Amazon Echo and Echo Dot (4th generation) review

Earlier this year the Echo Studio made me a Google turncoat, and the newest iteration of the Echo and Echo Dot have solidified my allegiance with Bezos.

The newest Echoes pick up most of the slack that it’s elder sibling dropped with improved compatibility with streaming services, clearer audio for the Echo, more sensitive voice recognition and a fresh spherical design.

All these upgrades are great, but if you already have older Echo models there isn’t a pressing need to add these to your cart. If, on the other hand you’re looking for your first smart speaker or to extend your Echo ecosystem - your Echosystem if you will - then these devices won’t disappoint.

Naturally the first thing you’ll notice is the new, rounded design. The stylistic changes are a far cry from the Dot’s old puck, and the cylindrical style of the former Echoes. Where previous generations were nondescript and almost melded in with other various bits of tech scattered around the house, these all but scream “Muuuummm, look at me! You’re not looking!”

It’s hard not to notice the sphere sitting on the kitchen counter regardless of its size. Sure it’s different and I’m not opposed to the redesign but it’s not exactly subtle.

The new design creates more space for tech beneath the fabric cover, but this isn’t an opportunity that Amazon ran with on both devices. For the Echo the woofer remains unchanged, but the speaker now has a second 0.8-inch tweeter which makes for clearer high-range sounds. The Dot on the other hand still has the exact same 1.6-inch speaker, which continues to crank for such a small device but is now in a bulkier skin.

Notably the Echo now automatically scans a room to create the best acoustics which was something we saw on the pricey third generation Echo Studio, but hadn’t filtered down to the smaller speakers until now. That, coupled with the extra tweeter means the Echo has made a pronounced improvement in its audio quality. Personally, I have paired it with an Echo Sub and the results make for a genuinely clear and crisp sound experience but even without, the audio holds its own.

Alexa was responsive in the previous generation, but is now slightly quicker thanks to a new AZ1 Neural Edge chip. Practically speaking everything your old Echo can do the new one can as well, it’s just a fraction faster. I noticed speedier response times on this new generation and better audio pick up. A TikTok asked Alexa to add gin to a shopping list and my own Lex picked up on it! Occasionally I have found myself repeating a command, but nowhere near as often as with the third generation devices.

These new speakers are definitely faster and more sensitive but they don’t offer any additional smart home functionality on top of the previous models. Alexa isn’t housed in your speaker after all, she and her functions are cloud-based AI, so as long as you have a stable internet connection then both the Dot and the Echo will reliably relay your commands.

There is however now a significant improvement using Spotify as opposed to the last time round. While the speakers themselves hold no bearing, it’s nice to see Amazon using better software integration and smoothing out the edges on the whole experience. It’s a step in the right direction which makes me assume that we’ll continue heading down that road.

Technically speaking, I don’t have any complaints about the Echo or the Echo Dot. Both pair easily with each other and with older generation devices, and the improved sound quality on the Echo is a real treat. If you’re looking to upgrade your Echo then it may be worth it for the faster processing and refined audio, but there is little point in trading out your Dots for the latest version. It’s ostensibly the same device with a different shell and a slightly quicker uptake, so if you’re looking to save money then this is where to do it.

Anula Wiwatowska

Offsite Editorial Lead | Instagram

Anula is the Off-Site Editorial Lead for WhistleOut Australia, and an award winning tech journalist. She has been writing about the Australian telco industry, and consumer technology for over five years, and has been known to tell her Uber driver which phone they should upgrade to next.

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