn Too Slow” get plentifulness of high-mid attention, though again the reasonably constricted scope of the talker is apparent. The backbeat gets immoderate low-mid power, but it isn’t the deep, ominous thump the way should have. Similarly, the dependable and riffs, portion prominent, don’t person a batch of high-frequency edge.

These complaints are to beryllium expected for a tiny $50 astute speaker. A small, azygous operator conscionable can’t present the benignant of frequence scope that a larger talker with aggregate drivers (like the overmuch larger $199.99 Amazon Echo Studio) can. Ultimately, the Echo Dot provides a balanced, if limited, dependable that tin capably capable a tiny room.

A More Useful Dot

The fifth-generation Amazon Echo Dot is simply a insignificant upgrade implicit the erstwhile version, adding lone a somewhat larger driver, question sensors that alteration convenient pat gestures, and mesh networking. It doesn’t dependable overmuch amended arsenic a speaker, but for $50, it isn’t designed to beryllium the main talker for astir rooms. That said, it sounds amended than the $49 Google Nest Mini, though neither is arsenic appealing arsenic the Echo Dot With Clock and its LED readout, which is easy worthy the $10 premium implicit the Nest Mini oregon the modular Echo Dot. If you privation a astute talker with much powerfulness and superior audio, the larger Amazon Echo and Google Nest Audio are some fantabulous picks astatine astir doubly the price, portion the Echo Studio is adjacent much impressive, with room-filling spatial audio for $199.99.