Echo Spot Review (2024): Small and Surprisingly Helpful

Handy small screen. No distracting slideshow oregon onscreen ads. Fine-enough dependable for casual use, though I wouldn't telephone it great. Nicely falls successful betwixt a astute talker and a astute display.

You tin get amended dependable connected the cheaper, smaller Echo Dot.

As a visual learner, I find myself forgetting what Alexa says connected a predominant basis.

The biggest occupation for maine is the weather. She starts listing disconnected numbers, and without a ocular representation, I hardly process each the numbers she's told maine (from the highs and lows of the time to the upwind advisory I didn't inquire for). This is what I similar astir smart displays. They show the upwind accusation onscreen successful summation to sharing it implicit the speakers. As soon arsenic I spot the numbers, nary problem! I retrieve it all.

But astute displays tin beryllium distracting and often person cameras. Plus, Alexa's superior lineup of displays shows ads successful the slideshow. If you're looking for thing successful betwixt a astute show and a plain astute speaker, Amazon has added it with the brand-new 2024 Echo Spot.

I similar the Echo Spot a lot: It takes my most-used astute show features (weather visuals! a clock!) and leaves everything other down (no ads!). If the dependable were a small better, I'd telephone it the cleanable astute speaker. But this is inactive a large astute talker if you privation an informational adjunct and immoderate visuals without the clutter of a full-on astute display.

Returning Player

This isn't the archetypal clip Amazon has had an Echo Spot successful its lineup of Amazon Echo speakers. The archetypal procreation came retired successful 2017 and had a somewhat akin design: a rounded assemblage and tiny screen, with lone definite accusation displayed connected said screen. It was discontinued successful 2019 and is nary longer officially connected sale, though it's imaginable to find the archetypal models connected eBay.

Amazon chopped immoderate large features successful this generation. Most notably, the 2024 Echo Spot doesn't person a camera, truthful you can't usage it for video calling similar you tin with the aged exemplary oregon immoderate Echo Show device. I deliberation some the Echo Spot and the 5-inch Echo Show 5 ($90) astute displays are excessively tiny for comfy video calling anyway, and if you're utilizing it arsenic a bedside alarm clock, you won't privation a camera successful your bedroom.

The Show 5 is lone $10 much than the Echo Spot, but I'd urge going for the Echo Show 8 (3rd Gen) ($150) if you privation video features with your astute display. The latest Echo Spot besides doesn't person a 3.5-mm audio jack, though it tin link to different talker via Bluetooth.

The surface besides isn't rounded anymore, nor is it a half-circle similar it appears; it's a rectangular surface that uses a bezel to look similar a half-circle. It reminds maine of the Echo Pop (7/10, WIRED Recommends) that came retired past spring. It's a fine-enough size for seeing the clip oregon the opus you're playing, but you don't get immoderate of the amusive rounded timepiece faces the older Echo Spot had.

Still, you tin customize this small timepiece surface to a definite degree. There are six timepiece faces to take from, arsenic good arsenic six colors. I'd emotion for determination to beryllium much designs successful the future, oregon a mode to upload your ain timepiece face, but I'm conscionable a miss with a dream. You tin acceptable up alarms with a dependable request, and either acceptable a default alarm code (there are 5 options connected the instrumentality itself and galore much wrong the app) oregon inquire for a circumstantial euphony request. I asked for lo-fi music, and Alexa pulled Spotify's lo-fi beats playlist for maine and woke maine up to Ron Quixote's “Hey.”

I anticipation that yet you'll beryllium capable to bargain the Spot successful immoderate of the aforesaid amusive colors arsenic the Echo Pop. Right now, it's disposable successful Amazon's accustomed achromatic and white, positive a shadiness of blue, but the Echo Pop's purple and teal are easy the champion colors you tin bargain an Alexa-equipped astute talker successful in.

Goldilocks Approved

Amazon is touting the Echo Spot arsenic a astute alarm clock, but it has my favourite astute show features with nary of the clutter. No distracting slideshow oregon request to customize the 40-plus onscreen options that Echo Shows have. And champion of all, nary ads.

Amazon added onscreen ads to the Echo Show slideshows and adjacent the upwind study connected my Echo Show 8, and they're astir intolerable to crook off. The Echo Spot, truthful far, is ad-free. There's a accidental Amazon could adhd these successful the future, but I'm crossing my fingers this surface is excessively tiny to marque it worthy it. I would've said the aforesaid astir the tiny existent property disposable connected the Show 8's upwind page, though, truthful I cognize it's not a guarantee.

The Echo Spot tin besides show your calendar erstwhile you ask, scrolling done your 4 upcoming events successful a small database portion talking you done it. Again, it's a bully ocular companion to the dependable assistant, without a ample cluttered screen. It is simply a tiny screen, truthful you can't work it from ace acold away, but I recovered it useful to work portion astatine my table oregon perceive to portion I got dressed.

The lone happening missing is astute location control. Unlike regular astute displays oregon the newer Hub (8/10, WIRED Recommends), the Echo Spot doesn't person a astute location power country connected the menu, and I tin entree rooms oregon devices lone via dependable request. It does propulsion up a small powerfulness fastener onscreen erstwhile you inquire to power a circumstantial country oregon device, similar “turn connected my kitchen,” which you tin past pat connected and off. But there's nary mode to entree devices oregon rooms without archetypal utilizing your voice.

While I similar seeing the widgets and having astute location power connected my larger astute displays, I don't emotion however distracting a astute show tin beryllium successful my bureau oregon my surviving room. The scrolling surface is perpetually catching my oculus erstwhile I'd alternatively not look astatine it, and often isn't showing maine thing I request to spot close then. The Echo Spot's equilibrium of surface info without rolling clutter makes it a large summation astir anyplace successful the house.

Sound Off

The lone happening that the Echo Spot lacks is, unfortunately, bully sound.

It sounds good if you're casually listening to thing successful the background, and it gets large capable to capable a chamber oregon office. Compared to the importantly cheaper Echo Dot (5th Gen), though, there's immoderate clarity missing. Whether it was Charli XCX's brat oregon Tracy Chapman's “Fast Car,” I noticed a somewhat murky prime to immoderate euphony it played. The latest Echo Dot has a much vibrant sound, adjacent though some assertion to conscionable person 1 1.73-inch front-firing speaker. Still, it was good for inheritance euphony portion I worked oregon got acceptable for the day.

Speaking of the Echo Dot, the timepiece mentation ($60) is usually my proposal for a chamber clock. But I really recovered I liked the Spot a small much arsenic my bedside companion. The Spot's surface dimmed nicely successful the nighttime similar a astute show oregon an iPhone successful Standby Mode, which I preferred successful bid to support my country bully and acheronian astatine night. (The Dot's LEDs clasp the aforesaid brightness for nighttime and day.) You tin besides spot your adjacent alarm clip underneath the existent time, truthful it was casual to glimpse implicit and corroborate that my alarm was acceptable for the adjacent morning, oregon to spot however agelong the snooze would tally for. Both devices are camera-free, which is simply a necessity for immoderate astute instrumentality successful my bedroom. It's bully timing, too, since the fifth-gen Echo Dot with Clock is mostly retired of banal connected Amazon's website, and Amazon says they don't program to restock this generation. (We'll spot if there's a aboriginal procreation to come.)

If you privation large dependable successful a tiny form, oregon dependable that fills the room, this isn't the astute talker I'd pick. But astir thing else? The Echo Spot does a bully occupation of nailing my most-used astute show features. It'll beryllium my go-to whenever I privation an informational assistant.