Which is the best Amazon Echo for you? A buying guide

[Nergal]

 

Amazon Echo is among the first and biggest smart speaker devices to live in the homes of millions. It houses Alexa — Amazon's own voice-activated AI assistant, which helps you with general inquiries, ordering takeout, calling for an Uber and other such services, controlling some smart home devices, and also makes it very, very easy to shop from Amazon's massive catalog.

In order to get Alexa to as many customers as it can, Amazon offers the Echo in 7 different variants, coming in all shapes, sizes, and with different price tags. Basically, if you want an Echo, Amazon made sure that it'd have the right one for you. Now, we only need to make sense of all the different features each one has, in order to pick the best one in accordance with our needs.

Cheap and effective — Amazon Echo Dot (2nd generation)
 

PROS
Cheap at $49.99
Super compact
Fully-featured Alexa speaker
CONS
Sound quality is not the best

Cheapest does not necessarily mean worst. In fact, we do think the Echo Dot will cross multiple items off your “smart speaker requirements” list. It only costs $50, it's super-tiny and easy to plop down just about anywhere in the house, it still has that cool ring light that moves around when Alexa is listening to you or processing a request.

Now, the built-in speaker is not one you'd like to use for music, but the good news is that the Echo Dot can connect to your favorite external speakers either via Bluetooth or a simple 3.5 mm Aux jack.

The flagship smart speaker — Amazon Echo (2nd generation)
 

PROS
Pretty in different interchangeable covers
OK sound quality
Not too expensive at $99.99
CONS
An extra $50 over the Echo Dot doesn't give you much of an upgrade

The newest Amazon Echo is pleasantly compact and can be stylized with different fabric or wood covers so that it can fit right and look good in any room. It's still much taller than the Echo Dot and there's a good reason for that — the Echo houses two speakers, a woofer and a tweeter, to deliver a better-quality audio.

Now, it won't blow you away, but you can still listen to your favorite tunes through the Echo without cringing. Its base is defined, its highs are crisp (with a tendency to get tinny sometimes), so it's an OK speaker to blast music through while washing the dishes or going through whatever routine. If you want to get a bit more serious, you can always connect your external speakers via Bluetooth or the Aux jack.

Is it worth $50 more than the Dot? Well, if you really need the smart speaker to be stylized and blend in with your furniture and if you believe you will be blasting music through the smart speaker, then yes, it could be worth the extra investment.

The best sound — Sonos One
 

PROS
Great sound quality Pairable with other Sonos speakers
Support for Alexa and Google Assistant (coming in 2018)
CONS
Not fully integrated with Alexa and Amazon services
No light for visual feedback when Alexa is listening

OK, we are taking a little detour here, but if you want an Alexa-enabled speaker that also sounds really, really good for music — the Sonos One is a great choice. It's a smart speaker that puts sound quality first — the Sonos One will analyze the acoustic properties of the room it is in and will fine-tune its sound output to optimize its quality. It will also sync up with other Sonos products you may have around the house for multi-room audio, which is a super-cool feature.

To top it off, the Sonos One will also support the Google Assistant at some point in 2018. So, you get Alexa, Google Assistant, and awesome sound in one package.

But it's not all flowers and butterflies. The Alexa in the Sonos One is a bit limited in accessing other Amazon services and a bit slow to respond. There's also no light for visual feedback when she's listening. If you want a full-on Alexa experience and awesome sound, maybe invest in a separate Sonos Play:1 and Echo Dot. That combo will also cost you $200 and get you the best of both worlds.

With a screen — Amazon Echo Show
 

PROS
Screen gives you more information at a glance
Video calling
OK sound quality
CONS
A bit pricey
UI is not optimized for touch controls

A relatively new Amazon smart speaker, the Echo Show comes with its very own 7-inch display that can show you more information, like the weather or calendar, and let you watch videos through Amazon Prime Video or YouTube. Its dual 2-inch speakers also sound bigger and fuller than your regular Echo, so you can crank up some tunes through it with no issues.

Additionally, the Amazon Echo Show has a video-calling service with a special feature — it's called Drop In and can be enabled on a per-contact basis. Basically, it allows anyone with the permission on to open a video call with your Echo Show without you picking up at all. Yes, it does sound creepy on one hand, but it's a great tool for parents that want to check up on their kids, or if you just want to have a quick peek in your apartment when you are away.

The Echo Show does sound like it can replace that kitchen tablet that you use to check recipes on and watch videos or listen to music while cooking, washing the dishes, or doing any other chores. However, do keep in mind that its interface favors voice commands over touch input, it's bulky, and it needs to stay in one spot, connected to an outlet, so it's not an all-out tablet killer.


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