Better for tasks than music.
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Over the course of the last few years Amazon's Echo has positioned itself as the de facto smart speaker. The original version of the Echo was the first real player in the market and since its release Amazon has expanded its digital assistant Alexa to 6 other speakers—and that just counts ones made by the retail giant. Alexa can also be found on dozens of products from other manufacturers, including televisions, automobiles, and even appliances.
The relatively new 2nd generation Echo (See it on Amazon), released this past fall, is smaller and $80 less expensive than its predecessor, making it more accessible without taking away key features that made the product a runaway hit to begin with. Thanks in part to increased competition from Google's Home (See our review) and the brand new HomePod from Apple, we decided to put the new Echo through its paces to find out if it is still the go-to smart speaker.
Design and Features
The new Echo is a 5.8-inch-tall cylinder, about 2/3 the height of the original version. It's also a fraction of an inch wider, but the difference is so minimal that it's unlikely to be noticed. The top of the device is home to physical buttons to control volume, mute a microphone, and a button to initiate a voice command. Along the border of the upper surface is a light ring to let users know of the Echo's status and the body is surrounded with a removable fabric cover.
The basic Echo features a black cover, but the speaker can also be picked up with fabric covers sporting various gray tones. If you're feeling fancy it can even be purchased with an oak or walnut finish, or with a metallic silver case. Pricing does vary depending on whether or not a premium finish is chosen.
Accompanying the slot to connect the Echo's power source, the rear side of the speaker includes an 3.5mm AUX out port to link up with speakers or a home entertainment system. This is a one way street, so if you want audio to play audio directly from one of your other devices to the Echo, connectivity is done via Bluetooth. Delivering audio is a 2.5-inch woofer and a 0.6-inch tweeter, while 7 far-field microphones are tasked with picking up vocal commands.
The Echo's capabilities can be organized into two main categories: services and products. For the smart home, Alexa can control a wide variety of products, including lights from Philips, smart plugs from TP-Link, and Nest thermostats. The complete compatibility list is rather lengthy, which certainly isn't a bad thing. I was able to link up and control my Vivint system via Alexa for home security purposes with no problems.
In terms of services and apps enjoyed on phones, Alexa can manage requests tied to music options like Spotify and Pandora, banking through Capital One, schedule through Google Calendar, and ride requests via Uber, to name just a few.
Naturally, the Echo plays well with Amazon's own services, including Prime Music, audiobooks, and purchasing items through its retail service. Media options from its smart speaker competitors, on the other hand, are not available. So if you rely heavily on Google Play Music or Apple Music, it may be best to look for a smart speaker from their respective owners. Additionally, Alexa can't speak to Google's Chromecast, but it can control Amazon's Fire devices.
Amazon doesn't force Echo owners to prioritize its own services over others, and asking the assistant to play music would automatically pull the audio from Spotify, which I had designated as the default option during initial setup.
Adding to the Echo's usefulness even further are its apps, referred to by Amazon as Skills. Within the Alexa app, users can find over 15,000 Skills that make the smart speaker more capable than it already is out of the box.
Skills come into play when looking for connectivity to a service or device that isn't pre-programmed on the Echo. For example, a brand new Echo can't access a Twitter account, control a Roku, or give the latest basketball updates by way of an NBA League Pass account. Skills for each of these situations, and so much more, are available though, making Amazon's speaker considerably more versatile than its competitors.
The Echo can also act as a speakerphone for calls and, as of recently, send text messages for those that use the Alexa app through an Android device. This new feature, oddly, is missing from Google Home.
Performance
A vast majority of my interactions with the Echo were done with my voice, and its 7-microphone setup performed great in nearly every situation. Whether whispering from a close distance or speaking in a normal tone 20 feet away, it had few problems interpreting what I was saying.
It did, however, have a tougher time deciphering who was speaking and what was being said when my children were being noisy—a flaw that is also apparent with Google's Home. The same issue also arose when playing music from the Echo at higher volumes, which may have been caused by the speaker's less-than-stellar audio.
For the most part, the Echo's audio felt high on the treble and on the tinny side. While listening to music loudly on the Google Home was a generally pleasing experience, asking Alexa to pump up the volume was quickly followed by a request to turn it back down to a more reasonable level.
When a voice command was heard, the Echo did not take long to carry out a request or come back with a response. I'd say something to the speaker, the light ring would come to life, and a second or two later Alexa would give me an answer or let me know that she's doing what was asked.
Unfortunately, the Echo wasn't able to handle chain commands. When I asked to play music and adjust the volume in the same sentence, only one part of the request would be processed. It did, however, manage a series of contextual questions. Asking about Adele gave me general information about the artist, then following the response with "when did her last album come out" resulted in the correct answer.
Although Alexa was able to successfully retrieve all sorts of information regarding a myriad of topics, it did stumble with prioritizing the results. When I asked it to tell me about the movie "Coco," the hit movie released in theaters last year and now being released for home, it instead told me about "Koko: The Gorilla Who Talks to People," a television documentary that aired in 2016. Google's assistant answered the same question with the new and popular animated movie.
Purchasing Guide
The Amazon Echo has an MSRP of $99.99. It occasionally drops to $80, and there's a standing offer to buy 2 for $170 ($85 each):
The Verdict
Its audio quality isn't as good as Google Home's, but the Echo's Skills are what really sets it apart. In addition to being found on a wide range of products, Alexa's ability to work with a plethora of services and devices makes it more versatile for more users. Like the lead Apple initially had with its App Store, it may be some time before other smart speakers can catch up to the capabilities of the Echo.
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