Review: new 4th gen Amazon Echo & Echo Dot with Clock

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Smart digital assistants have come a long way. Once pricey novelties, today they’re almost home essentials. They’re evolving to be not just smart speakers, but home automation bots, premium level audio devices, and they blend better into home decor.
Amazon has launched its newest Echo Device, the Amazon Echo 4th generation. I received both a full sized 4th gen Amazon Echo and the smaller 4th gen Amazon Echo Dot with Clock.
This iteration has some changes over previous Echo devices, so in this review we’ll look at what’s new and what using one of these new Echos is like.

All new Amazon Echo 4th generation (2020): new look, improved sound, temperature sensor

By now you know that an Echo is a smart speaker, that can control your smart home gadgets like lights, thermostats and TVs, plus it also has digital butlering capabilities like answering questions, setting timers and alarms, doing math and conversions and delivering news, weather traffic and more to your speaker just by you asking. You can even place Amazon.ca orders.

By the way, the device itself is simply called the Echo, while other versions go by Dot, Studio and Show. Alexa is the name of the digital assistant who’s at your service 24/7.

The most noticeable difference in the new Echo versus older models is the new spherical design. Now a circular shape, it’s a little more sculptural. With a fabric wrap (100% post-consumer recycled fabric, 100% recycled die- cast aluminum, and 50% post-consumer recycled plastic) around most of the outside, it looks a little softer and a bit less techy. An LED light ring at the base of the sphere that reflects off of surfaces adds to the cool modern look, and the controls are now more visible across the top.

The other new element in the Echo is improved speaker quality and audio performance. We’ll get to how it sounds in a sec, but the speaker is Dolby Audio compatible with a 76mm (3.0”) woofer and dual front firing 20mm (0.8") tweeters . These tech specs are almost identical to the 3rd gen Echo, except the new one adds a second tweeter.

There’s also a new temperature sensor in this unit.

Setting up Amazon Echo

Getting Echo devices set up is extremely easy. Plus it in and wait for it to power up. Log into or sign up for an account in the Alexa app, and your Echo will do the rest, popping up the set up sequence for you. I was ready to go instantly.

Sound quality

The most current Echo devices living in my home are the 2nd gen Echo Plus and the Echo Studio. The older Echo Plus speaker quality was just fine for a speaker its size, but I know Amazon has made improvements since that was released a few years ago. The Echo Studio by comparison is a big, premium speaker that sounds awesome, so I’m interested to see where the 4th gen Echo fits in.

I played a variety of content on the all new Amazon Echo 4th gen speaker. Primarily I hooked it up to an Amazon Fire TV Cube and used it as a TV speaker in my kitchen. I also used it to play music and podcasts plus audio books.

The all new Amazon Echo 4th gen definitely sounds better than my old Echo Plus; it’s crisper and clearer, and sounds less tinny and small. The Echo gives good clear dialogue and integrates seamlessly by the way with my TV.

Видео Review: new 4th gen Amazon Echo & Echo Dot with Clock канала Erin Lawrence