Amazon’s fourth-generation Echo Dot has evolved from its predecessors’ puck-like appearance into a small ball, shaking up the idea of what a small smart speaker can look like.
The new Echo Dot is priced the same as the last one, costing from £50, although it will be frequently available at a discount at various retailers, and looks like the full-sized £80 Echo hit with a shrink ray.
It has a fabric top and front, hard plastic sides and back, and Amazon’s traditional four-button array for turning the volume up and down, muting the microphones and an action button.
It is a cute little ball that doesn’t look like a speaker or its competition. But while it takes up the same footprint as its puck-shaped predecessor, it is about twice its height which makes it slightly less discreet in your home.
The power cable plugs in the back next to a 3.5mm analogue audio socket for connecting external speakers but the Echo Dot has Bluetooth too.
The light ring lights up at the bottom making it look like the speaker is glowing when Alexa is active or to show alerts or when adjusting the volume.
Specifications
Dimensions: 100 x 100 x 89mm
Weight: 338g
Connectivity: wifi 5 (ac), Bluetooth, 3.5mm analogue audio
Controls: voice, top-mounted volume, action and mic mute
Speakers: single 1.6in speaker
Small ball of sound
The Dot is larger and produces slightly fuller and wider audio because of it, despite having the same sized speaker as the third-generation model.
It sounds surprisingly good for its size and price. The Dot lacks real bass, but it is otherwise pleasant to listen to music, the radio and Alexa’s voice with enough volume to fill a small room. Two can be paired for stereo sound and the Dot can be grouped with other Alexa-enabled speakers for multi-room audio.
Alexa natively supports music streaming services from Spotify, Apple, Deezer or Amazon, or you can stream tunes to it via Bluetooth. Radio services are handled by TuneIn, or using BBC Sounds and other individual station “skills” you can install like apps using the Alexa app on your phone.
Just like any other Alexa speaker it will read the news headlines, tell you the weather, answer questions, set alarms, timers and control smart home devices, too.
Clock or not?
The Dot comes in two versions: a regular Echo Dot and an Echo Dot with Clock for £10 more, which as the name suggests has an LED time display hidden behind the mesh at the front.
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.
As with its predecessor, the clock turns the Dot into a good bedside accessory. The brightness of the display automatically adjusts based on ambient light, but you can customise how bright that adjustment is. On its most dim setting it is slightly brighter than the outgoing model and produced enough light to create shadows on the wall at night. You can turn the display on and off with the Alexa app or via voice.
Sustainability
The speaker is generally repairable. It contains 100% post-consumer recycled fabric, 100% recycled die-cast aluminium and 50% post-consumer recycled plastic. Amazon has also pledged to offset the electricity used by Echo devices with renewable energy. Amazon also offers trade-in and recycling schemes.
Observations
You can tap the top to snooze an alarm, but I wish you could do it to just dismiss it too.
You can change the wakeword from Alexa to Amazon, Echo or computer, but you still can’t change the gender of its voice, unlike competitors.
Price
The fourth-generation Amazon Echo Dot costs £49.99 or £59.99 with the LED clock.
For comparison, the third-gen Echo Dot has been reduced to £39.99, the standard Echo costs £79.99, Google’s Nest Mini costs £49 and Apple’s HomePod mini costs £99.
Verdict
The fourth-generation Echo Dot is a cute, ball-like redesign that breaks the mould of the traditional puck or pincushion-like speakers.
Bought with or without an LED display, the Dot continues to sound better than you’d expect – ideal for small rooms or background listening – and provide all of Alexa’s features in a good-value package costing £50 or less in Amazon’s frequent sales.
It may look more interesting, but it is slightly harder to place at home than the previous lower-profile design. The Dot with Clock’s screen is a little brighter at its dimmest setting, which some may find irritating.
Pros: Good value, Alexa, loud enough for small rooms, Bluetooth, 3.5mm socket, can be paired, frequently discounted, good mics, can be bought with or without LED clock, fresh design.
Cons: no real bass, less discreet shape, clock display brighter than predecessor, potential privacy implications of having mics.
