Amazon Echo (4th Gen)

£90 / stuff.tv/echo

2022-07-01 -

Having morphed from a cylinder to a sphere, the latest Echo is an excellent newsreader, weather forecaster, personal assistant and intercom straight out of the box; but it’s now also a capable speaker and a very accessible smart home hub. It doesn’t sound as good as the Sonos One for listening to music, but it’s significantly smarter and considerably cheaper too. Stuff says ★★★★★

An all-round upgrade that makes the Echo a smarter speaker than ever

Amazon Echo Dot (4th Gen) from £50 / stuff.tv/dot

It can’t match a full-size smart speaker for audio and is clearly not as good as its big brother above; but as a radio and Alexa assistant for the bedside or kitchen, this cutey gets the job done. It’s way better than its predecessor Dots, which always had fairly weak speakers – this latest model is capable of everything you can implore Alexa to throw at it. It’s worth paying £10 more for the ‘with Clock’ version, which adds some basic visual cues beyond telling the time.

Stuff says ★★★★★

With the optional clock, this is our favourite bedside wondergadget

Google Nest Mini £49 / stuff.tv/nestmini

If you live in Google’s world (and let’s face it, most of us do) then the Nest Mini is the best, cheapest way to get into the smart home game. Just like the latest Echo

Dot, this latest version features upgraded speakers and mics compared to older models. It’s a slightly better bet than the Echo Dot with Clock if you want close integration with your Google calendar and apps. The only reason not to buy is if you want more powerful audio – for that, get the Google Nest Audio instead.

Stuff says ★★★★★

Louder and cleverer than ever… and it’ll only improve with updates