Our roundup of Amazon’s new smart home devices begins with the excellent 2017 version of the Echo
It’s cheaper, smaller and includes even more features than the original Echo – what’s not to like?
SCORE ✪✪✪✪✪ PRICE £75 (£90 inc VAT) from pcpro.link/280echo
How odd to think that, before 2016, smart speakers didn’t exist in British homes. Now it seems as if every consumer brand in the world is shipping its version of such devices, with many of them powered by Alexa. The latest is Amazon’s own successor to the original Echo, the great grandaddy of smart speakers.
Much stays the same. It’s controlled by your voice and will play music, control smart home devices and act as a computerised personal assistant. It’s a smaller device than the original, with a handful of new features such as Dolby Sound and improved far-field microphones. What’s more, Amazon’s new Echo lets you make and receive calls from your landline for free – if you also buy another new Amazon product, the Echo Connect. This is “coming early 2018” according to Amazon, and costs $35 in the US (there’s no UK price yet).
Amazon has also introduced an Alexa ability called “Alexa routines”, which is a way of customising certain phrases to perform multiple actions at once. For instance, say: “Alexa, good night” and your Echo can switch off the lights, lock the front door and put the TV into standby mode. If only it would empty the cat litter tray and put the kids to bed as well.
The new Echo is dinkier than its predecessor – 89mm shorter to be precise – so it will take up less space on your shelf or kitchen counter. It also no longer quite so Blade Runneresque , instead looking more like something you might buy from Habitat or Ikea.
There are a choice of six finishes: three made of fabric (Heather Grey, Charcoal or Sandstone) and three of a solid veneer (Oak, Walnut or Silver). Unlike Google Home these aren’t swappable, so make sure you’re happy with your choice before handing over your cash. Whichever you choose, the overall effect is a device that blends into its surroundings much more successfully than before. Amazon has also added a 3.5mm headphone jack output next to the power input so, just like the Dot, you can plug in an external speaker if you crave better sound quality.
My one small moan is over the loss of the twisty top from the original, used to manually adjust the volume. Here, you have to make do with + and - buttons for volume control. If you want the twisting top, you’ll need to stretch another £50 for the Echo Plus ( see opposite).
Sound quality, despite the Dolby Sound boast, is also much the same – and that’s disappointing. It isn’t poor, and I prefer the sound profile to the slightly more bass-heavy Google Home speaker, but the mids are slightly thinner and harsher sounding than the original’s effort. While this is such a marginal negative that you’ll only notice the difference if you’re switching between the two speakers with both standing next to each other,
“Say ‘Alexa, good night’ and your Echo can switch off the lights, lock the front door and put the TV into standby mode”
place it next to the Echo Plus and the difference becomes more obvious.
Alexa is, of course, just as good as ever, picking up voice commands quickly and answering questions swiftly and with mostly sensible responses. Amazon’s assistant might not have the might of Google at her beck and call, but she’s just as adept at providing in-depth answers to the most pointless of questions.
We’ve also seen a drip feed of new features over the past year, including the ability to group together commands and make calls between Echo devices and apps. The latter feature, called Drop In, is a great way to make walkietalkie style calls around the house and indeed on your way home from work. The call quality is superb.
Considering all these new features, it’s nice to see this Amazon Echo costs £90 in the UK for the three fabric models. The Oak, Silver and Walnut finishes are more expensive at £99. Depending on which you get, that’s a £50 or £60 saving over its predecessor. If you want to fill your house with Amazon’s digital butlers, the new Echo is also available in a two-pack for £155 (saving £25) and a three-pack for £220 (saving £50).
Perhaps such aggressive pricing is unsurprising given the cut-throat competition. In the opposite corner is Google Home, with the firm’s own digital assistant retailing for £130. It’s also up against Sony’s LF-S50G (£200) and Sonos’ Alexa-powered Sonos One (£200). And about 50 others.
The Echo also has to contend with Amazon’s own ever-expanding list of smart speakers, including the smart home-focused Echo Plus (£140) and the Echo Show over the page (£200). If you’re heavily invested in Amazon’s suite of services, the Echo family is an obvious choice, but if your Google account is filled to the brim with movies, TV shows and podcasts, Home should be the way forward.
Regardless, if you’ve been hesitant in the past about plonking an always-listening device in your home or office, the new Echo is proof that these devices do indeed have a future, and they keep getting better and better.
SPECIFICATIONS
360-degree sound speaker with 2.5in woofer and 0.6in tweeter far-field mic 802.11n Wi-Fi Bluetooth (A2DP and AVRCP) external power supply 3.5mm audio jack supports Fire OS, Android and iOS devices 88 x 88 x 148mm (WDH) 821g 1yr RTB warranty