Amazon Echo full review| The smart speaker

Amazon Echo full  review| The smart speaker.

There are so many smart speakers available to buy right now, but if you're after an affordable option that can control your smart home and play your music well enough, this is our favorite option.

The Amazon Echo sounds far better than the Amazon Echo Dot, thanks to its dual-speakers powered by Dolby. But on the smart speakers price scale it's a mid-range option in comparison to the more expensive Echo Plus or the Apple HomePod. It's not ready to replace your hifi or current sound system, but it's a great starter option if you want to dip your toe into the smart home space without much of a financial commitment.

Amazon has made subtle yet significant improvements to the Echo's look since the first version of the smart device was released in 2015. The new fabric and wood finishes are likely to suit most living rooms way better than the brushed aluminium Amazon used to favor.

The only downside of the Echo is it doesn't have the neat volume dial of the Echo Plus. Its Alexa digital assistant often doesn't seem quite as intelligent as Google Assistant either, but that might be more of a subjective preference. But at the affordable price, we're very happy with this smart speaker.

Update: Our new guide to the best Amazon Echo speakers ranks this Amazon Echo, the mid-range model, as the best of the bunch. Check out the guide for our full rankings.


Design and features

Thanks to a recent design update, the latest version of the Amazon Echo is the least techy-looking of the Amazon range of digital assistant speakers. A fabric grille wraps around its sides, rather than the brushed aluminium of the Echo Plus.

Of course Amazon may have done this to cut costs, but it gives the speaker more of an "interior design" flavor. This is an important change as smart speakers become mainstream and an integral part of everyone's living room, rather than just early adopter gadgets that stand out for all the wrong reasons.

The upgraded Echo is smaller and wider than its predecessor. Rather than meaning it gets more in the way, it's actually a welcome change, making the smart speaker steadier on its feet. While we always felt that an accidental nudge would topple the original Echo over, the new Echo’s sturdier footprint means it isn’t going anywhere.

Its design is more in keeping with the current crop of smart speakers, like Google Home and the Apple HomePod.

We have no issue with this. The style is more desirable than the original Echo and Amazon has decided to combine elements of the Dot with the full size device, switching up the volume dial for a pair of buttons. These are joined by a mute button to stop Alexa hearing anything and everything, as well as a button to summon Alexa if you’re too busy to say her name out loud.

This does mean the nice ergonomic experience or rotating a dial rather than tapping the buttons on the top is missing, which for some people will likely be a shame.

Amazon Echo (2017) at Amazon for $99.99
The design isn’t the only thing that's changed in the latest iteration of the Amazon Echo. Alexa has been through a number of updates, gaining new Skills and routines, as well as improved voice recognition and understanding. (You can check out our selection of the best Alexa Skills in our comprehensive rundown, as well as some fun Alexa Easter eggs here.)

But now that Alexa is built-in to other devices, like the Sonos One and Ultimate Ears Megablast, and the design of the Echo is more understated, does Amazon’s smart speaker run the risk of blending in a little too much?

This is how we got on when we used the Echo's younger brother, the Echo Dot, for a week.


The all-new Amazon Echo’s exact measurements are 148 x 88 x 88mm. Compare this to the original’s 235 x 84 x 84mm and it’s plain to see the height loss and waist gain. Weight-wise it’s a solid 821g.

The Amazon Echo we tested came in the color Charcoal Fabric, but there are a number of other colors to choose from. This is a great choice. Amazon has stretched beyond black and white with its color palette, as well as the material it is using to cover the Echo’s innards.

There are three fabric options: Charcoal, Heather and Sandstone. There are also three ‘finish’ offerings; Oak, Walnut and Silver. Their names (apart from the last) may conjure up wood, but it’s worth noting that the shells are made from plastic and are £10/$10 more expensive than the fabric versions.


The shell is interchangeable, too. If you change the decor in your living room you can buy a new shell for your Echo to match. These are available separately for £19.99/$20 for the fabric versions and £29.99/$30 for the rest. This does feel a little expensive given it means you're paying around a third of the price for a shell when most of the money has surely gone into the internals of the Echo machine. But the option is there.

If great quality sound is your priority and the Echo doesn't compare to your current audio set-up, you can also connect the Echo to a larger speaker or hifi if you like. It has Bluetooth for a wireless connection, and a 3.5mm output socket on the back.


Performance

The Amazon Echo (2nd Generation) is a breeze to set up but you have to use the Amazon Alexa app on your phone to get it started.

It spells out how to get the Echo on to your network, though, and takes just a couple of minutes. Head to Settings and Set up a New Device and then just choose the right Echo for installation (they are handily shown as icons) and follow the setup instructions.

The real learning curve of an Amazon Echo is elsewhere: knowing what to ask Alexa, what works and what doesn’t. And then diving into Echo Skills to add abilities. These are a little like apps for your smart speaker, and there are now over 30,000 of them.

Check out TechRadar’s handy best Alexa Skills guide, but Amazon includes a little booklet with some starter ideas. These are pretty simple but effective.

You can ask Alexa what the time is, what the weather is like (you will have to input where you actually live for this), for a flash news bulletin, ask it a joke, to set a timer… there’s a whole host of things you can do without setting up a Skill.