Echo Spot review: this smart alarm clock hits a sweet spot

I’ve been looking for a bully alarm timepiece with dependable power for years present — and with Amazon’s newest astute speaker, I deliberation I’ve recovered it. The Nest Hub is excessively large for my nightstand, the Echo Show 5 is excessively bright, but the caller Echo Spot ($79.99) is conscionable right.

While it’s not perfect, the Spot’s tiny footprint, minimalist display, awesome dependable (for its size), built-in dependable assistant, and snappy responses capable astir of my needs. These features marque it a bully enactment if you privation the benefits of a astute talker and immoderate basal ocular accusation successful your chamber without the distractions of a ample screen. 

The sequel to the archetypal Echo Spot (which was discontinued successful 2019), the caller Echo Spot ditches the camera, which was our main gripe with the earlier version. It besides replaces the afloat circular surface with a semicircular show that shows the clock. While that show is simply a spot too tiny (and somewhat cheap-looking), overall, the Spot is simply a susceptible astute alarm timepiece for a bully terms (especially connected sale).

Small screen, large personality

An Alexa-powered astute speaker, the Spot follows the plan cues of the Echo Pop with its level circular front, but it adds a tiny 2.83-inch show supra the talker grille. This is simply a touchscreen show that shows a timepiece oregon assorted animations erstwhile playing music, telling the weather, mounting timers, and controlling astute location devices. It’s precise responsive to touch, though constricted successful what you tin bash with it.

The Spot besides responds good to Alexa's dependable commands with minimal lag and tin trigger Alexa Routines with beingness detection utilizing an ultrasound sensor. It’s a Bluetooth talker (there’s nary line-out) and an Alexa Matter controller (over Wi-Fi), but dissimilar the Echo Dot, there’s nary somesthesia sensor, and it doesn’t enactment arsenic an Eero mesh Wi-Fi extender.

The Spot’s surface is chiefly designed arsenic a timepiece — showing conscionable capable accusation to beryllium utile and not truthful overmuch to beryllium annoying. Instead of the rotating contented you find connected the Echo Shows that sometimes propulsion ads for Amazon’s services, the Spot conscionable shows the existent clip and the clip your adjacent alarm is set. There’s besides an enactment to amusement the upwind and date. 

The show is tiny capable to not beryllium distracting astatine night, acknowledgment to a nighttime mode that switches to a elemental reddish LED display. It has six amusive clockfaces for daytime, though 2 of them consciousness a spot squished successful the tiny rectangle allotted to them. It would look amended if the surface took up the full precocious semicircle alternatively of conscionable two-thirds of it. This could person enabled the neat Echo Show sunrise alarm timepiece feature that gradually brightens the full screen. 

The Spot’s tiny surface means that the timepiece either goes distant oregon becomes precise tiny erstwhile it’s being utilized for thing different than a clock, which tin beryllium annoying. When it plays music, it shows a graphic visualizer and playback controls; erstwhile you’re listening to a book, it shows the rubric (oddly, nary controls), and for timers, it displays the countdown. If I privation the full-screen timepiece to amusement portion doing immoderate of these tasks, I person to say, “Alexa, spell Home,” oregon swipe down and pat the Home button.

This speaks to the information that the Spot isn’t a astute display; it’s much of a astute talker with a screen. It’s person successful relation to the now-discontinued Echo Dot With Clock than to the Echo Show 5. I recovered the Spot’s show easier to work connected my nightstand than the Dot, and I liked the further power options, but if you similar the no-frills LED dot-matrix look of the Dot with Clock, past the Spot volition person excessively overmuch surface for you. 

The Spot’s touchscreen allows for basal power implicit things similar euphony playback and astute location devices. But portion it shows a fastener to crook a airy connected oregon disconnected and a slider to set brightness for, say, a lamp, I person to usage my dependable to get those controls to amusement up. I besides couldn’t usage the surface to acceptable an alarm connected the Spot’s screen. Again, I had to usage dependable oregon the Alexa app. This feels similar a miss successful a instrumentality designed to beryllium an alarm clock. 

Otherwise, the Spot’s alarm timepiece relation is precise good. There’s a wide array of wake-up tones, including a classical ring. I tin besides say, “Alexa, aftermath maine up astatine 6AM to Taylor Swift,” oregon aftermath up to a circumstantial vigor station. Plus, I tin person the astute lights successful my chamber turn connected with the alarm oregon person an Alexa Routine run. 

Annoyingly, the “snooze” and “stop alarm” buttons connected the surface are tiny — excessively tiny to easy deed erstwhile you aftermath up bleary-eyed. But utilizing dependable oregon tapping the apical of the Spot to snooze works fine. Also, there’s nary backup artillery — that’s not casual to find connected immoderate astute talker / alarm clock, but it’s an important diagnostic for my family.

As acold arsenic audio is concerned, the Spot’s forward-facing 1.73-inch mono operator makes it a bully talker for listening to music, slumber sounds, oregon an audiobook successful bed. It’s not arsenic room-filling arsenic the Dot but has clearer vocals and delivers a richer dependable than the smaller Echo Pop. 

The Spot besides works with Alexa audio calling, and I tin usage it arsenic a location intercom with the Alexa Drop In feature — utile erstwhile I privation to archer my teen to crook his euphony down. It’s the lone dedicated astute alarm timepiece I’ve tested that has this feature. There are a fig of third-party smart alarm clocks with built-in Alexa, but nary enactment Drop In. 

This is not a astute display

As I mentioned previously, the Spot is not truly a smart display (despite that being what Amazon calls it). You can’t usage it arsenic a integer photograph framework oregon video calling instrumentality oregon ticker video contented oregon presumption a livestream from a information camera connected it. But I didn’t miss immoderate of these features successful a bedside device. If they’re important to you, see the Echo Show 5, which tin bash everything the Spot tin positive each of the supra but is bigger and brighter with its larger screen. 

Overall, I similar the absorption is taking Amazon with its newest Echos — creating much defined usage cases for its astute speakers and displays beyond streaming euphony and mounting timers. First, determination was the Echo Hub, a astute location controller; now, there’s the Echo Spot, a astute alarm clock.

While $80 is costly compared to the $50 Echo Dot, you’re getting much functionality with the Spot. Plus, if you tin find it connected merchantability (like the recent heavy discount for Prime Day), it’s an casual buy. There’s country for improvement, but if you’ve been looking for a amended voice-controlled astute alarm clock, the Spot deserves a spot connected your nightstand.

Photography by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge